As Ethiopia entered the 20th Century, there was trouble and hope. After a brutal invasion of the Italians just before World War 2, and after Italy’s defeat in the war, Ethiopia recovered and modernized. But in the late 1970s, a political stagnation led to Communist Revolution. It was then that one of Ethiopia’s great theologians took a stand. Gudin…

Today the Lutheran Church in Ethiopia is the largest Lutheran Church body in the World. That is thanks to the service of Onesimus Nesib, and many other faithful missionaries like him. Onesimus was born in 1856 in a remote part of Ethiopia. At 4 years old he was captured and enslaved. He was then bought, sold, escaped and recaptured multiple times. …

After Ethiopia survived near destruction at the hands of Gragn, a different battle began. Instead of a military battle, it was a battle of ideas for Ethiopia’s identity. Catholic missionaries began to arrive in Ethiopia in the late 1500s. And while some, like a man Petro Paez, legitimately hoped to find unity between Roman Catholics and Ethiopian O…

While Ethiopia had thrived under Zara Yaqob, it had dark days ahead. Ethiopia, always surrounded by hostile nations, would have to fight for its life as their neighbors grew stronger. Its very existence hung in the balance. But thanks to some new allies, and two kings who would spend their lives defending their nation and the church, Ethiopia, and …

Estifanos (1380-1454) is sometimes known as Africa’s first protestant, even though he lived 70 years before the Reformation. He believed that the Bible should be the measure of all else in the Church, and that salvation was already won fully by Jesus. His radical commitment to the authority of Scripture would cause a serious conflict with Zara Yaqo…

With Frumentius and Ezana, the Ethiopian church got off to a great start, but things did not stay that way. After 1,000 years, and centuries of setbacks, the nation and the church made a great comeback. It culminated in the reign of King Zara Yaqob in the mid 1400s. While his legacy is still felt in both the church and the nation, he is remembered …

This next series we will be learning all about the church of Ethiopia. This church is far more ancient than most in Europe and has a rich history of over 1,000 years, and yet is almost totally forgotten by the western Church. It all began with a captive turned accidental missionary, and a young prince in the early 300s AD.…

Welcome back! Yes, the podcast is coming back! Today’s episode is really just an update. I’ll introduce the new format for the show of “seasons,” and what that will look like. But as a bonus, along with this announcement is a mini episode on the author of the podcast’s official hymn: “For All the Saints,” a man named William Walsham How.…

While Rudolph may be the most famous reindeer of all, Nicholas very well might be the most famous saint of all. Except while he’s very famous, you probably don’t know much about him. While he is not all holly and jolly, he certainly was a man who cared deeply for families, and who should be remembered for his humble generosity.…

We continue our time in Ireland. Once Patrick was gone, the next generations would carry on his work. And before long, Ireland would be a powerhouse of Christian learning. Soon they would not be receiving missionaries, but sending them out to Scotland, England and the world beyond.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers

Everybody knows the name St. Patrick, but few people know about the actual man. While there are many legends around Patrick, he was a historical person, and a fascinating one at that. His life is an adventure story. He didn’t drive out any snakes, and there are no mentions of clovers, but he worked tirelessly to bring Christianity to the pagan Iris…

You have probably never heard of Jean Gerson, and that is a shame. Most students of Church History do not even know him. But you certainly should know about Jean Gerson. Gerson is a towering figure in the 1400s, and in the history of the whole Church. In great part, he was the one able to heal the Western Schism. But because he occupies a space in …

The fate of Jan Hus is a great tragedy in the history of the Church. He was an ardent follower of our friend John Wycliffe from last episode, although the two never met. He was opposed to the corruption he saw in the church, and he believed that all people should hear the Bible in their own language. But the church authorities were not willing to l…

John is known to some as the “Morning Star of the Reformation,” and to others, as the “Master of Error”. In a lot of ways, he is the forerunner of Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin: the more famous reformers of the 1500s. He believed that the Papacy had become corrupt, and the only pure standard for the church was the Bible. This inspir…

It’s fitting this episode comes out the day after Mother’s day, as Christine was a good mother. She was also a poet and the first professional female writer of the Middle Ages. She wrote about a very wide span of topics, from love to warfare, and was not afraid to challenges the ideas of her time. Through her writings she always encouraged virtue a…

This is the second part of the interview with Christian, so don’t listen to it until you’ve finished Part 1.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers

Today is a special interview episode! My friend and PhD candidate Christian Guebert will join us to take a look at Guillaume de Machaut, a man who changed church music forever. If you enjoy singing in church that is more than chanting, then at least to some degree you should thank Machaut. He helped bring new beauty and complexity into sacred music…

This episode we will learn about a king, known as “St. Louis”. Louis IX is one of only a few monarchs to be officially sainted, and I think he deserves it. Louis was a thoughtful, humble and capable leader. But while he was noble, he still had a tragic flaw that would ultimately lead to his early death.…

Today we will learn about our most famous forebearer yet: Francis of Assisi, also known simply as St. Francis. He is a man who was devoted to simplicity, poverty, nature, and most of all, his faith. He’s pretty hard not to like, which is why he was so honored then, and still is today.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers

Today we will discover a woman who defies categorization. Hildegard was a mystic, a theologian, an administrator, a composer, a playwright and a doctor. And she did all of this in the 1100s.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers

This episode we will discover the 10th Century playwright Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim. She is very distinguished as being both the first known Christian playwright, and the first known female playwright. She is also credited with bringing theatre back into the western world.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers

This episode we will jump ahead a little bit, to the 1000s. We’ll take a look at a great scholar, Anselm, the first of the “Scholastics” theologians. Anselm enjoyed diving deep into theology, but often was distracted by the new overlords of England, the Normans.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers

This episode we will look at two missionary brothers in the mid 800s AD. These two brothers were born in the Byzantine Empire, and would have adventures throughout the known world. Due in great part to these brothers’ efforts, Christianity would spread through the Slavic world.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers

https://c3f5cf.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/John-of-Damascus-1.1-Normalized-and-fixed.mp3 In this episode we are going east, all the way to Syria. Here we will meet John Mansur, more commonly known as John of Damascus. We’ll see how John was a brilliant and brave writer, preacher, and poet. And we’ll see why he is sometimes ca…

This episode we will look at Alcuin, the great teacher of Charlemagne’s court, and the key part of a mini renaissance that took place in the late 700s and early 800s under Charlemagne’s reign. We will see how he spread the learning from England all across Europe, and became good friends with the king and the whole royal family.…

This Episode we will look at a student of the schools and monasteries of Theodore, a missionary named Boniface. He will be very successful in his work, as he will become known as the “Apostle of Germany.” He was joined by many other missionaries, including his niece, Leoba, who would become famous in her own right.…

This episode we will look at the missionary work that Gregory started in England last episode. We will see how these 3 men helped England move from paganism to Christianity, and how they turned England from a backwater corner of Europe, to the leader of European scholarship.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers

In this episode we look at Gregory the Great (540-604). We’ll see how Gregory led the church from collapsing to thriving, and from the ancient world to the medieval world.Oleh The Faithful Forebearers