Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Church History
There are a couple of major reasons to know church history. First of all, when we don't know church history we are bound and determined to repeat the same mistakes that were already dealt with. More dangerous than that is that we may bring back some of the same heresies. Another reason for church history is so that you do not argue against your history. Have you ever heard someone say that had never heard your view of something when you are closer to the overwhelming majority of church history?
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4 comments:
I agree with you on this one! Great point.
In Christ Alone,
'Guerite ~ BoldLion
Whatever do you mean?
Jason,
When we do not learn from those who have gone before us, we are sure to repeat their mistakes. That happens with the church as well. There is a reason that we have confessions and creeds. They state doctrinal issues that have already been settled. We also need to know of church history so that we know how to dialogue with others. For instance, because I do not hold to a pretribulation rapture of the church, I was once told by a godly person that they had never heard of anyone who didn't believe that. The problem with that statement is that until recent history, no one believed in pretrib. There are also cults today founded on things that were addressed early on in church history. So my point here is simply that it is important to know church history, and for us Baptists, to know Baptist history.
Actually Ephrem the Syrian wrote a sermon addressing the pre-trib which stated, "the Lord will remove all who believe in him before the anti-christ comes to power and the tribulation period begins". This was before Ephrem the Syrian's death in 306. These sermons are available on line.
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