Introduction
Cover
Church History
Course Focus
This class will help the student to become familiar with the history of the Church. The goal of this class is to give you a practical understanding of events that occurred throughout the history of the church. The church of Jesus Christ is alive. We will study the lives of some of the people who have been used of God as pillars in the church.
Definition of Church History
Definition of Church History
Church
The Greek word for church is ekklesia which means "those called together or those called out."
This class will study the church of Jesus Christ. The word church is used today to refer to the buildings that the saints gather in to worship, but it more accurately refers to the people. The Scripture uses the word church to refer to an assembly in a certain house or city (Romans 16:5, I Cor. 16:19, Col. 4:15). The church is more than a house or building, but it is the saints who are the body of Christ.
The Lord added to the church
Acts 2:47…And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
After experiencing the great baptism of the Holy Ghost in the upper room, the disciples were powerfully influential in witnessing of Christ. In one day, 3,000 souls were saved and added to the local assembly. Every day, more and more were added!
There is only one church of God, and only God can add members to it. Humans have religious organizations and they can control the membership of them, but no human can say who is or is not a member of the church of God.
Jesus is the head of the church
Ephesians 1:22–23—And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body…
The church is referred to in this Scripture as the body of Christ. Jesus is the head of His body. In a physical body the head gives commands to the body to function and work. In the body of Christ, Jesus is the commander who gives instructions to His church to do the work of God.
The church was birthed by the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost. This class will include the study of the early church of Acts up to our current church period.
History
The word history comes from a word that means "learning by inquiry."
The Webster's dictionary defines history as "that branch of knowledge which deals with events that have taken place in the world's existence; the study or investigation of the past."
One writer said that "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." [1]
Christian
We are studying the history of the Christian church. The term Christian, meaning "to be like Christ or one who follows Christ," was first used in Antioch around AD 40 (Acts 11:25).
The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ are the central events of the history of the world. History is recorded around Christ. Dates are listed as BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) which is Latin that means in the year of our Lord. All of history centers on Christ.
[1] L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between (1953)
Why Study Church History?
Why study church history?
Church history helps us understand what we believe
If you enter a Protestant church anywhere in the world, you will be greeted with a service that is similar to any other one you have previously attended. There will be differences of style, but you could expect an opening prayer, a time of singing, an offering, and preaching. Often times these will be in a similar order. Nowhere in the Bible is given a list of how to hold a church service, so how have we universally adopted a similar form?
It is because much of what we do and believe as Christians has been shaped by over two-thousand years of tradition, though often we don't recognize it. "Tradition" is often considered a bad thing in Protestant churches. We like to believe we are doing things exactly like Paul and the other apostles did in the New Testament, but nowhere in the Bible do we see that Paul wore a suit and tie to church on Sundays (in fact, Sunday being designated as the official day of Christian worship comes from tradition and not the Bible).
The tradition of the church can be a good thing. Many people have studied the Bible, prayed, and discussed many doctrines and ideas about how the church should live. We do not have to "recreate the wheel," and study all these subjects ourselves, but we can learn from what these people have passed down to us through tradition. We do not believe that tradition is better than Scripture, but we believe that tradition can help us understand the Bible.
If we study the history of the church, we will understand much about how this tradition came to be. Whether we study history or not, we will be influenced by history. The influence will come from the culture around us, conclusions we subconsciously arrive at, and the stories that are told to us. The danger is that without making a conscious study of how we came to be, we can easily arrive at the wrong conclusions.
To build up our faith
The study of church history gives us an appreciation of our heritage. Many men and woman have paid the price of their lives to carry this Gospel message. The Gospel has been preached through much difficulty and hardship.
Learn of the mighty revivals of the church
There have been some great manifestations of God's power throughout the course of the history of the Church. The same Holy Ghost that moved in those revivals is the same Holy Ghost that will move today.
You can see that God's hand has always been on His church
The repeat of history
The writer of Ecclesiastes said "there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecc. 1:9). History comes in cycles. By studying the past we can learn about the present. We can learn from the mistakes and successes of others. God is no respecter of persons. What God has performed for past generations He can do for our generation if we obey Him as they did.
Romans 2:11—For there is no respect of persons with God.
We can learn from the successes and mistakes of those that have lived before us.
God does not change
God deals with all men equally in all ages and at all times. How God dealt with men in times past is how He will still deal with men today. God has always required that men live a holy life and he has not changed that standard today.
God uses ordinary people
The God that used Peter, and James, and John is the same God that will use you. God uses ordinary people just like you.
To enrich the knowledge of the minister
A minister of the Gospel should not be ignorant of the rich history of the Church.
Church History Outline
Seven periods of church history
THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH
START: From the Day of Pentecost (AD 30)
END: To the completion of the New Testament (about AD 100)
THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
START: From the completion of the New Testament about (AD 100)
END: To the Edict of Constantine (AD 313)
This is a period of tremendous persecution of the church. The church was crushed beneath the iron heal of the Roman Empire.
THE IMPERIAL CHURCH
START: From the Edict of Constantine (AD 313)
END: To the Fall of Rome (AD 476)
The word Imperial refers to a king or ruler. This was a period in the history of the church that an emperor had much influence on the church.
THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH
START: From the Fall of Rome (AD 476)
END: To the Fall of Constantinople (AD 1453)
The Catholic church dominated Europe during this time.
THE REFORMED CHURCH
START: From the Fall of Constantinople (AD 1453)
END: To the End of the Thirty Year War (AD 1678)
This was a period when God used men like Martin Luther to stand up against the tide of Catholicism and preach the just shall live by faith. God raised up men throughout Europe to restore the Word to the church.
THE MODERN CHURCH
START: From the end of the Thirty Year War (AD 1678)
END: To the Twentieth Century AD (1950's)
This was a period of great revivals and missionary outreach. Up until this time there was never a concentrated effort to reach the world with the Gospel. It takes a great love of souls to travel to a foreign land and preach the Gospel. It was during this time that David Livingstone set up many missionary stations on the continent of Africa.
THE POSTMODERN CHURCH
START: From the Twentieth Century AD (1950's)
END: To the present day
We will study each of these periods individually. This chapter was only an overview of what this course will cover.