Church History

Why do we learn church history?

1. Church history shows us that God is working in the world to bring salvation to mankind.
2. It gives us an answer to many questions that concern our day to day practical living.
3. We can learn from the mistakes that others have made.
4. We can see good things that happened, analyse what made them good and pursue them.
5. Our consciousness for the body of Christ will be extended and we have good examples.
6. It is inspiring to learn about the great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) that surround us.
7. Church history gives us a sense of destiny.
When we look at church history, we should be encouraged because we see God working out his purposes with imperfect people, like us and Luther, Carey, Wesley and Billy Graham.


What is church history?

1. Church History is the story of Jesus Christ here on earth. The church is His body.
2. It is the story of the Holy Spirit. 2. Corinthians 3:17 teaches us that “the Lord is the Spirit”. Therefore the history of the Holy Spirit is the history of Jesus and is our history, because we are His body.
3. It would be better to call the subject “the History of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth”! The beginning is in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts doesn’t finish with an “Amen” but continues to this day and will only finish when Jesus returns.
Studying church history helps us not to regard our experience as the “norm”. Many people have had many experiences with God before us. These experiences are often different than ours!
Living as a Christian is a process of “taking off” and “putting on”. We take off the old man and put on the new man. This is the process of discipleship.