Church History

Tom Drozwww.ehbed.witnesstoday.org

Ecclesiology

• The study of the Church itself

• Scripture, Tradition, History

• What is the Church?

The Church

XIX. Of the Church.

The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance, in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.(Book of  Common Prayer 1563)

The Church

XIX. Of the Church - continued

As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, have erred; so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of Ceremonies, but also in matters of Faith. (Book of  Common Prayer 1563)

From the Orthodox Perspective

Who are we?

Church History Outline

1. Jesus and the Apostolic period 30-100

2. The Church Fathers 100-476

3. Middle ages 476-1500

4. Reformed Period 1500-1900

5. Modern Period 1900-present

Jesus and Apostolic Times

• Traditions of men for the commands of God (Mark 7.8)

• Judaizers – Those of the circumcision party (Galatians 2.12) - Legalism

• Antinomianism – Shall we all sin so that grace may abound? (Romans 6.1) – no rules

• Proto-Gnostics – Greek philosophy meets the Church.

• Simony – Simon the magician (Acts 8.9-14) – Doing Church for profit.

The Fathers 100-476

• The Apologists 130-220 • Those who explained the faith to hostile Rome

• The Third Century 220-311 • Regular, but not constant persecution

• The Imperial Church 311-476 • 311 Edict of Toleration (Galerius in the East)• 313 Edict of Milan (Constantine I and Licinius)• 325 - 451 Church Councils• 380 Edictum de Fide Catholica (Theodosius I)

The Fathers - Continuity

Church Fathers

Latin Fathers Greek Fathers

Tertullian, (ca. 155–230)First writer of the Latin Church, became a Montanist later in life.

Irenaeus of Lyons,  (ca 2nd century) Disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John. Testifies to 4 Gospels.

Ambrose of Milan, (c. 338 – 397)

Clement of Alexandria (d 211-216) Highly educated in Greek philosophy.

Jerome, (ca. 347 – 420) Translator of the Vulgate.

Origen, (185 - 254 A.D.) Described liturgy, Allegorized Scripture.

Augustine of Hippo, (354-430)Athanasius of Alexandria, (c. 293-373)

Gregory the Great, (540-604)Investiture Controversy.

John Chrysostom, (c. 293-373) Golden Throat - the greatest preacher of his generation.

Councils 325-787

1. The Arian Controversy

2. The Macedonian Controversy

3. The Nestorian Controversy

4. Monophysite Controversy

5. Nestorian and Eutychian Controversies

6. The Monothelite Controversy

7. The Iconoclast Controversy

325 Nicea The Arian Controversy

• The Arian heresy teaches that the Father alone is God.

• The Logos or Son is a created being - formed out of nothing by the Father before the universe was made.

• There was, therefore, a time when the Son had not existed.

381 Constantinople The Macedonian Controversy

• Followers of Macedonius I of Constantinople.   

• pneumatomachi - spirit fighters

• Denied the divinity and personhood of the Holy Spirit. 

• Holy Spirit is the power (dynamic) of God.

431 Ephesus The Nestorian Controversy

• Nestorius (c 386-451) Archbishop of Constantinople

• Two natures of Christ were separate persons and so to speak "dividing Christ." 

• Christ was only Theophoros: The "Bearer of God"

• Mary could not be called Θεότόκος theotokos (“mother of God”) rather she should be Christotokos (“mother of Christ.“)

451 Chalcedon The Monophysite Controversy

553 Nestorian and Eutychian Controversies

• Nestorian controversy did not end• Nestorian Churches exist even today• Nestorian Christians were in China by 635

• Eutychianism holds that the human nature of Christ was essentially obliterated by the Divine, "dissolved like a drop of honey in the sea".

680 The Monothelite Controversy

• The last attempt to compromise with the Monophysites.

• Christ did have two natures (divine and human) He nevertheless, acted as God only. In other words, His divine nature made all the decisions.

• "Monothelitism"  ("mono" one and "thelesis" will.)

787 The Iconoclast Controversy

• Iconoclasts thought icons were idols and should not be allowed in Church.

• The Iconophilles believed that icons served to preserve the doctrinal teachings of the Church.

Middle ages 476-1500

1. Roman Empire falls apart in 476.

2. The Rise of Islam (622, The Hijra).

3. The Great Schism.

4. Rise of Monasticism.

5. The Holy Roman Empire.

Roman Empire

• 395 Theodosius divides the Roman empire in the Western and Eastern Empires.

• 476 Odoacer deposes Romulus the last Roman emperor to rule the West. 

• East will become Byzantine Empire.

• 1348-1350 - The plague - 100 million die.

• Europe in Feudalism.

Islam

• Muhammad (570-632)

• Qur'an • Beginning in 610 through 632.• 661 The Uthmanic recension of Qur’an.

• Expansion• Muhammad 622-632.• Rashidun Caliphs 632-661.• Umayyad Caliphate 661-750.

Islam

• Golden age of Islam 750-1258

• 1206 Genghis Khan and the boys

Roman Empire

The Great Schism

• 589 filioque (Latin for and the Son)

• 863-867 Photian Schism 

• Power of the Papacy

• 1054 Final Schism

MonasticismTrying to find pure Christianity

• 230 Desert Fathers - Paul of Thebes.• 529 Benedictine rules.• 1098 Cistercian order (Trapists).

• "clothes its stones in gold" but "leaves its children naked."

• Mendicant orders (from mendicare, to beg) – Matthew 10.9, 10. • 1209 Franciscans. • 1216 Dominicans. • 1534 Jesuits.

The Holy Roman Empire 768-1530

• Charlemagne (ruler 768-814)• 768 King of the Franks • 800 Crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III• Church and state are hard to tell apart

Reformed Period 1500-1900

1. Reformation 1500-1750

2. The Great Awakening 1700-1799

3. The Second Great Awakening 1800-1850

4. The Third Great Awakening 1850-1900

Reformation 1500-1750

• Luther 1517 (Augustinian Monk)  • Posted 95 theses October 31, 1517• Complained about corruption of the Pope

• Zwingli 1519 (Priest)• Began preaching Biblical sermons• Tradition had strayed from Bible

• Calvin 1536 (Lawyer)• began publishing The Institutes

The Five Solas

1. Sola Scripture, 

2. Solus Christus, 

3. Sola Gratia, 

4. Sola Fide, 

5. Soli Deo Gloria.  

Scripture alone, teach us that salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

Reformation Theology

Reformation RomeRejected Tradition; focused on scripture.

Jesus left no writings of his own instead he entrusted a tradition to the Church.

Rejected the authority of the fathers and church councils.

The Church Fathers, Popes and Councils spoke authoritatively.  Indeed The Church continues to speak authoritatively.

Taught justification by faith alone.  The Church is in the position of dispensing grace.  The sacraments are the means by which grace is dispensed.

A view from the Reformation

The great Awakening 1700-1799

• Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)• George Whitefield (1714-1770)

• Deemphasized the importance of church doctrine

• Greater emphasis on the individual and their spiritual experience.

• The role of the individual in religion and society. • Establishment of new institutions of higher

learning (Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton and Rutgers).

The Second Great Awakening 1800-1850

• John Wesley • Alexander Campbell• Barton Stone

• Camp meetings

• Restoration movement

• Adventism

• Mormons

The Third Great Awakening1850-1900

• Dwight L. Moody• Ira Sankey

• Pentecostals• Holiness movement

• Social Gospel• Christian Science• Jehovah’s Witness

Modern Period 1900-present

• Questioning the voracity of the Bible

• 1876 Julius Wellhausen 

• 1934 Walter Bauer

• 1947 Americans United for separation of Church and State

• 1985 Jesus Seminar

The Bauer Thesis

Nothing much has changed

They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. (1 John 2:19)