What’s the best way to help people at your church learn church history?
I’m not sure why you wouldn’t want to offer a separate class in church history, because it is a distinct discipline.
Certainly you can encourage some interest in church history in a sermon, occasionally having an illustration out of church history.
When talking about prayer, particularly the prayers of parents for their children, preachers have often talked about Augustine’s mother Monica. When she saw him leave the church and, for a time, really commit himself to an anti-Christian philosophy and lifestyle, she prayed for him and beseeched the Lord to move him. The Lord heard those prayers, and Augustine gave testimony to Monica’s prayers in his Confessions.
So history can be brought in as an illustration to other kinds of teaching and preaching in the life of the church. That may spark some interest in the hearts of people, but to really see beyond the episodes of history to the movement of history, you almost need a dedicated course.
This transcript is from a live Ask Ligonier event with W. Robert Godfrey and has been lightly edited for readability. To ask Ligonier a biblical or theological question, email ask@ligonier.org or message us on Facebook or Twitter.
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W. Robert Godfrey
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and chairman of Ligonier Ministries. He is president emeritus and professor emeritus of church history at Westminster Seminary California. He is the featured teacher for many Ligonier teaching series, including the six-part series A Survey of Church History. He is author of many books, including God’s Pattern for Creation, Reformation Sketches, and An Unexpected Journey.
General Church History
Resources about men and women who were faithful servants of the Lord, including: biographies, missionaries, and theologians.