Christendom Series

Jul 07, 2023

I’ve been working through a series of articles on Christendom. You can find them below. As new articles are written, they will be posted here.

Christendom: An Introduction

Bob Wilson

May 2, 2023

I often write about leadership, power, and church structures. Some of the issues and ideas I’ve presented may seem at odds with how the church has always done things. And some of the questions I receive from readers back that up. There is an old story where one fish asks another, “How’s the water?” and the second fish replies, “What’s water?”

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Constantine and Christendom: How We Got Here

Bob Wilson

May 4, 2023

Constantine and Christendom: How We Got Here

In the previous post, I provided a brief overview of Christendom. I mentioned that while a definitive definition of the term is complex, Christendom is generally used to describe the relationship between the church and the Roman Empire (and subsequently the nation-states of Europe) over the past seventeen centuries.

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Christendom: Acknowledging the Good

Bob Wilson

May 9, 2023

Last week I wrote a couple of introductory posts on the topic of Christendom, providing a broad overview as well as a brief history of how it began. This post will look at some of the good things that resulted from this era, and the next will examine some of the negative results.

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3 Ways Christendom Has Been Bad for the Church

Bob Wilson

May 16, 2023

3 Ways Christendom Has Been Bad for the Church

This is the fourth post in a series I’ve been writing on Christendom. The previous ones (here, here and here) were to lay some groundwork as I move into the main idea I want to dig into: the damage done to the church by aligning with the Roman Empire and, subsequently, the nation-states of Europe.

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The Early Church or Christendom? Or a Third Way?

Bob Wilson

May 18, 2023

The Early Church or Christendom? Or a Third Way?

I was preparing to write a post discussing the clergy and laity dichotomy resulting from Christendom and recognised an important point I wanted to make. Becoming the Early Church is Not the Goal While I have and will continue to critique Christendom, that does not indicate that the church pre-Christendom was perfect or nearly perfect and did everything co…

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The Clergy-Laity Thing is a Problem

Bob Wilson

May 24, 2023

I have been writing a series of posts on Christendom and have shared both some of the positives as well as some of the negatives. Today we’ll start getting into some specifics. One of Christendom’s most enduring legacies is creating a professional clergy class. As someone who has been in full-time ministry for 34 years and ordained for almost as long, yo…

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The Most Tragic Mistake in the History of the Church

Bob Wilson

July 7, 2023

The Most Tragic Mistake in the History of the Church

It has been just over five weeks since I wrote anything about Christendom. Between the end of the school year, an improv performance, knee surgery, and assorted other twists and turns, I haven’t had the mental space to jump back in. I recently finished Scot McKnight’s new book

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A Journey in Liminal Space

Christendom: An Introduction

Constantine and Christendom: How We Got Here

Christendom: Acknowledging the Good

3 Ways Christendom Has Been Bad for the Church

The Early Church or Christendom? Or a Third Way?

The Clergy-Laity Thing is a Problem

The Most Tragic Mistake in the History of the Church

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