If you want a course super biased towards Catholicism, by all means, take this course. Completely glosses over the faults of Catholicism in history, like the failings of the peasant crusade, which is actually the 1st crusade. He named the 1st successful crusade as the 1st crusade. Just listen to the language and content. If you really know history, you'll know he skips over ugly stuff and tries to paint everything in a positive light.

Very good introduction (or re-introduction) to Christianity in the early world up until the Colonial Era. The instructors skillfully brought in elements from the arts, primary sources, and on-site visits to paint a cohesive image of Christianity through this time. The discussions between the staff were also very good in bringing out more subtle differences in some areas where opinion still differs.

Distinctive Christian scholarship is demonstrated throughout this course. A wealth of information is presented. Professor Bruce Gordon knows the things he teaches really well. His sincerity towards knowledge, combined with his cooperation with Nazanin and Maximilian, makes the course an enriching and inspirational experience.

I have enjoyed Professor Gordon's class so much and could repeat it several times and still not absorb the vast amount of information that he has spent so many hours sharing with us.

Loved it!

Thank you Dr. Gordon, Nazanin and Max, for your time and talent.

Recommend to anyone wanting to expand their knowledge on the growth of Christianity. The subtitles are a bit iffy at times, but if English is your first language you should be fine.

It was a great course to have a global overview of the role religion had in the history of europe and even some parts of other continents with the last week session about jesuits.

The course brings up a great and unknown view of Christianity throughout history. It was an execellent opportunity to take it.

This course provided a good overview of the development of Christianity, warts and all, from the 3rd century to the middle of the 17th century. It provided a good outline for further specialized reading. One piece of specialized reading, The Romance of the Rose, probably should be eliminated from the course. To little was said about the shoddy behavior of Christians, especially by Theodosius in the late 4th century, by Charlemagne, by the Crusaders and by the Inquisitors. Was the deep faith held by medieval Christians a cause or effect of such great violence? Or both? While taking this course, I supplemented the required lectures and reading with the following books: Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, by Diarmaid MacCulloch; Thomas Aquinas: A Portrait, by Denys Turner; God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570-1215; and Erasmus and the Age of Reformation, by Johan Huizinga.

I really enjoyed following this well-presented course. Despite the limitations of the format, the instructors came over very well. I had some knowledge of the subject from a particular viewpoint but I found I gained a broader understanding and more complete perspective on the development of Western Christianity through this course. Unfortunately the discussion forums really are not working well, with limited participation and virtually no responses from learners or instructors.

The course was very good. I understand that describing the history of Christianity from the first century until the 16th is a great task. However as a theologian I would like to learn more facts about the recent history of christianity and especially the modern period Enlightenment and the 20th century. I understand that something like this requires even more work,but it would be great to learn about the modern history of Christianity too! Thank you for the graet course!

This is an outstanding course! Following the development of Christianity along its historical timeline within the regional and political context of each period clarifies the "hows" and "whys" of why it developed as it did. I've studied church history in "chunks" before, but this course made its historical development and sequence logical for me. I greatly enjoyed the course and have learned a lot. Thank you so much for creating it and making it available to us!

This is an amazing course: it contains a wealth of information, and it's very well-presented. I needed some time to get accustomed to Professor Gordon's style, but afterwards, I greatly enjoyed listening to him: he is a very engaging lecturer and, seemingly, a very kind person. It's not an easy course to follow, especially with all the additional reading, but it's totally worth it.

Thank you, Professor Gordon, Max, Nazanin, and the entire team behind this course!

This was the most interesting course on early Christianity, followed with beautiful pictures of religious art from the time period we were discussing. The lectures were very easy to understand and I felt this course was a "real eye opener" for me. We hear words like Reformation, Jesuits, monks, etc but usually do not know any history behind the words. This course was very enlightening.

I thought the historical presentation was of great value, and I am confident it with be of assistance in my spiritual endeavors going forward. If I have a criticism, it is just that sometimes I thought that the course presented a little more of a faith-based presentation rather than a more strict historical perspective. All in all, however, it was fascinating and I learned a great deal.

Beautiful course as a Christian missionary in Spain it open my mind of the rich tradition of christianity in arts and other disciplines, i will try to pursuit graduates studies in medieval mediterranean history and specialize in church history. Thank you and hope to see you Profesor bring some other related themes.

As someone who has grown up going to church, but not knowing anything about this subject, I found it an extremely useful and insightful introduction. The course covers the wide scope of Christian history in Europe and is very revealing. Thoroughly enjoyable and easy to follow.

I enjoyed the notes, the references the videos and professor. I learned a great deal about a subject I had some awareness of. A subject I am keenly interested in, as I pursue a career as a minister. Thank you.

A great journey! Lots of information and bonus material! I'm very thankful for the course. It might be that the professor's speech is sometimes a bit difficult to follow, but it's a minor drawback

This is a really good course. While the readings were occasionally overwhelming (and dull), the content was generally interesting. I found the main lecturer to be particularly engaging.

I enjoyed this course so much!! I learned a lot about history and the church. It has kept me looking for more courses and books to learn more!!!!!

Thank you so much for offering this!

Well developed and presented course.. It'll be good to have it continued from 1650 to where the Christian faith is today. I'll be very interested to be part of it if it is developed.

As a christian I learned the roots of my faith. Also the role of christianity in international relations, other cultures and religions. I recommend highly. Fernando González Davison

Very informative and engaging! The content of this course has helped me understand more of European history and will provide a good background for my upcoming travels.

Interested course. I learned a lot fro this course. I will recommend this course to my friends. So they will have a better understanding in history of Christianity.

Thank you for this course. I appreciated in particular the teaching of Prof. Gordon. Very clear also for a non English mother tongue and very expert of the theme.