Journey through Church History | Christa Petzold

In this episode of The Concordia Publishing House Podcast, Elizabeth Pittman is joined by Christa Petzold, author of the new curriculum Journey through Church History. Christa explores why we should study and teach our children church history and how we are a part of God’s family through our baptisms. 

Find out more about Christa’s new work at cph.org/churchhistory.

 Show Notes

Just as you are joined to Christ in your Baptism, you are joined to a family of believers who have gone before you. In Journey through Church History, Christa Petzold helps us discover men and women from church history who witness to Jesus Christ—martyrs, historians, apologists, theologians, translators, and more. Listen to the full episode as Christa previews the curriculum and shows how we can dig in and uncover our family tree rooted in Christ.

Questions

·        Church history seems universal, why does it matter that we have a text that describes the history of the Christian church from a distinctly Lutheran perspective? How does church history look different when it’s written from say a reformed perspective?

·        How early is too early to start teaching children about church history? 

·        Why is it important to start educating children about church history?

·        The new Journey through Church History book covers a lot of ground! Can you talk a little bit about some of the historical persons covered? Why were there so few women covered? How did you select the people and topics covered?

·        How does studying church history strengthen your faith and deepen your understanding of Biblical truths?

·        Some might think that this topic is too difficult or “above the heads” of younger children, and yet you included a coloring page in the Leader guide. How do you plan to use this curriculum with a broad range of ages in your homeschool situation? How might that translate for others doing the same?

·        Which theological ideas that people fought over in the early centuries of the Church surprised you? I.e. Are we still fighting over some of the same issues as the early church? 

About the Guest
 
Christa Petzold lives with her husband and four children in northern Illinois. She has a MA in Theology from Concordia University Irvine, a BA in Mathematics and Lutheran Secondary Education from Concordia University Wisconsin and is currently pursuing a PhD in History of Exegesis from Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis. She is a coauthor of Male and Female: Embracing Your Role in God’s Design, author of Gathered by Christ: The Overlooked Gift of Church, and author of Journey Through Church History Curriculum. She spends her time homeschooling, teaching theology, writing, and learning as much as she can about church history.