Chevron Left
Back to A Journey through Western Christianity: from Persecuted Faith to Global Religion (200 - 1650)

Learner Reviews & Feedback for A Journey through Western Christianity: from Persecuted Faith to Global Religion (200 - 1650) by Yale University

4.8
stars
692 ratings

About the Course

This course follows the extraordinary development of Western Christianity from its early persecution under the Roman Empire in the third century to its global expansion with the Jesuits of the early modern world. We explore the dynamic and diverse character of a religion with an enormous cast characters. We will meet men and women who tell stories of faith as well as of violence, suppression, and division. Along the way, we encounter Perpetua and her martyrdom in Carthage; the struggles of Augustine the bishop in North Africa; the zeal of Celtic monks and missionaries; the viciousness of the Crusades; the visions of Brigit of Sweden; and the fracturing of Christianity by Martin Luther’s protest. We hear the voices of great theologians as well as of those branded heretics by the Church, a powerful reminder that the growth of Christianity is a story with many narratives of competing visions of reform and ideals, powerful critiques of corruption and venality, and exclusion of the vanquished. The troubled history of Christian engagement with Jews and Muslims is found in pogroms and expulsions, but also in the astonishing ways in which the culture of the West was transformed by Jewish and Islamic learning. We shall explore the stunning beauty of the Book of Kells, exquisitely prepared by monks as the Vikings terrorized the coast of England. We will experience the blue light of the windows of Chartres, and ponder the opening questions of Thomas Aquinas’ great Summa. We will read from the Gutenberg Bible of the fifteenth century, which heralded the revolution brought by the printing press. We will travel from Calvin’s Geneva to Elizabeth’s England to Trent, where a Catholic Council met to inaugurate a modern, missionary Catholic church. We will walk through the great Escorial of Philip II of Spain, hear the poetry of John of the Cross, and follow the Jesuits to Brazil and China. Christianity in the West was forged in the fires of conflict and tumult, and it brought forth both creativity and violence. It echoed with calls for God’s world to be transformed, it inspired the most sublime art and architecture, yet it also revealed the power of the union of cross and sword to destroy. The course is a journey through the formation of the West as one strand of Christianity, as one chapter in a global story. It is a journey that has shaped our world....

Top reviews

ME

Dec 11, 2020

Course presentation by Dr. Gordon was above-average. Highly recommend for those who seek to improve knowledge of how Christianity developed over centuries.

AB

Jan 2, 2021

Thank you so much for offering this course for free. It was a great way to learn and understand the complicated history of my faith as it maneuvered the world around it that I was never aware of.

Filter by:

126 - 150 of 214 Reviews for A Journey through Western Christianity: from Persecuted Faith to Global Religion (200 - 1650)

By vernell h

•

Apr 21, 2022

Great highly recommended to others interested in Theology

By Young L

•

Oct 31, 2021

It had been a wonderful journey with Prof. Bruce Gordon!!!

By Damon T R

•

Sep 29, 2018

Absolutely loved this course! Could not recommend it more!

By wei l

•

Nov 9, 2017

Great Course. Learned a lot from this course. Thank you!

By Zehra G

•

Sep 24, 2024

a very good entrance to understand Western Christianity

By Lorena A

•

Jul 5, 2020

ME GUSTO EL CONTENIDO Y LA FORMA DE EXPONERSE CADA TEMA

By Miguel M

•

Jan 11, 2024

Un recorrido ameno por la historia de la cristiandad.

By Danilo M

•

Feb 14, 2020

The best online course that I ever did!!!! Amazing!!!

By Thing T L

•

Nov 14, 2018

Clear explanation how western christianity developed

By Francisco J

•

Jun 15, 2020

Genial, muy interesante, motivador y constructivo.

By Richard D M

•

Jun 14, 2020

Outstanding course ,it helped me get through covid

By Celmira A S

•

Oct 8, 2017

Excellent! A really journey throught the history.

By John B S

•

Aug 11, 2025

Excellent course, enjoyable and I learned a lot.

By Lau C W

•

Feb 16, 2021

Very organized and clearly presented lectures!!

By carlos c

•

Jan 30, 2021

Great path through a passionate area of history

By ZHANG,FEIRAN

•

Feb 4, 2020

It's a great course, and I highly recommend it!

By Nese M

•

Jun 20, 2020

For theology interested strongly recommended.

By manuela g q

•

Nov 8, 2024

I lerned a lot and really enjoyed the course

By Jimena C

•

May 11, 2025

Excelente curso y una eminencia el profesor

By Jairo A F U

•

Aug 5, 2020

It was a wonderful course, I learnt a lot.

By Aniceto P y M

•

May 2, 2018

Great course. Clear content. Good teachers

By Markson E J

•

Apr 9, 2021

Every Christian should do this course,

By Gabriela S L T

•

Sep 8, 2019

Excellent and very interesting course.

By Mohamad Z A H

•

Oct 18, 2021

Well designed and executed, Well done