Why Christians should study Church history
August 11th 2008 05:44
I love to read about history, particularly Christian history. I’m not talking about the white-washed view of Christian history, where Christians are responsible for every good down in the world and never seem to have done anything bad. In fact, I like reading about all the bad stuff that Christians have done in the past. I think it has the most to teach us.
Christian history can give us greater insights into our present and our future. By reading about the past, we can understand why we are the way we are and why we believe the things that we do. When we learn what led to us having certain practices, beliefs and structures, we can better understand what importance they should have. We can also draw parallels between things that the church has done in the past and things that they are doing now. The church has had many problems and made many mistakes along the way. When we understand these better, we can better avoid similar mistakes in the future.
Another good reason to learn about church history – particularly the bad bits – is that many people who aren’t Christians know it quite well. Some people have been put off organised religion or churches because of the things that the church has done in the past. Others refuse to believe in a God whose followers have committed all sorts of atrocities. The tendency can be to dismiss these things as though it were not important. But I believe far more is to be gained by learning about them, admitting that the church acted in the wrong way and explaining why we have faith anyway. Not as a method of evangelising, but as a way to speak to people about their concerns.
The other big reason for finding out about Christianity’s past is that it helps us be less critical of other religions. Whenever a group of religious people that are not Christian do something terrible, the general consensus in the church seems to be that they did it because they are the wrong religion. It’s almost as if they think it offers them proof that Christians are the only ones following the right God, because Christians would never do anything like that. When you learn about Christian history, you are far less likely to make this judgment. Before we judge other religions, we should recognise that Christians have done many of these awful things in our past.
At church once, someone showed a small group of people a gruesome video of someone getting their head cut off. Naturally enough, the talk turned to how people could do this kind of thing. Most people seemed to assume that the only reason these people could do this was because they weren’t Christian. When I said that Christians kill people too, I was told that they have always done it in a humane way. Say what? Being hanged drawn and quartered isn’t just a saying, you know. It’s something that Christians did to other Christians. And it wasn’t humane. Nor, for that matter, was burning people at the stake. Nor was dunking women in water to see if they would drown because we thought they were witches. We have to admit that we are capable of atrocities too. Denying this just makes us look like we have our head in the sand.
Reading Christian history isn’t always pleasant. Sometimes it can make you downright uncomfortable. It may even challenge your ideas about the church. But it’s important nevertheless. By reading about the church’s past, we can better understand its current structure, be better placed to avoid the mistakes of the avoid, be more respectful of those who have something against the church and be less likely to make judgments about other religions.
Christian history can give us greater insights into our present and our future. By reading about the past, we can understand why we are the way we are and why we believe the things that we do. When we learn what led to us having certain practices, beliefs and structures, we can better understand what importance they should have. We can also draw parallels between things that the church has done in the past and things that they are doing now. The church has had many problems and made many mistakes along the way. When we understand these better, we can better avoid similar mistakes in the future.
Another good reason to learn about church history – particularly the bad bits – is that many people who aren’t Christians know it quite well. Some people have been put off organised religion or churches because of the things that the church has done in the past. Others refuse to believe in a God whose followers have committed all sorts of atrocities. The tendency can be to dismiss these things as though it were not important. But I believe far more is to be gained by learning about them, admitting that the church acted in the wrong way and explaining why we have faith anyway. Not as a method of evangelising, but as a way to speak to people about their concerns.
The other big reason for finding out about Christianity’s past is that it helps us be less critical of other religions. Whenever a group of religious people that are not Christian do something terrible, the general consensus in the church seems to be that they did it because they are the wrong religion. It’s almost as if they think it offers them proof that Christians are the only ones following the right God, because Christians would never do anything like that. When you learn about Christian history, you are far less likely to make this judgment. Before we judge other religions, we should recognise that Christians have done many of these awful things in our past.
At church once, someone showed a small group of people a gruesome video of someone getting their head cut off. Naturally enough, the talk turned to how people could do this kind of thing. Most people seemed to assume that the only reason these people could do this was because they weren’t Christian. When I said that Christians kill people too, I was told that they have always done it in a humane way. Say what? Being hanged drawn and quartered isn’t just a saying, you know. It’s something that Christians did to other Christians. And it wasn’t humane. Nor, for that matter, was burning people at the stake. Nor was dunking women in water to see if they would drown because we thought they were witches. We have to admit that we are capable of atrocities too. Denying this just makes us look like we have our head in the sand.
Reading Christian history isn’t always pleasant. Sometimes it can make you downright uncomfortable. It may even challenge your ideas about the church. But it’s important nevertheless. By reading about the church’s past, we can better understand its current structure, be better placed to avoid the mistakes of the avoid, be more respectful of those who have something against the church and be less likely to make judgments about other religions.
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