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Church History

Church History. ACTS 1 to this Kinship 2000 years in 40 minutes. Compiled by John Ensworth, West Springfield Kinship. Why Study Church History?. Learn the Mistakes of History → Avoid them? Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

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Church History

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  1. Church History ACTS 1 to this Kinship 2000 years in 40 minutes. Compiled by John Ensworth, West Springfield Kinship

  2. Why Study Church History? • Learn the Mistakes of History → Avoid them? Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it. • Discover our own roots (Restoration Movement, Vineyard) • Avoid swinging the pendulum Grace ↔ Legalism Doctrine ↔ Zeal, Emotion, Heart Asceticism ↔Freedom

  3. The beginning • Acts 1 + • Reading from “Introduction to Church History”

  4. Persecution & Growth • The Temple priests went after them in Acts 4 • First a warning, then a beating, then murder. • Stephen – the first martyr – Acts 7:54-60 • Scattered the church and spread the word world wide.

  5. Paul’s Conversion • Saul of Tarsus, a devote Pharisee (present at the stoning of Stephen) • Was heading to stamp out believers in Damascus - Acts 9 • Met Christ along the way • Annanias was sent by God to help Paul • Was baptized and received the Holy Spirit in Damascus –then went to Arabia for 3 years

  6. Gal 1:17-19 • 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. • 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. 19I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord's brother.

  7. Paul planted, taught and wrote • Worked and spent time with some of the disciples ((Barnabas), Peter, James) • Church in Antioch • Cyprus and Asia Minor (Turkey) • Macedonia • Greece – Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Corinth • Ephesus – then imprisoned in Rome 2 years • Crete

  8. Other early church planters • Bartholomew – Armenia • Andrew – Southern Russia and Ukraine • Thomas – Persia and India • Matthew – Ethiopia • James (younger) – Egypt • Jude – Assyria and Persia • Mark (not the apostle) – Alexandria • Peter- Babylonia (? – or name for Rome)

  9. After the apostles and friends passed away… • The Apostolic Fathers: • Apostolic or Post-Apostolic Fathers (c. 95-105 AD) • The Apologists (c. 140-200) • The Polemicists (c. 180-225) • The Scientific Theologians (c. 225-460) • (Arbitrary periods and designations, but useful)

  10. The Apostolic Fathers • Purpose: To exhort and edify the church • Writers/Writings: • Clement Shepherd of Hermas • Papias Barnabas • Ignatius Didache • Polycarp • (c. 95-105 AD)

  11. The Apologists • Purpose: To defend the Faith • Leaders: Justin Martyr, Tatian, Tertulllian • (c. 140-200 AD)

  12. Early Schisms and Heresies • Judaizers legalism • Gnostics humanity of Jesus, deep knowledge, we are divine souls trapped in material world by imperfect God/spirit, matter = evil, our spirit = good • Marcionites Jehovah an evil god- Hebrew bible rejected • Montanists charismatic, newer prophecies supersede apostles, were ‘possessed by God’ when they spoke

  13. Early Schisms and Heresies • Novatianists purity of the church, back sliders (those who renounced Christ under persecution) not readmitted to the church • Arians deity of Jesus and different relationship between the Father and Jesus – nontrinitarian • Ebionism opposed Paul, discounted his writings and teachings • Monarchianism rule of one- bothered by the trinity – power of God sank into Jesus over time • Manicheism Gnosticism with strong Oriental religious elements – mix of light and dark (good and evil). Christ came to help the light side.

  14. The Polemicists • Purpose:To attack error. • Leaders: Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Cyprian • (c. 180-225 AD)

  15. The Apostolic Church Drifts… • Leadership/Church Organization • Doctrine of Baptism • Asceticism, Monasticism etc. • Creeds, Liturgy, Church Calendar, Sacramentalism • Sacerdotalism/Priesthood The Lord’s Supper becomes a sacrifice/supernatural • Hermeneutics – system of studying something and arriving at truth

  16. The Scientific Theologians • Purpose: To develop scientific methods of biblical interpretation • Theologians:Alexandrian – Pantaenus, Clement, Origen, Athanasius, CyrilWestern- Jerome, Ambrose,AugustineEastern – Theodore, John Chrysostome • (c. 225-460 AD)

  17. More Persecution -Rome • Earliest official persecution – 64-100 AD • blame for fire of Rome July 19, 64 AD • 95AD originally directed at Jews who didn’t pay taxes • Imperial Policy – 111-161 AD • response to many leaving paganism • mobs called for Christian blood and this was discouraged by Rome at first

  18. More Persecution -Rome • Marcus Aurelius – 161-180 AD • Sent spies out to find Christians (didn’t wait for mobs or reports) • Riots and mobs not checked • 1000’s thrown to lions and beheaded including Justin Martyr • Still not considered an all out war on Christianity empire wide

  19. More Persecution -Rome • Persecution across the empire 249-305 AD • 1000th year anniversary of Rome celebrated • Looked back on earlier glory and wondered what messed it up…Christianity? • Decius 249-251 AD – state religion needed • Valerian 253-260 AD – was favorable towards Christians at first – many Christian leaders killed later on • 260-303 AD – quiet period • 303-305 AD – Diocletian(east) /Maximian (west) - Destruction of Christian places of worship and holy books decreed.

  20. More Persecution -Rome • Toleration under Constantine from 313 AD+ • Holy Roman Church becomes legal 313 AD • Fall of Roman Empire –September 4, 476 AD

  21. The Canon • First (messed up Gnostic) cannon – Marcion 140 AD • Destruction of scared writings by the Romans in 303 AD showed need to know what is worth dying for.

  22. What is Canon? • Writings inspired by God. (Which ones?) • Apostle writings. • Those close to the apostles. • Moral and doctorial elements match apostle writings? • Satisfied Hebrew Bible prophecy. • The four gospels and Acts.

  23. Canon and Paul • Paul's letters were circulated with the first NT canon • 250 AD – Had the four gospels, 13 epistles of Paul + 4 books not in the NT today. • Hebrews was disputed – author unknown • Given to Constantine in 330 AD

  24. Councils of Carthate • 393 AD (St. Augustine was bishop) apparently set the current NT canon • 397 AD – no additions or subtractions will be made.

  25. Approaching the Middle Ages • 325-681 AD • Theological controversy and the Fall of Rome • The Roman Catholic Church forms – reference to it in 107 AD • Catholic = “the one church formed by Jesus and the apostles” • Legalized under Constantine 313 AD

  26. Pope Gregory the Great • 540-604 A.D. • Transformed the bishopric of Rome into a papal system • Introduced major changes in the liturgy and standardized it (though didn’t actually create Gregorian chants) • Helped bring together the branches of Roman Catholic theology that were developing • Penned famous commentary on Job which defined how commentaries were to be done.

  27. Clarified ideas: • Original Sin • Forgiveness through baptism • Purgatory • Converted the Eucharist from a sacrament into a sacrifice for redemption

  28. Islam Created • Islam came into existence 622 AD • Mohammad traveled to the Christian world to find a religion to unite the Arab world • Was rejected • Took elements from Judaism, Christianity and Arabian heathenism • Preached 13 years in Mecca against polytheism, then flight to Medina in 622AD.

  29. Islam Created • Conquered Mecca in 629 AD • Died 632 AD ruler of the Arabian peninsula • Qur’an formed about 650 AD • Major schism : Sunni (largest ~90%) and Shi’ite (7 to 15% of Muslims) late 600’s • Now 1/5th of the world (.9 to 1.4 billion) • (Christianity 1.9 billion presently)

  30. Present percentage of population that is Muslim by country.

  31. Present percentage of population that is Christian by country.

  32. Middle Ages and the Catholic Church • Charlemagne was crowned ‘emperor of the Romans’ by Pope Leo III 800 AD • Took this to mean he was the leader of all Christendom as well •  The Holy Roman Empire 800 AD • Was Christianity for almost 200 years. • (Napoleon abolished the empire in 1806  1000 years later!)

  33. Schism 1054 AD • The 1st great rift. • The western (Latin) branch • The eastern (Greek) branch • Today The worldwide Catholic Church is made up of 1 Western Latin and 22 Eastern Catholic autonomous particular churches, all of which look to the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), alone or along with the College of Bishops, as their highest authority on earth for matters of faith, morals and church governance.

  34. Crusades • Crusades: 1095AD - to the Holy Land to contain/push back Islam – failed ultimately • Inquisition: 1184 to 1230’s – sought to assure religious and doctrinal unity within Christianity through conversion, and sometimes prosecution, of alleged heretics. • Spanish 1478-1834, Portuguese 1536-1560+ • Roman 1542-mid 1800’s (including Galileo Galilei 1633)

  35. Decline of the Medieval Church 1305-1517 AD • Rise of nationalism • Backlash against the Inquisition • Reaction against money-raising efforts of the Church (indulgences, oppressive taxes) • Moral Laxity (especially 1400’s) • Secularization of the church (the Renaissance) • The Crusades • Babylonian Captivity of the papacy (the pope was a virtual prisoner of the king of France 1305-1377) • Papal Schism – Incompetent Pope Urban VI (1378-1417)

  36. The Protestant Reformation • The 2nd great rift. • Germany in 1517 with Martin Luther • Concluded with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. (ended the 30 and 80 years war, France, Germany, Sweden, Dutch, and the Holy roman Empire – Christians could worship freely wherever they were). • Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses On the Power of Indulgences to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, which served as a pin board for university-related announcements. These were points for debate that criticized the Church and the Pope.

  37. The Protestant branches… • The most important Protestant groups to emerge directly from the reformation were the Lutherans, the Reformed/Calvinists/Presbyterians, the Anabaptists, and the Anglicans. Subsequent Protestant denominations generally trace their roots back to the initial Reformation traditions. It also accelerated the Catholic or Counter Reformation within the Roman Catholic Church.

  38. Christian Branches

  39. The thread of True Christianity in the Middle Ages? • Paulicians 650-900’s Asia Minor – Some Gnostic elements, but accepted the OT, Gospels, Paul’s letters – and condoned the prophetic and tongues • Arnold of Brescia 1100 Italy – gave his possessions away, land to the government, opposed the pope – taught of the trinity (also Héloïse)

  40. The thread of Christianity in the Middle Ages? • Peter of Bruys 1110 Northern Italy – taught in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church • Taught children younger than the age of understanding cannot be saved by baptism, ornate churches do not make the Church, the cross should not be a Christian symbol, there is no transubstantiation, you can’t sacrifice and pray or give alms for the dead – good deeds cannot profit the dead. • Waldensians 1175-1500’s Peter Waldo, Switzerland – taught the value of poverty, public preaching and the personal study of scriptures (Mennonites and Baptists trace their roots through the Waldensians)

  41. The Reformation • John Wycliffe England, 1324-1384 • John Huss Bohemia, 1374-1415 • Martin Luther Germany, 1483-1546 • Ulrich Zwingli Switzerland, 1484-1531 • William Tyndale England, 1494-1536 • John Calvin France, 1509-1564 • John Knox Scotland, 1505-1572

  42. John Wycliffe 1324-1384 Translated Vulgate into English Opposed indulgences, idols, priesthood The Pope is the antichrist (later years) Followers known as Lollards Declared heretic 1401: The Anti-Wycliffite Statute

  43. John Huss 1374-1415 Bohemia Influenced by Wycliffe Bible the only authority Only God can forgive sin Burned at the stake Hussites virtually wiped out by the Inquisition Brethren and Moravian Churches (Anabaptist and/or Pietist movements)

  44. John Huss Burned at the stake, 1415

  45. A quick Review • God and His Spirit started the Church – Acts 1 • Jewish then Roman persecution spread it • The Holy Roman Church traces it’s roots to the apostles and was ‘the main show in town’ until the reformation from 1517 to 1648.

  46. Martin Luther 1483-1546 Augustinian Monk 95 Theses in Wittenburg Studied Romans Salvation by Faith Only Scripture Only to know about God Predestination – believed in, but shouldn’t be discussed Book of James a “book of straw.” (will ‘burn up’ and not remain canon over time) Kept much of Catholic worship practices

  47. Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) Swiss Reformer More radical than Luther Rejected almost all Catholic forms of worship. Differed on the Lord’s Supper – set a table down the isle and men and women sat – bread and wine served on boards and wooden cups His influence led to the Anabaptists Principle influence on John Calvin

  48. William Tyndale 1494-1536 Protestant reformer Translated the Bible into Early Modern English First to use the new medium of print Arrested and jailed in 1535 in the castle of Vilvoorde outside of Brussels, Belgium Was tried for heresy and treason, was strangled and burnt at the stake in the castle courtyard. Much of his translation made it into the King James Version in 1611

  49. The Anabaptist Movement (1530’s and later) The Radical Reformation Menno Simmons 1496-1561 Martyrdom of Anabaptists

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