Prologue

For All the Saints

Church history through the centuries

Welcome the class. This session explains how the course works before week 1 begins. It is shorter than the century weeks, so leave time for questions.

This session

How the course works

Why the course is called For All the Saints
One week for each century, from the apostles to today
Six strands every week, all tied to Christ, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper
How the sources work, and how we judge what we find
What we hope to know and do by the end

Christ in Majesty, Gospels of Lothair

Christ in Majesty

Gospels of Lothair, Tours, about 849–851. Christ at the center, with the four Gospels around him.

The Latin verse on the page says that four books flow from one fountain, which is Christ. Tell the class that this is the shape of the whole course: the witnesses stand around Christ and point to him. The class will see this page again in week 9.

“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, … let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus.”

Hebrews 12:1–2

The hymn “For All the Saints,” by William Walsham How and published in 1864, draws on this passage. The saints of every century are that cloud of witnesses. We look at them, and they point us to Jesus.

Our name

Who are the saints?

Everyone whom God makes holy through faith in Christ
Famous martyrs and teachers, and believers whose names are lost
We remember them to follow their faith and good works
We do not pray to them, because Christ is our only mediator (Augsburg Confession XXI)
The saints of every century and the saints in this room are one church

Augsburg Confession XXI and the Apology’s article XXI give the Lutheran teaching on the saints. Ask the class which saints from church history they already know by name.

The shape of the course

What each week contains

The plan

One week for each century

21 weeks, from the first century (AD 1–100) to today
Each week has an outline, an artwork page, and a slide presentation
The outline has every fact and its sources, for reading before or after class
From week 2, each week opens with a recap of the week before
The recap also points back to earlier weeks that set up the new one

The century is a frame for the lesson, not a hard limit. An event that crosses a century line sits in the week where it best serves the lesson. The research cutoff is October 5, 2026, so the last week stays open.

Every week

The six strands

Church life: what Christians believed, how they worshiped, and how they lived
Controversy and heresy: the arguments of the century, and the false teaching the church rejected
Councils and major events: meetings of bishops, and other turning points
Major people: saints, teachers, rulers, and opponents
Wider world: what happened outside the church, with a map or artwork
Confessional Lutheran connection: how the century compares with the Book of Concord
From the 1500s, a seventh strand follows the Lutheran church, and from the 1600s the focus turns toward North America

The same six strands in the same order let the class compare one century with the next. The Lutheran developments strand starts in week 16, with a short transition at the end of week 15. The North American shift begins with New Sweden in 1638, in week 17.

The focus

What we look for in every century

At the center

Christ, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper

Christ’s person: who he is, true God and true man
Christ’s work: his death and resurrection for our sins
Baptism: God’s washing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
The Lord’s Supper: Christ’s true body and blood, given for the forgiveness of sins
Every week ties its history back to these

These are the center of the faith, so they are the center of the course. Most of the big fights in church history were about one of them. Ask the class to watch for them each week.

Our lens

Facts and judgments

A historical finding says what happened, and the sources support it
A confessional judgment says how Lutherans evaluate what happened
The Book of Concord (1580) is our standard for judgments
The slides label each judgment and name the confession behind it
Each council gets a Lutheran take: received, mixed, or spurious

Received means the Lutheran Confessions accept the council’s teaching, for example Nicaea I. Mixed means they accept some decrees and reject others. Spurious means they reject its authority or its main teaching, for example Trent. A synod that settled only custom or discipline is not classified. Keeping facts and judgments apart lets the class trust both.

Our sources

How to read the outline

P: a primary source, a text or object from the time
V1 and V2: two other works that check the same fact
The slides stay short, and the notes and the outline carry the detail
Anyone can open a link and read the source for themselves

Show the class an outline on screen and point out the source links. The Show sources switch at the top of the outline page hides or shows them.

Our goals

What we hope to achieve

By the end

What we intend to achieve

Know the story: the main people, councils, and events in order
See Christ at the center of each century’s fights and reforms
Tell a historical finding from a confessional judgment
Open a primary source and read it for ourselves
See ourselves in one fellowship with the saints of every century

These goals match the course objectives in the curriculum guide. Return to them at the end of the course and ask the class which goal they reached.

For discussion

Which person or event from church history do you most want to learn about, and why?

Prologue · How this course works