Church History 1: AD 70 - 1700's

This course introduces the student to the story of church history, primarily in the West, from A.D. 70 to c. 1730.

The course introduces the student to the key characters and stories that drive the continuing story of the advance of the kingdom of God and the announcement that Jesus is the Christ, as found in the last verse of the book of Acts (28.31). Luke tells us that Paul was alive in Rome under house arrest. This is Luke’s way of telling us that the apostolic generation had symbolically reached the ends of the earth, as seen in the geographical directives found in Acts 1.8: “. . . beginning in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.” While Luke does not continue in his second scroll in Luke-Acts, it is a clear implication that the next generation should continue the task of preaching the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. There would be a chapter 29, and 30, and so on, not as Scripture but as the on-going fulfilment of the mission to reach every ethnic people with the opportunity to hear of and receive Christ as Lord. Church history, then, is a story of war and God’s triumph as it continues the storyline of the Bible.

In addition to underlining the key events in the so-called “Great Church,” we will also be tracing the story of the development of the important doctrines of the faith in their historical context. Alongside we will be examining critical developments in philosophy and hermeneutics, without which one cannot have a real understanding of the context that explains how things got to be where they are. We will also trace the trajectory of the Christian mission to the world as it obeys the Great Commission of Jesus to preach the gospel to all peoples. Finally, we will highlight the critical role of the Holy Spirit and His affect on the advancement and health of the Church. The Spirit of God was generally marginalized by the Great Church but regularly broke out to bring renewal through various movements, such as Montanism, the Quakers, and Pentecostalism.