Church History

Church history is fascinating! I can't believe I never read any before! It is also so useful, since seeing the grand scope of the history of the church puts the current issues in context. Seeing how previous generations of the church dealt with some issues helps see how we might come through ours, and also gives me hope that God is there in the process. It is also very helpful in understanding other denominations, like the Catholic/Orthodox split, or the uses of icons in the Orthodox church.

One of the best parts was the explanation of how the system of penances and indulgences came about. I still think it is shonky theology, but now I can see how the need arose for "sinners" to be accepted back into the church and how a mechanism was needed to do this (penances) and how since saints were so holy they might be able to spare some for those in need, for a price (indulgences). I'm sure this is a dreadful simplification of the issues, but the emotional need is obvious - how to deal with sin after baptism?

It is also very reassuring to see how God has guided the church through some of the great dilemmas of past ages. Some of the early heresies could have lead to the downfall of Christianity if they had taken over or been written into the Creeds. God has guided the church through the collapse of the Roman Empire, which must have seemed at the time to be the end of the world, and through many other crises since, and we're still here! This sense of continuity is very important - we need to hold hands with the past in order to reach forward into the future. If we forget where we have been, we will circle back and end up in the same troubles! We also don't want to forget some of the great truths which have been learned in previous generations. Most of all, we want to be part of the great and ongoing community of Christians everywhere throughout time! Our family still includes those members who have "fallen asleep" and we don't want to forget them, or what they taught us of God.

I have heard it described as three sides of a triangle: God's revelations through the Holy Spirit, the teachings and wisdom of the Bible, the accumulated wisdom and revelation of the church (tradition). I suppose the Orthodox are the best at tradition, though the Catholics are big in this area as well. The Pentecostals have the corner on the Holy Spirit, and the Evangelicals the Bible. I suppose Anglicans are a blend of Bible and tradition. I wonder what a church would look like which managed to hold all three in balance, and listen to the voice of God through all?