8/12/2019 2000 Issue 4 - So Great a Salvation: Why Should We Study Church History? - Counsel of Chalcedon

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So Great a Salvation:

Why Should

We

Study Church History?

teve Wilkins

Introduction:

The quest ion is often asked

by

children,

Why do

I have to study this? And the answer

is of course, Because it will do

you

good.

This is especia lly so when we Come to the

subject of history. Few things are so calculated

to do us good as studying those things God

has done in times past. This is the reason why

the Psalmist in Psalm 78 emphasizes the impor

tance

of

knowing

the mighty works

of

God,

We will not hide them from their children,

telling

to the

generation to come the praises of

the

LORD , and His strength and

His

wonderful

works that He has done. For He established a

testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in

Israel, which He commanded

our

fathers, that

they

should make them known to their children;

that

the

generat ion to come might know them,

the

children who

~ l U l d be

born, that

they

may

arise

and

declare them to their children,

that

they may

set

their

hope

in God,

and

not

forget

the

works of God

but

keep His

commandments.'; (Psalm 78:4-7).

t is the last phrase which tells us the chief

reason for studying the past:

t

reveals to us in

a

most

glorious way, the might

and

power, the

majesty

and wisdom

of

God and

encourages us

to

set our

hope in.Him. When we

read

history,

we are reading the unfolding

of

the infinitely

wise plan which God made from the foundation

of

the

world (Ephesians

I: II)

. We

see

how

the wrath ofmen

praises

Him

(Psalm 76:10)

as well as how all things

work

together for

good

(Romans 8:28). n days of great turmoil,

history can be one of our greatest comforts.

But

why should we focus upon the people

of God

in

history? Why

not

look at history

from

the

perspective

of

the great empires

and

dynasties? There are number of reasonS for

studying what is normally called Church

history and I want to lay them out briefly:

1. When we study Church history, we

are studying our family nicords.

Every-

one is (or should be) interested in the study of

thei r family histories. What has happened

to

bring you to this place in time and history,

should never

be

a matter

of

indifference to

you. Everyon<i ought to be interested

in

how

God

in His merciful providence has worked in

their families. This should not

be

the case

merely with our physical ancestors, it ought to

be so in regard to our covenant ancestors as

well.

The study of Church history is the study of

what God has done in and through our breth

ren in times past. They are not strangers but

brothers and sisters that we will soon have the

joy of

seeing face to face. They are

not

mere

objects

of

curiosity

but our

brethren who,

by

God's grace, fought the good fight

and

kept

the faith. Humanly speaking, it is because of

their lives that we have all the privileges we

enjoy today.

t

is callous ingratitude to

be

indifferent

to

their lives.

2.

The history

ofthe world

cannot be

understood

apart

from the

history

of

the

Church of Jesus Christ. As Rqmans 8:28

says, God causes aUthings and events to work

together for the good

of

His people, the

Church. AIl things occur for the ultimate good

of

the people of God and His own glory. In this

sense, the history

of

he world is intimately

connected with and, in iact,revolves around

the history

of

the Church. Thus, ChUrch history

should never

be

viewed as a minot department

of history but as the central element

of

history.

This is

of

course doubly so, given

the

evident centrality of the Church

in

the purposes

of God. t is the Church which is the salt

of

the earth and the light

of

the world (Mat

thew

5: 3

-16). As the salt

ofthe

earth, the

Church is constituted both to preserve and give

savor

to

the world. Salt was the primary

preservative of the ancient world. Thus, plainly

6 - THE COUNSEL ofChaicedon - June/July, 2000 ,

8/12/2019 2000 Issue 4 - So Great a Salvation: Why Should We Study Church History? - Counsel of Chalcedon

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God is referring to the preservative function

of

the Church when He calls them the salt

of

the

earth. The Church by their holy lives and

testimony to the Truth of the Gospel, oppose

the creeping corruption and death which sin

would bring to the world apart from God's

grace.

But

the Church is also ordained to give

savor and zest to the world as well. The world

under sin is a world of death and decay, sor

row and misery. There is no joy apart from the

gospel of Christ. Only those who have been

delivered from the death of sin can enjoy the

creation and the life God gives to men. Jesus

came that men might have life and that more

abundantly (John 10: I 0). The world is given

joy and laughter again through the instrumen

tality

ofthe

people

of

God

as

they proclaim

and exemplify the grace of God.

The Church is also ordained to be the light

of

the world. That means, among other things,

that the instrument by which the world is rid of

the darkness ofunbelief is the Church of Jesus

Christ. This great work becomes the central

theme

of

history. As the Church proclaims and

lives the gospel, the darkness is gradually

dispelled. Despair and confusion are dispelled

by the faithful witness

of

God's people. Re

member that God's covenant with Abraham

included the promise that his family would be

the source ofblessing to the nations (Genesis

12:2-3). Church history must not

be

viewed as

a narrowed or restricted vision

of

history (as

if

we are ignoring the main events and focusing

upon mere footnotes) but indeed the center

piece

of

history itself. All else revolves around

this center. Kenneth Scott Latourette has

noted:

From the very first generation

of

Chris

tians, there have been those who have believed

that the clue to the perplexing and paradoxical

human drama is to be found in Christ, that the

hole of the created universe groans in travail

waiting for the revealing

of

the sons

of

God,

the sons

of

whom Christ is the firstborn, and

that it is the purpose

of

God to sum up all

things in Christ, both in the heavens and upon

the earth, and to

put

all things in su bj ection

under his feet.' If this conviction arises from

fact, to be seen in its proper perspective

the entire course of mankind

on the

planet

must

be

surveyed with

reference to Christ,

from the incarnation in Jesus ofNazareth,

through his teaching, deeds, life, and resurrec

tion, and it is no accident

but of

the very stuff

of

history that chronology is measured as

B.C .-before

Christ-and

A.D ,

nno Do-

mini

the year

of

the Lord

of

men and

of

history.

A

History

of

Christianity

New

York: Harper Row, Publishers, p . xiii,

emphasis added)

We

may say that it is only because of the

Church that there is any history at all.

Furthermore, when one considers that

Christ has ordained the Church to be the

institution through which evil will be defeated,

the centrality of the Church is even more plain.

The gates

of

hell will not prevail against the

Church (Matt. 16: 18). The ultimate victory

over evil is gained through the Church.

t

is not

therefore, the politicians and rulers of the

. earth, nor the great financiers , nor the mighty,

who are the central figures of history, but

the

people

of

God. This becomes more

and

more

plain as we study the history

of

the world from

the perspective

of

the Church.

3. There

is

inestimable profit

to

be

gained from

the

study of Church

histo,·y.

For example:

a

Here we find abundant instruction.

We

may learn a great deal from the struggles ,

problems, difficulties, and successes

of

our

brethren. New sects and cults are only old

heresies under a new guise. Ignorance of both

the Bible and history are the major reasons

why so many fall for these old errors under

new names. How we deal with our present

situation must be influenced

by

what has

occurred in times past. George Santayana has

said, Those who do not remember the past

are condemned to relive it and so it is for all

who ignore history.

June/July, 2000 - THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon

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8/12/2019 2000 Issue 4 - So Great a Salvation: Why Should We Study Church History? - Counsel of Chalcedon

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b

Here we fin solemn warnings

What

Paul said about the history

of

old Israel could

be said

of

all

of

history, Now all these things

happened to them as examples, and they were

writ ten for our admonition, on whom the ends

of he ages have come (I Corinthians 10:1-

11).

Paul

was most concerned

that God s

people

not be

ignorant

of

the history

of

the

Church. We may be safely ignorant

of

the

histories of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome,

but

one

dare not be ignorant of the history of

the Church. The history of

God s

people is an

everlasting monument to the danger

ofsin

and

error.

It

is a warning we ignore to our peril.

c

Here we

fin

ample matter to humble

us

(and

that

is a great benefit indeed). Modern

men (and

we are not exempt from this) tend to

think

of

all who lived in the past as ignorant,

IGNORANCE

BREEDS

CONT EM PT FOR THE PAST.

KNOWLEDGE SPAWNS HOLY

HUMILITY.

provincial, bigoted; and benighted to a greater

or

lesser degree as compared to themselves.

We all

need

to realize that God has given great

men in every age, in whose presence we are

but grasshoppers. It will be

of

incalculable

value for us to meet the giants who have

roamed

the land

by

the grace and mercy

of

God (Polycarp and Cyprian; Blandina and

Perpetua; Athanasius and Augustine; Sucat and

Boniface; Ambrose and Columba; Anskar and

Willibrord; Wycliffe and Huss). We need to

know these men that we might fall down before

God in repentance for our pride and beg Him

for mercy to grow in likeness to them who

were

so conformed to Christ by His grace and

power. Ignorance breeds contempt for the

past. Knowledge spawns holy humility.

d

Here we

fin

a storehouse

of

encour-

agement

In the history of the Church

you

are

privileged to see Matthew 16:18 illustrated in

time. Christ builds His Church and nothing can

prevail against it.

It

is a great encouragement

to see God's faithfulness to His people and it

strengthens our faith abundantly to hear of it.

In Psalm 77, the psalmist is quite discouraged

in light ofhis present condition until he remem

bers the works of the LORD and God's

wonders

of

old (vv. 7-15). A fresh sight

of

God's great and mighty works in times past

was enough to encourage his heart to holy

confidence again. There is great profit for all

who will seriously consider the history of

God s people.

4. The

history of

the

Church

(like all

history)

brings

great glory to God. To see

God's Word vindicated, to see Him work all

things together for good, to see His power and

wisdom displayed in the outworkings

of

pro vi

dence draws forth our praise and gives great

glory to the Father. Church history increases

our vision of God's greatness and power and

strengthens our confidence in His Word of

promise, that we might not lose heart, but

continue to endure all for His glory. History·

teaches us to hope. Paul points to the same

thing in Romans 15:4(,'Forwhatever things

were written before were written for our

learning, that we through the patience and

comfort of the Scriptures might have hope ).

To

be

ignorant

of

history is to rob God

of

glory and to rob yourself

of

comfort, wisdom,

and strength. It is well worth the effort to

become familiar with the history ofthe Church.

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THE

COUNSEL ofChalcedon - June/July, 2000