What to expect

Practices of the Ancient Church will challenge students to consider the practices, apologetics, theology, and conciliar nature of the church in her first two centuries. The course focuses on ancient writings that solidified apostolic traditions contained in the New Testament and combatted the emerging threats of the many forms of Gnosticism as well as other heresies. Students will see the emergence of a conciliar theology that was held everywhere, by everyone, for all time, especially manifesting in the doctrine of Christ. Additionally, students will identify a historical thread that ties Christianity of the 21st century back to the Christianity of the late 1st to 2nd centuries.

By the time you complete this learning experience, you will have:

  • Critically examined the ancient Christian texts written from the late 1st to 2nd centuries

  • Developed the intellectual habits and virtues of doing theology in community with the early church as an interlocutor

  • Compared and contrasted the prevailing cultural issues of the late 1st to 2nd centuries with the 21st century

  • Deepened an understanding of the rootedness of Christianity and of the Christian’s heritage in 2000 years of history

  • Appreciated the conciliar expression of the church that unified the bride of Christ around His vision and mission

What's inside the course:

    1. Welcome to this Ephesiology Master Class

    2. How to use this course player

    3. Course Description and Objectives

    4. Get Your Copy of the Book

    5. Thrive, Don't Just Survive - Rev. Dr. Hank Voss

      FREE PREVIEW

    6. Spiritual Classics and Mission - Rev. Bob Engel

      FREE PREVIEW

    7. Learn more about our degree programs

    8. Before we begin...

    1. Soul Work and Soul Care

    2. Cohort Resources

    3. Six Steps to Becoming a Sacred Roots Cohort Leader

    4. Become a Cohort Leader

    1. Instructions

    2. Learning Tasks - for grad students

    3. Rubric for Asynchronous Discussion Participation

    4. Course Bibliography

    5. Resources for Academic Research

    6. Writing & Style Guides

    7. Synthetic Studies - Template

    8. Introductory Questions - Template

    1. What to expect in this session

    2. Foundational Habits of the Ancient Church

    1. What to expect in this session

    2. Background of the Ancient Church

    3. Setting the Framework for the Study of Movements in History

    4. Profiles of Early Christian Figures and Communities

    5. Dating the Apostolic Fathers

    6. Movement Identity and the Apostolic Fathers

    7. Major Issues in the Ancient Church

    8. The Early Church and Counterfeiting Jesus

    9. Theological Education in the Second Century

    10. Early Church Leadership Authority, Character, and Christ

    11. 10 Characteristics of Leadership in the Apostolic Fathers

    12. The Use of ποιμην in Early Christian History

    13. Excursus: Lives of the Twelve Caesars

    14. Fragmentation of Christianity

    1. What to expect in this session

    2. Themes in the Writings of the Apostolic Fathers

    3. Profile of the Leaders of the Roman Church

    4. An Introduction to an Early Christian Letter

    5. From Rome to Corinth

    6. Discussion of 1 Clement

    7. Profile of Ignatius of Antioch

    8. Ignatius of Antioch

    9. To Ephesus

    10. Discussion of Ignatius' letter to Ephesus

    11. To Magnesia

    12. Discussion of Ignatius' letter to Magnesia

    13. To Tralles

    14. Discussion of Ignatius' letter to Tralles

    15. To Philadelphia

    16. Discussion of Ignatius' letter to Philadelphia

    17. To Rome

    18. Discussion of Ignatius' letter to Rome

    19. To Smyrna

    20. Discussion of Ignatius' letter to Smyrna

    21. Profile of Polycarp of Smyrna

    22. To Polycarp

    23. Discussion of Ignatius' letter to Polycarp

    24. Polycarp of Smyrna

    25. To Philippi

    26. Discussion of Polycarp's letter to Philippi

About this learning experience

  • $50.00
  • 79 lessons
  • 5 hours of video content
  • Asynchronous discussion forums

In collaboration with Sacred Roots

Equipping leaders to thrive in ministry

Our Mission

The Sacred Roots Thriving in Ministry Project exists to equip and empower urban, rural, and incarcerated congregational leaders in under-resourced ministry contexts.
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First Christian Voices

Practices of the Apostolic Fathers

What were the most important practices in the early church? In this volume, Michael Cooper arranges the writings of the Apostolic Fathers into eight themes that provide deeper understanding about the subjects important to the disciples of the New Testament apostles. First Christian Voices examines the written testimonies of the late first and second centuries to discover what animated the church in the face of internal and external struggles and growth as the gospel extended to the boundaries of the Roman Empire.
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The benefits of this course include:

  • More than five hours of on-demand video

  • Articles and blogs written by your instructor

  • Accessible 24/7 from your phone, tablet, or computer

  • A roadmap to help you navigate your way through the early church writings

  • Personal reflection questions to help you digest and apply the content

  • Discussion forums to do theology in a community with others taking the class

Welcome to the Practices of the Ancient Church

an introduction to the class

Meet your instructor

Professor of Missiological Theology Michael T. Cooper

Dr. Cooper earned a PhD in Intercultural Studies with a focus on religious movements and a minor in theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He currently serves as a missiologist for a missions agency where he focuses on missiological research and equipping missionaries for effective cultural engagement. He has thirty years of missions experience, including ten years as a pioneer church planter in Romania after the fall of communism and has equipped church planters and leaders in Africa, Europe, North America, South America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. He is a guest faculty at Torch Trinity Graduate University, adjunct faculty at Mission India Theological Seminary, Asia Graduate School of Theology Nepal, and Ebenezer Bible College in Katmandu, and affiliate faculty at Kairos University. He has written and contributed to more than 30 books and academic articles and has presented conference lectures at the London School of Economics, University of Bordeaux, Loyola University, Baylor University, and many others. His recent book, Ephesiology: A Study of the Ephesian Movement is a best seller at William Carey Publishing.

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