THE VALUE OF CHURCH HISTORY

[From my upcoming book, Our Help in Ages Past: A Primer in Church History]

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" (Rom. 15:4).

Church history, or the history of Christianity, is the story of the movement begun by Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament, and continuing more than two thousand years to the present. Church history deals with the people who have professed to be disciples of Christ through the ages. It is the story of challenges they have faced, and the victories as well as the setbacks they have encountered. Church history is about institutions that have arisen, and the good they have done as well as the harm they have caused. It is about doctrines that have served as guideposts for the church, including those based soundly upon Scripture, as well as those based upon human tradition.

History, of course, is not the final word in our search for truth. Only Scripture can be our guide in spiritual matters. History can, however, offer some perspective that can be helpful. A study of church history can be valuable for several reasons.

The study of church history can serve as an aid to understanding the present. Our understanding of the present is aided by some knowledge of the past. The study of church history provides perspective for understanding such things as the presence of denominationalism, differing beliefs and practices among professing believers, and church problems and issues.

The study of church history can provide some perspective on how we approach the Scriptures. While all professing Christians claim dependence upon the Bible, history shows there have been wide differences in how the Bible is understood and applied. In our study of Scripture and our efforts to know its teaching on any subject, our priority is always to study the Bible for ourselves. It may also be profitable, however, to know that any question we may bring to God’s word has already been asked before. Certainly, different and contradictory answers to the same question cannot all be right. At the same time, it can be helpful to know how others have approached the question, learning from them not only how they were right, but also how they were mistaken.

The study of church history can encourage us to examine what we believe. Just as the noble-minded Bereans searched the Scriptures, so should we (Acts 17:11). Our examination should include our own assumptions and beliefs as well as those of others. It should always be done in the light of Scripture.

The study of church history often motivates and inspires. The study of church history can offer edification, inspiration, and zeal for the Christian's spiritual life. The knowledge of the past gives instruction and hope (Rom. 15:4). Examples of noble lives and characters who were committed and sacrificial in their quest for the truth are encouraging, even if we do not agree with their conclusions. History is the story of people, many of whom demonstrated great faith and character. History can help us be more humble and grateful to God for who we are and what we believe, in part because of the examples of godliness that it has recorded for us.

The study of church history can also serve as a warning. Along with the many noble examples from the past, church history also shows that there have been many failures and wrong turns, reminding us of instruction found in Scripture. God’s laws in Old Testament times were to be passed along and taught to the next generation, so they would “not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God” (Ps. 78:5–8). Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of his day because they had forgotten those lessons, saying to them, “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers” (Matt. 23:32). Stephen leveled the same charge against his accusers: “As your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51). Events of the past were preserved in Scripture “as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Cor. 10:6). So it is with the history of Christianity since New Testament times. It helps us see the path of departure from the New Testament pattern.

The study of church history demonstrates the historical character of the faith. The story that runs through the Bible is a story set within history. It is the story of how God the Creator has stepped into history and acted on behalf of his people. When God gave his commandments and made his covenant with Israel, he said, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me” (Exod. 20:2–3). The story of Jesus Christ begins with the historical fact that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The gospel message was based on that “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and have touched with our hands” (1 John 1:1). So, to study the history of the church through the ages can serve as a reminder to us of the historical character of the faith we hold.

Dan Petty

IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME

[From my upcoming book, Our Help in Ages Past: A Primer in Church History]

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son" (Gal. 4:4).

The most important historical sources we have for the beginning of Christianity are those found in the documents of the New Testament, all of which were composed by the end of the first century. The Bible record is, of course, first and foremost the inspired word of God, so it is a history of a higher order than any secular historical record. And so, it is in the New Testament that we should begin our study of the history of the church.

            The Historical Perspective of the New Testament

The authors of the New Testament presented accounts of events set within an historical context, based on reliable evidence. Luke, for example, in both of his two volumes (Gospel of Luke and Acts), states that he sought to provide an accurate and orderly account of the origins of Christianity. His stated aim in the prologue of his gospel was to provide an accurate account, supported by eyewitness testimony and careful research (Luke 1:1–4). Luke’s approach to his work illustrates the concern for historical accuracy evident throughout the New Testament.

            The textual evidence for the New Testament gives us assurance that it has been faithfully and accurately preserved and handed down to us. For example, the number of extant manuscripts of all or part of the Greek New Testament runs to more than five thousand, far more than other historical works of antiquity. The earliest New Testament manuscripts date as early as a few decades after the events they record. This means we can be assured of the integrity and accuracy of the New Testament documents, and of the story they record. As the notable scholar Sir Frederik Kenyon concluded, “It is reassuring at the end to find that the general result of all these discoveries and all this study is to strengthen the proof of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and our conviction that we have in our hands, in substantial integrity, the veritable Word of God.”[1]

            So, the most direct and important source for the knowledge of New Testament times and the history of the early church is the New Testament itself. In addition, however, there are other historical references to Jesus, his life, his crucifixion, and the movement he started. Jewish rabbinic tradition dating within the century or so following the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70 occasionally referred to Jesus of Nazareth. As we would expect, those references portray him as one who was put to death on Passover Eve for heresy and for misleading the people. The Jewish historian and Roman citizen, Josephus, mentioned Jesus in a similar way in his Antiquities, which he wrote in about a.d. 93. In two different passages, he referred to Jesus as the “so-called Christ” who was condemned to the cross by Pilate, and the founder of the movement of Christians who bear his name.[2]

Other historical references include one made by Pliny the Younger, proconsul of Bithynia. In about a.d. 112, Pliny wrote to the emperor Trajan to report on the growth of Christianity in his province. He described how Christians, when they worshipped on the first day of the week, recited hymns “to Christ as God.” At about the same time, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote in his Annals between a.d. 115 and 117 about the great fire of Rome in a.d. 64. He described how Nero tried to blame it on the Christians, whose name was derived from “Chrestus,” a man who was sentenced to be executed by Pontius Pilate when Tiberius was emperor. Tacitus’ contemporary, Suetonius, in about a.d. 120 wrote about rioting that occurred among the Jewish community in Rome during the reign of Claudius around a.d. 49. He ascribed the riots to the instigation of “Chrestus.”

While these and other historical references do not add much detail to our knowledge of Jesus Christ and the early Christians, they do provide indirect and independent evidence that Jesus of Nazareth and the movement he started were known by Roman historians of the ancient era.

In the Fullness of Time

Luke’s gospel connects the birth of Jesus with a decree issued by Caesar Augustus “that a census be taken of all the earth” (Luke 2:1–2). While the year cannot be determined precisely, the information provided by Luke, combined with historical information about the census, leads us to conclude that Jesus’ birth occurred around 5/4 b.c. Luke also includes the following time stamp for the beginning of the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ around a.d. 26/27: “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was Tetrarch of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness” (Luke 3:1–2).

            Such references remind us that Jesus’ life—and in fact all the New Testament writings—are set within the historical context of the Roman Empire. Rome provided the physical and political environment for the growth of Christianity. The Pax Romana was an unprecedented time of peace and security throughout the world. The open seas, along with the system of roadways and highways, made for safe and easy travel throughout the world. The Lord’s apostles and preachers used all these means to make their missionary journeys to spread the good news.

            The world of the New Testament was not only Roman. While the world that Rome conquered was diverse, there was a rich Greek culture that continued to characterize the age, and constituted much of the intellectual soil for the establishment of Christianity. Perhaps the best example is the Greek language, which offered a universal medium of communication for the spread of the message.

            The religious roots for the birth of Christianity were found in Judaism. The Law of Moses served as a “guardian” to bring God’s people to Christ (Gal. 3:24). God’s choosing of Israel, the seed of Abraham; his giving of a Law with its high ethical teachings; the various religious feasts and sacrifices; and the prophetic message of redemption for all—all these things prefigured Jesus Christ and his redemption in types and shadows.

            Paul and the early Christians understood that the church was foreseen and planned in God's “eternal purpose” and carried out in Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:11). Prophets spoke of a Messiah, the redemption he would bring, and the kingdom he would establish. They spoke of an eternal kingdom that would “never be destroyed” that would come in days of the Roman Empire (Dan. 2:44). Isaiah prophesied that in the “latter days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the highest of the mountains…For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:2–3).

            Christianity can only be properly understood by seeing it as the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. As Augustine said, “In the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed; in the New Testament the Old Testament is revealed.”

The gospels and Acts cover a wide range of scenes and circumstances, and demonstrate accuracy in a variety of matters, topographical and historical. The authors were at home in the Jewish setting—the Sanhedrin, the priests, the Pharisees, the temple guards. They knew about Roman administrative procedures—that Cyprus, Achaia, and Asia were governed by proconsuls (Acts 13:7; 18:12; 19:38); that Philippi was a Roman colony (Acts 16:20ff); that the magistrates of Thessalonica were called politarchs (Acts 17:8); that there were officials in Asia called asiarchs (Acts 19:31). They were familiar with local religious traditions of the Greeks—that the people of Lystra held to legend about Jupiter and Mercury (the Latin counterparts of Zeus and Hermes) having visited men in that region (Acts 14:11–12); that Ephesus took pride in the title of “temple keeper of the great Artemis” (Acts 19:35).

            All these political, cultural, and religious currents converged to make the first century the right time for the beginning of Christianity. As Paul wrote, “in the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son” (Gal. 4:4). Paul himself was religiously a Jew, who spoke in Greek, and who was a Roman citizen.

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[1] Qtd. in F. F. Bruce, The Books and the Parchments, Rev. ed. (Revell, 1963), 190.

[2] Antiquities xx.200; xviii. 63.