Church history is the record of the work of the Spirit of God in the lives of God’s people in the church throughout human history. Theologians generally divide the history of the new covenant church into four distinct eras: ancient, medieval, Reformation, and modern. In the annals of church history, we find a myriad of resources that help us better understand the major figures, writings, and movements that have left an indelible mark on the history of the church. Among these resources are historical writings, records, historical surveys, and biographies. Church historical resources are either primary or secondary sources. Primary sources are those works written by the key figures, churches, and organizations studied in church history. Secondary sources are works written by others about those influential figures, writings, and movements.
A study of church history is valuable to the life, worship, and ministry of believers because Christians belong to the one universal church throughout all times and in all ages. The Holy Spirit works in every generation in the hearts and lives of God’s people for the spread of the gospel and the carrying out of the Great Commission. The benefits accrued from a careful study of church history include the ability to avoid errors the church has formerly faced, being reminded of God’s power and faithfulness to build His church, growing in a refined understanding of theological categories and doctrines, and being encouraged to persevere through times of trial, temptation, discouragement, and persecution.
During the Renaissance and Reformation, the church experienced a return to primary sources (ad fontes) that, in turn, changed the way that theologians approached historical research. Primary sources written by those who lived during and shaped the various periods of church history provide insight into the context, culture, and controversies of the church throughout its various epochs. A working knowledge of language, historical context, and contemporaneous literature is required to be able to most fully understand a primary source, especially when it is a primary source from antiquity.
Examples of primary sources from the ancient church include Irenaeus’ Proof of the Apostolic Preaching and Against Heresies, Justin Martyr’s The Apologies, Augustine’s Confessions, Athanasius’ On the Incarnation, Patrick’s The Declaration, and John Chrysostom’s Homilies on Hebrews. Important primary sources from the medieval era include Anselm’s Monologion, Proslogion, and Cur Deus homo, Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy, Peter Lombard’s Sentences, Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, and Bernard of Clairvaux’s Commentary on the Song of Songs. Among the key primary sources of the Reformation and post-reformation are Martin Luther’s Commentary on Galatians and Bondage of the Will, John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, and Francis Turretin’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology. In the modern church, a few important primary sources are Abraham Kuyper’s Common Grace and Pro Rege, Herman Bavinck’s Reformed Dogmatics, B.B. Warfield’s The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, Karl Barth’s Reformed Dogmatics, J. Gresham Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism, C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, Carl F. Henry’s God, Revelation, and Authority, John Stott’s Basic Christianity, J.I. Packer’s Knowing God, Francis Schaeffer’s The God Who Is There, and R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness of God.
Secondary sources help the reader better grasp the importance of primary sources. Secondary sources explain the historical setting of important individuals, movements, and events as well as conclusions and related questions raised by historians and theologians. Secondary sources summarize theological and doctrinal formulations—while explaining the background in which such formulations occurred. Secondary sources include historical surveys, encyclopedias, and biographies. Examples of secondary sources would be such writings as Jean-Henri Merle d’Aubigné’s The History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century and The History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin, Philip Schaff’s seven-volume History of the Christian Church (1858–92), Roland Bainton’s Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther and Erasmus of Christendom, and Arnold Dallimore’s two-volume George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival.
Irish philosopher Edmund Burke wisely remarked that “those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” Indeed, without a basic knowledge of church history, individual Christians and churches are prone to repeat the same doctrinal errors and foolish mistakes of former days.
Jon Payne
Tabletalk magazine
From the earliest times we have seen Christian men and women who have been heroic in the keeping of the faith. And I’m afraid that in our day we have lost our sense of history, and we don’t recall these titans of faith who have gone before us whose blood has drenched the earth, and who are examples for those of us today to keep the faith.
R.C. Sproul
“Polycarp,” Heroes of the Christian Faith
In many ways, the Reformation was the spiritual side of the Renaissance. Renaissance thinkers in the fifteenth century reacted against huge swaths of medieval culture, calling for a return to the more ancient and, they believed, healthier culture found in classical Greece and Rome. Their well-known motto was ad fontes—‘to the sources.’ For some, this came to include rejecting almost all medieval theology and spirituality and returning to the original sources of Christianity, namely, the Bible and the early church fathers. The fathers were seen as better interpreters of the gospel than the medieval scholastic theologians.
Nick Needham
