Introduction to Church History

Dr. Loyd Allen

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What is church history?

• Church history is an academic discipline that attempts to document past events related to the Christian story, so we can know what really happened and it means.

• This definition highlights three things:– First, past events – Second, evidence to recreate those events – Third, interpretations

• Church history is an ongoing task.

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What Is the Content of this Church History Class?

• From the end of the NT up to the present day. • In four sections: – Early Church– Medieval – Reformation– Modern

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The Early church period (c. 100 CE to 500 CE)

• Two sections:– From the completion of the NT writings to the

reign of Constantine (c. 100-300).– From Constantine to the fall of the Roman Empire,

c. 312 to c. 500.

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Before Constantine (c. 100 to 500)

• During this era, Christianity emerged as a religion – separate from Judaism, – molded by martyrdom, and – rapidly adapting to a Greco-Roman rather than a Hebrew

culture. • The church had to – create new institutional forms, – love God more than life itself, and – share the gospel with people who didn’t know a messiah

from a Caesar (both called “son of God”) or the God of the 10 Commandments from Bacchus the god of wine.

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Constantine to the Fall of Rome (c. 312 – c. 500)

• Golden Age for Christianity when the church – agreed on the New Testament canon, – settled on its non-negotiable beliefs (creeds),– established a clergy hierarchy

• Also the period during which Christianity – became entwined with the state; – divided across political lines with the establishment of

separate traditions in Africa, Persia, and India as well as Rome, and

– embraced the rich and powerful status quo alongside the counter-cultural vision of the monastic mothers and fathers in the deserts of Egypt and Syria.

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The Medieval section (c. 500 to 1500)

• After the fall of Rome the church split into two major streams of tradition:– The Western, Latin church and– The Eastern, Greek church.

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Medieval: The Western Church

• Built a European society based on:– The papacy– The Holy Roman Emperor, and – Monasticism– A Latin heritage.

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Medieval: The Eastern (Byzantine) Church

• Centered at Constantinople• Greek culture based • Besieged by Islam for nearly a 1,000 years • Fell to Islamic military force (1400s) after • Spreading to Russia and Eastern Europe• Eastern and Western (Orthodox and Roman)

churches officially split in 1054

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The Protestant Reformation Section (1500s)

• European Medieval Roman Catholic Christendom collapsed and splintered into five Christian types: – The Roman Catholic Church – Four original Protestant traditions: • The Lutheran (Martin Luther)• The Reformed (Zwingli and Calvin)• The Anglican (King Henry VIII)• The Radicals (Anabaptists mostly)

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Protestant Marks

• The Bible alone for authority• Grace alone as the source of salvation• Faith alone as the source of justification

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The Modern Section (c. 1600-2009)

• Themes in modern Western Church history– Bewildering diversity– Rise of secular nation states – Dominance of reason and science as standards for

truth.– Decline of the Christian church public spheres of

politics and policy– Tenacity of the Christian church in secular society– Shift from the northern to the southern

hemisphere

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Who cares?

• Three of many reasons church history matters:– First, increase of the breadth and depth of Christian

vision– Second, church history provides a vast treasury of

resources for living the Christian life today:• Spiritual formation• Liturgy• Doctrine• Etc.

– Third, church history as homecoming

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