Church History Is Our History: Reasons to Study It and the Church’s First Steps

Scripture References

Primary text

• Acts 2

Other references

• Matthew 16:18
• Isaiah 48
• 2 Timothy 2:2
• 1 Peter 1:8
• 2 Corinthians 6
• 1 Peter 3:15
• Acts 1
• Acts 5:1-11
• Acts 8
• Acts 10
• Acts 15
• Acts 22:3

Overview

The professor opens the course by challenging the common notion that nothing good happened between the Apostle John and Martin Luther. He lays out ten biblical reasons every evangelical should know the first 1,500 years of the church, insists that church history is the story of God’s ongoing providence, and begins walking through Acts 2—the birthday of the church. By the end, students see that exploring the past is not trivia; it is learning how Christ has always kept His promise to build His church.

Main Points

1. Why study church history? Ten biblical reasons

1. Most believers today are nearly clueless about the story of the church.
2. History showcases God’s sovereign providence at work.
3. Christ promised, “I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18); history shows the promise kept.
4. It is our family story as members of Christ’s Bride.
5. Truth has been faithfully preserved and passed on (2 Timothy 2:2).
6. The record of heresies warns us—ancient errors reappear in modern cults.
7. Examples of faithfulness under persecution strengthen us (e.g., Athanasius, the “saint of stubbornness”).
8. Failures in the past caution us against compromise.
9. Effective apologetics often rests on good historical knowledge.
10. A historical lens keeps 21st-century pastors humble about their place in the larger story.

“Think of church history as the exciting unfolding of God’s tapestry of providence. If you can’t get excited about studying that, you really shouldn’t be in seminary at all.”

2. How to approach the subject

• Selection is unavoidable: a one-semester course must focus on key turning points.
• Pure objectivity is impossible, so the class will read history through the twin lenses of sola Scriptura and salvation by faith alone.
• Guard against chronological arrogance; earlier generations have much to teach us.

3. Using church history in preaching and ministry

• Illustrations: biographical moments from the past are both fresh to listeners and timeless.
• Commentaries: voices from earlier centuries (e.g., Chrysostom’s sermons) enrich exegesis.
• Doctrinal clarity: knowing the Trinitarian battles, canon debates, and eschatological views strengthens teaching.
• Apologetics: historical facts expose weaknesses in Roman Catholicism, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other modern cults.

4. The story begins – Acts 2 and the first years

• Day of Pentecost (AD 30) marks the church’s birth: 120 believers filled with the Spirit speak genuine foreign languages as a sign that the gospel is for all nations.
• Rapid growth in Jerusalem: Peter’s sermons (Acts 2–4), healing of the lame man, arrests, and bold witness.
• Internal purity: Ananias and Sapphira judged (Acts 5:1-11).
• Structural development: deacons appointed so apostles can devote themselves “to prayer and the ministry of the word” (Acts 6).
• First martyr: Stephen’s death (Acts 7) sparks persecution that scatters believers and plants seeds as far as Antioch.
• Timeline note: these events likely unfold within the first two years of church history, anchoring Paul’s later conversion (Galatians 1) around AD 32-33.

Key Truths

• The gospel has never been silent; God preserves both His truth and His people in every century.
• Church history does not compete with biblical authority; it highlights the necessity of an unchanging standard.
• Familiar heresies (gnosticism, Arianism, legalism) reappear in modern disguises; knowing their roots equips today’s shepherds.
• Faithful study of the past fuels worship, confidence, and pastoral courage in the present.
• Past saints model endurance; past compromises warn against drifting with cultural pressures.

Response

• Cultivate gratitude for God’s providence beyond your lifetime.
• Regularly read biographies of earlier believers to enlarge your perspective.
• Use historical illustrations in sermons to connect present listeners with the church’s heritage.
• Study ancient heresies so you can recognize and refute their modern forms.
• Evaluate how contemporary culture might be shaping your theology and practice without you noticing.

Closing

Church history is not a dusty archive; it is the living record of Christ keeping His word. The professor urges students to embrace their lineage, learn from its triumphs and tragedies, and let that awareness shape their preaching and pastoral work. He reminds them that they, too, are now writing the next chapter in the same grand story.

“Church history belongs to you as a Bible-believing evangelical—not to Rome—and you are part of it until Christ returns.”