2025 | World History AD

This comprehensive survey of world history from the perspective of Christ’s advancing kingdom challenges the prevailing humanistic narratives that dominate academic discourse today. Rather than viewing history as a collection of disconnected human achievements and failures, this course presents history as the unfolding narrative of Jesus Christ’s sovereign work in establishing His kingdom throughout the nations over the past two millennia. Students will examine how Christ, who “appeared at the beginning when He created the world, appeared in the middle of history when He redeemed the world, and will return at the end for the final judgment,” serves as the interpretive key for understanding all historical events. Through careful study of Kevin Swanson’s Taking the World for Jesus and supplementary materials, students will discover how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as the most significant event in world history, providing the essential framework for evaluating the rise and fall of empires, cultural transformations, and the progress of the Gospel message across every continent.

The course methodology integrates biblical truth as the “eyeglasses” through which to properly understand and prioritize historical facts, moving beyond the limitations of secular historiography that minimizes or ignores Christ’s central role in human affairs. Students will trace the remarkable expansion of Christianity from 120 believers in an upper room to over 2.5 billion adherents today—a growth ratio exceeding 21 million-fold—while examining how Christ’s kingdom advances like leaven permeating the world and a mustard seed growing into a mighty tree. This study aims to provide an optimistic, long-term perspective that encourages Christians to see beyond immediate circumstances and understand their role in the ongoing Great Commission to disciple the nations. By the course’s conclusion, students will possess a Christ-centered worldview of history that reveals God’s sovereign hand in human events and equips them with biblical wisdom for interpreting contemporary developments within the broader context of Christ’s advancing kingdom.