Ancient Church History

Dr. William VanDoodewaard (Ph.D. Aberdeen) serves as Associate Professor of Church History at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. Previously he served as Assistant Professor of European History at Patrick Henry College, near Washington, D.C., and as Visiting Professor of History at Huntington University. Dr. VanDoodewaard is the author of The Marrow Controversy and Seceder Tradition: Atonement, Saving Faith and the Gospel Offer in Scotland (1718-1799) (RHB), and a contributing editor for the recent reprint of the 17th century Puritan work, Edward Fisher’s The Marrow of Modern Divinity (Christian Focus). He has also written for numerous academic journals and other periodicals. An ordained minister in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches, he has served as a guest speaker and preacher for churches in the United States, Canada, and Scotland. He blogs at The Christian Pundit.

This course is a study of the developing theology, ecclesiology, piety, and worship of the Christian church from the close of the apostolic age to 600 A.D. Special attention will be given to main figures in the patristic age. Students taking this course via distance learning will be held to the same requirements and deadlines as the on-campus students. Interaction between all the students (both on-campus and off) and between the professor and students will take place via the PRTS online course management software. Students who are not familiar with this software should become so prior to the beginning of the course.  If necessary, please make an appointment with our IT director, and he will familiarize you with this software.

In the ancient church history course the student will become acquainted with a biblical and theological approach to understanding history, with particular focus on church history as well as the history of Christianity from the book of Acts to 600 A.D. This will include:

1. an understanding of the narrative or chronology of the history of the ancient church;
2. an understanding of developments, continuities, and changes in doctrine and practice in the ancient church;
3. an understanding of debates, divisions, reform, growth, and decline in the life of the ancient church; and an understanding of the life and theology of key figures in the ancient church.

The student will be able to analyze and evaluate the above biblically and theologically, as well as comparatively within the context of ancient church history. The student will also develop the ability to make comparative applications to later periods of church history up to the present day.  The course includes a strong focus on student interaction with, and discussion of, primary source documents.

The following works are required texts for the Ancient Church History class. Other readings (especially of primary documents written by early church fathers and church councils) will also be required, but these will be made available online.

• The Apostolic Fathers, trans. J.B. Lightfoot, updated by Harmer, more recently updated and edited by Michael Holmes. 2nd edition. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992. (p.vii-270; 529-555) [these source texts are also available online; this edition was reprinted in 1999, a 3rd edition containing the same texts, but with expanded introductory material and apparatus was published by Baker in 2009]
• Everett Ferguson, Church History: Volume One – From Christ to Pre-Reformation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2004. (p.1-326)
• Joachim Jeremias, Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries, Wipf & Stock, 2004. (p.11-98)

Please read this.

The following assignments and examinations are given in Ancient Church History (course schedule will be published shortly), and are weighted as follows. Course grading will follow the scale in the PRTS catalog. (p. 79)

• Research paper (15-20 pages) 40%
• Source document analysis (4-5 pages) 10%
• Midterm examination 25%
• Final examination 25%

If you a current student of PRTS, and wish to enroll in this course, please contact the registrar. If you are not a current student, please fill out this form to request enrollment.