God were not the originator and sustainer of His church. Church history pays dividends to its student. It explains customs and conditions. It supplies illus trations of faithfulness and reveals the dangers of faithlessness. It contrasts the weakness of men and the power o f God. It reveals how God rules and overrules in the kingdoms of men and in the church of Jesus Christ. It warns against the dangers of apostasy and reveals the blessings of faithfulness to God’s Word. It reiterates the ancient truth ex pressed by Solomon that there is nothing new un der the sun. Thereby it warns against today’s false doctrines by showing that they are only recur rences of ancient departures from the Word of God. It sets forth examples o f heroic men and women whose lives are an inspiration for today, and, conversely, it reveals the tragic failures of those who have gone their own way. Church history leads the student along many and varied paths. It traverses the solitary routes blazed by an apostle Paul, a Francis Asbury, or a David Livingstone. Then, again, it conducts one into the crowded council chambers where an Athanasius declares that for God he will stand alone against the world, or a Martin Luther firmly states: “Here I stand. God help me! Amen.” It leads to a lonely prison isle where the Spirit spoke to the Beloved Apostle and later into the study of the Archbishop of England where Anselm explained why Christ became man. It conducts one from the quiet spot where a monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote, “Jesus, the Very Thought o f Thee” to the noisy shouting of another monk, Peter the Hermit, who proclaimed the first crusade. It goes to a quiet gar den where Augustine found Christ as his personal Saviour and to the crowded arena where scores yielded to the Spirit’s pleading under the preaching of D. L. Moody. It runs from the pulpit of the “Golden-Tongued Orator of the Christian church,” Chrysostom, to the evangelistic services of a Billy Sunday. It leads from the rustic frontier sermons of Peter Cartwright to the polished preaching of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Church history leads from the ascension of Christ to His coming again, and the story will not be complete until the last soul has been won and the Saviour has been crowned
King of kings and Lord of lords. Church history reveals the growth of many things. It traces the manner in which Scripture truths were shaped into a systematic theology. It shows how the simple worship of the early church gradually developed into the customs and ornate ritual o f today. It reveals how many independent churches were united in one and how these again divided into many. It traces the development o f the clerical offices from the elders of the New Testa ment to the present hierarchies. It follows the mis sionary trails of the apostle Paul to modem mis sion fields and modem methods of evangelization. All these things are part of church history. It is a thrilling story when one looks beyond the minute events to the great movements, trends, and men who make that story. It is a record o f success and failure, of victory and defeat, o f saints and sinners, but above everything, o f the superintending hand of God. Early church history which began with the Day of Pentecost and concluded with the end of the sixth century might well be characterized by the word “beginnings.” The first century witnessed the beginning of the church itself as recorded in the familiar Book of Acts. There is to be found the be ginning of Gospel preaching, of church organiza tion, of missionary endeavor, of persecution and of martyrdom for Christ’s sake. The second century saw the beginning of apolo getic writings in defense of the faith. These came in response to threats from within and without. From without, the Roman government was taking an interest in Christianity. The Christians’ refusal to bow the knee to the emperor was bringing sus picion upon the church. Heathen writers and ora tors were accusing Christians of monstrous deeds in the name of religion. Calamities superstitiously were attributed to the Christians. In defense, able
Dr. Christian holds his A.B. from Westmont College, Th.B. from The Bible Institute of Los Angeles, and a B.D., Th.M., Th.D. from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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THE KING 'S BUSINESS
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