COACH: Church Origins and Church History courtesy of the That’s Jesus Channel

That’s Jesus Channel / Bob Baulch
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COACH: Church Origins and Church History is a Christian podcast from Bob Baulch that explores how the church grew, suffered, worshiped, and changed the world — one generation at a time. Hosted by a passionate Bible teacher with a heart for truth and revival and research, COACH brings history to life with verifiable sources, captivating stories, and deep theological reflection. From Roman persecution to forgotten revivals, every episode is a fresh look at how God’s people lived and died for the gospel — and what it means for us today. No fluff. No fiction. Just powerful, proven history that strengthens your faith.

  1. Feb 13

    0108 – 1797 AD - Wilberforce’s Manifesto - A Practical View of Christianity

    1797 AD – Wilberforce’s Manifesto: When a Parliamentarian Called Britain Back to “Real Christianity” Description: In 1797, as Britain fought revolutionary France and watched its neighbor experiment with “Temples of Reason,” a different kind of revolution quietly appeared on London bookshop counters. William Wilberforce, already known for his exhausting campaign to end the British slave trade, released a thick volume with an even thicker title: A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians… Contrasted with Real Christianity. He wrote not as a cloistered theologian, but as a sitting Member of Parliament who had been shaken years earlier by the Bible and by older Christian writers during a long European journey. Their insistence on sin, judgment, grace, and new birth forced him to reconsider everything—from his jokes about religion to his pursuit of applause in the House of Commons. Urged by John Newton to remain in politics “for God,” Wilberforce stayed in Parliament and threw himself into abolition. Yet he could not ignore what he saw among Britain’s higher and middle classes: a polished, convenient religion that kept Christian language but lost Christian reality. His book drew a sharp contrast between that “prevailing religious system” and what he called “real Christianity”—a faith centered on Jesus’ atonement, the corruption of the human heart, and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. To his surprise, the book spread quickly through the very social circles he gently rebuked, running through multiple editions in Britain and abroad. Over time, it helped make serious, evangelical faith respectable among the educated classes and quietly shaped the conscience of the Victorian world. This episode traces how one layman’s manifesto pressed a nation to ask whether its Christianity was merely a habit or a living, demanding, joyful reality. Keywords (400–500 characters): William Wilberforce book, A Practical View Wilberforce, real Christianity vs nominal Christianity, 1797 Wilberforce manifesto, British evangelical revival, higher and middle classes religion, John Newton counsel, Wilberforce conversion story, slavery abolition and faith, Victorian evangelical roots, British Christianity 18th century, nominal religion critique Hashtags: #WilliamWilberforce #APracticalView #RealChristianity #NominalChristianity #EvangelicalRevival #JohnNewton #BritishHistory #ChristianHistory #FaithAndPolitics #AbolitionAndGospel #18thCenturyChristianity #VictorianRoots CTA: If this story helps you see the difference between “prevailing religion” and real Christianity, share it with a friend who might be wrestling with the same questions. Chunk 01A – Hook (150–200 words) The book did not look like a revolution. It was thick, densely titled, and written by a man who already spent his days arguing over trade, taxes, and war. London booksellers placed it on their counters in the spring of 1797, just another volume among many. Outside, Britain worried about France—about armies, debt, and the strange new festivals that were turning cathedrals into “Temples of Reason.” Inside, the man whose name appeared on the title page was quietly asking a different question: What if the real crisis was not across the Channel, but in the pews at home? William Wilberforce had already spent a decade wearing himself out against the slave trade. But this book was aimed closer to his own world—toward the drawing rooms, clubs, and polite churches of England’s higher and middle classes. It argued that the greatest danger to Britain was not open unbelief, but a comfortable Christianity that kept the language of faith and emptied it of its power. He called that comfortable version the “prevailing religious system.” He called what he found in Scripture something else entirely. He called it real Christianity. Chunk 01B – Cliffhanger (45–50 words) When a man who moves easily among the powerful turns and tells his own class, “Our religion is mostly a shell,” people have to decide whether to be offended or to listen. And sometimes, the shock of being accurately described is the very thing that finally wakes a heart up. Chunk 02: From the That's Jesus Channel — welcome to COACH — where Church origins and church history actually coach us how to walk boldly with Jesus today. I'm Bob Baulch. And on Fridays we stay between 1500 and 2000 AD. Chunk 03 – Segue Sentence Today we step into 1797 Britain, where William Wilberforce’s long, unwieldy book quietly confronted a nation with the unsettling difference between its polished religion and what he called “real Christianity.” Chunk 4 Narrative based on Episode Idea: Wilberforce’s Manifesto The spring of 1797 felt brittle in Britain, as if the whole country were holding its breath. War with revolutionary France dragged on, draining coffers and patience. Across the Channel, revolutionary leaders had, in some places, publicly denied the existence of God and turned long‑standing cathedrals into “Temples of Reason,” replacing familiar worship with festivals to human achievement. In London, members of Parliament argued over taxes and troop numbers, but beneath the debates ran a quieter fear: if France could tear up its past in a decade, what was keeping Britain from the same fate? In the middle of that anxious season, a thick volume appeared in London and Dublin bookshops. Its title stretched almost from one margin of the page to the other: A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Higher and Middle Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity. The name beneath the title was familiar to the educated classes—William Wilberforce, Member of Parliament for the County of York. Until now, he had been known mainly for one thing: a stubborn, costly campaign to end the British slave trade. Wilberforce did not look like a threat to anyone’s religion. He was a small, courteous man with sharp eyes and a quick smile, just as at home in a drawing room as on the floor of the House of Commons. He loved conversation and music, delighted in friendships, and moved easily in the social world of the British elite. But those who watched him closely had noticed that something had changed in him more than a decade before. His jokes were still quick, his charm still disarming, yet a deep seriousness now ran under the surface of his life. That change traced back to 1785, when Wilberforce, already a rising political star, decided to take a long journey across Europe with an old schoolmaster. Travel in those days meant weeks in a coach, long stretches of countryside, and evenings with little to do but read. On that trip he began to open a book he had mostly ignored—the Bible—and alongside it, works by serious Christian writers that challenged fashionable beliefs of the day. What he found unsettled him. The Scriptures spoke with a weight and urgency he could not shrug off, and the authors he read pressed home the reality of sin, judgment, and grace. By the time he returned to England, Wilberforce was shaken. He saw his past through different eyes: the casual jokes at religion, the wasted evenings, the eager pursuit of applause in Parliament. He poured out his turmoil in his private journal and confided in a few trusted friends. For a time he considered leaving public life entirely to pursue the ministry, wondering if true devotion to Jesus could coexist with the compromises of politics. If the Gospel was as serious as these writers insisted, how could Wilberforce continue with the same career, the same ambitions, as if nothing had changed? Then an older pastor entered the story. John Newton, once a slave ship captain and now a respected minister in London, had followed Wilberforce’s political career from a distance. When the younger man asked for counsel, Newton invited him to his modest study and urged him not to abandon Parliament. God, he suggested, had placed Wilberforce where he was for a reason; public life was not an obstacle to discipleship but an arena for it. Wilberforce left that conversation with a new resolve: he would stay in politics, but now as a servant of Jesus rather than of his own reputation. The years that followed were demanding. From 1787 onward, Wilberforce became the chief parliamentary voice against the slave trade, introducing major abolition motions in 1789, 1791, and across the 1790s. Each effort required assembling evidence, gathering allies, and facing down powerful economic interests whose fortunes depended on the trade. Time after time, his proposals fell short in the voting chamber. Those defeats might have broken a man whose hopes rested only in politics, but Wilberforce had come to believe that God cared about both souls and systems—that the Gospel addressed private hearts and public injustices. That conviction kept him pressing on. Yet as he threw himself into the fight against the trade in human lives, another concern grew in his mind. He looked at the society around him—the polite conversations at dinners, the religious phrases traded easily in letters, the crowded pews on major holidays—and sensed something hollow at the center. Britain was, on paper, a Christian nation. The Church of England was established by law; most citizens were baptized; almost everyone would have called themselves Christian if asked. But Wilberforce saw a sharp contrast between the faith he now found in Scripture and the religion he met in everyday life among the “higher and middle classes” who shaped the nation’s culture. He began to put words to the contrast. On one side stood what he called the “prevailing religious system” of professed Christians. It was respectable, moderate, and convenient. It asked for decent behavior and a general belief in God, but it demanded little heart-level change. Sin was treated more as

    23 min

  2. Feb 12

    0107 - DEEP DIVE EP 0017 - 62 AD - The Echo of the Book of Ephesians

    Episode 17: 62 AD – The Echo of the Book of Ephesians Description: In 62 AD, the Apostle Paul was under house arrest in Rome, yet he managed to write a letter that changed the world. This episode explores the powerful story of the Book of Ephesians and how it provided a "soaring vision" for the early church. We look at the main conflict of that time, where believers faced false teachings and needed a strong voice to help them stand firm against the confusion of the Roman world. You will hear how great church leaders like Irenaeus and Tertullian used this letter to defend the truth about Jesus and keep the church united. The episode highlights how the "Armor of God" gave them courage and how the promise of grace shaped their identity. We also see how this letter was read in whispered services by candlelight, becoming a lifeline for ordinary Christians who needed to know they were part of one body. Does the echo of Ephesians still reach us today, and are we letting the Bible shape our lives the way it shaped theirs? We invite you to reflect on this question and subscribe to the COACH podcast to explore more stories from the origins of our faith. Apostle Paul, Book of Ephesians, Roman imprisonment, early church history, Irenaeus, Tertullian, spiritual warfare, Christian unity, biblical history, ancient Rome #ChurchHistory #Christianity #COACH #Ephesians #ApostlePaul #BibleStudy Links: Podcast Website: That's Jesus dot org YouTube: That's Jesus Channel

    33 min

  3. Feb 12

    0106 - 1355 - The Tavern Brawl and Saint Scholastica Day Riot When Clerical Privilege Turned a University City Violent

    0106 - 1355 - The Tavern Brawl and Saint Scholastica Day Riot When Clerical Privilege Turned a University City Violent Chunk 00: Title, Website, YT, POD, FB, Summary, Keywords, Hashtags, CTA Title: 1355 AD - The St. Scholastica's Day Riot: When Clerical Privilege Turned a University City Violent Website/YT/POD/FB Description: On February 10, 1355, a complaint about bad wine at Oxford's Swindlestock Tavern escalated into three days of violence that left dozens dead and the city scarred. The St. Scholastica's Day riot revealed the deep resentment between Oxford's townspeople and its university scholars, who enjoyed clerical privileges that protected them from local justice. Students wore tonsures and gowns marking them as churchmen, giving them benefit of clergy—lighter punishments in church courts rather than the harsher penalties townspeople faced. When two students insulted a tavern keeper, the fight spilled into the streets, bells rang from competing towers, and armed mobs from town and countryside attacked scholars in their lodgings. Bodies were thrown into ditches, halls were burned, and books were dragged into the streets. King Edward III responded by restoring the university's charter while imprisoning Oxford's mayor and placing the town under interdict for over a year. He then expanded the university's authority over Oxford's markets and justice system, deepening the imbalance that had sparked the violence. As punishment and memorial, the mayor and town officials were required to walk to St Mary's Church every February 10th, attend mass for the slain scholars, and pay a penny for each death—a ritual of submission that continued for nearly five hundred years. The riot demonstrates how structural inequality, when mixed with legal privilege and daily friction, can ignite catastrophic violence. It reminds the church today that systems which create separate standards of justice—even when rooted in religious authority—can breed the very resentment they claim to prevent. Keywords: St Scholastica's Day riot, Oxford University history, medieval town and gown conflict, benefit of clergy, clerical privilege, King Edward III, 1355 Oxford riot, medieval university violence, church court system, medieval legal privilege, Oxford medieval history, university town conflict Hashtags: #StScholasticasDayRiot #OxfordUniversityHistory #MedievalTownAndGown #BenefitOfClergy #ClericalPrivilege #KingEdwardIII #1355OxfordRiot #MedievalUniversityViolence #ChurchCourtSystem #MedievalLegalPrivilege #OxfordMedievalHistory #UniversityTownConflict CTA: If this story challenged how you think about privilege and justice in the church, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Chunk 01A: Hook The tavern keeper wiped blood from his face. The wine cup clattered to the floor. Around him, voices rose—some in fury, some in fear. Students in long gowns pressed toward the door. Townsmen blocked the way. Outside, the streets of Oxford waited, narrow and tense, where two communities had lived side by side for generations under rules that were never equal. By morning, bells would ring from two towers, calling not to prayer but to arms. By the third day, bodies would lie in ditches and the river, halls would burn, and the smell of smoke would hang over a city already thinned by plague. The fight began over spoiled wine. But the rage underneath had been building for decades, fed by privilege that protected some and punished others, by justice that bent depending on the clothes you wore and the courts that claimed you. It was February 10, 1355. And before the week ended, Oxford would run with blood. Chunk 01B: Cliffhanger When the structure itself creates two kinds of justice—one for the powerful, one for everyone else—resentment doesn't disappear. It waits. And when it finally breaks, the cost is measured in bodies, in ashes, and in centuries of bitterness. Chunk 02: Verbatim Intro From the That's Jesus Channel—welcome to COACH, where Church origins and church history actually coach us how to walk boldly with Jesus today. I'm Bob Baulch. And on Wednesday, we stay between 500 and 1500 AD. Chunk 03: Segue Today we step into Oxford in 1355, where a tavern argument over bad wine ignited three days of violence that exposed the deadly consequences of clerical privilege and legal inequality. Chunk 04: Narrative Chunk 4 Narrative based on 1355 AD - The St. Scholastica’s Day Riot: When Clerical Privilege Turned a University City Violent The wine was bad. Walter de Springheuse and Roger de Chesterfield sat in the Swindlestock Tavern at Carfax, where Oxford’s four main streets met. It was February 10, 1355, the feast of Saint Scholastica, and the tavern was thick with noise—students in long gowns, townsmen with rough hands, travelers shaking off the winter cold. Walter lifted his cup, tasted the wine, and complained. Roger agreed. The tavern keeper, John, pushed back. Voices rose. Insults followed. Then the wine flew into John’s face, and a blow with a cup or jug drew blood. The room snapped from tension to violence. On the surface, it was a bar fight over spoiled drink. Underneath, every strike landed on years of resentment. Oxford was not just a market town with a cluster of churches. It was a university city where two communities lived side by side under different rules. Scholars belonged to the university and, on paper, to the church. Townspeople belonged to the town alone. Students were counted as clerics. They wore a tonsure, a shaved patch on the crown of the head that marked them as churchmen, and long scholar’s gowns that set them apart. That status meant benefit of clergy—the right to be tried in church courts rather than before the town’s officials, where punishments were generally lighter. A local man might lose a hand for theft. A scholar might be given a penance and sent back to his books. To people who swept the streets, brewed the ale, and buried the dead, the difference felt like mockery. The fight at Swindlestock spilled into the street. John appealed to the town authorities. According to later accounts, the mayor demanded that the university hand over the students. The university’s response—whether refusal or delay—was taken as yet another sign that scholars would be protected. The message the town heard was familiar: once again, the university’s people would stand behind its walls while others bore the cost. Then the bells began to ring. In a medieval city, bells were not background noise. They called people to worship, but they also called them to act. A bell could summon prayer—or an armed crowd. The town’s bell rang out from Saint Martin’s. The university’s bell answered from Saint Mary’s. Men left their homes and shops, gathering in the streets with clubs and bows. Word spread beyond the walls. Farmhands and villagers, already suspicious of the privileged scholars, heard that there was trouble in Oxford. The first night was ugly but limited. The real terror began the next day. On February 11, the university tried to slow the storm. The chancellor proclaimed that no one should bear arms or disturb the peace. At the same time, town officers were recruiting help from the countryside and paying men to come in and stand with the citizens. Armed bands of townsmen and countrymen began to move through the streets, looking for anyone in a scholar’s gown. Students ran for safety. Some gathered at Saint Giles’ Church on the north side of town. Others barricaded themselves in halls or sought shelter with religious houses. The line between “churchman” and “enemy” blurred. To the townsmen, the gowns and tonsures no longer marked holy men. They marked a class that lived above answerability. An armed group headed toward Saint Giles. Scholars tried to flee toward the Augustinian priory nearby. They did not all make it. At least one student was killed on the road; others were beaten or left wounded. The university rang its bell again. Gates were shut to keep more outsiders from entering, but it was too late. The anger was much larger than the walls. By afternoon, a large force from the countryside—hundreds, with some accounts speaking of as many as two thousand men—had pushed into Oxford. They joined the townsmen already primed for revenge. Faced with such numbers, many students chose to hide. Doors were barred. Shutters closed. The streets did not grow quiet.everything-everywhere+1 They grew deadly. Townsmen broke into student lodgings. Doors were splintered, chests smashed open, books and clothing dragged into the street. Scholars were pulled from hiding places, beaten, and killed. Bodies were left where they fell, thrown into ditches, or dumped into the river. Fires began to burn. Smoke mingled with winter air as houses and halls were looted and set alight. Attempts at control came late and weak. The king’s name was invoked in shouted proclamations: any harm to the scholars or their property would be punished. But words could not easily put the fire back into the hearth. The riot spilled into a third day. By then, many scholars had fled Oxford altogether, leaving behind ruined rooms and the dead. When the violence finally ebbed, the numbers were grim. Chroniclers disagree, but modern estimates suggest roughly a few dozen townspeople—around thirty—and around sixty scholars, commonly given as sixty-three, were killed. For a city still marked by the losses of the Black Death, it was another wound carved into an already thinned population. With blood still fresh on the streets, messengers rode to the king. King Edward III was at Woodstock, not far from Oxford. He had reasons to favor the University, which trained clergy and officials who served both church and crown. When word reached him, he summoned representatives from both town and university. Each side handed over its charter—the documents that granted each of them self-rule and privile

    18 min

  4. Feb 11

    FASTING DAY 25 BONUS - Modern Fasting - Recovery or Distortion

    BONUS DAY 25: Modern Fasting – Recovery or Distortion? Description: Is the modern church recovering biblical fasting, or are we just baptizing diet culture? In this final bonus episode, Bob Baulch tackles the biggest controversies surrounding the modern fasting movement. We ask the hard questions: Is "Intermittent Fasting" (16:8) a spiritual discipline or just a weight-loss trend? Is a "Technology Fast" actually fasting, or just a digital break? We explore why giving up food must always be paired with prayer to be spiritual, otherwise, it is simply dieting [Source 8: 544-545]. We also confront the commercialization of the "Daniel Fast," exposing how companies exploit the desire to be faithful by selling expensive meal kits for a fast that is supposed to be about simplicity and self-denial [Source 8: 554]. Furthermore, we address a critical safety issue: the danger of religious fasting masking eating disorders within the church. We discuss how spiritual language can sometimes be used to justify destructive behavior and why God wants your heart, not your harm [Source 8: 556]. This finale challenges us to navigate these modern trends with discernment. We conclude with a final charge to make fasting a regular, secret, and humble part of your walk with God—ensuring that the fast remains the tool, and God remains the treasure [Source 8: 561-562]. Keywords: Modern fasting controversies, Christian intermittent fasting, social media fast, juice fast biblical, Daniel Fast commercialization, fasting and eating disorders, spiritual vs diet, 16:8 fasting Christian, technology detox.

    25 min

  5. Feb 11

    0105 - DEEP DIVE of Episode 16 - 410 AD - Augustine and the Sack of Rome

    Title: Deep Dive: 410 AD – Augustine and the Sack of Rome (Revisiting Ep 16) Description: In 410 AD, the invincible city of Rome was sacked by the Visigoths, shocking the ancient world and causing a massive crisis of faith. This episode explores how Augustine of Hippo responded to the panic when pagan leaders began blaming Christians for the disaster. We discuss the terror of the invasion after 800 years of safety and the pagan accusation that the old gods were angry. The story highlights Augustine’s masterpiece, The City of God, and his famous teaching on the "Two Cities"—the City of Man and the City of God. We also look at why he urged believers to live as pilgrims who anchor their hope in heaven rather than in earthly empires. If you feel anxious about the chaos in the world today, this episode offers a timeless reminder of where true security is found. We invite you to subscribe to COACH for more weekly stories from early church history. Augustine of Hippo, Sack of Rome, Alaric, Visigoths, City of God, fall of Rome, Christian history, early church, Bob Baulch, two cities theology #ChurchHistory #Christianity #COACH #DeepDive #Augustine #CityOfGod #Rome #Faith https://www.thatsjesus.org

    32 min

  6. Feb 10

    FASTING DAY 24 BONUS - Inside the Monastery - Monastic Fasting Through the Ages

    BONUS DAY 24: Inside the Monastery – Monastic Fasting Through the Ages Description: For 1,500 years, monks have been the "special forces" of Christian fasting. In Bonus Day 24, we go inside the monastery to examine the detailed fasting rules of the Benedictines, Cistercians, and the ultra-strict Carthusians (who eat one meal a day and maintain near-total silence). We explore why men and women throughout history have chosen to live under such strict discipline to seek God [Source 8: 521-522, 529]. We look at the Rule of St. Benedict, which mandated vegetarianism for monks but allowed wine in moderation, and the Trappist tradition of silence during meals. We also revisit the Desert Fathers, who viewed extreme fasting as direct warfare against demons, and contrast them with St. Francis, who ate meat to avoid the sin of pride [Source 8: 523, 527, 533]. What can modern laypeople learn from these radical lifestyles? We discuss the concepts of "Rhythm and Rule," community accountability, and the danger of pride that even the Desert Fathers struggled with. Discover how structure can create freedom for the soul [Source 8: 539-540]. Keywords: Monastic fasting, Rule of St Benedict, Trappist monks, Carthusian order, Christian monasticism, Desert Fathers, silence and fasting, spiritual formation, St Francis fasting, Cistercian monks.

    16 min

  7. Feb 10

    0104 – 65 BC - Honi the Circle Maker - Bold Prayer, Ancient Jewish Legend, and Christian Discernment

    0104 – 65 BC - Honi the Circle Maker - Bold Prayer, Ancient Jewish Legend, and Christian Discernment Who was Honi the Circle Maker, and why does his story still divide believers today? In this episode, we explore the ancient Jewish figure known for praying rain into a drought, drawing a circle in the dust, and boldly confronting God with persistent prayer. Using the Mishnah, the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds, and the historian Josephus, we separate historical fact from rabbinic legend and trace how different Jewish groups struggled to understand Honi’s unusual authority. The episode then turns to modern controversy. In 2011, pastor Mark Batterson popularized Honi’s story in The Circle Maker, launching a global prayer movement and igniting intense theological debate. Critics accused the book of prosperity theology and misuse of extra-biblical sources. Defenders argued it simply illustrated biblical principles of persistent prayer. This is not a takedown or an endorsement. It is a careful examination of history, Scripture, and discernment. We ask a deeper question Christians have faced since the apostles: Can believers learn from non-biblical sources without compromising biblical authority? You will learn: What the ancient sources actually say about Honi How rabbinic tradition reshaped charismatic figures Why Josephus’ account matters historically What went wrong and right in the modern Circle Maker debate How to use extra-biblical material responsibly under Scripture Why bold prayer and humble submission must remain together This episode challenges shallow controversy and invites mature faith, grounded prayer, and biblical discernment. KEYWORDS (Podcast Platforms) Honi the Circle Maker Circle Maker controversy Mark Batterson Circle Maker Jewish miracle workers Talmud and Christianity Josephus Antiquities Honi Bold prayer Bible Persistent prayer Luke 18 Extra-biblical sources Christianity Charismatic authority Judaism Prosperity gospel critique Christian discernment Prayer theology Ancient Jewish history Church history podcast YOUTUBE TAGS (Comma-separated) Honi the Circle Maker, Circle Maker book, Mark Batterson, bold prayer, persistent prayer, Jewish legends, Talmud explained, Josephus history, prayer controversy, prosperity theology debate, Christian discernment, church history, ancient Judaism, extra biblical sources, theology podcast HASHTAGS #HoniTheCircleMaker #BoldPrayer #ChurchHistory #ChristianDiscernment #Talmud #Josephus #PrayerTheology #CircleMaker #BibleAndHistory Honi the Circle Maker: Bold Prayer, Ancient Legend, and Modern Controversy HOOK The drought had lasted so long that even memory seemed to dry up. Across Judea in the first century before Christ, cisterns cracked open. Wells turned to dust. Animals collapsed in the fields. Children cried from thirst. The religious leaders had tried everything—organized fasts, communal prayers, trumpet blasts from the Temple. The sky remained empty. Nothing but relentless, mocking blue. In desperation, the people turned to a man who held no official position, who had studied under no famous rabbis, who possessed no priestly credentials. His name was Honi. What made him different was simple and undeniable: when Honi prayed, God answered. What he did next would scandalize every religious authority in Judea, get him killed during a civil war, and two thousand years later spark one of the fiercest controversies in modern evangelical Christianity. In 2011, a pastor in Washington D.C. discovered Honi's story in a collection of ancient Jewish legends. He built a bestselling book around it, urging millions of Christians to "pray circles" around their biggest dreams. The book sold over a million copies and generated an entire industry of prayer journals, devotionals, church campaigns, and small group studies. It also ignited a theological firestorm. Critics erupted in fury, charging the author with heresy, Talmudic syncretism, and thinly veiled prosperity theology. Defenders pushed back just as hard, insisting the book simply illustrated biblical principles with a compelling historical example. Church leaders took sides. Friendships fractured. At stake was more than one book or one prayer technique. The debate forced the church to wrestle with an ancient question it thought it had already answered: Can Christians learn from sources outside the Bible? Should a pastor build a teaching on a story from the Talmud? And if so, how do we do it without compromising Scripture's unique authority? Before we can answer those questions, we need to meet the man who started it all—and understand why his story has never stopped dividing people. CHUNK 2 From the Thats Jesus Channel welcome to COACH - where Church origins and church history actually coach us how to walk boldly with Jesus today. Im Bob Baulch. And on Mondays, we stay between 0 and 500 AD. CHUNK 3 Today we move to about sixty years before Jesus was born, in the land of Judea, to look into a man remembered for both prayer and controversy. NARRATIVE: THE HISTORY OF HONI The people came to Honi with a request born of desperation. They needed rain. Their prayers had failed. Would he help them? Honi listened, then gave instructions that made no sense. He told them to bring in their Passover ovens—those clay vessels they kept outdoors for baking unleavened bread during the festival. Bring them inside now, he said, so the coming rain will not dissolve them. It was a statement of absolute confidence made before he had prayed even once. The people obeyed, confusion mixing with fragile hope. Then Honi prayed. Nothing happened. The sky remained empty. The wind stayed hot and dry. The silence pressed down unbearable. What Honi did next defied every protocol of proper Jewish prayer. He found a stick. He bent down and drew a circle in the dust around himself. He stepped inside that circle, planted his feet in the center, and declared an oath: he would not move from that spot until God showed mercy on His children. Standing in that self-imposed boundary, Honi addressed the Master of the universe with words that walked the razor edge between breathtaking faith and dangerous presumption. He spoke to God as a son speaks to his father—with the kind of familiarity that later rabbis would struggle to categorize. The sky darkened. Rain began to fall. But it came as a drizzle—light drops that barely dampened the ground. Honi was not satisfied. He specified his request with stunning boldness. Not this rain, he told God. He wanted rain that would fill cisterns, pits, and caverns. Rain that would restore the land. The clouds opened. Rain fell in violent torrents—sheets of water that threatened to flood Jerusalem and drown what the drought had not already killed. Again Honi objected. This was not the rain he had prayed for either. He wanted rain of goodwill, blessing, and graciousness. Rain that would heal, not harm. Finally, the rain fell in proper measure. Gentle. Steady. Life-giving. The land drank deep. Later, when the people asked Honi to pray for the rain to stop, he essentially refused. Go check, he told them, whether the Stone of Strayers has been washed away yet. The Stone of Strayers was a large landmark in Jerusalem where people posted notices about lost items. His point was pointed: you do not pray for an abundance of blessing to cease. The head of the Sanhedrin—a man named Simeon ben Shetach, the leading Pharisaic authority of the era and brother of Queen Salome Alexandra—heard what happened. He sent Honi a message that managed to be both a threat and a grudging acknowledgment. Were you anyone else, Simeon wrote, I would excommunicate you on the spot. But what can I do with you? You treat God like a demanding child treats his father, and somehow God indulges you. The comparison to a petulant son who nags until he gets his way was not praise. It revealed the impossible position Honi occupied—producing results the religious establishment could not deny through methods they could not approve. This is the story preserved in the Mishnah, the foundational collection of Jewish oral traditions compiled around the year 200. But the Mishnah is only one source. The story of Honi exists in at least four different versions across ancient Jewish literature, and each version reveals something different about how various groups struggled to make sense of this troubling, charismatic figure. The Babylonian Talmud—compiled centuries after the Mishnah—expands the account significantly. It adds disciples surrounding Honi, connects his circle-drawing to the prophet Habakkuk to give it prophetic precedent, and has him offer a proper thanksgiving sacrifice to link his miracle to Temple ritual. The Babylonian editors were systematically domesticating Honi, making him fit more comfortably into rabbinic categories. But they also preserved something stranger: the famous seventy-year sleep story. According to this legend, Honi once encountered a man planting a carob tree. He asked how long it would take to bear fruit. Seventy years, the man replied. Honi asked if he expected to live that long. The man answered: I found the world with carob trees planted by my ancestors. Just as they planted for me, I plant for my offspring. Honi sat down to eat, fell asleep, and a mound of earth covered him. He slept for seventy years. When he awakened, he found the planter's grandson harvesting fruit from the tree. He went home. His son was dead, but his grandson lived. No one believed he was Honi. He went to the study house and heard sages saying, "Our traditions are as clear today as in the years of Honi the Circle-Drawer." He announced, "I am he!" They did not believe him. They did not give him honor. Honi prayed for mercy, and his soul departed—he died of grief. The sage Rava drew the devastating moral: "Either companionship or death." We’ll get to what that means in a minute – but

    39 min

  8. Feb 9

    FASTING DAY 23 BONUS - Fasting Around the World - Orthodox and Coptic Traditions

    BONUS DAY 23: Fasting Around the World – Orthodox & Coptic Traditions Description: While Western Christianity largely abandoned fasting after the Reformation, Eastern Christianity never did. In Bonus Day 23, we explore the rigorous, ancient traditions of the Eastern Orthodox and Coptic churches. Did you know Coptic Christians in Egypt fast for over 210 days a year? Or that "fasting" for them means a strict vegan diet—no meat, dairy, eggs, or even oil? [Source 8: 501, 507-508]. We look at the major fasting seasons that have remained unbroken for nearly 2,000 years: "Great Lent," the "Apostles' Fast," the "Nativity Fast," and the weekly rhythm of fasting every Wednesday and Friday to remember Judas's betrayal and Jesus's crucifixion [Source 8: 503-505]. We also examine why Eastern Christians view fasting not as a gloomy duty, but as a joyful preparation for the feast and a vital discipline for the soul [Source 8: 517]. This episode challenges our modern comfort and asks what we can learn from brothers and sisters who view fasting not as a crisis intervention, but as a lifestyle. Join us to discover how a communal culture of fasting can transform a church [Source 8: 516]. Keywords: Eastern Orthodox fasting, Coptic fasting, Great Lent, vegan fasting Christian, Apostles Fast, Christian traditions, global Christianity, spiritual discipline, Wednesday and Friday fast, Nativity Fast.

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About

COACH: Church Origins and Church History is a Christian podcast from Bob Baulch that explores how the church grew, suffered, worshiped, and changed the world — one generation at a time. Hosted by a passionate Bible teacher with a heart for truth and revival and research, COACH brings history to life with verifiable sources, captivating stories, and deep theological reflection. From Roman persecution to forgotten revivals, every episode is a fresh look at how God’s people lived and died for the gospel — and what it means for us today. No fluff. No fiction. Just powerful, proven history that strengthens your faith.

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