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Pentecost to
The Council of Nicea, AD 30 – 325
12/06/09
What Is Church History?
Why Study It?
1. What is church history?
The Church Defined: The Westminster
Confession of Faith, Chapter 25
What is the church? WCF 25 -
● Visible / invisible
● Visible
– The Marks of the church
– Word, Sacraments, Worship, Discipline
● More or less faithful
2. Why Study Church History?
● Spiritual growth
● Understanding the issues of our day
● Knowledge of how Scripture came to be
● Theological tools which allow you to evaluate
and combat errors
● Practical tools which you may not have heard
of before
Why Study Church History? (cont'd)
● Secular/materialistic
– Optimistic
– Pessimistic
● Sacred
– Roman Catholic
– Orthodox
– Catholic Protestant
– Denominational Bias
4. Periods of Church History
● Ancient
– Apostolic 30-100
– Ante-Nicene 100-313
– Nicene 313-590
● Medieval 590-1517
● Modern
– Age of Reformation 1517-1648
– Age of Reason and Revival 1648-1789
– Age of Progress 1789-1914
– Age of Ideologies 1914-
5. Background of the NT Church