Ten Reasons to Study Church History

Why Study Church History?

  1. Most Christians do not know much about church history.
  1. History is a testimony to God’s sovereign providence. God working through his people to accomplish to fulfil His plans and purposes.
  1. Christ said He would build His church (Matthew 16:18).
  1. Church history is our history as members of the body of Christ.
  1. Because the truth has been preserved and passed down through history.
    • When we study church history we not only confirm the fact that what we believe today is what the apostolic church believed; but we also see how the truth was preserved throughout history.
    • From Christ to the Apostles: John 15:26-27
    • From the Apostles to their Disciples: 2 Timothy 2:2
  1. Because just as we are encouraged by the history of truth; we are also warned by the history of error.
  1. Because we have much to learn from those that walked with God. We see their faithfulness despite of persecution.
  1. We can learn much from those that failed at various points.
  1. Because being a faithful apologist often includes being a good historian.
  1. Because history helps twenty first century Christians have a right perspective about their own place in the church age.
    • To realise that we are not the first generation to “get it right” and to remember that earlier generations of Christians (especially those of the first few centuries) lived much closer to the times of the apostles, thus we should treat their writings seriously and take time to learn from them.
    • To realise that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves, our local congregation, or even the evangelical movement as it exists today; the history of Christianity spans two millennia, of which we are but a momentary blip.

Tags:
Shares