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Christianity Today, February, 2008 |

The Future Lies in the Past

Why evangelicals are connecting with the early church as they move into the 21st century.

Chris Armstrong | posted 2/08/2008 10:01AM

Last spring, something was stirring under the white steeple of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.

A motley group of young and clean-cut, goateed and pierced, white-haired and bespectacled filled ...

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Wolf von dem Beck

Posted: February 10, 2008 1:45 AM


excellent !

David Armstrong

Posted: February 09, 2008 5:27 PM

I enjoyed your article. An an evangelical, I grew up with no knowledge of Church history before the reformation, almost as if that was when the Church began. I then fell in love with a Roman catholic girl who I thought I would be able to "educate" about the real faith. It was too my great surprise, not only was she evangelical, but she introduced me to a great body of Christian thought going back to the early church fathers which had been neglected or written off. It has been a major catalyst of growth in my Christian life, rooting my faith in historical origins and giving much expanding insight into scripture, and will be a powerful renewing movement in the evangelical church if we too can leave behind our pre-conceiving notions of pre-reformation Christian faith. Well done on the article.

Ephrem Hagos

Posted: February 09, 2008 6:25 AM

How long is it going to take us before we start right at the beginning? The only way out of the evangelical identity crisis we are facing is to reconstruct backwards the strategies of evangelism as taught and put in place for posterity by the LORD Himself. A natural place to start is at the corner- stone of Paul's ministry to the Gentiles, back to the first Pentecost and the 40-day rehearsal after the death of Jesus. All point to a single common platform for evangelism, viz.: the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ per se as the greatest "defining moment" of divinity in all power and glory for all times. The complete absence of this currency today explains the series of crisis which evangelical Christians are facing. Continued reconstruction with new insight takes us back to the summary chapters of the Gospels, and to the Great Day of the LORD on the cross with works that continue to witness loud and clear in the light of all the teachings of the LORD. This is discipleship training!

Mardeven Allagapen

Posted: February 09, 2008 12:28 AM

Hello I am a christian from Mauritius and I would like to make some comments on the article "Christians Unite for Strike's End". Now this is one of the last things I would expect from Christians. Common, christians uniting to end the strike so as to save Hollywood workers of sin, so that they can resume their job in making movies which glorify humanism, values contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ not to say negative values like homosexuality and fornication. Some films, like the Davinci Code, even denying the truth of the gospel. Let’s be frank, as a christian, I would rather rejoice over the misfortunes of such an industry. My God what is happening in America ? Why not can't we see Christians in America uniting to pray for the salvation of so many lost souls in America and even among the Hollywood industry? You know I love the American people but not because of their faltering stars like Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, movie makers etc but because of those missionaries who le

Ralph Gaily

Posted: February 08, 2008 7:41 PM

"...whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, STAND FAST, and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." " .....for the mystery of iniquity does already work......." "....Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils......" "...For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away thier ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables...but watch thou in all things......" how much clearer does it have to be ??!! Wake up! He comes....

Deacon Steve

Posted: February 08, 2008 6:56 PM

I've always enjoyed and appreciated the work of the late Robert Webber. His visit to the university where I teach was informative and engaging. This article explains much of why many years ago I left the Christian and Missionary Alliance and eventually became ordained in the Anglican Church of Canada. In terms of other comments here, I find Eric Hanson's remarks to reflect a complete and astounding misreading and misunderstanding of Christian history and its various cultural contexts; Anonymous presents a thoughtful approach which invites further exploration, and Roger is again reasoned and presents an informed and helpful observation.

Raymond Takashi Swenson

Posted: February 08, 2008 5:51 PM

Several commenters are correct in noting that there is a lot of difference between the First Century church that had the apostles and the later developments in Christianity that veered away from that Primitive Church in organization and doctrine. Indeed, the roots of many of the issues that led to the Reformation were developed by the 5th Century, and these led to the assertion that Roman Catholicism had lost its way from the original Christianity of the era when the New Testament was written by the apostles and their inspired aids, like Luke. One object of studying the Church Fathers should be to recover what the New Testament church and the Apostles actually taught, so that we understand the New Testament better in context of the interpretations given by the Apsotles themselves and other first hand witnesses, like Ignatius of Antioch. They should be prepared to learn that some of the cherished theories of Protestantism do not match what the earliest Christians believed.

Dan Nickel

Posted: February 08, 2008 5:51 PM

Paul states in Acts 20:29 "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears." If we place the Fathers on the same level as the Book we have in essence denied the faith once for all delivered to us. Mysticism which Foster pushes is no different than any other diversion away from the Word of God. This trend is simply a weaning of Evangelicals off of the truth. But Jesus said that those who continue in His word are His disciples and they are set free by that truth. Roman Catholicism and Anglicans teach baptism makes one a child of God. Jesus states faith in His work on the Cross saves the sinner. How can you call a Catholic a brother in light of this. Mysticism does not give assurance of Heaven.

Barry Ickes

Posted: February 08, 2008 5:03 PM

This article is evidence of the misguided state of the contemporary church. The notion that from 100 to 500 AD the church reached her zenith is sad indeed. The real need of the church is to return to the teachings of the NT scriptures. Our guide for the past, the present and the future is the Bible not tradition or history. These may have some value but only when the actions of the Church are measured by Gods Word. I would urge fellow believers to read a book like “Pagan Christianity” rather than the books mentioned in this article that embellish the traditions of men.

George Swanson

Posted: February 08, 2008 4:42 PM

Reviving the Gelasian Sacramentary is good. Lent is OK. I am more interested in the sort of thing Garry Wills describes in "What Jesus meant" or Maggie Ross in "Pillars of Flame." I want to know what WE did in our first hundred years. That is is OK today. Nicea and prince bishops with their dank dungeons cannot take the first hundred years away from us now -- or ever. The Dutch Dominicans proposal to allow gay, straight, male and female presiders at the Mass tells me Christianity is alive.

peter F. Benson, editor UNITYINCHRIST.COM

Posted: February 08, 2008 4:36 PM


Your article is interesting, but this small group isn't going back far enough--back to the Judeo-Christian churches in Asia Minor from 100AD to 300AD, from John the apostle, Polycarp, and Policrates. See my article at http://www.unityinchrist.com/history2/index3.htm for a paradigm crash. editor, UNITYINCHRST.COM

tinstar

Posted: February 08, 2008 3:20 PM

This topic seems to come up at least weekly, if not more, on CT and other evangelical newsletters. I find this fascinating, and am tempted to boil down my (unsolicited) advice as "Get in where you fit in". And once you're there, and God touches you in whatever way he chooses, resist the urge to look back at where you were and tsk, tsk at the "wrongness" of where you came from. I have left evangelicalism for Roman Catholicism, and would never go back. Nor would I insist that I have more to teach my still Protestant family and friends than they me. Insincerity in serving Christ is self-correcting, and knowledge of the past is power. We'll all meet in the same place.

Eric J. Hanson

Posted: February 08, 2008 2:30 PM

I am shocked at the trend to glorify the non-biblical and eventually anti-biblical morphings of the Church leading up to the year 500. The first large scale, institutionalized structural errors began to show up as early as 125 AD, in infantile form. That was when the idea that some local church elders (or, in the Latin) bishops were (to quote George Orwell) "more equal than others". In a historical heartbeat, layers upon layers of hierarchical, unbiblical authority came into existence. Even as Rome was falling, its legacy in the church (after 170 years of Church/State quasi-marriage)was a system based on the Roman Empire, with the Pope as Emperor. The fruit of this system was to take the Bible out of the hands of ordinary believers, and then sew the curtain in the Temple back together; instituting the Roman Catholic Priesthood. Other Roman errors which persist to this very day include infant water baptism and so much more. It's sickening.

It seems we are tired of droughts

Posted: February 08, 2008 2:27 PM

when we study, widely, historical ways of doing religion we need 3 things to guide us: 1) Other full godly moral men who hear the Lord, tested and approved by God, 2) solid tested teaching in a solid established context which comes "surely" from godly interpretations of Scriptures 3) Close guidance from God through the Holy Spirit. The search for truth which this article refers to shows that in the evangelical church the depth of hearing from God and the depth of moral teachings and the validity of churches are all in question. Rightly so. What has been referred to as a rejection of shallowness is actually a rejection of teachings which are not deeply trusting of God, deeply moral of God and deeply doctinally "full". By full they do not anoint and establish the Christian in their faith. Once we are established and anointed in our faith we root our love ever deeper into Christ and each other, easily dismissing trials of faith which manifest as "droughts". As in times past but not now!

Jeff Fairchild

Posted: February 08, 2008 1:51 PM

Excellent article. In 2005 I earned a MA in Spiritual Formation from Northwest Nazarene University. During the course work one of the conclusions I came to was that much of evangelicalism is very shallow and does not meet many of the needs of believers. we are mor eworried about building big churches and electing the right politicians that we have forgotten to just "be" a Christian. Getting in touch with the roots of the ancient church helps us to get in touch with worship of God and just learning to live in His presence.

K.W. Leslie

Posted: February 08, 2008 11:31 AM

This trend towards the ancient stuff is because the church has been trying to hard lately to look like the rest of the world in order to attract it -- and the trouble is that we Christians know deep down we're not supposed to be like the world. I don't know that the solution is to live like the world of the Roman Empire or the Middle Ages, and it seems a lot of churches (and definitely the youth-led services at my local Christian college) are embracing the ancient trappings rather than the ancient teachings. If we can take the fads of candles and chants, and use them to get people to look at Christ in a different and more serious way, great. But I fear the scholars are just getting their hopes up that the ancient/modern fad has anything to do with scholarship.

Anonymous

Posted: February 08, 2008 11:10 AM

If American evangelicals were to truly embrace the ways of the early church fathers, they would have to reject some deeply engrained pre-conceptions about american exceptionalism and where their allegiances are. They might not uncritically accept all the policies and wars we are told we must support. What if American christians related to the American empire like the early christians related to the Roman empire-what would that look like?

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