The Lives of Great Christians

Course Overview

Course No. 6481

For many, Christianity is the daily effort to live one’s faith in every moment. This course introduces you to those who have done so over the centuries—Professor William Cook’s “superstars of faith” like Francis and Clare of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, and Benedict of Nursia.

These 24 inspirational lectures illuminate how remarkable believers from Paul to Martin Luther King Jr. embodied their faith through action. You’ll:

• Witness martyrs’ courage with Polycarp and Perpetua
• Walk with desert hermits like Antony and the Desert Mothers
• Join reformers as Bernard of Clairvaux reshapes monasticism
• Stand beside modern heroes like Bonhoeffer and Mother Teresa

More than doctrine, Christianity is lived experience. These lives demonstrate how faith transforms individuals—and through them, the world.

Video Lectures

Section 1: Early Foundations

1. Introduction: What Makes a Great Christian? (34 min)

• Challenges of following Jesus today; interpreting scripture faithfully.

1. Paul and the First Christian Missionaries (31 min)

• The apostle’s tireless travels and transformative letters.

1. The Early Martyrs (31 min)

• Polycarp, Stephen, and Felicity/Perpetua—witnessing under persecution.

Section 2: Monastic Pioneers

4. St. Antony, the First Monk (31 min)

• Withdrawing to the desert: solitude, labor, and prayer.

4. The Desert Fathers and Mothers (31 min)

• Pachomius, Evagrius, and women ascetics—wisdom from the wilderness.

4. Augustine (31 min)

• From restless seeker to towering theologian: the power of conversion.

Section 3: Medieval Reformers

7. St. Patrick and the Conversion of Ireland (31 min)

• From enslaved youth to Ireland’s apostle.

7. St. Benedict and His Rule (31 min)

• Balancing strictness and flexibility in Western monasticism.

7. Leo IX, Gregory VII, and Church Reform (31 min)

• Papal authority vs. corruption; the East-West schism.

7. Bernard of Clairvaux and Monastic Reform (31 min)

• Cistercian renewal: centralized orders and mystical devotion.

Section 4: Radical Saints

11. Francis of Assisi (31 min)

• Embracing poverty to “rebuild the Church.”

11. Clare of Assisi (31 min)

• Founding female Franciscans: cloistered poverty as liberation.

11. Catherine of Siena (31 min)

• Doctor of the Church advising popes and tending plague victims.

11. Bernardino of Siena (31 min)

• Preaching merchant-class ethics in Renaissance Italy.

Section 5: Reformation & Beyond

15. John Hus and the Hussites (31 min)

• Challenging papal authority—a martyr’s fire ignites reform.

15. Thomas More (31 min)

• Conscience vs. king: a statesman’s martyrdom.

15. Martin Luther (31 min)

• Nailing theses, fracturing Christendom—faith alone as revolution.

15. John Wesley and the Origins of Methodism (31 min)

• Methodical scripture study births a global movement.

Section 6: Modern Witnesses

19. The Monks of Mount Athos (32 min)

• Orthodox spirituality in a timeless enclave.

19. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Maximilian Kolbe (31 min)

• Defying Nazis—a pastor’s plot and a friar’s Auschwitz sacrifice.

19. Damien of Molokai and Teresa of Calcutta (31 min)

• Serving lepers and the destitute: love in action.

19. From Slavery to Martin Luther King (31 min)

• Spirituals to civil rights: faith as a cry for justice.

19. Gustavo Gutiérrez and Liberation Theology (32 min)

• “Preferential option for the poor” in Latin America.

19. Defining the Christian Life (31 min)

• What unites these lives? Love as the greatest virtue.