Biblical History and Related Materials

The Bible contains the fundamental teachings of the Christian faith but many historical events that are important to our understanding of Christianity are not included in The Bible.

Studying the history and cultures of biblical events provides better perspectives on the development of Christianity.

The sites listed below, in no particular order, have been compiled by Theology Degrees On-line and offer a wealth of valuable information for bible students.



Biblical History Sites


Christian History Institute

ChristianHistoryInstitute

The Christian History Institute is a vast resource for the study of the history of Christianity. Their aim is to make Christian history a delight to the widest possible audience, using modern media such as films produced by their sister company, Vision Video.


Bible Gateway

BibleGateway

Bible Gateway is a resource that provides researchers with various bibles, devotionals, passage lookups, keyword searches, and an app that can keep that research going when you _ re on the go. Additionally, this tool allows you to read and research scripture online all in the language or translation of your choice.


Medievalists.net

Medievalistsnet

Medievalists.net is _ where the Middle Ages begin, _ offering articles, videos, interviews, and many more features that describe the environment that fostered Christianity _ s growth during that time period. This is a well-rounded history site that provides background for just about any research during the Middle Ages.


Centre for the Study of Christian Origins

CentrefortheStudyofChristianOrigins

CSCO is under the umbrella of the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh. This collection of scholars is committed to studying early Christianity, with specialists who focus on the New Testament, Patristics, and the Late Antique World.


Christian History for Everyman

ChristianHistoryforEveryman

Paul Pavao, the author of this website, became a Christian in 1982. Since that time, he focused on the Book of Acts, growing churches, and finally planting one in East Tennessee. His battle with Leukemia also serves as part of his testimony in a site filled with ancient writings, doctrines, teachings, and Christian church history.


Public Domain Maps

PublicDomainMaps

This site contains two public domain maps of the Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity, and some resources that can help anyone who is interested in ancient cartography. The maps are excellent resources for presentations on the ancient Mediterranean world.


Glossary for the Study of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

GlossaryfortheStudyofJudaismChristianityandIslam

Robert A. Kraft from the University of Pennsylvania initially prepared this useful glossary and updates it to reflect any new material. This site is an excellent resource for scholarly Christian studies.


Electronic New Testament Educational Resources

ElectronicNewTestamentEducationalResources

Electronic New Testament Educational Resources has all the resources you could ask for when it comes to the New Testament. From Audio walkthroughs to glossaries and help with different translations.


Monergism _ s Directory of Theology: History of Christianity

MonergismsDirectoryofTheologyHistoryofChristianity

Monergism _ s Directory of Theology: History of Christianity is a resource with ample documents relating to various parts of Christian scripture. With nearly 20 topics to choose from, it _ s a great place to get started when exploring Christian history.


History of the Early Church

HistoryoftheEarlyChurch

This all-encompassing site focuses on early church history and the dynamic faith of the early Christians. The site is dedicated to a simple Gospel message that early Christians received from the Apostles, including books, teachings, doctrines, and translation projects.


Early Church History _ CH101

EarlyChurchHistoryCH101

This site covers the basics of early church history, including insights into the Greek and Roman world during the first three centuries of Christianity. As an added bonus, this site offers information on how the New Testament Canon was formed.


Early Christianity and the Church

EarlyChristianityandtheChurch

This article on early Christianity and the Church is offered as part of a course on the history of Western civilization at Utah State University. The history, which includes Christian controversies, concludes with hints at how the Muslims took Near East theological traditions to create a novel response to classical Christian paradoxes.


Early Accounts of the Temple of Jerusalem

EarlyAccountsoftheTempleofJerusalem

Early Accounts of the Temple of Jerusalem is for any practicing scholar and Christian who wishes to learn more about the creation of the Temple of Jerusalem, as well as other significant historical facts pertaining to the time.


The History of Christianity in 25 Objects: Introduction

TheHistoryofChristianityin25ObjectsIntroduction

The History of Christianity in 25 Objects is a great series that breaks down the religion of Christianity and many smaller sections that makes it much easier to retain new information relating to some of the most important pieces of its history. This Introduction section is a great primer for this very interesting series of posts.


Patheos Library: Christianity

PatheosLibraryChristianity

Patheos.com is a site that promotes a forum for discussing Faith and their Christianity section explains origins, history, beliefs, rituals and worship routines, ethics, and more.


The New Testament Gateway

TheNewTestamentGateway

The New Testament Gateway is an internet directory of resources relating to the New Testament. It has been awarded numerous accolades since its inception and is fantastic for research.


History of Christianity

HistoryofChristianity

History of Christianity is an overview of some of the most integral milestones in within the religion and supplements it with articles on that examine different aspects within the religion.


Evangelical Textual Criticism

EvangelicalTextualCriticism

Evangelical Textual Criticism is a forum for individuals to get information relating to the Bible and the original manuscripts. They convey very factual information through the perspective of historic evangelical theology.


Bible Notes

BibleNotes

Bible Notes is a site that summarizes different parts of the Bible and has compiled great sources of information for those who work in research and need to quickly work through the content.


Early Church History Book List: Fresno Pacific

EarlyChurchHistoryBookListFresnoPacific

Fresno Pacific University provides users with a thorough book list of Early Church History, making it easier for those interested in Christianity and history to find useful reference tools.


The Tertullian Project

TheTertullianProject

The Tertullian Project is a site that chronicles some of the most relevant information from the man Tertullian who lived in the ancient city of Carthage in 200AD.


Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism

JewishRootsofEasternChristianMysticism

Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism is a seminar that explains ongoing research from graduate students in the department of theology at Marquette University.


Crisis Magazine _ s Crash Course on the Crusades

CrisisMagazinesCrashCourseontheCrusades

This article about the Crusades argues that pop culture has tainted the Crusades and Crusaders, reinforcing the message that the Crusades were _ bad and obviously so. _ The idea that the Crusades were far more complicated and interesting is tackled here.


The Great Schism Between East and West in 1054

TheGreatSchismBetweenEastandWestin1054

The Great Schism between East and West in 1054 is a paper written by Elke Speliopoulos for a course requirement at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, Liberty University. The 14-page paper goes into great detail about the causes and results of this schism, along with detailed notes and citations.


Ancient Jewish History: The Great Revolt

AncientJewishHistoryTheGreatRevolt

The Jewish Virtual Library provides a perspective on The Great Revolt of 66-70 CE, when suppressed Jews revolted against Rome. The argument of this article is that this attack might well have been a terrible mistake, with an estimated one million Jews dying in the ordeal and the total loss of Jewish political authority in Israel until 1948.


Focus on Jerusalem _ The Fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

FocusonJerusalemTheFallofJerusalemin70AD

This interesting article focuses on the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD, but also incorporates biblical references. The last part of the article focuses on the rise of Jerusalem based upon various books and scriptures to point to the religious focus Jerusalem _ s environment when the Messiah returns.


Warfare during the Crusades

WarfareduringtheCrusades

The De Re Militari, initiated in 1992, is the Society for the Study of Medieval Military History. The page linked here specifically addresses warfare during the Crusades. The scholarly articles listed here offer citations for further reading and research.


Constantinople _ the Sack of 1204

ConstantinopletheSackof1204

The History of Islam site focuses here on the sack of Constantinople in 1204 AM. Written by Professor Dr. Nazeer Ahmed, this article offers an insight into how this event gave birth to the Renaissance.


Wars of Religion

WarsofReligion

This _ Wars of Religion _ site provides information about religious wars specifically in France from 1562-1579. Topics covered include the Saint Bartholomew _ s Day Massacre in 1572, when 50,000 French Protestants were slaughtered for their religious beliefs through an eradication program allowed by Charles IX.


The Massacre of St. Bartholomew _ s Day

TheMassacreofStBartholomewsDay

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew _ s is a very notable moment in Christian history and this page from Hanover College details a very specific part.


Unam Sanctam Catholicam

UnamSanctamCatholicam

Unam Sanctam Catholicism is a regularly updated blog that supports the purity and sanctity of Catholicism through discussion of current and historical events.


History.net: First Jewish-Roman War

HistorynetFirstJewishRomanWar

The first Jewish-Roman War in 64 AD is chronicled in this account from History Net. This is the war that pushed a priest named Joseph ben Mattathias (Flavius Josephus) to the forefront of history as the principal historian of the Jewish War.


Padfield.com: The Destruction Of Jerusalem

PadfieldcomTheDestructionOfJerusalem

This article by David Padfield addresses the 24th Chapter of Matthew, examining the context of the chapter and its application to Jerusalem _ s destruction in 70 AD. This is part one of a two-part article filled with references and suggested reading for further studies.


Catholic Education Resource Center: The Crusades

CatholicEducationResourceCenterTheCrusades

The Catholic Education Center is an insightful tool that allows people to get information relating to the Crusades, primarily aimed at junior or seniors in high school. While incredibly factual, it also presents everything in an apologetic light that does not aim to justify the brutal implications of the Crusades.


The Finer Times: The Great Schism

TheFinerTimesTheGreatSchism

This article addresses the Great Schism in Western Christendom that divided the church beginning in 1378 and ending in 1417. The causes and results are detailed here, and a list of related articles, such as the Middle Ages Battles, is included at the bottom of the page.


History.com: The Crusades

HistorycomTheCrusades

The History Channel has long stood as an incredible source of information on just about any historical subject and their guide on the Crusades is no exceptions. With over 15 videos and a photo gallery, they _ ve quickly established themselves as one of the foremost sources on this period.


Catholic Answers: The Inquisition

CatholicAnswersTheInquisition

Catholic Answers: The Inquisition explains with great detail the Medieval Inquisition and some of the less-known facts that are very relevant to properly painting a picture of the events involved.


Heritage History: Jewish-Roman Wars

HeritageHistoryJewishRomanWars

Heritage History is a great tool for getting information about different wars and social developments for different cultures historically. The section on Jewish-Roman Wars is particularly insightful to the struggles faced in the early A.D. days.


Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics

CenterforReformedTheologyandApologetics

The Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics (CRTA) focuses on providing biblically sound resources for its readers. Calvinism is the foundation, with a strict subscriptionist view of the Westminster Standards.


A History of Hypo-Calvinism

AHistoryofHypoCalvinism

Marc D. Carpenter offers his perspectives on the history of Hypo-Calvinism, or Christians who think that God suffers from conflicted feelings. Carpenter argues that this type of thinking is illogical and an _ unstable form of Calvinism that revels in logical inconsistency. _


The Flow of History - The Reformation

FlowofHistoryTheReformation

The Flow of History presents an innovative approach to teaching history and this particular page looks at The Reformation and Calvinism _ s role. It _ s dense with information, so make sure to read up on it.


TULIP

TULIP

TULIP is an acronym that summarizes the five points of Calvinism. The site details each aspect, along with a large seminar from The Bethlehem Institute.



Sites for Related Materials

Christian history is a deep and broad topic, and even the history of a single book of the bible could fill volumes. These sites offer a glimpse of several important points of discussion for theology students to know about.


Orthodox Church in America: Monasticism

OrthodoxChurchinAmericaMonasticism

The Orthodox Church in America offers their historical perspective on Christian monasticism, providing an explanation of the three formal types of monastic organization as well as praise for the genuine call to a monastic life.


The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

TheOrientalInstituteoftheUniversityofChicago

The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is an amazing collecting of studies about the ancient Near East, James Henry Breasted founded this research organization and museum in 1919, and it is recognized internationally today as a pioneer in the archaeology, philology, and history of early Near Eastern civilizations.


Overview of Medieval Monasticism

OverviewofMedievalMonasticism

This history comes from the Director of the University Honors Program at Dallas Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Philip Mitchell shares his knowledge about early Christian Monasticism through to reform movements and includes a helpful timeline.


The Seven Churches of Asia Minor (Part I)

TheSevenChurchesofAsiaMinorPartI

This article contemplates the _ church _ as mentioned in the Book of Revelation, specifically the letters to the seven churches in early Christian history. Links are included with notes and audio to help readers understand the information on this page.


Biblical Archaeology Society: Bible History Daily

BiblicalArchaeologySocietyBibleHistoryDaily

The Biblical Archaeology Society: Bible History Daily is a source for getting up-to-date information delivered daily in the form of various eBooks and articles on Biblical archaeology topics.


Scrolls from the Dead Sea

ScrollsfromtheDeadSea

Scrolls from the Dead Sea is an exhibit at the Library of Congress that presents the controversial scrolls that are supposedly over 2000 years old. The exhibition is divided into 5 parts, each presenting a large amount of perspective regarding these scrolls.


Papyri.info

Papyriinfo

Papyri.info is a fascinating resource for studying papyrological documents and various papyrological resources. Additionally, there _ s a customizable search engine for quickly going through various collections.


Monasticism in Western Medieval Europe

MonasticisminWesternMedievalEurope

Monasticism in Western Medieval Europe details those in Western Europe during the medieval times who renounced worldly pursuits in order to commit a stronger focus to religious endeavors.


Seven Churches of Revelation

SevenChurchesofRevelation

Seven Churches of Revelation are located in present-day Turkey. The site explains how to visit these ruins and the historical significance of them.