May 11, 2021
Greco-Roman culture had a clear "curriculum" which it taught with great certainty. Dr. John Rao describes here the way in which Christianity came to understand its own need for a training in the new Christian Truth and pathway to God. This catechesis was developed by the men we call the Fathers, whose work is studied...
May 11, 2021
Dr. John Rao discusses the character of life and organization of government and society in the two main eras of the Roman Empire: the Principate (from Augustus until the 200's A.D.) and the Dominate (200's A.D. onwards). He describes how the Roman system became more and more "totalitarian" in a way that would clash...
May 11, 2021
A discussion by Dr. John Rao of the different centers of early Christianity--Alexandria, Palestine, Antioch, Asia Minor, Rome, and Gaul--and the key Church Fathers and institutions through whose work Christian theology was developed.
May 11, 2021
Dr. John Rao describes how the first great Christian writers had to explain why their religion was an acceptable one. The Apostolic Fathers and Apologists sought to show that Christianity was ancient, because it was the completion of Judaism; that it "made sense"; and, perhaps most importantly for practical reasons,...
May 11, 2021
What was necessary for Christian theology to develop? Dr. John Rao discusses the obstacles that had to be overcome in order even to begin developing a theology, as well as the numerous new problems theological speculation would engender. The idea that the world as we know it was soon coming to an end was one...