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Lecture JG-02 - History, Polity and Ethos of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for Laity

by Jerry Gladson

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This course explores the history and polity of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) from its origins in the early 1800s to the present. Emphasis focuses on the pioneer founders of the denomination, Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone, and Walter Scott, and their influence on the movement that emerged out of their efforts. The growth of the denomination will be viewed in the context of national and international history as it grew to take its place among the established, mainstream churches of modern times. Attention will also be given to the Restructure of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) that has shaped its modern identity, polity, ethos, and mission.

A New Low Price To Make The Course Accessible

We have made a special pricing of this non-credit version of this course to make this course available to lay leaders, teachers, congregants of churches and small study groups. Christian College and TransformingTheChurch have endeavored to make this course as RELEVANT and as ACCESSIBLE to as many people as possible. Our goal is foster a broad understanding of the history of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). We offer this course to the Church and Her Servants with hopes that you can participate. Group discounts are also available for study groups of three or more.

Seminary-Quality Course

Despite its low price, this course contains seminary-level scholarship from a highly-respected professor. Dr. Jerry Gladson teaches the for-credit fully-interactive version of this course three times a year for Christian College to seminarians and clergy. The video lectures, reading assignments and pre-programmed discussion points are the same in both versions of the course. By dropping the class assessments, grading, assessments, exams, live sessions and the personal interaction with Dr. Gladson, we have been able to package a laity version of this course at an affordable price. Our hope is to make church history available to the broadest audience possible.

Part of Our Video Lecture Series

This course, "History, Polity and Ethos of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for Laity," is one of our video-only courses. The course is composed of eleven online lessons containing a total of 28 online videos (totaling more than eight hours) from Jerry Gladson. All video lectures are delivered as streaming video to media players embedded into each lecture’s page in a dedicated Virtual Classroom.

  • Video 01: 15:28 (mm:ss)
  • Video 02: 25:46 (mm:ss)
  • Video 03: 09:43 (mm:ss)
  • Video 04: 20:15 (mm:ss)
  • Video 05: 15:27 (mm:ss)
  • Video 06: 12:18 (mm:ss)
  • Video 07: 12:46 (mm:ss)
  • Video 08: 16:39 (mm:ss)
  • Video 09: 21:55 (mm:ss)
  • Video 10: 11:49 (mm:ss)
  • Video 11: 09:21 (mm:ss)
  • Video 12: 08:52 (mm:ss)
  • Video 13: 17:24 (mm:ss)
  • Video 14: 16:18 (mm:ss)
  • Video 15: 13:32 (mm:ss)
  • Video 16: 18:16 (mm:ss)
  • Video 17: 15:44 (mm:ss)
  • Video 18: 19:00 (mm:ss)
  • Video 19: 19:26 (mm:ss)
  • Video 20: 25:38 (mm:ss)
  • Video 21: 14:49 (mm:ss)
  • Video 22: 18:34 (mm:ss)
  • Video 23: 14:39 (mm:ss)
  • Video 24: 09:43 (mm:ss)
  • Video 25: 14:39 (mm:ss)
  • Video 26: 21:35 (mm:ss)
  • Video 27: 18:04 (mm:ss)
  • Video 28: 45:20 (mm:ss)

We recommend that you also purchase the course’s two textbooks as part of your study of this subject. There are optional readings and pre-programmed points for reflection posed by Dr. Gladson. You will get the most out of this course by using the videos and the books together. Study all at your own pace.

For the price of registration, you will receive 120 days of unlimited access to this course’s Virtual Classroom and all of its included videos and other class materials. You may come and go into this course’s online Virtual Classroom as often as you wish.

An Ideal Course for Lay Leaders, Teachers, Congregants and Small Groups

This course is designed for the lay leaders, teachers and congregants of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) who wish to learn more about the history, polity and ethos of Disciples. The course makes an excellent small-group study or a church-wide study.

Online Distance Learning

This a distance-learning course that can be completed online without the need for travel. All you need is a web browser and a broadband Internet connection. The course can be successfully used by people with only the most basic of computer skills.

Use any Device From Anywhere

Access this course from anywhere; at home, at the office or when out on the run. You can access our course videos 24x7 from anywhere you choose; you can in complete control. We fully support desktop devices as well as mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. The responsive design of all of our web pages and video players will automatically size our materials and rearrange page regions to fit best the particular device you choose to use. Included in this support is our Adaptive Streaming technology that will automatically and dynamically adjust our streaming speed to fit best your particular broadband connection. Go as slow as 3G wireless connections or as fast as fiber-to-the-home connections allow. Rest assured that for any device or connection speed you elect to use, we will support it to the best possible quality the device allows.

Additional Information About This History and Polity Course

In the sidebar on the right side of the page, there is additional information about this course. Please explore these pages for more information.

Course Instructor: Dr. Jerry Gladson

jerry_gladson_photo_200w.jpgFor more than a decade, Dr. Jerry Gladson has prepared and taught a foundational course for all those who enter ministry in Georgia: The Disciples of Christ -- History, Polity and Ethos.

Dr. Gladson has offered the for-credit version of this course, through Christian College, for those who were enrolled in the Institute for Christian Ministry and for Seminarians enrolled in five graduate theological seminaries in the Greater Atlanta Area. Many who have transferred their standing to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) through the Region of Georgia have also completed the for-credit version of this course.

Dr. Gladson graduated from Southern Adventist University with a B.A. (cum laude) in Theology, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt University. He is the author of twelve books, including Who Said Life is Fair? Job and the Problem of Evil (1985), A Theologian’s Journey (2000), The Five Exotic Scrolls of the Hebrew Bible (2009), and The Strangest Books in the Bible (2010).