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Why Church History Always Matters
Place For Truth ^
| March 17, 2015
| Michael Roberts
Posted on 03/20/2015 6:57:58 AM PDT by RnMomof7
Those who dont know history are destined to repeat it. But how does one know such a danger exists unless one already possesses an interest in, and respect for, people who lived and thought and wrote in the past? And in order to avoid this historical pitfall, the assumption must exist that people in the past actually have things to say to us that we need to know, an assumption that may not be as accepted as it once was. C.S. Lewis talked about the threat of presentism, the idea that our current time is the most developed and that therefore those who preceded us were somehow deficient. To the extent that still exists todayand I suspect there is quite a bit of itthe resulting attitude is probably more along the lines of Henry Ford: History is bunk.
But is that an appropriate or even legitimate attitude toward those who have gone on before? To demonstrate that kind of indifference, or even disrespect, for past people and events seems less like a developing sophistication and progress, and more like myopia and a lack of humility. Have we become so narcissistic that we forget we are still standing on the shoulders of giants?
In Scripture, the people of God are commanded to remember his redemptive acts in history, particularly their deliverance from Egypt (Ex. 13:3; Deut. 5:15; 7:17-19). And the psalmist writes in Psalm 77: I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old (v. 11). The Bible itself considers the past to be important, even vital, for godly thinking and living. It is not enough to recount Gods present blessings; his faithfulness and power shown in earlier generations are to be reflected on as well, since it is Gods activities in history that are the reason for our present status as redeemed and reconciled people.
Redemptive history is important for a number of reasons. One is to remember the difference between God and ourselves. He is the Creator, Redeemer, and Sovereign. We exist for him, not he for us. We are accountable to him. We are dependent upon him for everything we need, enjoy, and far too often take for granted. We are to remember Gods great acts in history because it is the context in which our praise to him is offered.
Another reason is that because we are sinful, there exists the temptation to lose our dependence upon him and exchange it for a supposed independence and self-sufficiency. When we fail to remember who God is and what he has done on our behalf, our tendency is to rest in our own wisdom and achievement for the preservation of the good things and advantages we possess.
Obviously the record of the church down through the ages is not the inspired account of redemptive history culminating in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But it is nevertheless a record of Gods past acts. God is still at work in his world. He is still sovereignly guiding his people toward the holy ends for which we were created and redeemed. Church history reveals the faithfulness of God, and how his eternal counsels are carried out as the church travels as elect exiles in this life, as it looks ahead toward Christs return and consummation.
Another reason why church history is important is that it teaches us that we do not exist or function on our own as Christians. Our own church or even denomination is not the only expression of Gods people. We fit into a long line of those from other ages and places who have tried to live to the glory of God. The sets of beliefs and practices we possess are not the product of our own hands. Rather, how we think and function as the church today is a result of ideas we have inherited from faithful Christians in the past.
One more reason why the study of church history is vital is that it provides lessons for dealing with present situations and challenges. The vast majority of problems in the church are not unique. Church history shows us that how we regard Christian doctrine affects our practice. For example, battles over the doctrine of Scripture and the atonement were not only fought in the past; debates about the same are with us still. And a study of how the church dealt with such matters in the past can shed light on how we might tackle present problems, and even what we might expect to happen if we fail to do this.
Michael D. Roberts (DTh, University of South Africa) is assistant pastor at Grace Bible Fellowship Church in Quakertown, PA, where he also sits on the committee for the Quakertown Regional Conference on Reformed Theology. He also serves on the Christian Education committee of the Bible Fellowship Church.
TOPICS: Apologetics; Evangelical Christian; History; Theology
KEYWORDS: church; churchhistory; history; truth
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To: RnMomof7
41
posted on
03/20/2015 1:22:28 PM PDT
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
To: Elsie
Buck up! There are 7,000 more!
42
posted on
03/20/2015 1:33:34 PM PDT
by
Gamecock
(Joel Osteen is a minister of the Gospel like Captain Crunch is a Naval officer.)
To: Elsie
Verily I say they have their reward.
43
posted on
03/20/2015 1:40:53 PM PDT
by
CynicalBear
(For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus)
To: Elsie
The flip side.
:) Er... given your posts, FRiend, I'd say "The Far Side"...
44
posted on
03/20/2015 2:31:06 PM PDT
by
paladinan
(Rule #1: There is a God. Rule #2: It isn't you.)
To: Elsie
My cricket collection is growing, they are eating me out of house and home!
45
posted on
03/20/2015 5:17:31 PM PDT
by
Syncro
(Jesus Christ: The ONLY mediator between God and man)
To: RnMomof7
Those people of faith who came before us are examples to us and reminders of the grace of God and His working through mankind for not only their benefit but the benefit of those who would come after them. We learn patience through suffering and, if we are wise, we will learn it by seeing the patience of those who preceded us and how God was ALWAYS faithful.
Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Jobs perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. (James 5:9-11)
We are then to be examples to those who come after us as Titus chapter 5 exhorts:
You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say No to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hopethe appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
46
posted on
03/20/2015 8:09:19 PM PDT
by
boatbums
(God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)
To: CynicalBear; RnMomof7
Winston Churchill prophetically said: “history is written by the victors.” I think we can see evidence of that even within Christianity.
47
posted on
03/20/2015 8:12:52 PM PDT
by
boatbums
(God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)
To: one Lord one faith one baptism; Gamecock; Resettozero; RnMomof7
The historicity of ones Christian Faith means little if that Faith is not based on the Truth of Jesus Christ and Him alone. The rest is for show and bluster
we agree!! but if one has a faith other than that believed and confessed for 2,000 years, it is not the Catholic Faith. small c or Capital C. Except your "Catholic" faith - as it exists today - is NOT the faith that has been believed and confessed for nearly 2000 years. The faith that the "Apostle's Creed" represents can be cited as well as believed by Christians who are NOT Roman Catholic. This is why the nonsense spurted about Gamecock needing to announce to those standing in the cathedral reciting the AC that "there were no Christians until 480 years ago." is as idiotic as it is untrue. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were desperately trying to sow discord - AGAIN.
The article in this thread was saying something that should not have caused an RC knee-jerk reaction to a thread NOT posted by a Roman Catholic on the Religion Forum, seeing as it said something ALL Christians can agree on. What's wrong? Couldn't find anything else to spice up your weekend?
48
posted on
03/20/2015 8:33:47 PM PDT
by
boatbums
(God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)
To: paladinan
They (the PCUSA, who have been reviled by many non-Catholics on this forum) adhere to "sola Scriptura" and "sola fide". And they approve of abortion, so-called "gay marriage", and other sundry items. By Evangelical Protestant (and similar) reasoning, this means that the members of the PCUSA who profess faith in Jesus are all saved (despite supporting child murder, sodomy, etc.), and they've all been led by the Holy Spirit to correct interpretations of Scripture, as the Bible supposedly [according to some on this forum] promised that they would be. I'd bet we could find just as many Roman Catholics who approve of abortion, so-called "gay marriage", and other sundry items. By Roman Catholic (and similar) reasoning, this means that the members of the RCC who have been baptized and profess faith in Jesus and do all the sacraments/rituals they are commanded to do are all saved (despite supporting child murder, sodomy, etc.), and the Magesterium has been led by the Holy Spirit to correct interpretations of Scripture, as the Bible supposedly promised that they would be.
See how easy that was?
49
posted on
03/20/2015 8:40:48 PM PDT
by
boatbums
(God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him.)
To: paladinan
:) Er... given your posts, FRiend, I'd say "The Far Side"...
Welcome to the Midvale School of Theology!
Our doors are ALWAYS open to those wishing learn more.
Check out our advanced degrees for those who have been previously labeled 'poorly catechized'.
Our teaching Methods may seem a bit unorthodox; but we guarantee that you will not be disappointed with our Results.
50
posted on
03/21/2015 4:12:52 AM PDT
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
To: boatbums
The past week on FR, RCs have flowed in like a flood, invigorated in defending their 2,000 year-old faith against the truth.
(I say it’s between 4,000 and 6,000 years old.)
To: Elsie
52
posted on
03/21/2015 9:15:31 AM PDT
by
RnMomof7
To: RnMomof7
Guess who .........
53
posted on
03/21/2015 1:18:49 PM PDT
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
To: boatbums
I'd bet we could find just as many Roman Catholics who approve of abortion, so-called "gay marriage", and other sundry items.
Sadly, that's true... but there remains one critical difference: there's a single, unified, objective standard by which we can tell the faithful apart from the dissenters (i.e. the teaching of the Catholic Church). A simple glance through the Catechism will show that those who support abortion, so-called "gay marriage", and other evils are supporting things condemned by the Catholic Church... no matter how much the dissenters might "bleat" to the contrary.
Now, compare that to the Presbyterians (a.k.a. "the split P's"). They both appeal to "the Bible alone" as their sole arbiter and norm of spiritual truth... for all the good that did them. Their case is not a case of "internal dissenters" who are provably in rebellion against their faith group (as is the case with Catholic dissenters); in the Presbyterians' case, the individuals who embrace those evils are FOLLOWING (or at least agreeing with) their group's beliefs. Where do we see the PCUSA condemning its members who support abortion, or "gay marriage", etc.? Nowhere.
Such is the fruit of "sola Scriptura": not only do you have fragmentation, but the fragments are all insisting that THEY have the true interpretation of the "Bible alone"... and no "sola Scriptura" believer can do anything but offer his/her personal interpretation/opinion when trying to oppose them.
By Roman Catholic (and similar) reasoning, this means that the members of the RCC who have been baptized and profess faith in Jesus and do all the sacraments/rituals they are commanded to do are all saved (despite supporting child murder, sodomy, etc.), and the Magesterium has been led by the Holy Spirit to correct interpretations of Scripture, as the Bible supposedly promised that they would be.
You're getting muddled, here. Nowhere does the Catholic Church teach that any given person is "saved" in the Protestant "once-saved-always-saved" sense; that's the province of your group, not mine. Catholics who knowingly and willfully reject the teaching of the Church (which is of a piece with Scripture), and who sin gravely when doing so (or in addition to it), will be damned when they die (unless they repent, first). Baptism saves, and it keeps the gates of salvation open until death (especially by giving access to the Sacrament of Confession), but it does not crush free will; those who rebel are free to rebel, and to be lost, no matter how many Sacraments they've received. Sacraments are great helps, but they're useless to one who throws them away or scorns them.
See how easy that was?
:) Hm. One might say, "Too easy to be true!"
54
posted on
03/23/2015 8:14:29 AM PDT
by
paladinan
(Rule #1: There is a God. Rule #2: It isn't you.)
To: Elsie
I prefer coherence and logic, myself, Elsie... but thanks for the offer, nonetheless! :)
55
posted on
03/23/2015 8:19:02 AM PDT
by
paladinan
(Rule #1: There is a God. Rule #2: It isn't you.)
To: paladinan
I’ll keep this in mind...
56
posted on
03/23/2015 10:43:16 AM PDT
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
To: paladinan
... (i.e. the teaching of the Catholic Church). Ah...
...I see.
"One indeed is the universal Church of the faithful, outside which no one at all is saved, in which the priest himself is the sacrifice, Jesus Christ, whose body and blood are truly contained in the sacrament of the altar under the species of bread and wine; the bread (changed) into His body by the divine power of transubstantiation, and the wine into the blood, so that to accomplish the mystery of unity we ourselves receive from His (nature) what He Himself received from ours." Pope Innocent III and Lateran Council IV (A.D. 1215)
Therefore, if anyone says that it is not by the institution of Christ the lord himself (that is to say, by divine law) that blessed Peter should have perpetual successors in the primacy over the whole Church; or that the Roman Pontiff is not the successor of blessed Peter in this primacy: let him be anathema. Vatican 1, Ses. 4, Cp. 1
57
posted on
03/23/2015 10:46:41 AM PDT
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
To: paladinan
I prefer coherence and logic, myself O...
K...
Baptism saves, and it keeps the gates of salvation open until death...
58
posted on
03/23/2015 10:48:36 AM PDT
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
To: Elsie
So... what’s your point with those quotes?
59
posted on
03/23/2015 11:17:21 AM PDT
by
paladinan
(Rule #1: There is a God. Rule #2: It isn't you.)
To: paladinan
60
posted on
03/23/2015 3:24:36 PM PDT
by
Elsie
(Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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