Two Thousand Years. One Complete Journey.
The Theoria History of Christianity Certificate takes you from the resurrection of Jesus to the present day — through eight rigorous, sequenced courses that build a scholar's grasp of the faith that shaped the world.
8 schools · 224 lessons
The outcomes
What you get
- A chronologically sequenced command of Church history from the first century to the present day
- Fluency with the seven Ecumenical Councils and the doctrinal questions they permanently settled
- Working knowledge of primary sources — creeds, council documents, Reformation treatises, and patristic writings — read in their historical context
- A clear framework for understanding how monasticism, medieval institutions, the Reformation, and American revivalism connect across time
- The ability to trace the history of Christian worship — liturgy, sacraments, hymnody, and gathering — across every major era
- A certificate credential demonstrating serious, structured engagement with the full sweep of Christian history
You begin in the Roman world, watching a handful of apostles carry a resurrection claim across an empire that will eventually try to crush them — and fail. Course by course, you move forward through time: the councils that hammered out Christian doctrine word by word, the monks who fled to the desert and invented a new way of being human, the medieval Church that built cathedrals and universities and held kings accountable, and the Reformers — both magisterial and radical — who shattered Western Christianity into pieces that still define us today.
By the midpoint of the certificate you have the theological grammar to read primary sources without getting lost. By the final two courses — Christianity in America and the History of Christian Worship — you can trace a colonial revival meeting or a contemporary praise song directly back to debates that were already old when Luther nailed his theses to the door. That is what the sequence is designed to do: each school hands you a richer interpretive lens that the next school immediately puts to work.
When you finish, you will hold a panoramic, source-grounded account of two thousand years of Christian history — not a collection of isolated facts, but a single, coherent story you can teach, defend, and keep building on for the rest of your life.
Is this you?
Who this is for
The Serious Lay Theologian
You've read plenty of theology but keep bumping into historical gaps — this certificate fills every one of them, in order, without dumbing anything down.
The Pastor or Ministry Leader
You preach and teach from a tradition with a history, and you want the depth and confidence that comes from actually knowing where it came from.
The Lifelong Learner Ready for a Challenge
You've always sensed that Christianity's two-thousand-year story is bigger and stranger than you were taught, and you're finally ready to learn it properly.
The journey, step by step
Your path
Trace Christianity from the resurrection of Jesus through its first four centuries — exploring the Roman world, apostolic expansion, theological controversies, and the remarkable figures who shaped the faith. This is serious history for serious learners.
29 lessons
Theoria: The Desert Fathers & Mothers
Explore the origins of Christian monasticism through the lives, writings, and spiritual practices of the men and women who shaped the desert tradition — and discover how their wisdom continues to form Christian spirituality today.
25 lessonsUnlocks after step 1
Theoria: The Ecumenical Councils
Trace the seven great councils that forged orthodox Christian doctrine — from Nicaea to Nicaea II — through their history, theology, and enduring legacy. A rigorous course for serious learners of Church history and Christian thought.
26 lessonsUnlocks after step 2
Theoria: Medieval Christianity
Trace one thousand years of Church history — from the fall of Rome to the eve of the Reformation — through primary sources, major thinkers, and the political, spiritual, and cultural forces that made the medieval Church one of history's most consequential institutions.
31 lessonsUnlocks after step 3
Theoria: The Protestant Reformation
A rigorous, source-driven study of the Protestant Reformation — the people, ideas, and upheavals that fractured and forever reshaped Western Christianity in the sixteenth century. Understand the theology, politics, and culture of one of history's most consequential movements.
28 lessonsUnlocks after step 4
Theoria: The Radical Reformation
A rigorous exploration of the sixteenth-century Christians who believed the Protestant Reformation had not gone far enough — tracing their communities, theology, persecution, and enduring legacy across church history.
26 lessonsUnlocks after step 5
Theoria: Christianity in America
A rigorous survey of American Christian history from colonial settlements to the present day — tracing the denominations, revivals, figures, and ideas that shaped the nation's religious and cultural life.
30 lessonsUnlocks after step 6
Theoria: History of Christian Worship
Trace two thousand years of Christian worship — from New Testament house churches to contemporary evangelical movements — exploring how theology, culture, and history have shaped the way Christians pray, sing, celebrate the sacraments, and gather together.
29 lessonsUnlocks after step 7
Start the story. Earn the certificate.
How it works
One purchase, the whole path
Start with step 1
You get instant access to Theoria: The Early Church the moment you join.
Complete to unlock
Finish each school to open the next — the path keeps you moving in the right order.
AI-taught, all the way
Every lesson adapts to your level, with an AI tutor answering questions as you go.
Before you ask
Questions, answered
Start the story. Earn the certificate.
8 schools · 224 lessons · one price