Introducing, Dr. Ryan Reeves

May 13, 2017

You know I am a “history-nut”. I read books about Medieval history or the history of World War II or the history of ancient Mesopotamia just for fun. Well, I gotta tell ya…I have just discovered the GREATEST youtube channel I have ever seen. Go to youtube and look up “Ryan Reeves”. There you will find dozens and dozens and dozens of lessons on….wait for it… ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance church history!! I know, it’s too good to be true, isn’t it?? I mean, a veritable smorgasbord of the very finest in lectures about the Council of Chalcedon, Constantine, Martin Luther and Calvin (tons of info on them), Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Ambrose and Jerome, the Great Schism of 1054 (no way!) and even a whole series dissecting the works of G.K.Chesterton, Tolkien, and CS Lewis (yes way!!!).

Crazy ain’t it? I have seriously spent the last two weeks watching at least two, maybe three of these videos each and every day. Seriously, Dr. Reeves is Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and Dean of their Jacksonville campus. He earned is PhD in historical theology from Cambridge University. Lest anyone think, “Oh my gosh, watch a 30 minute lecture on King Henry VIII and the Tudors of England??? How boring!” Wait just a second. This guy is really good. The videos are illustrated with beautiful paintings and good notes, and Dr. Reeves definitely teaches with a commanding grasp of each subject, good humor, and good application. Church history, tragically, simply is not taught in most American pulpits, and consequently our congregations are often very anemic theologically.

I dare you to watch just one. Some of them are 90 seconds, some are about 8 minutes, but the “prime rib” lectures are usually 30 minutes long. You will be riveted…. and you’ll learn good stuff too!!! Want to know what John Wycliffe actually believed, how the Medieval church used Aristotle, or just what in the world the Council of Nicea was about (and you should know!), watch these videos! You won’t regret it!