The Catholic Church marks its history from Christ's appointment of the Apostle Peter as the first pope, and holds to a line of succession from one pope to another. The Church began small, and was centered in Jerusalem. As more and more people came into the Church, it spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond, Christianity was illegal and strongly persecuted. When the last apostle died, the Apostolic era ended and the Early Church began. Around 313 BCE, Emperor Constantine made the Christian Church legal. Around 390 BCE, the Church established the final canon of the Bible. From 591 to 1517 BCE, the Middle Ages brought a period of decay. From the second half of the second century, the word "catholic" came to mean "orthodox," or non-heritical, as Catholics claimed to teach the whole truth, and to represent the whole (universal) Church, while heresy resulted from an exaggeration of one truth, and was essentially partial or local. Over the first thousand years of the Church's history, there were many false teachings that were known as heresies. Because of this, the Church was forced to clarify and define its doctrine. In 1054 BCE, the Eastern Church split from the Western Church, and is referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1517 BCE, a monk by the name of Martin Luther attempted to bring about reform in the Catholic Church and, although this was not his intent, he ended up bringing about the Protestant Reformation and a new system of theology. Nevertheless, from the 16th century on, the Catholic Church has continued to grow, in influence and in numbers. Over the years, Catholic leaders have been both heroic and cowardly but, to Catholics, the Church is still the bride of Christ and at the end of time, the Church will still be standing. "And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,* and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it." -- Matthew 16:18.
Recommended Resources
American Catholic Historical Association
The ACHA is a membership conference of scholars, archivists and teachers of Catholic studies. Founded in 1919, it was intended to be a national society that would bring together scholars across the country, as well as nonprofessional supporters, all of whom were in the history of the church. The benefits of membership are posted, along with a schedule of conferences, meetings, and grant information.
http://www.achahistory.org/
American Catholic History Classroom
Presented by the Catholic University of America, the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives is a continuously updated primary document site featuring a range of materials related to Catholic history, intended for educators and researchers. Its exhibits may be viewed online, or specific items may be viewed. Members of the CUA community may ask questions of a librarian online.
http://cuomeka.wrlc.org/
Offering Catholic history from a Franciscan perspective, the site includes photos, images, video, audio, podcasts, and articles on a variety of historical topics, including the reputed hymns of Hilary of Poitiers in Latin, the history of music in the Catholic church, a 3rd century image of Christ the Good Shepherd, a photo of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Milan by Fabio Alessandro, to mention a few.
https://catholicunderthehood.com/
Epic: A Journey Through Church History
Developed by teachers and historians, Steve Weidenkopf and Alan Schreck, this learning system teaches the two thousand year history of the Catholic Church, presenting the twelve time periods of Church history, which identify the main events in Church history, culture, and politics, as well as the popes, martyrs, saints and doctors of the Church. The full or partial study may be purchased on CD or DVD, and a leaders’ guide and other resources may be downloaded for free.
http://ourcatholichistory.com/
A project of H-Net Humanities & Social Sciences Online, H-Catholic is a discussion list devoted to the promotion of discussion and study of the history and culture of Catholicism, especially among scholars and students of Catholic history and culture, as well as those within the Catholic Church. The list is intended for scholarly discussion rather than for confessions of faith, and includes reviews and links to additional informational sources.
https://networks.h-net.org/h-catholic
History of the Catholic Community
Intended for Catholic school educators and homeschool parents, HCC offers Catholic history resources that can be integrated into history classes as a companion to the current history texts, each lesson designed to be 15-20 minutes, and to be able to integrate into history classes, language arts classes, math classes, and religion classes. Teacher manuals and student workbooks may be purchased online, and other resources are available for downloading.
http://teachcatholichistory.com/
Maintained by the Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas, the site promotes the study of the history of the Orthodox Christian Church in the New World, collecting source materials and making them available to researchers and scholars, distributing historical information to the public, and encouraging networking among those engaged in similar studies. The site hosts essays, primary sources, podcasts, book reviews, and photographs.
http://orthodoxhistory.org/
Created and maintained by a Catholic homeschooling family, this site focuses on a Catholic history curriculum and other Catholic history resources, including a curriculum that they publish, entitled "Connecting with History.” Articles on learning and studying history, along with several other topics, are included. A catalog of its products may be downloaded, and a book store is included.
http://www.rchistory.com/
