MEDIEVAL CHURCH WRITINGS & LATE CHRISTIAN WRITINGS
Table of Content
OVERVIEW
There have been many men of God that have risen up over the years to lead the Church through various trials and take on new challenges. Throughout the entire world, God’s people have risen up to build up His kingdom on earth and do the will of God in bringing His truth to all nations.
After the early church ages, throughout the middle ages until later times, many different church movements have risen up to take power away from men who corrupted it. It is very interesting to see how God has worked through His people to keep His word preserved, and how God blessed those who were faithful to it. After the many ages of persecutions and hardships, and governments that have attempted to destroy the Bible and God’s people, God’s word has prevailed and become the most influential historic icon of all times, continuing to this day.
Regardless of the various Christian movements and reformation, the truth of God’s word has remained preserved throughout eons and remain just as perfectly preserved as when it was written. Those who have been led by it have left behind a treasure of historic information and personal experience attesting to the greatness of God’s word and the beauty of His perfect plans in the midst of trials through the ages.
MEDIEVAL CHURCH AGES
After the Early Church Father, many men of God and Biblical theologians have risen to help create a vivid understanding of the meaning of scripture to help others understand their various terms. Throughout the medieval world after the decline of the Roman Empire, the Papacy became the primary religious influence for Christians. Until the time of the reformation, many Christian Orthodox and Catholic leaders helped to spread the message of the gospel and lead the people of the Church. Some of the more prevalent Christian leaders of the medieval ages where;
- Benedict of Nursia – 480-547
- John of Damascus – 676-749
- Charlemagne (Charles the Great) – 742-814
- Guibert de Nogent – 1112
- Peter Waldo – 1218
- Thomas Aquinas – 1225-74
LATER CHURCH AGES
Since the end of the medieval ages, throughout the Reformation, and until recent times, new perspectives have come to bring a fresh focus on scripture, bringing people back to theology and philosophies based strictly on scripture and God’s word. A rich history of debates over theology, doctrines, personal perspective and religious beliefs has been well documented to give believers today a very large archive of information to study and learn from.
These viewpoints are important and worth studying as they have been the very mould that many denominations of Christianity have followed in seeking to adhere as close as possible to God’s word. As it is just as important for Christians who are to love one another to understand each other’s point of view and to, in love, remember that God has created every man different, each with his own free will to worship God freely. It is only in love that truth can be heard to bring people to repentance and the right path, for kindness leads to repentance and the changing of one’s mind.
Reformation Writers
Some of the most prominent writers that have influence the Protestant believers and major Christian denominations where:
- John Wycliff – 1320-84
- John Calvin – 1509-64
- Martin Luther – 1483-1546
- John Knox – 1560
- The Puritans – 16th-17th century
The Great Awakenings
After centuries of the reformation, there came a great movement of spiritual awareness or a ‘great awakening,’ in which many people converted to Christianity and converted man others in their countryside. This was an evangelical revival on international scope and predominantly affected the Protestants in Europe around the early 1700’s.
Some of the Great preachers and writers during this period where;
- George Whitefield – 1714-70
- Jonathan Edwards – 1703-58
- Samuel Davies – 1723-61
- John Wesley – 1703-91
RESOURCES
- Apostles Creed
- Augustine’s Love Sermon
- Calvin on the Sovereignty of God
- John Edwards – Free Will of Mankind
- Life of Charlemagne
- Malleus Malificarum
- Pilgrim’s Progress
- Wycliff Wicket
REFERENCES
The Church in the Roman Empire before A.D. 170, by Sir William Mitchell Ramsay
Boyd, William Kenneth, 1905; The ecclesiastical edicts of the Theodosian code, Columbia University Press
puritandownloads.com – Thousands of Links to Free Audio, Video and Printed Resources