On Saturday evenings at St. Paul’s, a 7-week educational series on the earliest years of the Church — from the first through third centuries — is being taught by Dr. Cyril (Gary) Jenkins, Van Gorden Professor in History at Eastern University and Director of the St. Basil Center for Orthodox Thought and Culture.

The schedule for each evening is as follows:

5pm Great Vespers
5:45pm Potluck Meal (bring a dish to share)
6pm Short Lecture with Discussion

Syllabus

18 Jan: The Church of the First Century I
Sources and the Apostolic Church

25 Jan: The Church of the First Century II
The Church of the Late First Century and the Ferment of Heresy

1 Feb: The Church of the Second Century I
Martyrdom and Apologists

8 Feb: The Church of the Second Century II
Gnosticism and Catholicity

15 Feb: The Church of the Third Century I
Athens and Jerusalem: Montanism, Origen, and the Greeks

22 Feb: The Church of the Third Century II
The Emergence of Latin Theology: Hippolytus, Cyprian, and Tertullian

29 Feb: The Church of the Third Century III
The blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church