Church History

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Church History

• John Oakes, PhD
• Apologetics Research Society

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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,
  Campus Ministry, ICOC)
• Avoid swinging the pendulum
  Grace ? Legalism
  
  Doctrine ? Zeal, Emotion, Heart
  Asceticism ? Freedom
  

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Church History How Should we do Church?

• Is David Bercot Right? Are Viola and Barna
  Right?
• Will the Real Heretic Please Stand Up!
• Pagan Christianity.
• Assumption If they did it, we need to do it.
• House Churches, Pacifism, Withdrawal from worldly
  entertainment, Musical Instruments, Baptism
• No! The Make an incorrect assumption.
• Some of these were expedients.
• Some of these reflect cultural realities.
• Bottom line, by faith, we trust the scriptures
• But!!! We can learn a lot from their good
  examples.

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Week 1 John 10/10 a. Intro to Church History
AD 90-325. The big picture. b. Heresy and
division. c. Drift toward Western
Catholicism. Week 2 Robert 10/17 a. Cultural
background to the early church, especially in the
1st century.Greek, Jewish and Roman culture. b.
Evangelism and the spread of Christianity, Church
of the East to AD 500. Week 3 John (and
Robert?) 10/24 a. Augustine, Catholicism and
Church Councils. b. Medieval Christianity.
Aquinas et al.
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Week 4 John and Robert 10/31 a.
Pre-Reformation Albigenses, Waldo, Wycliffe,
Huss. b. Cultural background to the
Reformation, Counter- Reformation. c.
Reformation Luther, Erasmus, etc. Week 5
John and Robert 11/14 a. Reformation (cont.)
Zwingli, Radical Reformation, Anabaptists,
Calvin b. The Enlightenment and its influence
on Christianity. c. 18th century. Puritans,
Baptists, Methodists, Great Awakening. Week 6
John and Robert 11/21 a. Background to the
Restoration Movement. OKelly, Stone, Campbell,
Scott, Christadelphians, Lipscomb, etc. b.
Restoration Movement in 20th century. Christian
Church, Disciples of Christ, Church of Christ,
ICOC.
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How is True Christianity Lost?

• Growth of splinter, heretical groups with false
  teachings.
• Gradual drift of the true church from biblical
  practice for good and sincere reasons.

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Early Schisms and Heresies

• Judaizers legalism Gal 18
• Ebionites Denied deity of Jesus
• Gnostics Deny humanity of Jesus, deep
  knowledge
• Docetism Jesus not a physical person
• Marcionites Jehovah an evil god. Established
  canon.
• Montanists Charismatics, modern-day
  revelation
• Novatianists Division over purity of the
  church
• Arians Denied deity of Jesus

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Gnosticism The Gospel of Judas But you ie.
Judas will exceed all of them.  For you will
sacrifice the man that clothes me.
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Another way to lose it The Church Drifts

• Orthodoxy vs Orthopraxy
• Heterodoxy vs Heteropraxy
• Theme Almost all these examples of drift from
  Orthopraxy started out as a reasonable and
  seemingly wise response to a real problem
  (heresy) at the time!
• Irenaeus Defended against heresy using Church
  tradition, The rule of faith, and the authority
  of apostolic succession.

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The Apostolic Church Drifts

• Leadership/Church Organization
• Doctrine of Baptism
• Asceticism, Monasticism
• Creeds
• Sacerdotalism/Priesthood clergy and laity
• Lords Supper becomes a sacrifice
• Sacramentalism Liturgy, Church Calendar
• Veneration of Saints
• Hermeneutics
• Allegorizing of Scripture vs Historical/Analytical
  approach

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Lessons Learned From the Early Church

• Avoid convenient but unscriptural organizational
  structure.
• Resist the trend toward ritualism in our worship.
• Do not overreact to false doctrines.
• Avoid relying on creeds to defend truth.
• Do not overemphasize the importance of physical
  sacrifice, prayer or any other good spiritual
  activity
• Watch for tendency to develop a clergy/laity
  division
• Stress good methods of Bible exegesis

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Highlights in 3rd and 4th Centuries

• Persecutions
• Decius 249-251 Valerian 253-260
• Diocletian 303-304 Galerain, Licinius
• Edict of Milan 313 Toleration of Christianity
• Constantine, Emperor of all Rome 323
• Beginning of Christendom
• Council of Nicaea
• Arianism
• Nicene Creed
• Julian the Apostate

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Augustine (354-430) The Sovereignty of God

• Laid groundwork for Christendom, Medieval
  Christianity and Reformation theology
• The City of God, Christendom, Church and State
• Original Sin Mankind totally depraved
• Predestination
• Sacramentalism Baptism, Ordination etc ex opere
  opero
• Transubstantiation
• Immaculate Conception
• Reacted against Donatists
• Reacted against Pelagius, Pelagianism

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Ecumenical Church Councils

• Nicaea 325 Arianism Jesus fully divine
  (consubstantial with the Father), homoousios vs
  homoiousious, Nicene Creed
• Constantinople 381 Holy Spirit also
  consubstantial with Father
• Ephesus 431 Jesus both human and divine,
  Condemned Nestorius (one nature after the
  hypostatic union), Condemned Pelagius, Mary
  theotokos
• Calchedon 451 Without confusion, without change
  against Monophysites (Alexandria) who said Jesus
  changed when he took on human form, Without
  division, without separation against Nestorians
  (Antioch) who separated Jesus into two persons.
  The hypostatic union. Protect the mystery.
• Constantinople 553 Condemned Origen
• Constantinople II 680 Opposed Monothelitism (one
  divine will)
• Nicaea II 787 Condemned Iconoclasm

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Branches of Christianity after 500

• Western Christendom Rome Legalistic and
  Hierarchical
• Easter Christendom Byzantium Spiritual
  Experiential, Mystical
• Coptic Church (Alexandria, Cairo) Monophysite One
  nature. Alexandrine School. Focused on divine
  nature of Jesus and minimized his humanity.
  Mary Theotokos
• Church of the East Nestorianism Dyophysite. Two
  Natures. Antiochene School. Focus on human
  nature of Jesus and his suffering. Mary
  Christotokos

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Highlights of Medieval Christianity

• Final Schism of East and West 1054
• Corruption of the Papacy
• Celibacy of Priests mandatory
• Baptism by sprinkling adopted
• Purgatory, Cult of Saints, Indulgences, etc.
• Crusades
• 1st 1096-1099 Capture Jerusalem, Establish
  Feudal States
• 2nd 1147-1149 Complete failure
• 3rd 1187-1192 Capture Acre, Mediterranean coast
• - 8th 1270-1271
• Cult of Mary
• Growth of Monasticism in West
• Dominicans (Dominic, 1170-1221)
• Franciscans (Francis of Assisi 1182-1226)

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True Christianity in the Middle Ages?

• Paulicians 650-900s Asia Minor
• Albigenses, Cathars 1000s-1200s Southern
  France
• Henry the Monk 1100
• Arnold of Brescia 1155 Italy
• Peter of Bruys 1140 Northern Italy
• Waldensians 1175-1500s Peter Waldo,
  Switzerland

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The Late Middle Ages Scholasticism

• Emphasis on Reason. No contradition with faith.
• Reliance on Aristotle
• Universities Established
• Studied Rhetoric, Dialectic and Expounded on
  Scripture, Aristotle and Roman authors.
• Penance emphasized, Mary more personal that
  Jesus
• Anselm (1033-1109), Abelard (1079-1142), Ockham
• Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor of Western
  Christendom
• Forerunner to Humanism, Renaissance and
  Reformation and Counterreformation.

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The Reformation

• John Wyclif 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

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John Wyclif 1324-1384

• Translated Vulgate into English
  Opposed
  indulgences, idols, priesthood
  The Pope is the antichrist
  
  Followers known as Lollards
• Declared heretics 1401

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John Huss 1374-1415 Bohemia

• Influenced by Wyclif
  Bible the
  only authority
  Only God can
  forgive sin
  Burned at the stake
  
  Hussites virtually wiped out by the
  Inquisition Brethren
  and Moravian Churches

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John Huss Burned at the stake, 1415
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Martin Luther 1483-1546
Augustinian Monk 95 Theses in Wittenburg
1517 Studied Romans Grace Through Faith
Only Scripture Only Predestination Book of James
a book of straw. Kept much of Catholic worship
practices
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Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531)
Swiss Reformer More radical than Luther Rejected
almost all Catholic forms of worship. Four bare
walls and a sermon. Differed on the Lords
Supper Lords Supper and Baptism are symbolic
ceremonies. His influence led to the
Anabaptists Principle influence on John
Calvin Died as a soldier fighting a Catholic
Swiss canons.
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The Anabaptist Movement (1530s and later) The
Radical Reformation
Menno Simmons 1496-1561
Martyrdom of Anabaptists
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The Anabaptist Movement (cont.)

• Baptism by immersion of adults after confession
  of faith for salvation.
• Bible the only authority.
• Separation of church and state.
• Emphasized both life and doctrine
• Pacifists (usually)
• Many martyrs
• Began evangelistic, but became exclusive and
  withdrawn. (Mennonites, Amish, Hutterites)
• Tended to be very schismatic

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John Calvin 1509-1564

• Followed Zwingli
• Most influential theologian of the Reformation
• Emphasized Historical/Covenantal Theology
• Wrote Institutes of Christian Religion
• Established an autocratic theocracy in Geneva
• Best known for his strong emphasis on
  predestination/monergism.
• God has two wills his revealed will (1 Tim
  23-4) and his secret will foreordination of
  souls
• Calvinist denominations Presbyterian, Dutch
  Reformed, Puritan, Baptist, Anglican(?)

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TULIP
John Calvin

• Total depravity of mankind
• Unconditional election
• Limited atonement
• Irresistible grace
• final Preservation of the saints

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The Catholic Reformation
Erasmus 1466-1536

• Sought to reform Roman Church acc to humanist
  principles.
• Praise of Folly attacks relics, pilgrimages,
  monasticism, Catholic hierarchy
• On the Freedom of the Will 1524
• Greek New Testament 1514

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The Counter-Reformation

• Council of Trent 1545-1563
• Eliminated many Medieval excesses (indulgences,
  etc.)
• Gave official status to many Catholic teachings.
• Declared church tradition equal to biblical
  authority.
• Condemned Luther and others as heretics.
• Confirmed works sanctification.
• Confirmed sacraments, especially the priesthood.
  (opposing the priesthood of all believers)

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Other Important Figures in the Reformation

• William Tyndale Translated NT from Greek and OT
  from Hebrew. KJV was a revision of Tyndale.
  Martyred 1536.
• John Knox 1505-1572. Brought Calvinism to
  Scotland. Became Presbyterian Church
• Puritans. English dissenters. Congregational
  autonomy. Became Congregational Church
• Baptists. Added believers baptism to Calvinism.
• Quakers. Literally quaked. Charismatic,
  emotional movement. Pietist/pacifist offshoot of
  Radical Reformation.

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Jacob Arminius (1569-1609)

• Arminianism
• Semi-Pelagianism?
• Opposed supralapsarianism
• Prevenient grace. God foreknows, but does not
  predetermine.
• Calvinism makes God the author of sin.
• Methodists, Restoration Movement

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Pietist and Revivalist Movements

• John (1703-1791) and Charles (1707-1788) Wesley
• Stressed holiness, piety, personal relationship
  with God
• Arminian theology
• Reformer of Anglicanism
• Strong organizer Methodism
• George Whitehead Revivalist Preacher
• Friend of Wesley, but differed on Calvinism.
• Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening (1730s
  and 40s)
• A sinner in the hands of an angry God.
• Sought an outward sign of Gods grace.

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The Enlightenment and the Church

• Isaac Newton and the Mechanical Universe 1687
  Principia.
• DesCartes and Rationalism.
• David Hume, Voltaire and others begin to apply
  skepticism to Christian Theology
• Deism Intellectual/Rational revision of
  Christianity Deny trinity, virgin birth,
  resurrection of Jesus, etc. Joseph Priestly
  establishes the Unitarian Church. Franklin,
  Washington, Jefferson all deists.
• John Locke and logical empiricism.

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The Stone/Campbell Movement

• Restoration or Reformation?

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Influences

• Francis Bacon and inductive logic the scientific
  approach to the facts of the Bible.
• John Locke the Christian Philosopher
• The Scottish school of Common Sense Philosophy
  (Adam Smith, Thomas Reid, etc.)
• The Seceder Presbyterians, the Sandemanians and
  other radical restorationist sects.

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James OKelly We are Christians simply
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Rice Haggard 1769-1819
One thing I know, that whenever non-essentials
are made terms of communion, it will never fail
to have a tendency to disunite and scatter the
church of Christ.
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Barton W. Stone 1772-1844The heart of the
movement
The Cane Ridge Revival The Last Will and
Testament of the Springfield Presbytery Let
Christian Unity be our Polar Star. I do, so
far as I see it consistent with the word of God.
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The Presbytery of Springfield, sitting at Cane
Ridge, in the county of Bourbon, being, through a
gracious Providence, in more than ordinary bodily
health, growing in strength and size daily and
in perfect soundness and composure of mind but
knowing what it is appointed for all delegated
bodies once to die and considering that the life
of every such body is very uncertain, do take,
and ordain this our Last Will and Testament, in
manner and following,. And with that the
Springfield Presbytery no longer existed and the
Stone movement began.
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Thomas Campbell 1763-1851
Emigrated to Pennsylvania 1807 Suspended by
Presbyterian Church The Declaration and Address
1809 Principles for unity of Christians.
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Alexander Campbell 1788-1866The mind of the
movement
Joined Thomas from Scotland 1809 Believers only
baptism 1812 Campbell/Walker Debate 1820 The
Millennial Harbinger 1830 Bethany College 1840
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Walter Scott (1796-1861)
First evangelist in the movement Restored the
gospel in 1827 The five step plan of
salvation Scotts faith, repentance, baptism,
remission of sins, Holy Spirit CoC today hear,
believe, repent, confess, be baptized
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The crowning event of the early years

• Stone and Campbell met for the first time
• Decided to form a unified movement
• Problems
• Christian (Stonites) or Disciple
  (Campbellites)
• 2. Emotional vs intellectual movements
  (preachers vs teachers)
• Teaching on baptism
• Ordination of ministers
• 5. Doctrine of the Holy Spirit

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Hermeneutics of the Movement
Command, Example and Necessary
Demonstrations. Where the Bible speaks, we
speak, where the Bible is silent, we are
silent Sought Bible facts. Weak on
principles. Tended toward legalism.
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The Turning Point
Were they a unity movement (a reformation) or a
restoration movement? Stone and Campbell favored
reformation (example the Christadelphians) Walte
r Scott, Benjamin Franklin, Tolbert Fanning,
David Lipscomb and others moved toward
restoration. Sought the perfect pattern.
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The Dominating Influences in the Movement

• The Colleges (Bethany College, David Lipscomb
  College, etc.)
• The Periodicals (editor/bishops) (The
  Millennial Harbinger, The American Christian
  Review, The Gospel Advocate, Firm Foundation,
  etc.)
• These were forces for unity and for division

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Points of disunity/division

• Evangelism and inter-church organization (the
  Missionary Society)
• The Civil War pacifism, slavery, etc. (The
  Missionary Society supported the North)
• The instrument. Moses Lard No preacher
  should enter a church where an organ stands.
• Daniel Sommer and David Lipscomb.
• 1906 US Census acknowledged two separate groups
  The Church of Christ and the Christian
  Church/Disciples of Christ.

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David Lipscomb (1831-1917) Father of the Church
of Christ Founder of Lipscomb University Editor
of the Gospel Advocate 1866-1917
Daniel Sommer Watchdog for the
brotherhood. Daniel Sommer was a militant who
left a legacy of legalistic wrangling and divided
congregations.
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Other Controversies

• One cup, Sunday School, anti churches
• Premillennialism
• For the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ The
  Ecumenical Movement. Open Membership.
• UCMS (United Christian Missionary Society) vs.
  NACC (North American Christian Convention)
• Two denominations by about 1950

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Lessons to be learned

• Unity is extremely difficult to maintain without
  strong hierarchical structure.
• Separating essential matters from the
  non-essential is harder than we think.
• A movement without a strong hierarchical
  structure needs instruments to maintain unity.
• Careful thinking about theology, church structure
  and history are required for long term growth and
  unity.
• It is extremely difficult to avoid overreacting
  to groups with whom we disagree.

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Book Recommendations Reviving the Ancient Faith
(Hughes) The Stone Campbell Movement
(Garrett) Into All Nations (Foster
Stanback) The Search for the Ancient Order (West)
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Crossroads/Boston/ICOC Movement

• 1960s College Chairs Within CoC
• 1967 Chuck Lucas 14th Street CoC (Crossroads
  CoC)
• Soul talks
• Prayer partners
• Emphasis on evangelism
• After 1975 campus ministries
• Tom Brown, Andy Lindo, Kip McKean, etc
• Many church splits resulted
• 1979 Kip McKean, Lexington/Boston CoC
• sold out disciples only in the church
• Amazing growth
• Emphasis on world evangelism
• Vertical discipling trees, uniformity and
  simplicity of methodology

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Boston/LA/ICOC movement (cont.)

• Chuck Lucas resigns at Crossroads CoC 1985
• Official split with CoC 1986
• Whos fault was it?
• Church Reconstructions 1988
• You are in or you are out
• Evangelization Proclamation 1994
• Kip McKean removed as world evangelist/head of
  the movement November, 2001
• Kreite letter/ICOC structure falls apart Feb
  2003
• Attempts at para-church organization, the unity
  letter

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Hermeneutics of CoC and ICOC

• Alexander Campbell Where the Bible speaks, we
  speak, where the Bible is silent, we are silent.
• Kip McKean Where the Bible speaks, we are
  silent, where the Bible is silent, we speak.
• CoC Strong emphasis on Bible Study, Bible
  colleges
• Kip McKean Anti-intellectual tendency and
  skeptical of theological training.

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Where Should We Go From Here?

• Balance of autonomy and cooperation
• Finding a healthy model for discipling/implement
  ing one another passages
• Meeting the needs of mature disciples without
  losing our simple evangelistic pleacontinuing to
  raise up young leaders
• Appointing and finding the best role for elders
  and a balance with the role of evangelists (and
  teachers as well)
• Our formal and informal relationship with
  mainline CoC and other groups.

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AIM/www.douglasjacoby.com www.evidenceforchristia
nity.org (sign up for our
newsletter) Apologetics Research Society (ARS)
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The crowning event of the early years

• Stone and Campbell met for the first time
• Decided to form a unified movement
• Problems
• Christian (Stonites) or Disciple
  (Campbellites)
• 2. Emotional vs intellectual movements
  (preachers vs teachers)
• Teaching on baptism
• Ordination of ministers
• 5. Doctrine of the Holy Spirit