A Journey through Western Christianity: from Persecuted Faith to Global Religion (200 - 1650)

This course explores Western Christianity's astonishing evolution from its early suffering under the Roman Empire in the third century to its global expansion with the Jesuits of the early modern world. With a large cast of individuals, it explores the dynamic and diverse character of a religion. It encounters Perpetua and her martyrdom in Carthage, Augustine the bishop's efforts in North Africa, the passion of Celtic monks and missionaries, the Crusades' ferocity, Brigit of Sweden's visions, and the shattering of Christianity by Martin Luther's protest. It hears the voices of great theologians as well as those who have been labeled heretics by the Church, a striking reminder that the history of Christianity is littered with opposing visions of reform and goals, powerful critiques of corruption and venality, and exclusion of the defeated. Pogroms and expulsions are part of the turbulent history of Christian contact with Jews and Muslims, but so are the amazing ways in which Jewish and Islamic scholarship altered the Western culture.

In the West, Christianity was fashioned in the crucible of conflict and turbulence, yielding both creativity and violence. It resonated with pleas for God's world to be transformed, it inspired the most magnificent art and architecture, but it also displayed the destructive potential of the cross-sword union. The course takes students on a trip through the emergence of the West as a branch of Christianity, as well as a chapter in a larger saga. It's a journey that's changed the course of history.

This course offers:

• Flexible deadlines: Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.
• Shareable Certificate: Earn a Certificate upon completion
• 100% online: Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
  
• Beginner Level
• Approx. 46 hours to complete
• Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, Turkish, English, Spanish, Romanian

Course ratings: 4.8/5

Enroll here: https://www.coursera.org/learn/western-christianity-200-1650