Church History: Examining the Creeds and Confessions of the Church Through the Ages and Why They Matter.
Lesson 1: Church History at a Glance
In the small book of Jude, there is an important verse which is good to begin our study this evening.
Regarding the false teachers of his day, he says these words.
v.11 “Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion.”
This is important because it demonstrates to us the value of knowing our history.
This was a time when personal copies of the Scriptures were almost unheard of.
Yet, the people of God were expected to know about these relatively obscure individuals from Israel’s past.
It was expected that they would know their own history.
Such is a good place for us to begin this study, as it shines a light on the fact that we also need to know our history.
We are beginning tonight in the study of Church History.
Church history is a subject of which many people are very ignorant, even many people who have been in church all their lives.
Illustration: Peanuts Cartoon. Lucy “I am writing about church history”... “My pastor was both in 1945...”
This myopic view of church history is a negative consequence of the anti-intellectualization of the church.
For many years, the church has been so focused on “feelings” and “emotions” that it has shied away from depth in theology and the pursuit of scholarship.
The ones really investing in these areas have largely been from the liberal perspective and we have seen the radical departure from orthodoxy which has occurred as a result.
We have a responsibility as the people of God to study and understand our history.
The old adage is so very true...
Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
This study is designed to acquaint us with some of the most important events of the past 2,000 years of church history.
We are going to do this by examining some of the great creeds and confessions which have been established down through the ages.
We will not be able to study every single aspect of history; but we will be looking at many of the high points which helped establish the church’s position on foundational teachings.
LOOK AT HANDOUT: Church History Outline
Tonight, we are going to look at church history at a glance; this will help us establish the framework for understanding the details of history as we dig into them in the weeks to come.
The Church Began at Pentecost
Acts 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. [2] And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. [3] And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. [4] And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Pentecost is the Greek name of the Feast of Weeks.
Pentecost is celebrated 50 days (or seven weeks) after Resurrection Sunday.
Remember that Jesus was with His apostles for 40 days after the resurrection and then ascended into heaven; they then prayed and waited in the Upper Room for 10 days when the Holy Spirit fell.
This coming of the Holy Spirit fulfilled the promise of Christ.
John 16:7 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”
The Spirit’s coming empowered the Apostles and gave birth to the church.
The word “Church” in the Bible is the Greek word “ekklesia”
Ekklesia means “called out ones”.
The church is made up of the ones who have been called out, also known in Scripture as the elect.
The initial church was made up of converts from Judaism, and as a result Christianity was considered at that point to be a “sect” of Judaism.
It is certainly right to say that Christianity grew out of Judaism, as Christ is the Messiah prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures.
It might be more appropriate to say Christianity is Judaism completed, as Christ came to both fulfill the Old Covenant Law and establish the New Covenant based on His work on the cross.
This is why many Jewish converts to Christianity today call themselves “completed Jews”.
The Expansion of the Early Church
It was not long after the establishment of the church that the Gospel went out to the Gentiles.
The Bible says that a partial hardening has come over the hearts of the Jews.
Romans 11:25 “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”
The evangelist Philip brought the Gospel to the Samaritans.
Acts 8:5 “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.”
Peter the Apostle was called to bring Christ to the Gentile Roman Soldier Cornelius. (Acts 10)
The man most responsible for spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles was the Apostle Paul, who would actually be called “the apostle to the gentiles” (Romans 11:13)
This time of ministry among the Apostles went on until all of them died.
Many of them were imprisoned and martyred for their faith.
After their deaths, the Scriptures of the New Testament were considered closed.
No writing which came after the time of the apostles was ever allowed to be counted within the NT canon.
There are, however, many important writings which come from this time including:
The Didache
The Writings of the Early Church Fathers
The Apostles’ Creed
An historical event of great importance during this time is the fall of Jerusalem in AD70.
There have been no sacrifices held among the Jewish people since this time since there is no Temple wherein to hold the sacrifices.
This is seen by some as a demonstration from God that the final sacrifice has been made (that of Christ) and never needs to be repeated.
In the centuries following the establishment of the church, a larger hierarchy within the church began to develop, and many heresies began to arise.
Adoptionism - Jesus was a mere man, who became the Son of God
Sabellianism - God is not three persons, but one person in three modes of being (sometimes called modalism)
Monarchianism - Focused on the uniqueness (and invisibility) of the Father in relation to the Son and the Spirit, found in both adoptionism and Sabellianism.
Patripassianism - Belief that the Father suffered on the cross (Similar to Sabellianism)
Gnosticism - Belief in a special type of mystical wisdom.
Marcionism - Belief that the OT God is evil.
Montanism - Claimed to recieve “new prophecy” from the Holy Spirit which superseded that of Paul or even Christ.
This was also a time of great persecution for the church.
There Emperor Nero was well-known for his torture of Christians.
The Roman historian Tacitus writes, “Besides being put to death they [the Christians] were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clad in the hides of beast and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open his grounds for the display, and was putting on a show in the circus, where he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or drove about in his chariot. All this gave rise to a feeling of pity, even toward men whose guilt merited the most exemplary punishment; for it was felt that they were being destroyed not for the public good but to satisfy the cruelty of an individual.”
Official persecution ended with the Edict of Milan, which made Christianity legal in the Roman Empire and was signed by the Emperor Constantine, who had converted to Christianity.
There is great speculation as to whether or not Constantine's conversion was genuine, especially in regard to his behavior.
However, it is obvious that Constantine’s conversion led ultimately to Christianity becoming the official religion of the empire under Theodosius in 381.
By AD400, the terms “Roman” and “Christian” had become virtually synonymous.
The Rise of the Roman Church
As we have already noted, the reason for the expansion of Christianity within the Roman Empire was the (supposed) conversion of Emperor Constantine in AD312.
There was an ironic shift from Christians being persecuted to people who were being persecuted for NOT being Christians.
As a result, many people entered the visible church who did not have a true change of heart and they brought their pagan religious expressions with them.
Cultural Christianity was born!
Through the next few centuries, Christianity spread far and wide and church councils were held in an attempt to establish official doctrinal positions.
In the centuries that followed, Rome claimed to have apostolic succession, and thus authority over the entire church.
The Bishop of Rome began to call himself the Pope (Holy Father).
This did not sit well with the Easter Church, which was based in Constantinople, and would led ultimately to a huge divide.
The Great Schism of the Church
In 1054, the Roman Catholic (Universal) Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church excommunicated one another.
The Roman Church continued to grow stronger, with the Popes claiming authority over all areas of life, which led to a great deal of corruption therein.
From 1095 to 1204 the Roman Church led a crusade to liberate Jerusalem from the invading Muslims.
It was out of this Roman Church that the great light of the Protestant Reformation would be born.
The Reformation of the Church
The Reformers were called “Protestants” because they were protesting the false teachings and corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.
One of the first was named John Wycliffe.
Wycliffe was a brilliant scholar and he chose to write in opposition to some of the cardinal doctrines of the faith, including Transubstantiation.
These writings and teachings would ultimately get him put out of his teaching post at Oxford.
He went on to translate the Bible from Latin into English.
Wycliffe was followed by a series of godly men.
Jon Huss, who was burned at the stake for his teachings.
Martin Luther, who was responsible for the Reformation in Germany.
John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli, who both led in the Swiss Reformation.
The anabaptists, who were the descendants of Zwingli.
William Tyndale, who translated the Bible into english from the Grk/Heb.
It is very difficult to overestimate the profound impact that these men had on the church.
The Roman Catholics would decry their work, and say it brought untold division and heresy into the church.
The Reformers would argue that, while heresy did come in many new ways through the spread of denominationalism, that the truth was also released from its captivity by their work.
The truth had been hidden by the church, shrouded in false teachings and traditions.
But now that long-hidden truth was once again being preached.
The Missionary Age of the Church
From the late 1700s to the 1900s, there was an unprecedented upturn in missionary work around the world.
Colonization had opened many people’s eyes to the need for missionary work.
And industrialization had made such work economically possible.
This was also on the heels of the “Great Awakening” which had occured from the teachings of men like Jonathan Edwards.
As a result, during this time period churches were established throughout the world, in places which had never before heard of Christ of the Gospel.
The Modern Church
It is hard to describe the modern church because the religious landscape of the world seems to be changing so rapidly, almost daily.
There are a few trends which we see.
The rise of ecumenism.
Ecumenism is the desire to break denominational ties and try to find peace.
Even the Roman Catholics have tried to mend their relationship with the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The problem with Ecumenism is that with any union, there would have to be serious compromise; and we cannot compromise the truth.
I will never see the Pope as the Holy Father (in fact, I believe such a thing to be blaspheme), and as such will never truly be united to those who see him as such.
The rise of emotionalism.
There is a rampant anti-intellectualism which has infected the church.
Many people are more concerned with how they feel than what they believe.
As a result, doctrine has taken a major backseat to our daily living concerns.
A pastor is much more popular if he is able to give solid advice on getting a promotion at work than if he can provide a sound explanation of the doctrine of sola fide.
The decline of evangelicalism
The term evangelical comes from the word evangel which means gospel.
An evangelical is a person who believes in and follows the gospel of Christ.
Unfortunately, the term has been used so much and so loosely by politicians and the media, that it really has lost a lot of its meaning.
As a result, fewer and fewer people are properly defining themselves as evangelicals because the name has lost a lot of what it once meant.
There is one VERY positive trend I want to mention.
The rise in Reformed Theology.
Because of strong teachers like RC Sproul, John Macathur, John Piper, Albert Mohler, Voddie Bauchem, and others we have seen a resurgence of RT which has made dramatic inroads in many denominations.
This has not been a positive thing for some who denounce RT.
However, those of us who see that RT is consistent with the biblical teaching believe this to be a very positive step.
Solid theology will help lead the Christian community to the revival which it so desperately needs.
