In this episode we welcome Iain Wright and Yannick Imbert, the authors of the book Reclaiming the “Dark Ages”: How the Gospel Light Shone from 500 to 1500. There are many figures in church history in-between Augustine and Luther that are worth understanding, appreciating, and learning from. Iain and Yannick help us approach the complexity of history through often-overlooked figures such as Pope Leo the Great, Alcuin, and Bernard of Clairvaux. Christ said that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church, and these men are evidence of this.  

Reclaiming the “Dark Ages”: How the Gospel Light Shone from 500 to 1500 by Iain Wright and Yannick Imbert 

• Leo’s Tome (and here) 
• A Mind Intent on God: The Spiritual Writings of Alcuin of York by Douglas Dale 
• “Jesus, the very thought of thee” ; “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” by Bernard of Clairvaux (also here and here) 

For those wanting an informed Protestant analysis and critique of both the Papacy and Mariology - Dr. Leonardo De Chirico is highly recommended:

• A Christian's Pocket Guide to the Papacy
• A Christian's Pocket Guide to Mary: The Mother of God

The few sources mentioned on “the Dark Ages” (even, the “Black Millenium”), though one should realize that any claim of “restoration” must argue for some form of extinction beforehand. LDS missionaries all around the world today still tell the story of “Jesus” supposedly telling Joseph Smith that “all their creeds [are] an abomination”.  

The Progress of Man by Joseph Fielding Smith 

Continuing the Quest by Hugh B. Brown 

A New Witness for the Articles of Faith by Bruce R. McConkie 

Jesus the Christ ; The Great Apostasy by James Talmage