Sacred Roots: Rediscovering the Ancient Faith

This ongoing series called “Sacred Roots: Rediscovering the Ancient Faith” is a review of church history, starting with its formative roots among the apostles, a review of the early church, and extending to the monastic period, the radical reformation, and beyond.

The vision for this series is to humbly and lovingly rediscover the history of God’s people in order to reground, renew, retether our faith and practice.

[We seek to promote] “the theology and practice of the suffering, persecuted churches of history. This includes the early church, the Waldensians, the followers of John Wycliffe [Lollards], and the Anabaptists…

These groups have helped to carry the true faith that was once delivered to the saints… Many Christians sense deep down that there is supposed to be something more, but are unsure of what that something is. These longings can be fulfilled only by discovering God’s true intent for His people…

We must not be content with any goal less than every tribe on this world having a faithful Christian witness. Once the church properly discovers its identity, purpose, and form as the pillar and ground of the truth, the knowledge of God will spread over this world as the waters cover the seas.”

Preface, King Jesus Claims His Church, Finny Kuruvilla

This presentation is part of a series called “Sacred Roots: Rediscovering the Ancient Faith.” Be sure to follow the entire series:

AD 0–100 (Apostolic era):

• Talk 1 — “Sacred Roots: Why Study Church History” by David Anderson
• Talk 2 — “Sacred Roots: The Book of Acts: The Kingdom of God Fills the Earth” by Finny Kuruvilla
• Talk 3 — “Sacred Roots: The Book of Acts: Descriptive or Prescriptive?” by Finny Kuruvilla
• Talk 5 — “Sacred Roots: Why ‘Above All’ Matters: Moses, Jesus, James, Paul, Maximilian, and You” by Zack Johnson

AD 100–300 (Ante-Nicene era):

• Talk 4 — “Sacred Roots: Why Study the Early Christians” by David Bercot
• Talk 8 — “Sacred Roots: Practical Distinctives of the Early Church” by David Anderson
• Talk 16 — “Sacred Roots: Canonization of the New Testament” by Philip Hess
• Talk 6 — “Sacred Roots: Gnosticism: The First Serious Threat to the Church” by Stephen Russell
• Talk 7 — “Sacred Roots: Neo-gnosticism: Today’s Most Serious Threat to the Church” by Stephen Russell
• Talk 14 — “Sacred Roots: Nature of the Church: ‘Assembly of the Saints’ vs. ‘Hospital for Sinners'” by David Anderson
• Talk 10 — “Sacred Roots: Beyond the West: How Africa Shaped Christianity” by Anan Twijjukye

300–800 (early Medieval era)

• Talk 11 — “Sacred Roots: Trinity and Christology – part 1” by David Anderson
• Talk 12 — “Sacred Roots: Trinity and Christology – part 2” by David Anderson
• Talk 9 — “Sacred Roots: Development of the Relationship Between Church and State” by Stephen Russell

800-1400 (late Medieval era)

• Talk 15 — “Sacred Roots: Monasticism: Holiness and the Communal Rhythm of Life” by David Anderson
• Talk 13 — “Sacred Roots: Medieval Europe: The Dark Ages, or…?” by Stephen Russell

1400–1600 (Reformation era)

• Talk 17 — “Sacred Roots: Setting the Stage for the Reformation” by Stephen Russell
• Talk 18 — “Sacred Roots: Panel discussion Q&A on church history” by Stephen Russell, Finny Kuruvilla, David Anderson, and Philip Hess
• Talk 19 — “Sacred Roots: The Radical Reformation: A Model for Our Time” by Dean Taylor
• Talk 20 — “Sacred Roots: The Anabaptists, the Sacraments, and the Words of Jesus” by Dean Taylor
• Talk 21 — “Sacred Roots: Q&A on the Anabaptists’ Understanding of the Sacraments” by Dean Taylor
• Talk 22 — “Sacred Roots: Martyrs Only in the Past: What About Us?” by Stephen Gingerich
• Talk 23 — “Sacred Roots: Faith at the Stake: Michael Sattler and the Cost of Discipleship” by Finny Kuruvilla
• Talk 24 — “Sacred Roots: Separation—a Swiss Brethren Article of Faith” by Edsel Burdge
• Talk 25 — “Sacred Roots: How the Reformers Slipped in Soteriology” by Philip Hess

We want to thank and credit David Anderson and Stephen Russell for helping to organize this series:

David Anderson is a teacher and a father of three who lives in Medford, Massachusetts. Raised in a mainline Protestant denomination, David experienced the call of Christ to forsake all and follow when he was 20 years old while studying at the College of William and Mary. Dropping out of college, he explored various expressions of Christianity before finding solace in obedience to Jesus. After moving to Boston, he finished his education at Sattler College. He is currently teaching at Sattler College, completing a Master’s degree in Theological Studies with an emphasis in Church History at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and is a regular teacher at Followers of the Way in Boston.

Stephen Russell has taught at Faith Builders for 23 years.  Prior to that, he has taught in private Christian schools for five years and worked for Choice Books for 18 years. He received a BA in European Studies from George Mason University and a MA in Church History and Theology from Wheaton Grad School.

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