Church
History: The First 500 Hundred Years is the title and subject of a
series of talks given in 2008 by Dr Edmund Mazza, Professor in the
Department of History and Political Science at the evangelical
Christian Azusa Pacific University in southern California which has
the motto 'God First' and affirms the supremacy of Jesus Christ in
all areas of life. Dr Mazza, educated at the City University of New
York, specialises in Ancient History, the Church Fathers, Medieval
History, the Roman Empire: Beginnings and Endings, the
Thirteenth-Century Mendicant Orders, and Russian History. Dr Mazza is
one of the relatively few people in the world today who are real
experts in Church History, and these talks demonstrate his profound
knowledge of the subject. A skilled story-teller, Dr Mazza has the
gift of the gab and a down-to-earth sense of humour which helps keeps
his audience engaged and interested in what he has to say. Church
History is a fascinating subject, and one that is of vital importance
to Catholics, for it is about the origins, development and meaning of
the Christian faith and the mystical body of Christ which is the
Church. Most importantly, perhaps, Dr Mazza appreciates what it is
that people need to know about Church History in order that they may
understand their Catholic faith and be equipped to defend it, for Dr
Mazza is an ardent and effective apologist for Roman Catholicism.
The talks
are contained on four CDs which span the first 500 years of the
Christian Church from 33 AD to 533 AD. The first talk begins with an
examination of Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation, so when
listening to these talks, make sure you have your Catholic Bible at
hand! Dr Mazza then looks at the persecution of the early Church by
the Roman Empire (the attacks on Christianity from without), and the
heresies of the first and second centuries (the attacks on
Christianity from within). He talks about the heretics and their
errors, and the efforts of the early Church Fathers (such as Saint
Irenaeus of Lyons) to refute them. In particular, Dr Mazza focuses on
the magician Simon Magus and Gnosticism, which taught that everything
material was evil. Later talks concern the heresies of the second to
fourth centuries AD such as Arianism, Nestorianism and the Donatists,
and and the harmful effects of the Persian Gnostic cult of
Manichaeism. Dr Mazza talks at length about the life and work of
Saint Augustine of Hippo and the role of his mother, Saint Monica,
and Saint Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan in effecting the conversion of
Augustine to the true Catholic faith. The talks also cover Pope Saint
Gregory the Great and the conversion of the Angles and Saxons by
Saint Augustine of Canterbury, the conversion of the Irish to
Christianity by Saint Patrick, monasticism in the early Church and
Saint Anthony of Egypt, the barbarian invasions of Rome in the fifth
and sixth centuries, and the Byzantine emperor Justinian and his
empress Theodora.
These CDs can be ordered online:
In Australia:
http://parousiamedia.com/church-history-the-first-500-years/
In the United States:
https://www.saintjoe.com/products/church-history-the-first-500-years
