A fact filled survey of the unfolding of God’s plan in the church from Pentecost to the present. Highlights of the class include: early martyrs and life in the catacombs of Rome; a synopsis of the Greek and Latin church fathers; a summary of all major ecumenical church councils; the centuries long development of various doctrines, both true and false; Islam’s threat against the church; the crusades; specific incidents of Papal corruption in the “midnight hour of the Papacy”; the horrors of the Inquisition; the “Babylonian captivity” of the papacy and its subsequent popes and anti-popes; how denominational churches formed from “splinter groups” of believers dissatisfied with the status quo of their day; revivalists of England and America; the return of Pentecost and the Neo-Pentecostal church; biographical details about the men who shaped church history; and the analysis of factors determining the rise and fall of spiritual movements and counter movements over the centuries. As the instructor focuses on the complex family tree of Protestant denominations which originated in Europe and America, students learn the causes behind the many splits and how the various splinter groups prospered or declined. Many of the lectures are richly edifying; and students share the heartfelt emotions of joy, disappointment, suspense, humor, and spiritual hunger experienced by those whose stories are being retold.