A 71-page, one year guide through the primary source texts of Christian theology.

I get asked all the time: Austin, how can I start learning about church history? People come across videos talking about the “early church” the “church fathers” or they hear, “church history proves … “ and they feel like they’re late to a conversation, in over their heads. 

I get it. That was me for a long time. When I stumbled into Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant debates, I felt like I’d been thrown into the deep end with little sense of which way was up. And the truth is, learning church history is a daunting task. We’re talking about 2,000 years worth of primary source material spanning multiple continents, languages, and schools of thought. Where do you even start? And how do you know what’s worth reading and what’s safe to skip?

I’ve spent the last six years and two college degrees trying to learn as much as I could about the history of Christianity. I’ve interviewed over 100 experts on my YouTube channel, Gospel Simplicity, and made over 600 videos along the way. Through all of that, I’ve been honing my answer to that original question: how can you start learning church history?

This guide is that answer.

It doesn't require you to go get a new college degree, quit your job, or devote every waking hour to this. I know that people have families, commitments, and that free time comes at a premium. I don’t have a solution that can make you an expert overnight, but I do think this guide can help you become conversant in a year if you can spare one hour—at most—a week for this.

This guide condenses the long story of church history into just 52 weeks worth of reading. And we’re going straight to the source. It's 52 weeks of undiluted, primary source material, specifically selected to introduce you to the key figures and main plot lines of the incredible story of Christian history.

Oh, and best of all, it’s curated so that all the readings are available for free online. Now, let me be clear, I can’t promise you’ll be an expert in a year. You won’t. But think of this as a tasting menu. An opportunity to have a brief introduction with all the most important characters in the story. And because it’s all from the primary sources, there’s no apologetic agenda or spin on this. If you want to be deep in history and learn this stuff for yourself, not just taking other people’s word for it, then this resource is for you.