The value of Church History.

More recently I’ve been trying to get into Church History a bit more. It’s not easy but over the years I’ve come to realise how valuable it is. But that being said I have to admit I’m still a novice at it. History is not my forte. Sometimes I struggle to remember my anniversary and my kids birthday, let alone my own. (Well I’m trying to forget anyway). If I had a chance, I’d prefer to play on my Mac, watch Star Trek or play “Call to Duty 4” or Halo on my Xbox. Bottom line is, history is not something I’m good at. But I’m trying to get into this a but more.

Having said this, I’m slowly coming to see how important it is to life and ministry. Over the years since I’ve started ordained ministry I’ve discuss with various people and church leaders, a whole range of subjects such as the nature of the sacrament, church governance, the nature of ordination, the character of the worship service, pentecostalism, the importance of music, the qualifications of an elder and pastor, church and state issues, what is a church. The list goes on and on and on. As I did so I was made aware how many of these issues have already been debated at length in church history.

One of the dangers, or rather, mistakes we make is to think we are the only one’s asking the questions and thinking through the issues, when in fact that is not the case. So why am I really getting into church history? I think there are a few good reasons.

1. While we have our iphones, internet, and air travel is at dirt cheap prices, the essential things of life have not changed. Our language and our dress sense may have but our hearts are still the same. Therefore the things that really concerned them continue to concern God’s people throughout the world and throughout history. In short we are very much like our forefather’s of long ago.
2. Many of the issues and questions we wrestle with today are not new. Our Christian forefathers have had to struggle with them as well. To know this is comforting because it means that we are not alone in thinking through these things. In fact we might discover that they were able to articulate and understand the issues far deeper than we can.
3. God has poured out His Spirit, not only on this generation, but all previous generations, leading them to a deeper understanding of the Word of God and how to address these issues. In other words we mustn’t think that new is always better or closer to the truth. Obviously, with more time, we may be able to have a better grasp of things but we mustn’t think that our forefathers had nothing to offer. No doubt they weren’t always right, but neither were they always wrong. They had a lot of good things to say. Indeed in many areas of thinking the ancient ones got it spot on. Even today we continue go back to the likes of Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Edwards, Cranmer, just to name a few good guys.

I’m sure there are other good reasons to study church history, but these are some which have struck me in more recent times and going back to them has enriched my understanding of the issues we face today. So if we’re serious about life and ministry then learning from the past is a key to understanding how to deal with the present. Therefore going back to the past is not something we should overlook too quickly.

So it’s back to the books and back to the past. Now where am I up to? Ok let’s see what good old Ambrose and Jerome had to say for us today.