You updated your password.

Sign in to access any of your purchased courses or streaming services.

Reset Password

Enter the email address you used to create your account. We will email you instructions on how to reset your password.

Forgot Your Email Address? Contact Us

From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity

This classic Great Course has been digitally remastered to enhance the visual presentation.

Uncover the riveting story of the early formation of the Christian religion and learn how this faith grew from 20 followers to 2 billion.
Guidebook
 
 
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Giving History without Religious beliefs I am a Christian, and this lecture did not change my beliefs. I read the 1-star ratings and many complaints that he did not include any Christian beliefs or understandings. I found it informed me of other ways to look at Jesus. I knew Jesus was Jewish, but did not realize he preached their beliefs. I did not know as much about Paul as the professor included. In some reviews, this professor was criticized for saying that the Pagans converted and believed the Apostles because of their miracles, yet they did not give the reason they thought they believed. People reason things out, and miracles make sense to me. His explanation of the reasons why Christians do not follow the "laws" of the Old Testament was interesting. I knew that Jewish people feel they can be saved if they just follow those laws, but I did not understand why Christians just ignored those laws. Also, very good information to think about why Jewish people feel they have been targeted for antisemitism. I was surprised to learn about how Christians were attacked for things like incest by Jewish people in history and now support them. I feel the professor stayed away from religious beliefs and just stuck to history, which the course said this.
Date published: 2026-07-01
Rated 4 out of 5 by from Very good, but not complete I liked this courses lot. It was full of information, and I found the professor quite impartial in the presentation of the fact, treating the subject and history, not as doctrine. I was quite disappointed that a good number of topics were left out. What about st. Augustine? Or Arianism? Or the ride of monasticism? Or the council of Nicea? I understand that would require more lecture,but I think adding at least those topics would make the course more complete.
Date published: 2024-10-22
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Engrossingly informative. If you've ever wondered what early Christians thought, and what variety of views they held, then this course is for you. It else describes how "the orthodox" view of Christianity was first established, and how the Christian movement was immediately changed and transformed shortly after Constantine converted to Christianity.
Date published: 2024-09-08
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Another excellent course! Another excellent course by Prof Ehrman. He has a pretty good delivery style, easy to understand instructions and interesting scholary input in each of the lectures. The first 400 years of Chritstianity covered in detail, scholary fasion with focus on historical argument, textual intepretations and people of the time. I'd like to recommend this to religious study students, history buffs and the like. Thanks "Great Courses"
Date published: 2024-07-18
Rated 3 out of 5 by from Professor is an agnostic atheist While there is some interesting historical context here, it is important to understand that the professor is an agnostic atheist and it is through this lens that he teaches.
Date published: 2024-07-05
Rated 1 out of 5 by from Very disappointed Ehrman has difficulty separating historical fact from his own theories. For example, he says the pagans converted to Christianity because they were told the Apostles performed miracles. It’s not that they found the life and message of Jesus compelling, no, it’s because the Apostles performed miracles. Don’t waste your time.
Date published: 2023-06-05
Rated 1 out of 5 by from This course is garbage I have always enjoyed the many Great Courses series that I have bought. This one was a waste of time and money. You don't want to believe in Jesus, that is fine, but instead of teaching the subject matter, Ehrman presents mere propaganda. So much of what he talks about has nothing to do the with actual history and more to do with his view point on what he personally believes. I will never get a course taught by him again.
Date published: 2023-02-09
Rated 1 out of 5 by from I won't buy Ehrman courses anymore. As other reviewers have pointed out, Ehrman is biased and his 'arguments?' are childish. The great disaster of the teaching company, why many people I know won't buy from them because of, is the joke and the poorly reasoned "The Historical Jesus'. It is prejudice wrapped as being a historical argument. When it comes to Christianity, I find the Teaching Company as being bias. Be careful and don't hesitate to send them back.
Date published: 2022-12-01
  • y_2026, m_7, d_7, h_13
  • bvseo_bulk, prod_bvrr, vn_bulk_3.0.46
  • cp_1, bvpage1
  • co_hasreviews, tv_12, tr_117
  • loc_en_CA, sid_6577, prod, sort_[SortEntry(order=SUBMISSION_TIME, direction=DESCENDING)]
  • clientName_teachco
  • bvseo_sdk, p_sdk, 3.2.1
  • CLOUD, getReviews, 6.57ms
  • REVIEWS, PRODUCT
The Birth of Christianity

01: The Birth of Christianity

This lecture introduces some issues essential to understanding how Christianity began, grew away from its Jewish roots, and ultimately became the most important religion of our civilization.

32 min
The Religious World of Early Christianity

02: The Religious World of Early Christianity

This lecture introduces the pagan, polytheistic religions that dominated the early world and the most important Roman religion for the birth of Christianity: Judaism, the religion of Jesus and his followers.

31 min
The Historical Jesus

03: The Historical Jesus

In the first of three lectures on the “birth” of Christianity, Professor Ehrman examines the life of Jesus of Nazareth, as referred to both outside the New Testament and within the Gospels themselves.

30 min
Oral and Written Traditions about Jesus

04: Oral and Written Traditions about Jesus

This lecture looks at how four anonymous authors who lived decades after Jesus recorded traditions that had been circulating orally over the intervening years, and examines the extent to which those traditions had been modified in the retelling.

31 min
The Apostle Paul

05: The Apostle Paul

Based on a visionary experience of the resurrected Jesus, a Jewish Pharisee converts to Christianity and begins an intense missionary experience to win over non-Jews to faith in Jesus.

31 min
The Beginning of Jewish-Christian Relations

06: The Beginning of Jewish-Christian Relations

In the first of three lectures dealing with the relationship of Jews and Christians in the ancient world, we consider how Christianity started as a sect within Judaism, yet quickly became a religion separate from Judaism.

30 min
The Anti-Jewish Use of the Old Testament

07: The Anti-Jewish Use of the Old Testament

How could most early Christians, who held on to the Jewish Scriptures as revelations from God, claim these Scriptures for their own when they did not follow many of the laws set forth in them? This lecture considers two key figures in the early Christian-Jewish debates.

31 min
The Rise of Christian Anti-Judaism

08: The Rise of Christian Anti-Judaism

This lecture explores the social and historical situations that led to the rejection of Judaism by many Christians in the centuries after Christ.

31 min
The Early Christian Mission

09: The Early Christian Mission

This is the first of two lectures specifically exploring how Christianity became, in only 300 years, a world religion that commanded the attention and, eventually, respect of the Roman society and government.

31 min
The Christianization of the Roman Empire

10: The Christianization of the Roman Empire

In this lecture, we will move into the periods of the Christian mission after Paul to see how far and how quickly the religion spread, the reasons for its success, and its ultimate reach to the upper echelons of the Roman government.

31 min
The Early Persecutions of the State

11: The Early Persecutions of the State

In the first of four lectures dealing with persecution and martyrdom in the early church, Professor Ehrman examines some graphic early accounts and considers why these persecutions took place and the Christian reaction to them.

30 min
The Causes of Christian Persecution

12: The Causes of Christian Persecution

This lecture provides a historical sketch of the course of persecution from the 1st to 3rd centuries, asking what motivated the two most common kinds of violence against Christians: grassroots persecutions and those ordered by the state.

30 min
Christian Reactions to Persecution

13: Christian Reactions to Persecution

Many early Christians recanted their faith in the face of persecution, but many others stayed faithful to what they believed.

30 min
The Early Christian Apologists

14: The Early Christian Apologists

This lecture examines the strategies of an elite group of Christian intellectuals who defended Christianity against the charges of atheism and immorality commonly leveled against them, focusing on the work of one of the most interesting of them, Athenagoras.

31 min
The Diversity of Early Christian Communities

15: The Diversity of Early Christian Communities

This is the first of four lectures that will consider the wide-ranging theological diversity of early Christianity and the internal conflicts that emerged as Christians tried to determine once and for all the “right” beliefs and practices.

31 min
Christianities of the Second Century

16: Christianities of the Second Century

Many groups of Christians in the 2nd century claimed to have the only true understanding of the faith, including three that are the focus of this lecture: Ebionites, Marcionites, and Gnostics.

31 min
The Role of Pseudepigrapha

17: The Role of Pseudepigrapha

This lecture considers several of the supporting—and usually forged— “sacred texts” possessed by the various groups of Christians arguing for their own version of the faith.

30 min
The Victory of the Proto-Orthodox

18: The Victory of the Proto-Orthodox

This lecture examines how the conflicts were waged between “heretical” forms of Christianity and the proto-orthodox Christians who eventually established themselves as dominant.

31 min
The New Testament Canon

19: The New Testament Canon

This is the first of five lectures devoted to the question of how traditional Christianity—with its canon of Scripture, creeds, liturgy, and church offices—emerged out of the conflicts of the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

30 min
The Development of Church Offices

20: The Development of Church Offices

This lecture considers the movement from the charismatic organization of the early churches founded by Paul to the official church hierarchy in place by the end of the 4th century, with its elders, deacons, priests, and bishops.

30 min
The Rise of Christian Liturgy

21: The Rise of Christian Liturgy

This is an in-depth look at how Christian liturgical practices arose, particularly those that became virtually universal throughout the church: baptism and the Eucharist.

30 min
The Beginnings of Normative Theology

22: The Beginnings of Normative Theology

This lecture considers the development of a normative theology among the proto-orthodox, who insisted that believing the “right” things was essential for salvation and who took care, therefore, to formulate correct doctrine and differentiate it from false doctrine.

31 min
The Doctrine of the Trinity

23: The Doctrine of the Trinity

This lecture considers the most distinctive theological development of early Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity: God exists in three entities—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—who are equal and distinct but make up one God.

30 min
Christianity and the Conquest of Empire

24: Christianity and the Conquest of Empire

This concluding lecture considers the character of Christianity at the beginning of the 4th century and its enormous consequences for the history of Western civilization.

30 min

Overview Course No. 6577

Did the ancient Jews of Jesus' time always believe in a single, all-powerful God? How did breaking away from their Jewish roots make Christians more vulnerable in the Roman world? What were the origins of what we now consider the distinctively Christian liturgical practices of baptism and the Eucharist?

As these 24 lectures show, the answers are quite surprising. Professor Ehrman takes you back to Christianity's first three centuries to explain its transition from the religion of Jesus to a religion about Jesus. He introduces you to lost Christianities and their sacred writings. And he shows how many of those writings were originally proscribed or destroyed, only to be rediscovered in modern times.

You'll learn how a single group from among many won the struggle for dominance, which allowed it to establish the beliefs central to the faith, rewrite the history of Christianity's internal conflicts, and produce a canon of sacred texts (the New Testament) that supported its own views. You'll also examine Christianity from several directions, including the faith's beginnings, Jewish-Christian relations, hostility to the Christian mission, and internal struggles within the faith.

These lectures are an engaging experience that will increase your understanding of Christianity today. They offer you a scholar's perspective on the origins of what Professor Ehrman describes as the most important institution in Western civilization.

This classic Great Course has been digitally remastered to enhance the visual presentation.

About

Bart D. Ehrman
Bart D. Ehrman

After his crucifixion, Jesus' disciples came to believe he'd been raised from the dead and made a divine being. What had seemed like defeat became for them the ultimate cosmic victory.

INSTITUTION

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Bart D. Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his MDiv and PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has written or edited more than 30 books, including six New York Times bestsellers: Misquoting Jesus; God’s Problem; Jesus, Interrupted; Forged; How Jesus Became God; and The Triumph of Christianity. He has also received several teaching honors, including the John William Pope Center Spirit of Inquiry Award and the UNC Students’ Undergraduate Teaching Award.

By This Professor

How Jesus Became God
854
The New Testament
854
History of the Bible: The Making of the New Testament Canon
854
The Historical Jesus
854
Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles over Authentication
854
The Triumph of Christianity
854
The Greatest Controversies of Early Christian History
854
From Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity
854

This program is restricted from being viewed in your country. This is due to restrictions from the creator of the program.

Please choose another of our wide variety of programs to enjoy!