So Great a Salvation:

"Why Should We
Study Church History?"
I Steve Wilkins I
Introduction:
The question is often asked by children,
"Why do I have to study this?" And the answer
is of course, "Because it will do you good."
This is especially so when we Come to the
subject of history. Few things are so calculated
to "do us good" as studying those things God
has done in times past. This is the reason why
the Psalmist in Psalm 78 emphasizes the impor-
tance of knowing the mighty works of God,
"We will not hide them from their children,
telling to the generation to come the praises of
the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful
works that He has done. For He established a
testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in
Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that
they should make them known to their children;
that the generation to come might know them,
the children who ~ l U l d be born, that they may
arise and declare them to their children, that
they may set their hope in God, and not
forget the works of God but keep His
commandments.'; (Psalm 78:4-7).
It is the last phrase which tells us the chief
reason for studying the past: It reveals to us in
a most glorious way, the might and power, the
majesty and wisdom of God and encourages us
to set our hope in. Him. When we read history,
we are reading the unfolding of the infinitely
wise plan which God made from the foundation
of the world (Ephesians I: II). We see how
"the wrath of men" praises Him (Psalm 76:10)
as well as how "all things work together for
good" (Romans 8:28). In days of great turmoil,
history can be one of our greatest comforts.
But why should we focus upon the people
of God in history? Why not look at history
from the perspective of the great empires and
dynasties? There are number of reasonS for
studying what is normally called "Church
history" and I want to lay them out briefly:
1. When we study Church history, we
are studying our "family nicords. "Every-
one is (or should be) interested in the study of
their family histories. What has happened to
bring you to this place in time and history,
should never be a matter of indifference to
you. Everyon<i ought to be interested in how
God in His merciful providence has worked in
their families. This should not be the case
merely with our physical ancestors, it ought to
be so in regard to our covenant ancestors as
well.
The study of Church history is the study of
what God has done in and through our breth-
ren in times past. They are not strangers but
brothers and sisters that we will soon have the
joy of seeing face to face. They are not mere
objects of curiosity but our brethren who, by
God's grace, fought the good fight and kept
the faith. Humanly speaking, it is because of
their lives that we have all the privileges we
enjoy today. It is callous ingratitude to be
indifferent to their lives.
2. The history ofthe world cannot be
understood apart from the history of the
Church of Jesus Christ. As Rqmans 8:28
says, God causes aUthings and events to work
together for the good of His people, the
Church. AIl things occur for the ultimate good
of the people of God and His own glory. In this
sense, the history of the world is intimately
connected with and, in iact,revolves around
the history of the Church. Thus, ChUrch history
should never be viewed as a minot department
of history but as the central element of history.
This is of course doubly so, given the
evident centrality of the Church in the purposes
of God. It is the Church which is the "salt of
the earth" and "the light of the world" (Mat-
thew 5: 13 -16). As the salt ofthe earth, the
Church is constituted both to preserve and give
savor to the world. Salt was the primary
preservative of the ancient world. Thus, plainly
16 - THE COUNSEL ofChaicedon - June/July, 2000 ,
God is referring to the preservative function of
the Church when He calls them "the salt of the
earth." The Church by their holy lives and
testimony to the Truth of the Gospel, oppose
the creeping corruption and death which sin
would bring to the world apart from God's
grace.
But the Church is also ordained to give
savor and zest to the world as well. The world
under sin is a world of death and decay, sor-
row and misery. There is no joy apart from the
gospel of Christ. Only those who have been
delivered from the death of sin can enjoy the
creation and the life God gives to men. Jesus
came that men might have "life and that more
abundantly" (John 10: I 0). The world is given
joy and laughter again through the instrumen-
tality ofthe people of God as they proclaim
and exemplify the grace of God.
The Church is also ordained to be the light
of the world. That means, among other things,
that the instrument by which the world is rid of
the darkness of unbelief is the Church of Jesus
Christ. This great work becomes the central
theme of history. As the Church proclaims and
lives the gospel, the darkness is gradually
dispelled. Despair and confusion are dispelled
by the faithful witness of God's people. Re-
member that God's covenant with Abraham
included the promise that his family would be
the source of blessing to the nations (Genesis
12:2-3). Church history must not be viewed as
a "narrowed" or restricted vision of history (as
if we are ignoring the main events and focusing
upon mere footnotes) but indeed the center-
piece of history itself. All else revolves around
this center. Kenneth Scott Latourette has
noted:
"From the very first generation of Chris-
tians, there have been those who have believed
that the clue to the perplexing and paradoxical
human drama is to be found in Christ, that the
hole of the created universe groans in travail
waiting for the revealing of the sons of God,
the sons of whom Christ is the firstborn, and
that it is the purpose of God to sum up all
things in Christ, both in the heavens and upon
the earth, and to put' all things in su bj ection
under his feet.' If this conviction arises from
fact, to be seen in its proper perspective
the entire course of mankind on the planet
must be surveyed with reference to Christ,
from the incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth,
through his teaching, deeds, life, and resurrec-
tion, and it is no accident but of the very stuff
of history that chronology is measured as
B.C.-before Christ-and A.D. , Anno Do-
mini, the year of the Lord of men and of
history." (A History of Christianity, New
York: Harper & Row, Publishers, p. xiii,
emphasis added)
We may say that it is only because of the
Church that there is any history at all.
Furthermore, when one considers that
Christ has ordained the Church to be the
institution through which evil will be defeated,
the centrality of the Church is even more plain.
"The gates of hell will not prevail" against the
Church (Matt. 16: 18). The ultimate victory
over evil is gained through the Church. It is not
therefore, the politicians and rulers of the
. earth, nor the great financiers, nor the mighty,
who are the central figures of history, but the
people of God. This becomes more and more
plain as we study the history of the world from
the perspective of the Church.
3. There is inestimable profit to be
gained from the study of Church histo,y.
For example:
a. Here we find abundant instruction. We
may learn a great deal from the struggles,
problems, difficulties, and successes of our
brethren. New sects and cults are only old
heresies under a new guise. Ignorance of both
the Bible and history are the major reasons
why so many fall for these old errors under
new names. How we deal with our present
situation must be influenced by what has
occurred in times past. George Santayana has
said, "Those who do not remember the past
are condemned to relive it" and so it is for all
who ignore history.
June/July, 2000 - THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon -17
b. Here we find solemn warnings. What
Paul said about the history of old Israel could
be said of all of history, "Now all these things
happened to them as examples, and they were
written for our admonition, on whom the ends
of the ages have come" (I Corinthians 10:1-
11). Paul was most concerned that God's
people not be ignorant of the history of the
Church. We may be safely ignorant of the
histories of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome,
but one dare not be ignorant of the history of
the Church. The history of God's people is an
everlasting monument to the danger ofsin and
error. It is a warning we ignore to our peril.
c. Here we find ample matter to humble
us (and that is a great benefit indeed). Modern
men (and we are not exempt from this) tend to
think of all who lived in the past as ignorant,
"IGNORANCE BREEDS
CONTEMPT FOR THE PAST.
KNOWLEDGE SPAWNS HOLY
HUMILITY."
provincial, bigoted; and benighted to a greater
or lesser degree as compared to themselves.
We all need to realize that God has given great
men in every age, in whose presence we are
but grasshoppers. It will be of incalculable
value for us to meet the giants who have
roamed the land by the grace and mercy of
God (Polycarp and Cyprian; Blandina and
Perpetua; Athanasius and Augustine; Sucat and
Boniface; Ambrose and Columba; Anskar and
Willibrord; Wycliffe and Huss). We need to
know these men that we might fall down before
God in repentance for our pride and beg Him
for mercy to grow in likeness to them who
were so conformed to Christ by His grace and
power. Ignorance breeds contempt for the
past. Knowledge spawns holy humility.
d. Here we find a storehouse of encour-
agement. In the history of the Church you are
privileged to see Matthew 16:18 illustrated in
time. Christ builds His Church and nothing can
prevail against it. It is a great encouragement
to see God's faithfulness to His people and it
strengthens our faith abundantly to hear of it.
In Psalm 77, the psalmist is quite discouraged
in light of his present condition until he remem-
bers the "works of the LORD" and God's
"wonders of old" (vv. 7-15). A fresh sight of
God's great and mighty works in times past
was enough to encourage his heart to holy
confidence again. There is great profit for all
who will seriously consider the history of
God's people.
4. The history of the Church (like all
history) brings great glory to God. To see
God's Word vindicated, to see Him work all
things together for good, to see His power and
wisdom displayed in the outworkings of pro vi-
dence draws forth our praise and gives great
glory to the Father. Church history increases
our vision of God's greatness and power and
strengthens our confidence in His Word of
promise, that we might not lose heart, but
continue to endure all for His glory. History
teaches us to hope. Paul points to the same
thing in Romans 15:4(,'Forwhatever things
were written before were written for our
learning, that we through the patience and
comfort of the Scriptures might have hope").
To be ignorant of history is to rob God of
glory and to rob yourself of comfort, wisdom,
and strength. It is well worth the effort to
become familiar with the history ofthe Church.
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