Church History for Chumps

Mar 04 2025 61 ep. 46 mins 28

Church History for Chumps Podcast artwork

We're not your grandfather's church history podcast. But we'd also really appreciate it if your grandfather still listened to us.

IG: @churchhistory4chumps

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King Charles I: The War Among Protestants

Mar 04 2025 84 mins

When most Christians (okay, all Christians that aren't Catholic) look back on the Reformation, we typically do it with a little twinkle in our eyes. It feels like a time of triumph, of sticking it to the man once and for all. In reality, the Reformation, for all its successes, was often a mess. And nowhere was that mess more evident than in 17th century England. Join us this week a

Anthony the Great: The First Desert Father

Feb 25 2025 49 mins

Imagine that you're a teenager. You live in one of the biggest cities in the world, and your parents have just died, leaving behind a Bruce Wayne-esque amount of wealth and land. This is any kid's dream come true. The world is your oyster. Unless your name is Anthony the Great. Then you decide to sell all your stuff, give it to the poor, and then go live in the desert for 80 years.

Third Century Persecution: An Empire in Crisis

Feb 17 2025 35 mins

"Awwww here it goes." --Kel Mitchell, Kenan and Kel We're back in the early church again, which means we're into the story of Christian persecution in the Roman Empire. The 3rd Century was no pleasant time for the Romans, Christian or not. Through a series of civil wars, external threats, and economic woes, the Empire was closer to collapse than ever before. This growing instabilit

John Brown: Martyr...or Murderer?

Feb 11 2025 59 mins

John Brown was a man on a mission from God. Or so he thought. Less than a decade before the Civil War began, John Brown would attempt to lead a slave rebellion by taking over a military armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Although unsuccessful, he would solidify his actions as a villain of the proslavery south and a hero of the antislavery north. Brown considered himself as a hero o

Breaking Bread, Not Bridges

Feb 03 2025 61 mins

Is our nation more divided than ever? Are we losing the ability to respectfully disagree with each other? Welcome to our first ever bonus episode: Chump Talk. In these episodes, we'll tackle larger ideas and themes in the culture and talk to even cooler guests. (Don't worry though, we'll be right back with your church history fix next week) This week, John and Tom are joined by Jac

Justin Martyr: The First Christian Philosopher

Jan 28 2025 62 mins

Have you ever heard someone say that Christianity is anti-intellectual? Well, you should send them this episode. And have them 'like' and 'subscribe' too, that would help us a lot. But anyways. Justin Martyr was a 2nd-century Greek man with a love for philosophy, who found the fullness of all love of wisdom in Christ. We think he's a pretty cool guy. And today we're joined by anoth

The Birth of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

Jan 21 2025 32 mins

As you guys know, we love presenting church history as a beautiful anthology of the story of God's people. Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the vastness of that story when we don't venture out of our own contexts. So today, we're going to peer to the far outside branches of our Christian family tree, and discuss the origin of one of the most longstanding Christian traditions in

Second Century Persecution: Romans Just Don't Understand

Jan 13 2025 38 mins

"Why are you booing me? I'm right!" - the early church, probably The first century was a funky time to be a Christian, but persecution as we know it was pretty scattered and sporadic. In the second century though, things are starting to ramp up. Join us for another episode from our "The Early Church Gets the Worm" series, and listen to us forget to edit out some fun mic noises in t

Perpetua and Felicity: Sisters of Suffering Sainthood

Jan 07 2025 46 mins

In our newest piece in our series of Early Church lore, we discuss another tale of martyrdom, that of Perpetua and Felicity. The early third Century was not an easy time for Christians in Northern Africa. But as so many tales of martyrs go, their story was one of both tragedy and triumph, as they took up the cross of Christ in the truest way. Thanks for tuning in! Text Us! Buy us a

First Century Persecution: From Zero to Nero

Jan 01 2025 47 mins

"It's hard out here for a pimp." -the early church, probably As we continue our aptly named series, "The Early Church Gets the Worm," we discuss one of the most pressing topics for early Christians: persecution in the Roman Empire. Happy New Year, friends. Text Us! Buy us a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/chumphistory