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CHURCH HISTORY: FROM JESUS TO THE PRESENT TIME By Rev. Dr. Norbert Kleidon

Introduction: Why is Church History Important?

Church history is vital to our understanding of the institution of the Christian Church and its place in the world today. In First Corinthians 10:1-13, the Apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthian Church to learn from the examples of Israel’s past, least they make the same mistakes. Likewise, the history of the Christian Church is to be learned from and remembered. For instance, many who are skeptical of the Christian faith often associate Christianity with the violence and imperialism of the crusades. But an objective look at church history will show that the crusades happened at a time when the Papacy was a political institution corrupted by power and greed. Today our culture is confronted with new and bizarre religions philosophies, some of which present themselves as Christian. This is nothing new. History is littered with heresies that have attempted to infiltrate the church, including false ideas such as Arianism, Gnosticism and a host of others. Understanding Christian doctrine in light of church history helps us to separate fiction and fads from the facts and doctrine of the true Christian faith.

In writing a condensed version of Church history, one has to pick out the high points or most important events. Names, places, and some theological terms have to be used which may be confusing and, no doubt, some of these names and places have not been heard of before and will soon be forgotten shortly thereafter. But in writing history it is vital that names and places be used. Yet, while it is not all that important to remember these names and places, what is of more importance is the affect these names and places had on the history of the Christian Church.

JESUS AND THE GOSPLES: THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIANITY.

Jesus said, ―This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.‖ (Matt. 24:34). This indicates that Jesus expected history to climax in judgment. Jesus’ death on the cross was a judgment on sin and Satan. The final judgment will come at the end of time. As for now, Jesus’ death and resurrection are the foundation of the Christian Gospel, and that Gospel was to be proclaimed to the entire world as we discover in the Great Commission which we read in Matthew 28:19-20, ―Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.‖

Other vital events for the beginning of the history of Christianity are the Ascension of Jesus into heaven and Pentecost. Forty days after his resurrection, Jesus met with and told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit who would baptize them with fire. They would receive a special power when the Holy Spirit would come upon them, and they would be witnesses of Jesus in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts: 2:1-11). Notice the circular spread of the Gospel. It would start in Jerusalem, then in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the world. And as we study the history of the Christian Church, we see how far and wide the Gospel has spread. And the Christian church is also here in Cambodia. You are part of God’s plan; you are part of church history! 2

Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit came true ten days from his ascension into heaven where he now rules over his church. On the day of Pentecost the disciples were gathered in one place. (Acts 2:1-13). As they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they began to speak in the languages of the various people that were in Jerusalem. After the Apostle Peter preached a powerful sermon, telling the people that they had crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, they were cut to the heart and cried out,‖ What shall we do?‖ Peter replied, ―Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.‖ Three thousand people accepted the message and were baptized. So Pentecost has been called the ―Birthday of the Church.‖ As the believers gathered together in Christian fellowship, people were added daily to the church.

PAUL, BARNABAS AND ANTICOCH.

The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch, and it was at the church in Antioch that the Apostle Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the laying on of hands and sent off on their first missionary journey. (Acts 13:2-3). Now, Paul had been a persecutor of Christians. But on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians, he was struck down by a bright light. He fell to the ground and heard the voice of Jesus, who told him to go to Damascus, and there he would find a man named Ananias. (Acts 9:1ff). The Lord told Ananias to seek out Paul. Finding him, Ananias laid hands on Paul, and Paul’s eyes were opened, and he was baptized. The news of Paul’s conversion had reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch to find Paul. By the way, Paul’s partner, Barnabas’s name means, ―son of exhortation or consolation.‖ He was a Levite from Cyprus, an early convert to Christianity. He spoke on Paul’s behalf to remove their fears concerning Paul. For an entire year Paul and Barnabas met with the church in Antioch. The Holy Spirit said to the members of the church there to set aside Paul and Barnabas for special missionary work. And then they sent them off on a journey through Asia Minor that would prove fruitful for the growth of Christianity.

PAUL’S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS.

Paul’s first missionary journey took place in 46-48 A.D. Paul and Barnabas sailed to Cyprus and then to Pathos. From there they traveled to Perga in Pamphylia and Antioch Pisidian. It was there that Paul preached in the synagogue. Since the Jews rejected his message, Paul and Barnabas turned their ministry to the Gentiles. The Jews incited the people against Paul and Barnabas and drove them from their region. Then it was on to Iconium. There a number of Jews and Gentiles believed. Paul and Barnabas met with much hostility, and Paul was actually stoned. So they left for Derbe. On the way back to Antioch, they returned to Lystra and Iconium. Their efforts paid off as a church was established with elders appointed.

THE FIRST CHURCH COUNCIL IN JERUSELEM

A controversy arose over whether one was saved by grace alone or by being circumcised according to the Law of Moses. This caused a sharp dispute as Paul and Barnabas opposed those who held to such views. They were summoned to Jerusalem, and a council was called in Jerusalem to debate the issue. The conclusion reached was that no burden should be placed 3 before Gentiles, and that all alike, Jew and Gentile, are saved by God’s grace and not by observing the law.

Paul and Barnabas also had their differences. Paul didn’t want to take Mark with them on another mission trip since Mark had deserted them on the first missionary journey, So Barnabas and Paul split this and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed to Cyprus, whereas Paul chose Silas. They were later joined by Timothy in Lystra on the second missionary journey, a trip that included Troas, Philippi, Athens, and Corinth. It was at Philippi that Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for casting out an evil spirit from a girl. While in prison, there was an earthquake, and the jail doors flew open freeing them both. After preaching in Thessalonica, they went to Athens, where on the Areopagus, Paul preached to the men about the unknown god. Paul said that God can be known from his creation and in His Son, Jesus Christ. In Corinth Paul preached every day in the synagogue. From there they sailed to Ephesus where a riot broke out, and they went on through Macedonia back to Jerusalem.

On his third missionary journey, Paul returned to many of the places he had visited before. Many churches were established. Back in Jerusalem, Paul was arrested and placed on trial. Paul was sent to Caesarea, where he appeared before Governor Felix. Festus succeeded Felix, but back in Jerusalem, Agrippa told Festus he would hear Paul himself. Paul appealed to his Roman citizenship, and thus he was sent to Rome for trial. After several years in a house prison in Rome, it is believed that Paul was martyred.

Because Paul obeyed the Lord, many people in Asia were brought to faith in Jesus Christ, and Several churches were created, even in Rome. Thus, Christianity was spreading from Jerusalem to the world. (Assignment: Read the Book of Acts).

PERSECUTION AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

Large scale persecutions of Christians took place by the authorities of the Roman Empire. It was reported by Tacitus that Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the great fire of Rome. According to tradition, it was under Nero that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. For nearly 250 years Christians suffered persecution for their refusal to worship the Roman emperor.

Early Christianity and the Roman Empire were closely linked and that is important to the study of the history of the church. During the beginning of the Christian era, the Roman Empire was reaching the limits of its expansion. The New Testament Church was established in an Empire in control of the territory around the Mediterranean basin. The Roman Empire even extended as far as England. There were advantages and disadvantages to Christianity under the Empire.

In Galatians chapter four, verse four, we read: ―But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons‖ Some might question whether it was really the best time for Jesus to be born into the world, but it was God’s time, his time and plan for the salvation of the world. And it proved to be a good time for the spread of the Gospel. A few advantages of the Roman Empire were these: (1), Rome had built a network of roads which made travel easier. (2), 4 since there were Roman soldiers around, it made for safer travel, and (3), Greek was the universal language and the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek of the New Testament was Konia, the vernacular of Greek at that time. But, then, there were the disadvantages of persecution under the Roman Empire.

Christianity had more martyrs than any other religion. Besides the hostility of Rome, there was also an antagonism between Jews and Christians. Because Christians refused to participate in pagan ceremonies, they were held to be atheists. Usually ten major persecutions are enumerated in history beginning with Nero in the first century and culminating with Diocletian in the fourth century.

The most notable of the early persecutions was in Rome under Nero. We read about it in the Annals of Tacitus. He blamed Christians for the fire in Rome, and the killing began. Tacitus tells us that some Christians were wrapped in hides of wild beasts and were torn to pieces by dogs. Others were fastened to crosses and set on fire. In the Book of Revelation, John seems to have Rome in mind when he wrote, ―Babylon the great, mother of harlots,‖ and as ―drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of martyrs.‖

From early in the second century, and the first half of the third century, Ignatius of Antioch went to Rome for his execution. A little later in that century we learn of the famous martyrdom in Smyrna in Asia Minor of the aged Polycarp. He was burned at the stake and is said to have died singing hymns.

The Christian historian, Eusebius, also tells about the terrible suffering of Christians. Often a Christian was asked to denounce Christ or be put to death. Some were skinned, some burned, others torn apart by wild animals. It has been said that the blood of the martyrs were the seeds of Christian growth. Estimates for the total dead depend on the report of Eusebius of Caesarea and are somewhat vague, but it certainly was significant.

In the year 250 A.D. the course of Christianity appeared to come to an abrupt and disastrous halt. A most severe persecution broke out under Emperor Deuis. He commanded that all citizens of the Empire sacrifice to Roman gods. For Christians to sacrifice to Roman gods would be apostasy, a sin for which, they believed, was impossible. Many Christians preferred to live, thus, they fully complied with Decuis’ edict. Others remained loyal to Christ and were imprisoned, among them, Origen, the Bishop of Rome. He died in prison. Others were killed outright.

After persecutions came to an end under Valerian, whose attention was taken up with the war with the Persians in 260 A.D., yet in 330 A.D. began the most severe persecution yet to be endured by Christians. The persecution began with a decree which ordered the destruction of church buildings and the burning of sacred books, removing Christians from places of honor, enslaving others and torture which caused many to perish. In Asia Minor a Christian town was surrounded by soldiers and burned, together with its inhabitants. This persecution lasted more than a decade.

CONSTANTINE

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When Constantius, the father of Constantine, was governing Britain, Gaul, and Spain (Caesar, died in 306 A.D.), Constantine was proclaimed Emperor by his troops. Being confronted by rivals, he did not become sole Emperor until 323 A.D. Constantine told Eusebius, the most eminent of early church historians, that while he was praying, God appeared to him in a dream. The Lord told him to make a spear overlaid with gold, and a cross with the letters, Chi and Rho for the name of Christ. Constantine was the victor in the Milvian Bridge battle near Rome, and his faith in the efficacy of the Christian symbol was confirmed.

The polity of Constantine was one of tolerance. He did not make Christianity the sole religion of the state, but as time passed, he came out more and more in favor of Christianity. He had his children baptized in the Christian faith, and he himself, later in life, was baptized. The Edict of Milan was issued in 313 which allowed Christians to practice their religion in the Roman Empire, and thus, persecutions ceased. On February 27, A.D. 380, the Edict of Thessalonica, put forth under Theodosius I, the Roman Empire officially adopted Christianity as the state religion. In 313, Constantine also commissioned Eusebius to deliver fifty Bibles for the churches of Constantinople.

TWO SIGNIFICANT EARLY CHURCH PATRIARCHS

Origin was born of Christian parents around 185 A.D. He was not only a great teacher; he was also on fire for the Christian faith. In A.D. 240, Pope Gregory made him bishop of Pontus. Origin was also head of the catechetical school in Alexandria. During a renewed persecution, he boldly visited those imprisoned for their faith and even accompanied them as they went to their deaths. He made himself a eunuch. At one time he visited Palestine where he was ordained a presbyter, but for this he was banished from the priesthood. From then on he made his headquarters in Caesarea in Palestine. He studied the Old Testament in Hebrew and wrote commentaries on the Scriptures. While he gave to the church some comprehensive statements of the Christian faith, testifying that there is one God and that Jesus is the God-man, yet he erred in that he held a universalistic view of salvation. He taught that all souls, even the devil, will be saved. His views proved repugnant to the Catholic Church. At Constantinople in 553, although hotly debated, he was labeled a heretic.

Augustine of Hippo was born in North Africa of Latin stock. His mother was a devoted Christian, but his father was a pagan who later became a Christian. While Augustine studied Christianity, yet in his spiritual hunger he first found it in Neo-Platonism. That did not fully satisfy him. In Milan, he came under the spell of Ambrose, bishop of that city. Augustine was suffering from a moral conscience of self-disgust since he could not control his sexual desires. He came across a copy of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. He read the words of the 13th chapter which included, ―Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.‖ This led to his conversion, and he was baptized by Ambrose. He returned to Africa and became a prodigious writer. No other Christian after Paul was to have such a wide influence upon the Christianity of Western Europe.

While visiting Hippo Regius, a port about 200 miles west of Carthage, Augustine was ordained a presbyter. And then, under the influence of the bishop of Hippo, he was later to 6 become bishop of Hippo in A.D. 396, and he remained in that position until his death in A.D. 430.

Augustine’s most distinctive works were on the subjects of human nature, the character of sin and the redemption of man. His autobiography, the Confessions, is a meditation on human nature as seen in himself and on the way God dealt with him. Augustine profoundly believed the Catholic Church was the succession of the church of the apostles and outside it there was no salvation.

In one of Augustine’s most widely read works, The City of God, he refuted the claim of Pelagius that the fall of Rome by the Goths in A.D. 410 happened because Christians had abandoned the gods of Rome. The City of God concerned itself with man and human will. A controversy broke out between Augustine and Pelagius over what was termed Pelagianism. The issue was the freedom of man’s will in regard to God’s saving grace. Pelagius believed that man had freedom of the will and the ability to obey God and cooperate in salvation. But Augustine, along with Tertullian and Ambrose, declared for original sin and that men, being sinful by nature, only had the will to sin. Augustine believed that it is only by God’s grace that man can accept ―a gift‖, and unless it is unearned, is not a gift at all.

In A.D. 418 a synod in Carthage came out against Pelagianism. And in A.D. 431, the Council of Ephesus also came out against Pelagius. Since Pelagius denied original sin, he also opposed infant baptism. Augustine advocated infant baptism since it washed away original sin inherited from Adam. Although Pelagianism had been condemned by the authority of the Catholic Church, not all Catholics fully agreed with Augustine. John Cassian, a monk, declared that God created man neither to only do what is bad but has given man a spark toward goodness. The Synod of Orange, under Pope Boniface II of Rome, did not speak of man as being totally depraved by Adam’s fall and sin. Man’s will has not been so impaired by Adams’ fall that it cannot cooperate in salvation. This is called Semi-Pelagianism. This issue, of whether a person can in some way cooperate in salvation, will be discussed during the Reformation period of history,

DEVELOPMENT OF THE BIBLICAL CANON

The Christian Biblical canon is a set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and constituting the Christian Bible. The word Canon comes from the Greek and means to measure, a rule, norm, or standard. The sixty-six books of the Bible that we have today met the rule or standard of being God’s inspired Word. The development of New Testament canon, like the Old Testament, was a gradual process. Irenaeus quotes and cites twenty-one books that would make up the New Testament excluding the canonicity of Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 3rd John and Revelation. By the early in A.D. 200, Origen of Alexandria used the same 27 books as we have today. While there was some debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christian authorities by the middle of the second century.

The four Gospels were in place by the time of Irenaeus, A.D. 160, and from the time of Irenaeus, the New Testament contained the same books we have today. Some of the criterion for acceptance as to which books should be canonical is: (1) Apostolicity, i.e., was the book written 7 by an apostle or by one associated with an apostle? (2) Contents: was the book of such spiritual character to be included? (3) Universality: was the book universally received in the church? And; (4) Inspiration: was there evidence of the book being divinely inspired?

―It is a remarkable fact that no early church council selected the books that should constitute the New Testament canon. The books we have now have crushed out all rivals, not by any adventurous authority, but by their own weight and worth.‖ (Thiessen, pg. 25). One might say that the New Testament canon simply evolved. It was not until the close of the fourth century that any council even discussed the subject. We can trust that what we have today is a Bible written by divine inspiration.

EARLY HERESIES

One of the main roles of bishops was to determine and retain important correct beliefs and to refute heresies. The earliest controversies in the church were often Christological in nature. They were related to Jesus’ divinity or humanity. Docetism held that Jesus’ humanity was merely an illusion, thus denying the incarnation, for example, the divine becoming human in the God-man, Jesus. Arianism held that Jesus was not eternally divine and was of lesser status than God the Father.

One of the earliest heresies was Gnosticism, taken from the word, gnosis, meaning, ―to know.‖ It posed a serious threat to early Christian. Among the names associated with Gnosticism is Simon Magus. Gnosticism was dualistic, claiming that the spirit is good but was captive to and imprisoned by corrupt matter, the material. Salvation was to be discovered in freeing the spirit from the material. Some held that Jesus merely seemed to be a man; others that Jesus were an aeon. This view separated Christ from Jesus. Gnosticism tended to minimize the historical element in Christianity and divorce faith from the life, teaching, and the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel of John is believed to be written to contradict Gnosticism in that it shows that Jesus is both true God and man.

Marcion and the Marcionites even went beyond Gnosticism. Marcion held that man’s spirit as well as his body was evil. This heresy is known as Docetism, from the Greek word, meaning ―to appear.‖ In other words, Jesus only appeared to have a body. Jesus could not be evil, so he only appeared to be a man, for the material is evil.

Regarding the Arian controversy, Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325. Arius said that Jesus was not one and equal with God the Father, and therefore being made of lesser statue. On the opposite side of the controversy was a man named Athanasius. Arius was a presbyter in the Alexandrian church. In contrast to Alexander, who said, ―God is always, the Son is always, and the Son is ―un-begotten begotten.‖ In contrast, Arius maintained that ―the Son has a beginning but that God the Father is without beginning,‖ and that the Son is not part of God.

About 300 bishops attended the Council of Nicaea, most from the eastern part of the Empire. A large majority had not yet taken a position, but a minority of attendees upheld Alexander. One opponent of Arius was Athanasius. He was one of Alexander’s deacons. Later, he succeeded 8

Alexander as Bishop of Alexandria. The central issue of the controversy was this: was Jesus of one essence or being with the Father or was he separate and thus not equal with God the Father from eternity? Arius held the later view whereas Athanasius held the view that the Father and the Son were one in essence or being. Arius’ view lost. To make the position of the council unmistakable, it was declared that the church cursed those who said there was a time when the Son of God was not or that he was created. Modern day Arians can be said to be Jehovah’s Witnesses, who also deny the full divinity of Jesus.

This controversy culminated in the formation of the Nicene Creed. This Creed addressed the central point of the controversy, namely in the words, ―the only begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father, (homoousius), by whom all things were made.‖ The important thing to remember is that Jesus is of one substance (ousias) with the Father, and is ―begotten, not made.‖

A look at the Gospel of John, chapter one, verses one and two, makes it clear that Jesus was God and existed from eternity. It reads, ―In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.‖ The Nicene Creed we have today is a further development from the one adopted at Nicaea. Constantine commanded the burning of all books composed by Arius and banished Arius and his closest supporters.

COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON

The Council of Chalcedon was held in Asia Minor in A.D. 451. This council marked a turning point in the Christological debates and broke apart the church of the Eastern Roman Empire. It is the last council which many Anglicans and most Protestants consider ecumenical. This council repudiated the idea that Jesus had only one nature and stated that Jesus had two natures in one person, namely the divine and human. It declared the full humanity and full divinity of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. The doctrine there set forth was accepted by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and other western groups. Most Protestants also consider the concept of the Trinity as defined by this council to be the orthodox doctrine to which they adhere.

THE RISE OF MONASTICISM

Early Christians were a small minority of the population of the Roman Empire, and to a large degree, held aloof from society. By the middle of the third century thousands were pouring into the church and by the close of the fifth century, the majority of the citizens of the Empire called themselves Christians. With no longer being stressed by persecution, many Christians were becoming lax in Christian living. Because of his laxity, it gave rise to monasticism, which spread widely and became characteristic of the Catholic Church. Origen, a native of Alexandria, gives an example of extreme asceticism in self-mutilation, and in austerity in food and drink. It was the preferred way towards becoming the perfect Christian. With its emphasis on religious rule, legalism set in with the belief that salvation could be earned. And there was the conviction that flesh and matter are evil, which had been so prominent in Gnosticism. It seemed that the primary objective of a monk (Monk, from the Greek monos, meansing,‖ alone‖), was his own salvation and not the salvation of others. It lacked any missionary zeal. 9

Monasticism divided Christians into two camps—those aspiring to perfection and those content to compromise with sub-Christian or no-Christian practice. Later on, many monastic organizations devoted themselves to missions and service of others. In time, the monastic life languished and became sluggish and corrupt. Never did it reach its goal nor was the dream even entirely fulfilled. Later in time, the age of pietism would be another attempt at Christian perfection.

THE FALL OF ROME

The slow decline of the Roman Empire occurred over a period of 320 years. In September, A.D.476, Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, was deposed by Odoacer, a German chieftain. The full story of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire can be read in the works of Edward Gibbon. The crossing of the Rhine River in A.D. 406 by Germanic tribes, after the withdrawal of Roman troops in order to defend Italy, proved to be successful. The sacking of Rome in A.D. 410 by the Goths was the first time in almost 800 years that the city of Rome would fall to a foreign enemy.

THE PAPACY

The popularity of Gnosticism, Arianism, Docetism and other movements forced others who regarded themselves as Christians to develop a tighter organization and the clarification of their beliefs. Thus came about the steps in the development of what was called the Catholic Church. The word Catholic, as applied to the church, came about gradually into circulation. The earliest use of the term is in the letter of Ignatius to the church in Smyrna. In this letter he declared that ―Wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.‖ In a letter from the church in Smyrna, written about the year A.D. 155, the word, Catholic, is used three times. Twice, it might be taken to simply mean ―universal‖. But by the end of the second century, the word Catholic was increasingly applied to the church.

In the development of the Catholic Church, three motives were present. One was the desire to unite all Christians into a conscious fellowship. The second motive was to preserve and spread the purity of the Gospel. The third motive was to bring all Christians together into visible body of Christ.

In the last quarter of the second century, a case was forcefully made by Ireneaus for apostolic succession. A native of Syria, Ireneaus had seen Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, as a youth. In time, Iraneaus became bishop of Lyons. In a treatise against heresies, he insisted that the apostles had transmitted accurately what was taught by Jesus. He also held that the apostles had been appointed as successors and bishops to the churches. To Iraneaus, the Church of Rome was founded and organized by Peter and Paul. So there was an unbroken line in the succession of bishops, namely, apostolic succession. Bishops became a feature of the Catholic Church, with a single bishop in a given city or area. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, held that there is only one church, founded upon the rock by Christ. And the church was in the bishop, and if anyone was not with the bishop, he was not in the church.

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Early in the second century a cleavage appeared between clergy and laity. By the end of this century, the clergy had become a separate order. The most esteemed was the bishop of Rome. The bishop of Rome claimed greater authority. As the centuries passed, the Church of Rome and its bishops, or the Popes, as they came to be known, were head of the entire church. When the imperial powers began to decline in the West, the Popes loomed larger, especially in Rome and Italy. Gregory I insisted that by Christ’s decree Peter was the rock, the foundation, the doorkeeper of the kingdom of heaven. An edict from Emperor Valentianian II commanded that all obey the bishop of Rome as he held the ―primacy of Peter.‖ In A.D. 494, Pope Gelasias insisted that the Pope was over all priests, and since the founding of the church given by Christ’s authority, the Pope was also elevated over all others in the whole world.

As to the claim of the Catholic Church that Jesus founded the Christian Church on Peter, and that he was the first Pope, it behooves us to take a look Matthew 16, verses 13-19. Read it. Jesus asked his disciples, ―Who do people say the Son of Man is?‖ After the disciples stated some names, Jesus then asked, ―But what about you? Who do you say I am? Then Peter, by revelation of God, made this great confession: ―You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.‖ Jesus then said to him, ―You are Peter and on his rock I will build my church.‖ The claim by the Catholic Church that Jesus said the church was built on Peter does not square with the text. Now the word, Petros, means Peter. That’s his name. But Petra means rock. Jesus said, ―You are Peter (Petros), and on this rock (Petra) I will build by church.‖ Jesus did not say he would build is church on Peter, the man, but rather on a rock, namely upon the rock-like confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The church of Jesus Christ is not built on a man but on Jesus Christ. A well-known Christian hymn says it well, ―The Church’s One Foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.‖ The words of another hymn are: ―On Christ, the solid rock I stand.‖

WESTERN MISSIONARY EXPANSION

The loss of Western Roman Empire dominance, replaced with Germanic kingdoms, coincided with early missionary efforts into areas not controlled by the collapsing empire. Already as early the 5th century, missionary activities from Roman Britain, which was part of the Island of Great Britain, controlled by the Roman Empire between A.D. 43 and about A.D. 410, moved into the Celtic areas of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. This produced competing early traditions of Celtic Christianity. Later it reintegrated under the Church of Rome. A prominent missionary there was St. Patrick. Anglo-Saxon tribes that were initially pagan were converted by Augustine of Canterbury. Wilfred and Boniface converted their Saxon relatives in Germania, and the English missionary Boniface was sent to aid Willibrord to establish churches in Freesia and continuing missions in Germany. Thus, the Christian faith spread throughout Europe.

THE RECESSION OF CHRISTIANITY

While there was a rapid expansion into Europe, yet the seventh century also saw the rapid Arab conquests. It was from A.D. 622 that Muslims date the beginning of their era. Mohammed claimed that he was the last and greatest of the prophets of Allah. At first people ridiculed and ignored him as a foolish and insignificant man. But once he formed an army behind him, he set out to make the whole world Muslim. He claimed he had visions from Allah. These visions are said to be written down in what is known as their holy book, the Qur’an. Mohammed died in 11

622 A.D., but he had set the example of conquest by the sword. Before A.D. 651, the Arabs had conquered Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia and most of Egypt. In A.D. 697 they took Carthage, the capital of North Africa, and by A.D. 715 had overrun Spain. With those victories of Islam, there was the beginning of the slow decline of Christian communities.

During the first five centuries of the Christian era, the expansion of Christianity was paralleled by that of Buddhism. About five centuries older than Christianity, by the time of the birth of Jesus, Buddhism had already spread through much of India and Ceylon and had penetrated much of Asia and China. Buddhism and Islam proved to be a serious challenge to the Christian church.

The breakup of the Roman Empire was also accompanied by division in the Catholic Church. There were two significant centers of the Catholic Church—Roman, the Western church, and Constantinople, the Eastern church. (The name Constantinople has been changed by the Turks to Istanbul.) One, the west, was Latin and Roman, and the other, Greek and Byzantine. The two drifted away from each other. The Church at Constantinople became what is known as the Eastern Orthodox Church.

The following are some of the reasons for the split of West and East and some of the theological differences:

BYZANTINE ICANOCLASM

Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols, and people who engage in or support iconoclasm are called ―iconoclasts’.‖ The two Byzantine outbreaks during the 8th and 9th centuries were over the use of images or icons. It was mostly motivated by a literal interpretation of the Ten Commandments which forbid the making and worshipping of ―graven images.‖ Leaders of the Orthodox Church imposed a ban on religious images or icons. The threat of Islam may have had an influence on this ban of icons as it opposed their use. The church at Rome made use of icons as an important part of worship.

Two doctrinal issues also caused division. One was the nature of the primacy of the Pope and the theological implications of adding a clause to the Nicene Creed known as the filioque clause. As already noted, the church at Rome believed in apostolic succession, and that the Pope was the successor of Peter, on whom Jesus is claimed to have built his church. So the Popes claimed to be the vicars of Christ and held supreme authority over the Church. When the Pope speaks, he teaches the doctrine of the church infallibly. However, the primacy of the Pope over all bishops, first declared by Pope Leo I was rejected by bishops serving outside of Rome’s jurisdiction. The Eastern Orthodox Church considers that the bishop of Rome had a mere primacy of honor.

The other major irritant to Eastern Christendom was over the filioque clause. The Latin word’s pronunciation is: fee-lee-OH-kway. It means, ―and from the Son.‖ This phrase is found in the Nicene Creed said the Mass of the Roman rite which is not present in the Greek text of the Nicene Creed. In the Greek text of the Creed it says that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father.‖ The Latin text speaks of the Holy Spirit as proceeding from ―the Father and the Son‖ Since its denunciation by Photious I of Constantinople, it has been an ongoing source of conflict 12 between East and West, contributing to the East and West Schism of A.D. 1054, and proving an obstacle to attempts to reunifying the two sides.

While the phrase, ―who proceeded from the Father,‖ is found in John 15:26, no other statement about the procession of the Holy Spirit is found in the New Testament. Yet there are Passages in the Bible which indicate that the Holy Spirit also proceeds from the Son as well. In John 15:26, Jesus says, ―When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father….‖ In John 29:22, Jesus said to his disciples, ―Receive the Holy Spirit.‖ In John 16:14, in speaking about the Holy Spirit imputing truth to the disciples, Jesus said, ―He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.‖ Other Bible passages like Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:9; Philippians 1:19; state that the Holy Spirit is called ―The Spirit of the Son,‖ ―the spirit of Christ,‖ and ―the Spirit of Jesus Christ.‖ And Titus 3:6 speaks of God pouring out the Holy Spirit ―through Jesus Christ our Savior.‖ Therefore, in the Lutheran Church, as in the Catholic Church, the Nicene Creed in our hymnal uses the phrase, ―who proceeds from the Father and the Son.‖

THE CRUSADES

Generally, crusades refer to the campaigns in the Holy Land against Muslim forces sponsored by the Papacy. The Holy Land had been part of the Roman Empire, and thus the Byzantine Empire, until Islamic conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries. Thereafter, Christians had been permitted to visit the sacred places in the Holy Land until A.D. 1071 when the Turks closed Christian pilgrimages and assailed Byzantines, defeating them in the Battle of Manzikert.

The Arab advance was spectacular. Mohammed died in A.D. 632, and He was followed in the leadership of the Moslems by a succession of men who bore the title, Caliphs, meaning, ―Successor of Mohammed.‖ Under the Caliphs the Arabs moved into Byzantine and then into Persian territory. In A.D. 625 they took Damascus, and in A.D. 636 all of Syria fell to them. In A.D. 638, after a siege of two years, they captured Jerusalem. By A.D. 650, parts of Asia Minor and North Africa were under Moslem rule.

In theory, Christians were required to become Muslims, for Mohammed is said to have declared that there could not be any other religion in Arabia than Islam. Those who did not convert to Islam were tolerated but were heavily taxed and treated as second-class citizens. Mohammed also had a special hatred for Jews, and actually participated in killing anywhere from 700 to 900 Jews at one time.

The first crusades captured Antioch in A.D. 1099 and then Jerusalem. The second crusade occurred A.D. 1145 when Edessa was retaken by Islamic forces. Jerusalem would be held until A.D. 1187, and the third crusades were famous for the battle between Richard the Lionhearted and Saladin. The fourth crusade was begun by Pope Innocent III in A.D. 1202, with the intention to retake the Holy Land. But this attempt was subverted by Venetian who used his forces to sack the Christian city of Zara. Eventually, the crusaders arrived in Constantinople rather than proceed to the Holy Land. The crusaders instead sacked Constantinople and other parts of Asia Minor effectively establishing the Latin Empire of Constantinople in Greece and Asia Minor. 13

This was the last crusade sponsored by the Papacy. Later crusades were sponsored by individuals.

Jerusalem was held for nearly a century, and other strongholds in the Near East would remain under a threat. The crusaders had some temporary successes, but the crusaders were eventually forced out of the Holy Land. Nevertheless, the crusaders had a major far-reaching political, economic and social impact on Europe. Because of internal conflicts among Christian kingdoms and political problems, some of the crusaders expectations were diverted from their original aim. Some of the killing went beyond the means to accomplish its goal, and Christianity has received much criticism even today for the unnecessary slaughter of people. It was not until the twentieth century that Jerusalem was again in Christian hands.

The crusades constitute one of the most striking and thought provoking feature of history of Christianity. Here was an effort to achieve the kingdom of God on earth by means that seem to many to be contrary to the New Testament. Some point to Jesus’ words to Peter, ―They that take up the sword shall perish with the sword.‖ On the other hand, the church has acknowledged that there are just wars and the right to defend against one’s enemies. Yet even today, the crusades some think, were contrary to God’s Word. Yet the great majority of Christians of Western Europe accepted and endorsed them, even though the crusades did not achieve their primary objective, namely, to regain the Holy Land. One critic commented, ―The church attempted to gain the world but may have lost its soul.‖

THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE

In A.D. 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire. By this time Egypt had been under Muslim control for seven centuries, but Orthodoxy was very strong in Russia, and Moscow called itself the Third Rome. Under Ottoman rule, the Greek Orthodox Church acquired substantial power. The ecumenical patriarch was in charge of the religious and administrative affairs of the entire Greek Orthodox nation. Yet the Ottoman administration was the real controlling force. Eastern Christians began to flee Constantinople and took with them many Greek manuscripts. This is one of the factors that prompted the literary renaissance in the West about this time.

As a result of the Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire in A.D. 453, and the fall of Constantinople, the entire Orthodox communion of the Balkans suddenly became isolated from the West. For the next 400 years, it would be confined within the hostile Islamic world. The Russian Orthodox Church was the only part of the Orthodox Communion which remained outside of the Ottoman Empire.

CHRISTIANITY CONTINUES TO SPREAD IN EUROPE

Early evangelization in Scandinavia was started by Ansgor, Archbishop of Bremer. In A.D. 820 he was sent by monks to Denmark. His mission was only partly successful, and he returned to Germany. In A.D. 829 he went to Sweden and formed a small congregation. Conversion was slow, and it was not until A.D. 1000 that most Scandinavian lands were completely Christianized. 14

By A.D. 800 Western Europe was ruled by Christian kings, and Eastern Europe remained an area of missionary activity among the Slavs. Missionaries translated the Bible and liturgy into Slavonic. The king of Moravia asked for missionaries that could minister to the Moravians in their language, and The Byzantine emperor sent two brothers, Cyril and Methodius. Methodius later went on to convert the Serbs and Bulgarians. The success of the conversion of the Bulgarians facilitated the conversion of other East Slavic peoples, most notably the Russ, predecessors of Russia and Ukrainians. By the beginning of the eleventh century, most of the pagan Slavic world, including Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia, had been converted to Byzantine Christianity.

PAPAL CORRUPTION AND PRE-REFORMATIN PERIOD

The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a prolonged period of crisis in Latin Christianity form A.D. 1378 to 1416, when there were two or more Popes claiming the rightful holder of the Papacy. The conflict was political rather than doctrinal. In A.D. 1309, Pope Clement V moved to Avignon in southern France and exercised his papal authority there. For sixty-nine years Popes resided in Avignon rather than Rome. This caused the prestige and influence of Rome to decrease, which resulted political animosity. Pope Gregory XI, a Frenchman, returned to Rome in A.D. 1378. After his death, there was division between France and Rome. In Rome, Urban VI was named Pope, so the French elected Clement VII as Pope in Avignon. For nearly forty- years there were two Popes, each place electing new popes as vacancies arose.

In A.D. 1409 a council was called at Pisa to resolve the issue. The council declared both exiting Popes to be divisive, Gregory XII from Rome, Benedict XIII from Avignon and appointed a new Pope, Alexander V. But the existing Popes refused to resign and thus, there were now three Popes. Another council was convened, the Council of Constance in A.D. 1414. Since the others would not resign, the council cleared the field of all three Popes and elected Martin V as the rightful Pope.

TWO FORERUNNERS of the REFORMATION:

Two forerunners of the Reformation were John Wycliffe (330-1384), and Jon Hus, (1369- 1415). John Wycliffe was an English scholar and best known for denouncing the corruption of the church. He sponsored the first translation of the Bible from Latin into English. He has also been called the precursor of the Protestant Reformation. Besides emphasizing the supremacy of the Bible, he also called for a direct relationship between man and God, without the interference of priests and bishops. His followers were called Lollards, and Lollardy was a political and religious movement that existed from the mid-fourteenth century to the English Reformation. Facing persecution by the Church of England, the Lollards went underground.

In the reign of Henry V (1413-1422) sweeping measures were taken against Wycliffe. Henry was vigorously anti-Lollard. In A.D. 1415, the Council of Constance condemned Wycliffe on 260 counts and ordered his writings to be burned. After he died, his bones were dug up and cast out of the cemetery. And in A.D. 1428, by Papal command, the remains of Wycliffe were dug up again and burned, his the ashes thrown into a nearby stream, 15

Jon Hus was a Czech theologian in Prague. He was influenced by Wycliffe and spoke out against the corruption he saw in the church. He also had an influence on Martin Luther, and his teachings had a great effect on the states of Europe. In denouncing the evils of the church from parish priests to the Pope, he held that Christ and not Peter was the foundation of the church. He said that far from the Popes being inerrant, many Popes had been heretics.

As was expected, opposition rose against him. The Archbishop of Prague obtained a decree from the Pope to burn the writings of Wycliffe, which amounted to silencing Hus. Hus refused to give in, and in spite of the burning of scores of Wycliffe’s books were burned and faced the threat of excommunication, Hus appealed to Pope John XXIII. This conflict with the Papacy had spread throughout Europe.

Hus was asked to present his case to the Council of Constance. The council condemned him for his support of Wycliffe and of his own teachings. He was placed in prison. But like Luther, Hus said he could not go against God and his conscience. And in July 6, 1415, Jon Has was burned at the stake. The Pope had promised Hus safe passage to and from the Council of Constance, but then said he did not have to keep his word to a heretic. His last audible words are said to be: ―Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit.‖ His death, though, did not end the movement. Hus became a national hero. While in prison, following his beliefs, the laity was now given the wine to drink in communion, whereas, only the priests were allowed to drink wine. This movement by the laity was called ―The Hussite Movement.‖

RENAISSANCE

The Renaissance was a period of great cultural change and achievement. The City of Rome, the Papacy, and the Papal states were all affected. It was indeed a time of advancements in artistic and architectural endeavors. It spanned the years of the 14th through the 17th centuries, beginning in Florence, Italy. Literally, Renaissance means: ―New Birth.‖ As a cultural movement, it encompassed advancements in literature, art, religion and politics; it also led to certain educational reforms as the term Revival of Learning is also employed for one phrase of the Renaissance. Two well-known men of the Renaissance were Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term: ―Renaissance Man.‖

A companion of the Renaissance was humanism. Given that the Renaissance means new birth suggests that during the Middle Ages Europe had been dead and had now become alive. In contrast to the Middle Ages, which stressed eternal life as man’s main goal, humanism had an appreciation of the present world. The men of the Renaissance took pleasure in nature and sought to explore it and understand it. They were also self-confident and believed in themselves and man. They despised the architecture of the middle Ages, and with contempt, called it Gothic. According to this new thinking, man was thought of as the architect of his own future. While paying lip service to the Christian faith, they tended to rule out God, the need of redemption, the incarnation, and to ignore life beyond the grave. Leading lights of the Renaissance were Albertus Magnus and teacher, Thomas Aquinas.

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Like other contributions that have come to mankind through the Christian faith, humanism was in part the product of Christianity and could either be an aid or an enemy of that faith. The typical humanist of the Renaissance was a member of the Catholic Church. In many ways, humanism could lead to a denial of the Gospel. It had no deep sense of sin and felt no need of the forgiving grace of God, plus it often scoffed at Christianity. This phase of humanism contributed to secularism, which centuries later would be the most serious threat to Christianity.

The Papacy, at the close of the fifteenth century, reached it lowest depths of moral degradation and was captured by the Renaissance and humanism. The first of the Popes to represent the Renaissance was Nicholas V. He spent his student days in Florence, the center of Renaissance art and letters. He combined humanism with Christian purpose, founded the Vatican Library and made Rome the center of the new humanism and art. He even attracted humanists to Rome and gave support to men who were essentially pagan.

Also giving support to humanists was Pope Sixtus IV. He enlarged the library and built the Sistine Chapel, which bears his name. He sought to make Rome the literary and artistic capital of Renaissance Europe. Yet, the Catholic Church and the Papacy were giving in to trends that were threatening to de-Christianize Christianity. A historian dated the period of Papal decadence from Sextus V. Humanism did cause some to lose their faith, just as today the scientific theory of evolution had caused some high school and college students to become skeptics.

THE PROTESTANT LUTHERAN REFORMATION

Martin Luther is rightly regarded as the most important figure of what is known as Protestant. The word, ―Protestant‖ is derived from the Latin meaning, ―declaration‖ which refers to the letter of protestation by Lutheran princes against the Catholic Church’s opposition to Luther’s Ninety- five Theses. The beginning of the Protestant or Lutheran Reformation is generally identified with Martin Luther and his posting of his Ninety-five-Theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany.

Martin Luther was born to Hans and Margarette Luther on November 10, 1483 in Eislaben, Germany. He was baptized as a Catholic. The family moved to Mansfield in 1484. Hans Luther was ambitious for Martin and was determined that his eldest son become a lawyer. He sent Martin to Latin school in Mansfield and then Magdeburg in 1497. In 1501, at the age of 19, Luther entered the University of Erfurt from where he received a master’s degree in 1505. To fulfill his father’s wishes, Luther enrolled in law school at the same university but dropped out almost immediately. His interests turned to theology and philosophy.

But the main turning point in Luther’s life he attributes to an event that happened on July 2, 1505 while he was returning to the university from a visit at home. He was on horseback during a thunderstorm, and a lightning bolt struck near him. Falling to the ground, he said that he was terrified of death and judgment and cried out, ―Help! Saint Anne, I will become a monk!‖ He did not break his word and left law school, sold his books, and entered the Augustinian monestary in Erfurt on July 17, 1505. His father was furious over what he saw as a waste of Luther’s education.

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Luther dedicated himself to monastic life, devoting himself to fasting, long hours of prayer and frequent confession. Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair. He viewed God as an angry judge who would condemn him. He saw no way he could please this righteous judge. John von Staupitz, his superior, concluded that Luther needed more work to distract him from excessive introspection and ordered him to pursue an academic career. In 1507, Luther was ordained to the priesthood, and in 1508 began teaching theology at the University of Wittenberg. He received a Bachelor’s Degree in biblical studies on March 9, 1508. Then on October 17, 1512, he was awarded his Doctor of Theology and was received into the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg.

Luther had been lecturing on the Psalms in the summer of 1513, and in the autumn of 1515, he lectured on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. In 1516-1517 his subject was the Letter to the Galatians. During his study of Romans, Luther was enlightened by the phrase, ―the just shall live by faith.‖ To Luther, ―Justification by Faith,‖ became the distinctive principle of the Reformation. For Luther, faith was not just intellectual assent. It was, rather, a grateful, whole-hearted response of one’s entire being to the love of God in Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God was no longer viewed by which God condemned the sinner, but a righteousness that God gives to sinners through the merits of Jesus Christ earned by his death on the cross for the salvation of the world. A person’s good works could not gain eternal life, for salvation is by God’s grace, a free gift of God without any merit or worthiness on the part of the sinner.

It was over the issue of indulgences that became the main point of controversy between Luther and the Catholic Church. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the belief was held that through indulgences the Pope could draw on the treasury of the merits of the saints to forgive sins, and not only of the living, but also for the souls in purgatory. Purgatory itself is contrary to the Gospel for it holds that people have to go to this place to suffer to make up for their unforgiven sins before they could get into heaven. This teaching claims, then, that Jesus’ death and resurrection was not good enough for the total forgiveness of all sins.

As time had gone on, the use of indulgencies had increased and their sale had become a source of revenue for the Pope to be used on whom he favored. In 1517 indulgences were being sold in Germany by Tetzel, a Dominican. Tetzel defended his claim that as soon as the money fell into the coffer a soul was released from Purgatory. Luther objected the saying attributed to Johann Tetzel ―As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the souls form purgatory springs.‖ The money raised by the sale of indulgences was to rebuild St. Peters’ Basilica in Rome. The Catholic Church said that faith could not justify a man, but that good works active in charity could justify a man.

In his sermons of 1516, Luther questioned the use of indulgences. On October 31, 1517, Luther wrote to his bishop, Albert of Mainz, protesting the sale of indulgences. In this letter he enclosed his ―Disputation of Martin Luther,‖ which became known as the ―Ninety-five Theses.‖ This date of October 31, 1517 is often called the birthday of the Reformation. It was on this date that Luther also posted the 95 Theses on the church door of Wittenberg. At that time, the church door was kind of a bulletin board used for the purpose of debate. Luther’s intention was not to overthrow the Catholic Church but to correct a serious error of the church.

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Probably, to Luther’s surprise, the 95 Theses created a great sensation. But it wasn’t until January of 1518 that friends of Luther translated the 95 Theses into the German language. The invention of the Guttenberg printing press certainly aided the spread of the 95 Theses. Luther sent a copy of the Theses to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz, and he in turn sent it to Pope Leo X in Rome.

In the summer of 1518, the Pope summoned Luther to Rome to answer the charge of heresy. Knowing what might happen to Luther, the Elector Frederick persuaded the Pope to have Luther examined at Augsburg, where the imperial Diet was held. There, in October 1518, Luther informed the papal representative, Cardinal Cajetan, that he did not consider the papacy part of the Biblical church, and the hearings degenerated into a shouting match. Luther’s confrontation of the church made him an enemy of the Pope. Cajetan’s instructions had been to arrest Luther if he failed to recant, but he lacked the means in Augsburg, where the Elector guaranteed Luther’s safety. In another debate at Leipzig, Luther’s boldest assertion was that Matthew 16:18 do not confer on Popes the exclusive right to interpret Scripture, and therefore, neither popes nor church councils were infallible. And in his ―The Babylonian Captivity of the church, Luther charged that the Papacy had carried the church into captivity. One form of captivity into which Rome had carried the Church was the denial of the cup in Communion to the laity. The laity should receive both the bread and wine in the sacrament. Another captivity cited by Luther was transubstantiation, the teaching that the bread and wine actually change into the body and blood of Christ. A third captivity was the teaching that the mass is a good work and holy communion was a sacrifice that the church offers up to God, whereas, it is the Lord who comes sinners in Word and sacrament as a means of grace. Luther also denied that there were seven sacraments, especially arguing that marriage and ordination were not sacraments. For this and other things, Luther was branded a new Jan Hus.

On June 1520, the Pope warned Luther with his papal bull, (edict) Exsurge Domine, that he risked excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn from his writings, including the 95 Theses, within 60 days. But Luther, who sent the Pope a copy of On the Freeing of a Christian in October, and publically set fire to the papal bull at Wittenberg on December 10, 1520. As a consequence, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on January 1521.

The enforcement of the ban of the 95 Theses fell to the secular authorities. On April 18, 1521, Luther was ordered to appear before the Diet of Worms, a town on the Rhine. It was conducted from the 28th of January to May 25, 1521, with Emperor Charles V presiding. Elector Frederick III, of Saxony, obtained a safe conduct for Luther from the meeting. Johann Eck, who represented the side of Rome, presented Luther with copies of his writings laid out on a table. He asked Luther if these books were his and whether he stood by their contents. Luther confirmed that he was the author, but he requested time to think about the answer to the second question. Luther prayed and consulted friends, and gave this response:

―Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either the Pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted them), I am bound by the Scriptures. My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. y 19

God help me. Amen.‖ Sometimes Luther is quoted as saying, ―Here I stand. I can do no other.‖ In fact, that is the title of Roland Bainton’s book on Luther, Here I Stand.

Over the next five days, private conferences were held to determine Luther’s fate. The Emperor presented the final draft of the Diet of Worms on May 15, 1521, declaring Luther an outlaw, banning his books. The Emperor Charles V wanted Luther captured and punished as a notorious heretic. It was also crime for anyone in Germany to give Luther food or shelter, and it also permitted anyone to kill Luther without legal consequences.

Luther’s disappearance during his return trip was planned. Frederick III had him intercepted on his way home by masked horsemen and took him to the Wartburg Castle at Eisenach. During his stay there, Luther translated the entire New Testament from Greek into German. Here was one of Luther’s major achievements. His translation did much to standardize the German language. Luther also renewed his attack on Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz whom he shamed into stopping the sale of indulgences. Again, against the mass he wrote, On the abrogation of Private Mass, he condemned as idolatry the idea that the mass is a sacrifice, saying instead that it is a gift, to be received with thanksgiving by the entire congregation. Luther also questioned if the Pope had the authority to require compulsory confession.

While Luther was making his pronouncements from the Wartburg Castle, news reached him of some disturbing developments in Wittenberg. Andreas Karlstadt had embarked on a radical program of reform there in June 1521. The reforms provoked disturbances, including a revolt of Augustinian monks and the smashing of statutes and images in churches. Wittenberg became even more violent after a band of zealots, called the Zwickau prophets, arrived preaching revolutionary doctrines such as the equality of man, adult baptism, and Christ’s imminent return.

Luther secretly returned to Wittenberg on March 1522. For eight days in Lent, Luther preached eight sermons. In these he hammered home the core values of Christianity such as love, patience, charity and freedom, also reminding people to trust God’s Word rather than in acts of violence. The effect of Luther’s intervention was immediate, by working along the side of the authorities to restore public order within the Reformation. Other works of Luther are his Formula Missae (Formula of the Mass), which was a glide to the clergy and congregation as an order of worship. Luther also issued a hymnal which contained a well know hymn of the Reformation, ―A Mighty Fortress is our God.‖ It is also note worthy that Luther married a former Nun, Katherine von Bora, and together they had several children. After banishing the Zwickau prophets, he now faced a battle not only against the established Church but against radical reformers.

One of the early breaks Luther had was with humanist, Erasmus, of Rotterdam. This was unavoidable since Luther and humanism were incompatitable. Humanism tended to regard man as able to work out his own salvation. Luther completely rejected this view. Since man is sinful by nature, Luther held, he can earn nothing from God, and if he is saved it was purely by God’s grace, the undeserved favor of God. For Luther, Justification by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ is the heart an core of the Gospel and the battle cry of the Reformation. Erasmus was also made uneasy by Luther’s denunciation of Rome.

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In 1524 Erasmus wrote a tract On the Freedom of the Will, which would widen the divide with Luther. Erasmus claimed God would be unjust if he did not give man the condition for working out his salvation. Luther countered that man does not have free will, and therefore, Luther and Erasmus parted company, with Luther also severing relationships with other radical reformers like the Anabaptists, Zwingli and Calvin, which we shall deal with later.

Charles V, returning from Rome in 1530 as Emperor, called a meeting of the Diet of Augsburg. His hope was to bring about unity. He asked the Protestants to put forth their beliefs, and point out how they differed from the Roman Catholic Church. Melanchthon, a close companion of Luther, was given the assignment which he carried out after meeting with and conferring with Luther. Since Luther was still under imperial ban, he did not go to Augsburg. The result of Melanchthon’s work was the Augsburg Confession, a lengthy document regarded as the Lutheran position. It is now part of The Book of Concord, the Lutheran Confessions.

Catholic Church theologians responded and refuted the Lutheran position. The hope for unity that Charles V desired failed. Since he was a Catholic, Charles V took the side of Rome and gave the Lutherans until April 1531 to submit. Unwilling to yield, the Protestant princes met at Schmalkalden and formed a defense league. After many attempts of Charles V to crush the Protestant movement, he was defeated in war with the help of France in 1552. Then in 1555, a settlement was reached known as the Peace of Augsburg.

Unfortunately, there was some serious division later among Lutheran theologians. Philip Melanchthon, who lived until April 19, 1560, a little over four years after Luther’s death, was deeply involved. Melanchthon stated that some Roman Catholic practices were adiaphora (indifferent things), and thus tolerated them. Some Lutherans were totally opposed to this and the debate became known as the ―Adiaphoristic Controversy.‖ Melanchthon was also accused of having a view of the Lord’s Supper as being too close to the Reformed view, which denied the Real Presence. But Melanchthon’s biggest weakness was in attempting to compromise the Lutheran doctrine of Justification by grace in holding that good works of the goodness of man played a part in one’s salvation. This view is called ―synergism,‖ coupling works with grace. The Catholic Church held that there must be something good in a person that God saw and thus that led to one’s salvation.

In an attempt to work out an agreement among Lutherans, another document known a the ―Formula of Concord,‖ was written. It was published in 1580, a half century after the Augsburg Confession. It represented the convictions of the large majority of Lutherans. Together with the Small and Large Catechism, the Primacy of the Papacy, the Smalcald Articles, these writings now are called the Book of Concord, the doctrinal position of the Lutheran Church.

From Germany, Lutheranism spread northwest into Scandinavia, Iceland and Finland. The dominance of Lutheranism in Scandinavia is significant because Protestantism was not known to that area, which had long been passive. Lutheranism also spread to central Europe. At the same time, while Protestants first came in the form of Lutheranism, other brands of Protestant Christianity made inroads among people. This was due to the influence of two other reformers, Zwingli and Calvin.

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TWO OTHER REFORMERS

Huldreich Zwingli (1484-1531) was born in Switzerland, a few weeks younger than Luther. He served as a Chaplin with Swiss mercenaries and later became a minister and reformer. At first, he greeted Luther’s early writings with joy and circulated them, but later he belittled their influence on him. He came out against the teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. Then he separated himself from Lutheranism especially over the significance of the Lord’s Supper. To Luther, the words of Jesus as he broke the bread, ―This is my body,‖ was taken at face value. He believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the sacrament. To Zwingli, in the Lord’s Supper, the command, ―Do this in remembrance of me,‖ was simply taken to be a rite or memorial. To Reformed teaching, then, the bread and wine in the sacrament are just symbolic of the body and blood of Christ. In other words, the bread and wine merely represent Christ’s body and blood.

Before his death, Zwingli’s views had spread to other Swiss centers. Lutheranism and Reformed wings of Protestantism parted ways. Attempts by some to find a middle ground between the Reformed and Lutherans were not realized. The Reformed were drawn together in their theological position by the Helvetic Confession, as were Lutheran by the Augsburg Confession.

At the time another reformed came on the scene. His name was John Calvin. He was born on July 10, 1509 in a town about sixty miles northeast of Paris, France. Although he was never ordained as a minister, he was designed for the church by his father. He attended the University of Paris. His interests were in humanism, and he was proficient in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. It was at Basel, at the age of 26, that Calvin wrote and published the most influential book of the Protestant Reformation, his Institutions of the Christian Religion.

The Institutes did not present anything really new but set forth a systematic presentation of the Christian faith held by the Protestants. They set forth the topics of creation, sin, and redemption as taught in Scripture. Calvin stressed the sovereignty of God and the submission to his will. Accordingly, nothing happens without God’s will and council. If nothing occurs without the direct will of God, then God is even responsible for evil. That means wicked men do evil by the decree of God. Calvin held that God is free from any injustice. While God ordained evil deeds that men do, they are to blame, not God. This proved to be a paradox.

Calvin believed with Luther in man’s total depravity and that he could do no good works unless assisted by God’s grace which he has given to the elect, those whom God has chosen. Calvin came out for election, which he held to be a comforting doctrine because it meant that nothing was out of God’s control. What he asserted is called double predestination, meaning that that God has chosen some to be saved and some to be lost or damned even before creation.

Here was the logic of Calvin’s thinking: If God elects some to be saved, and not all people are saved, then God must have predestinated some to be damned. Yet in the Bible, I Timothy, chapter 2, verse four, states that God wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And in Ezekiel 18, verse 23 we read, ―Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Declares the sovereign Lord? Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from the ways and live,‖ So, while God desires that all be saved, yet man can reject God’s grace. From Calvin’s 22 logic on double predestination, he would also believe that Jesus did not die for the sins of all, for if he did, all would be saved.

Like Luther, through his writings, Calvin had an influence over much of Europe. Calvin was closer to Luther’s understanding of the Lord’s Supper than he was to Zwingli. Yet Zwingli did not agree with Calvin on double predestination. But during Calvin’s lifetime, the Reformed Churches of Switzerland began drawing together even though there remained cultural and linguistic differences. In the sixteenth century, Bohemia and Hungry came under the influence of Protestantism. The Reformed Churches multiplied in Germany, even before Calvin’s death, and his views had begun to gain ground and made great strides in the Netherlands. Early in the sixteenth century, Calvinism was supplanting Lutheranism among the Dutch.

Protestantism also made its way into Scotland. There it became the faith of the majority of the People. The form of Protestantism was Presbyterianism, which owed a profound debt to Calvin. Presbyterianism expanded into other lands. This was partly though effect of English Puritanism and partly through migration to Ireland, Northern America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The outstanding leader in the Scottish Reformation was John Knox. Knox was born near Edinburgh, but his exact birthrate is not known, but believed to be somewhere between A.D. 1505 and 1515. He was ordained to the priesthood, yet he began to preach Protestant views. He was led away as a captive to France, and for nineteen months, he was a prisoner. He returned to England, but upon refusing to be appointed a bishop by Queen Mary, he fell under her wrath. He fled to Geneva where he became an ardent disciple of Calvin.

Knox made his way to Scotland and gave a marked impetus to a Reformation that had already been under way during his absence. In A.D. 1561, Scotland officially went over to the Reformation. The Scottish Parliament adopted a confession of faith drafted by Knox. It was more Calvinistic than Lutheran or Zwinglian. Knox and his followers drew up the First Book of Discipline. While it covered a number of items, the most important one was that it provided wealth for the church through tithes for support of the ministry and for the relief of the poor. Unlike England, the church in Scotland was independent from the state and had a democratic spirit.

After some stormy years under Queen Mary’s opposition to Knox, she was executed and later her grandson, James I became king. James was raised in the Reformed faith and Knox preached at his coronation. Knox lived to see his course become triumphant. He died November 14, 1572 and his work was carried on by others. Yet the Presbyterians and the Reformed faith continued to have troubles. James I of England tried to force episcopacy upon the Church of Scotland. Episcopacy is the governing and rule of the church by bishops or an hierarchy. This was strongly rejected by the Scottish Church. In A.D. 1690 an act was passed which established the Church of Scotland, and the laws favoring episcopacy, were repealed. The Westminster Confessions, a system of Presbyterian Church government, was recognized.

THE RADICAL REFORMERS: THE ANABAPTISTS

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As we have seen, there were differences between the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, but both practiced infant baptism. Then another kind of Protestantism arose which was much more radical. This movement held to what they believed the Scriptures taught. They wished to return to the primitive Christianity of the first century. They rejected infant baptism as contrary to the Bible. They also believed that baptism should only be administered to conscious believers. Thus, they were called, Anabaptists. Infant baptism, they held, was not a valid baptism.

Anabaptists had little to do with the state and some refused to cooperate with it. They were also against war. Their form of worship was simple, and some looked for the imminent, visible return of Jesus to set up his millennial reign. Yet some denied the divinity of Christ and looked to him as just a moral example to be followed. Indeed, they maintained a high standard of morality. Most Anabaptists also abstained from alcohol.

One early center of the Anabaptists was Zurich, and two prominent leaders were Conrad Grebel and Felix Manz. Grebel became a friend and follower of Zwingli. In 1523 he parted from Zwingli and made contact with Carlstadt, the radical who went beyond Luther in reforms in Wittenberg. In some areas of Switzerland, and south-west Germany, infant baptism was being questioned, and by 1524, Grebel rejected infant baptism.

Unfortunately, the Anabaptists endured severe persecution. Many were put to death. In Zurich, the city council made a decision to support infant baptism and ordered Gerbel to discontinue his practices. He then moved to other cities. Yet Grebel and Manz were arrested and condemned to life in prison. Manz was executed and Grebel died a few months before Manz.

Several attempts were made to stamp out the Anabaptist movement. Persecution was intensified by the accusation that the Anabaptists were responsible for the peasant uprising of 1524-1535. Thomas Muntzer was the major force in the revolt in Saxony. He also rejected infant baptism. Those who believed that Jesus would return soon said that he would come to Munster, a city in Westphalia near the Dutch border. That would be the site of the New Jerusalem. Of course, this did not happen. The City of Munster was lost to the Anabaptists, and thus this incident gave the movement a bad name.

The largest body of Anabaptists which survived persecution on the continent was the Mennonites. They took their name from Menno Simons. He became a priest, but soon began to question the theology of the Catholic Church. He also came to the conclusion that Luther, Zwingli and Calvin were wrong in practicing infant baptism. And while he disagreed with what happened in Munster, he was impressed by the heroism of those who had been persecuted. He became an ordained Anabaptist minister and made his home in Denmark.

Anabaptists by no means were unified. They had a hard time agreeing on all points of doctrine and continued to divide. One branch of the division was the Amish. Driven by persecution and refusing to resist with force of arms, the Mennonites, another spinoff, scattered widely. Many moved to South Russia. A large number also made their homes in North and South America, especially the United States, giving birth in to Baptist churches.

THE ENGLISH REFORMATION 24

Unlike other reformed movements, the English Reformation began by royal influence. King Henry VII considered himself a Catholic king, and in 1521 he defended the Papacy against Luther in a book he commissioned entitled: The Defense of the Seven Sacraments. For this Pope Leo X awarded Henry the title, ―Defender of the Faith.‖ However, the king came into conflict with the Papacy when he wished to annul his marriage with Catherine of Aragon, for which he needed Papal approval. Catherine was the aunt of Emperor Charles V, the Papacy’s most significant supporter. The dispute eventually led to a break with Rome.

After King Henry’s divorce from Catherine, he secretly married Anne Boleyn, but the Pope refused to accept that his marriage with Catherine was over. Because Henry married Anne, the Pope excommunicated the king. Late in 1534 the English Parliament declared that the king was the supreme head of the church. The Pope’s name was then erased from all service books and the break with Rome was complete.

Successive statements of doctrine for the Church of England were issued. Ten Articles, drafted by Henry with the help of Thomas Cranmer, were issued which mentioned the sacraments, baptism, penance, and the Lord’s Supper. These articles also stressed the importance of teaching the Bible and the Creeds. The King James Version of the Bible, called the Great Bible, became standard in English-speaking lands. William Tyndale was most instrumental in translating the King James Bible from other languages into English. Another important work of Parliament was the Book of Common Prayer. It helped to bring order and uniformity to the Church of England that became the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Church in the United States is called the Episcopal Church.

When Mary, daughter of Henry and Catherine, came to the throne, things changed dramatically. She converted to Catholicism and restored Papal authority again in England. Parliament repealed previous laws of religion, banned the Book of Common Prayer, and forbade the clergy to marry. The reign of Mary witnessed a number of beheadings and burnings. Her critics called her ―Bloody Mary.‖ The laws against heresy were revived, and under them, three hundred were burned at the stake. About one-third of those executed were clergymen, Cranmer being one of them. Mary died an unhappy woman.

After Mary, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn, became queen. Like her father, she wished to have full control of the church. She sought to make England both Catholic and Protestant. But in April, 1559, the authority of the Pope and all payments and appeals to him were forbidden. Elizabeth wanted to be the ―Supreme Head.‖ To define the faith held by the Church of England, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion was issued. Submission was made compulsory for all priests and ministers. Under Elizabeth there was a mix of those who favored Rome and those what held to Protestantism.

PURITANS

Much more numerous then Roman Catholics were those known as Puritans. They wished to ―purify‖ the Church of England from all corruption of Roman influence. In this they became legalistic. Some were opposed to clergy vestments and kneeling for Communion. In general, 25

Puritans held to a covenant of federalist theology, maintaining that God had made promises to man, but they were conditioned upon man’s obedience to God’s laws.

Even more radical were the Separatists or Independents. The Puritans wished to stay within the Church of England, but they wanted the church cleansed. In contrast, the Separatist, like the Anabaptist, believed in separate churches were Christ alone was the head. They were the spiritual ancestors of the late Congregationalists. They were separatists in that they withdrew from the Church of England.

With the coming of William and Mary, a final victory of Protestantism came into being. The Bill of Rights were enacted stipulating that no Roman Catholics should ever wear the crown of England. William, who although raised as a Calvinist, was extremely tolerant and upended laws against Protestants dissenters who did not attend service in the Church of England. Yet, dissenters were still taxed to support the Church of England.

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT AND THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION

In order to regain losses of churches to the Protestant Reformation, Pope Paul III called for a Council to be held in Trent in Italy on December 1545. In 1547, the Council was moved to Bologna. After moving back to Trent, the final work was completed in 1563. The Roman Catholic Church counts it as the 19th ecumenical Council. The accomplishments of the Council of Trent proved to be one of the most significant in the history of the Church. It gave definitive formulation to the principles of the Catholic Reformation, cut off all possible of reconciliation with the Protestants, and hoped to regain territories lost to Protestantism.

Among the decisions on doctrine reached by the Council of Trent are these: declare that the Old Testament (which included the Apocrypha), the New Testament, and the unwritten traditions to have been received by the Apostles from the mouth of Christ, have God as their author. The Council also ordered that no one should interpret the Bible contrary to that held by the Catholic Church.

On God’s grace, the Council rejected irresistible grace, stating that while man is free to reject God’s grace, he is also free to cooperate with it. While stating that we are justified by faith and grace and not by works, the Council declared that no one can be justified by faith alone. Yet it also said that Christians can advance and be further justified by observing the commandments of God and the Church. Faith, cooperating with good works, makes is possible for one who is justified to keep God’s commandments. What all this really means is that man can in some way cooperate in his salvation. When the question is asked, ―Why are some saved and others not,‖ the answer for Catholics is that there must have been something is a saved person that God saw was good, some spark of faith.

Since the Catholic Church believe in purgatory and for merits by good works, it clearly shows that the Catholic Church distorts the Gospel. The Gospel, drawn from Holy Scriptures, clearly teaches that Jesus’ death and resurrection took away the punishment for all sins. Therefore, the teaching of purgatory holds that everyone must go there to suffer for sins committed that are not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. The Council also reaffirmed the seven sacraments, 26 declaring that they are necessary for salvation, and that grace is conferred by them (ex opera operetta) which means they are infused automatically into one by the person administrating the sacrament. Also the Church reaffirmed transubstantiation, invocation of the saints, and for the veneration of relics of the saints, for sacred images and paintings, and for indulgences.

The administration of the Roman Catholic Church was also overhauled and tightened. Before, the area ruled by the Church was governed through dioceses. Now more power of authority was given to each bishop, and expressly the authority of the Papacy was stressed. The Pope was declared to be the vicar upon earth of God and Jesus Christ, and all patriarchs and bishops were to promise obedience to him.

The Council of Trent marked time in history of a new beginning for the Catholic Church. The Church put its house in order and armed itself for battle with the Protestants and for renewed mission outreach. It so defined doctrine that no room was left for such Protestant convictions as salvation by faith alone and the priesthood of believers. Rome, the Pope and it bishops, were the Church of Christ. The reforming degrees of the Council of Trent were not permitted to become empty words. The leaders of the church considered them as mandatory.

INQUISITIONS

Inquisitions were used by the Catholic Church to suppress heresy. A period from 1184 – 1230, it was part of the Catholic Church’s Counter Reformation. The Medieval Inquisition (1184) was in response to growing religious movements throughout Europe that the church considered heretical. Two other main inquisitions were the Papal and Spanish Inquisitions. The Papal or Roman Inquisitions was a system of tribunals developed by the Pope during the second half of the sixteenth century. The tribunals were responsible for prosecuting people accused of crimes related to heresy, like sorcery, immorality, blasphemy, Judaism and witchcraft. This tribunal was the one that charged Galileo with heresy. An Italian historian estimates that 75,000 cases were judged by the Inquisition and around 1250 ended with a death sentence. This Inquisition ended in A.D. 1858, but one of the martyrs during the Inquisition was Joan of Arc, who was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431.

The Spanish Inquisition was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy and to replace the Medieval Inquisition. Jews and Muslims were ordered to either convert or leave. Various sources give different numbers of trials and executions. Somewhere around 2,000 people were executed, the great majority being of Jewish origin. The most intense period of persecution lasted until 1530. Close to 5,000 people were burned at the stake, which included not only Jews, but some Protestants as well. Books were censored. Some scholars think that one of the main effects of the Inquisition was to end free thought in Spain, as silence was imposed on the educated. During the reign of Charles IV of Spain, the Inquisition began to decline, and it was abolished during the domination of Napoleon and the reign of Joseph Bonaparte

THE THIRTY-YEARS WAR

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The Catholic Reformation ended in a clash between an expanding Roman Catholic Church and aggressive and expanding Protestantism. In the first half of the seventeen century, this struggle between Catholics and Protestants contributed to one of the most exhausting armed conflicts in the history of Europe. Waged on and off between 1618 and 1648, it is known as the Thirty Years War. Some of the provisions of the Religious Peace of Augsburg (1555) also helped bring on the war. So great was the devastation of the war that some places lost over half of the male population. Wurttemberg lost three-quarters of its population. Disease also raged among combatants and civilians.

The hostilities broke out in Bohemia as Ferdinand II introduced oppressive measures against Protestants. Protestants were resentful of the rule and retaliated but were defeated in 1620 by J.T. Tilly. The next stage of the conflict involved North-west Germany and Denmark as in 1625 King Christian of Denmark and Norway entered the war. The war, already long, had bogged down into a kind of stalemate. In October 27, 1648, the Peace of Westphalia marked the end of the war. In general, the Peace of Westphalia was more favorable to the Protestants. One result was that the Catholic princes were required to permit Protestants to worship in their territories. A curb was also placed on Roman Catholic missions among Protestants. This was especially directed at the Jesuits. Yet the religious settlement was not completely satisfying to either group. The Pope condemned it, but it proved to be a viable compromise. Although the Catholic Church achieved some gains, after the war the territorial boundaries in Europe between the two churches remained substantially unchanged.

PIETISM

As the main victim of the Thirty Years War, Germany seemed to be the last place in Western Europe to look for fresh stirrings of Christian life. The most striking phrase of the religious awaking following the war was Pietism. It had its roots in the past from English Puritanism and from Anabaptists to the Lutheran theologian, John Arnt. Arnt’s work, True Christianity, was the chief means of motivation for Phillip Spener, who is regarded as the main source of Pietism. A Lutheran and a student in Strasburg and Geneva, Spener was familiar with the practice of Reformed Churches, which seemed admirable to him. In 1663, he became a pastor in Strasburg and then in Frankfort. He gathered in his own home a group for the cultivation of the Christian life through discussion of Sunday sermons, prayer and Bible study. The movement spread and the group became known as Pietism.

Spener was intent upon a moral and spiritual reformation. He was opposed to the preaching of his day which was heavy on doctrine and had little meaning to every-day living. Church services tended to be formal and meaningless. What Spener stressed was genuine conversion and a meaningful Christian life. He also emphasized discipline, which included abstinences from playing cards, dancing and with moderation in food, drink, and dress.

For all this, Spener met with strong criticism. He was accused of being unfaithful to Lutheran doctrine. While he did not attack Lutheran orthodoxy, Spener held that if one had been truly converted, and had a right heart, doctrinal differences were relatively unimportant. Pietism emphasized emotions, feelings, and experience, and held that right beliefs in doctrine were not as important. Lutherans have often pointed out the danger of just relying on emotions and feelings, 28 rather than reliance on the correct theology of God’s Word. Feelings change, but God’s Word is constant and reliable.

CHRISTIANITY IN THE 17TH CENTURY

The history of Christianity of the 17th century showed both deep conflict and tolerance. The Enlightenment grew to challenge Christianity generally elevating human reason above divine revelation and downgraded religious authorities such as the Papacy. The Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals to reform society and advance knowledge and opposed intolerance and abuses in the church and state. This was sparked by Spinoza, John Lock, and Isaac Newton. The center of the Enlightenment was in France. It lasted until about 1790, after which the emphasis on reason gave way Romanticism and an emphasis on emotions.

Intolerance in the church was witnessed in the trial of Galileo. Galileo was ordered to stand trial on suspicion of the heresy of false doctrine for saying that the sun and not the earth was the center of the world. The church defended that the earth was the center of the world based on faulty interpretation of the Bible. Galileo was found guilty and was sentenced to imprisonment of the Inquisition. His sentence was commuted to house arrest, which he remained under for the rest of his life. As an act of tolerance, he was not burned at the stake as was John Hus.

PROTESTANTISM

Protestantism lands at the beginning of the 17th century were concentrated in Northern Europe, with territories in Germany and Scandinavia. Protestants also had control of England and Scotland and areas of France. Protestant Europe was largely divided into Lutheran and Reformed (Calvinists) areas. Efforts to unify Lutherans and Calvinism had little success. Within Calvinism an important split occurred with the rise of Arminianism. Arminianism is a school of thought about salvation within Protestant Christianity. It was based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian, Jacobus Arminius.

Dutch Arminianism was originated and articulated in the Remonstrance (1610) a theological statement in five points: 1. Election and condemnation on the Day of Judgment was conditioned by faith or non-faith; 2. The atonement was effective only for the man of faith; 3. Unaided by the Holy Spirit, no person can respond to God’s will; 4. Grace is not irresistible; and 5. Believers are able to resist sin but not beyond the possibility of falling away.

The difference between Arminianism and Calvinism is that the salvation earned by Jesus is intended for everyone, even those who are lost. In other words, Jesus died for the sins of everyone, whereas Calvinists holds that salvation is not intended for everyone since God elected some to be saved and others to be damned, double predestination. Arminians also believe that a believer can resist God’s grace and fall way. Calvinists believe that was once saved, always saved, which is usually put in words, like, ―Once in grace, always in grace.‖ Methodists and Congregationalists have mostly been influenced by Arminian views.

METHODISM 29

John Wesley (June 1703 – March 1781) was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley, along with his brother, Charles, is largely, responsible for the founding of the Methodist movement. Creation of the movement started when John Wesley took to open-air preaching in a similar manner as George Whitefield. In contrast to Whitefield’s Calvinism, Wesley embraced the Arminian teachings that were dominant in the Church of England. Methodism was a highly successful evangelical movement in the United Kingdom, which encouraged people to experience Jesus Christ personally. Wesley refined Arminianism with a strong evangelical emphasis on the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith.

Under Wesley’s direction, Methodists became leaders in many social issues of the day. His greatest theological achievement was his promotion of what he termed ―Christian Perfection,‖ or holiness of heart and life. Wesley held that in this life Christians could come to a state in which the love of God, or perfect love, reigned supreme in their hearts. Throughout his life Wesley remained within the Church of England and insisted that his movement was well within the bounds of the Anglican tradition. Yet his different use of policy put him at odds with many within the Church of England, although toward the end of his life he was widely respected as ―the best loved man in England.‖

Like the Puritan Separatists who made their way to America and settled in parts of Plymouth and Salem, Massachusetts, so John and Charles had also sailed to Savannah, Georgia, in the American colonies. It was on the voyage to the colonies that Wesley first came into contact the Moravians. Wesley was impressed by their deep faith and spirituality rooted in pietism. During one point of the voyage, a storm arose, which broke the mast of the ship. While the English panicked, the Moravians calmly sang hymns and prayed. This impressed Wesley to believe the Moravians had an inner strength he lacked, and their pietism influenced Wesley’s theology of Methodism.

In the colonies, Wesley saw an opportunity to spread Christianity to the Native Americans. His mission, however, failed. He and his brother were often beset by other problems. Wesley had broken off a relationship he had with a Sophia Hoppey. She spread the word that he had gone back on his word to marry her. Wesley’s problems were made worse when he refused to serve her communion. It all came to a head when she filed suit against him. Wesley stood trial, but it ended in a mistrial. His reputation was tarnished, and he then made plans to return to England.

Wesley returned to England depressed and beaten, and turned to Moravians for counsel. Then John had his ―Aldersgate Experience‖ of May 24, 1738, at a Moravian meeting on Aldergate Street, London. Here he heard a reading of Martin Luther’s preface to the Epistle of Romans and penned his famous line, ―I felt my heart strangely warmed.‖ This revolutionized the character and method of his ministry. A few weeks later, he preached a sermon on the doctrine of salvation by faith. Through his understanding of justification, he never stopped preaching the importance of faith for salvation. The largest bodies of Methodism are the United Methodist Church, the Methodist Church of Great Britain, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

VATICAN COUNCILS AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS

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Pope Paul V and Gregory XV ruled in 1617 and 1622 and stated that the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, was also conceived immaculately, and Alexander VII declared in 1661 that the soul of Mary was free from original sin. Many years later, Mary was proclaimed to have been assumed bodily into heaven like Jesus was. In some cases, it is held that she played a part in man’s salvation. The Vatican Council also came out flatly for Papal supreme power and doctrinal infallibility. These and other actions of the council widened the gulf, already great, between the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches.

During the age of Discovery or Age of Exploration, Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of the world. The Catholic Church established a number of missions in the new world and other colonies. At the same time, missions, especially with the Jesuits, were moving into Asia and the Far East. The Jesuits also did mission work in China. The first Catholic Church was built in Beijing in 1650. The Catholic Church sent missionaries to India. Japan, East Indies. the Philippines, and United States. In the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, Roman Catholic Christianity was planted in Burma, Siam, and Cambodia. In the spread of Christianity in the world, Roman Catholics had the chief part, and its achievements of its great missionaries are among the most stirring in history. But it was through Protestantism that the most vigorous churches were planted in British colonies in North America. Missionaries from Spain brought Christianity to South America, and later Protestants from Europe also sent missionaries to Latin America.

GREAT AWAKENINGS

Great awakenings were religious movements that swept Europe and British America, especially the colonies. The great awakenings made religion intensely personal to the average person by fostering a deep sense of spiritual guilt and redemption. It was a time of powerful preaching. It brought Christianity to African slaves, and it had a major impact in reshaping the Congregational, Presbyterian, the Dutch Reformed and German Reformed Churches. It also strengthened small Baptist and Methodist denominations. While the first great awakening focused on people who already were church members, the second great awakening reached out to the un-churched.

Two of the great preachers of the Great Awakening in America were Jonathan Edwards, a Congregational minister, and George Whitefield, a Methodist minister. One of Edward’s famous sermons was ―Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God.‖ Like Edwards, Whitefield also drew large crowds. He appealed to the passions of his listeners, describing the boundless joy of salvation and the horrors of damnation. Benjamin Franklin became an enthusiastic supporter of Whitefield, and although a Deist who rarely attended church, admired Whitefield’s exhorting people to worship God through good works. Some contend that the great awakening had an impact on the American Revolution. Other historians have seen the great awakening as a means to bring humility and social change to America.

ECUMENISM

Ecumenism refers to movements between groups to establish a degree of unity though dialogue. The word is derived from the Greek and means, ―the inhabited world,‖ but more 31 figuratively something like ―universal oneness.‖ The ecumenical movement refers to a time later in Christianity, but attempts at unity between denominations began much earlier in history. As we have seen before, Emperor Charles V attempted to reconcile the Catholic and Reformed Churches by calling a meeting of the Diet of Augsburg. Since Charles was Catholic, he took the side of Rome. That hope for unity failed.

Years later, another attempt in Germany to bringing together Lutherans and Reformed Churches actually led to the establishment of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and other Lutheran bodies. This attempt to bring the two church bodies together has been called ―The Prussian Union.‖ The Congress of Vienna had decreed religious toleration for all Christians in the German states. Some state governments endeavored to end the religious confusion by uniting the two Churches. Prussia proposed such a union when on September 27, 1818, King Frederick William III issued a proclamation announcing on October 31 both the Reformed and Lutherans at Potsdam would be united in an Evangelical Christian Church.

The union provoked opposition in some sections of the Lutheran Church. These opponents were called Confessional Lutherans. Besides the doctrinal issues unsolved between the two churches, like baptism and the Lord’s Supper, there were some rationalists and pietists in the Reformed Churches who were indifferent to the doctrines of Holy Scriptures. Because of the confessional Lutheran’s resistance to the forced union, the Prussian government took stern measures against them. They were removed from civil positions and pastors were imprisoned and congregations disbanded.

In order to escape further persecution, 700 Lutherans left Prussia for Australia in 1838. The following year Pastor J.A.A Grabau left with 1,000 Lutherans to America. Then 700 Saxons left in 1839 under the leadership of Pastor Martin Stephan for the United States. On three ships these Lutherans reached New Orleans and sailed up the Mississippi River and settled in Perry County, Missouri. Later Saint Louis became the center of these Lutherans and a seminary was established. In Chicago, Illinois, 1847, at a special conference, The Organization of the German Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Others States became a reality.

The Missouri Synod, like other denomination in America, took to heart Jesus’ command to go and make disciples of all nations. Missionaries were trained and sent to many, many places in the world to proclaim the Gospel of salvation. Besides mainline churches, missionary societies came into being.

Modern ecumenism is often referred to as the ―Ecumenical Movement.‖ The movement began by the Catholic Church’s attempt to reconcile with Christians who has separated over theological issues. After World War I, with so much devastation, the Catholic Church became a source of hope as it began to make some changes. In 1848, the first meeting of the World Council of Churches took place. The council was held in Amsterdam with the theme: ―Man’s Disorder, God’s Design.‖ The council moved forward in its efforts to unify the church globally. Despite the differences, the movement hoped to be an instrument of change in the world.

For a significant part of the Christian world, one of the highest aims was the reconciliation of the various denominations by overcoming the historical divisions within Christianity. Protestants 32 found unity mostly on doctrinal issues, but for the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, the approach was more of a concern with the proper understanding of the question: ―What is the Body of Christ?‖ Of course, there were different understandings of ―What is the Church?‖ The matter for Catholics was closely linked to the Eucharist and demanded full agreement before full communion or fellowship.

Confessional Lutherans also believed in full doctrinal agreement before there could be full fellowship. Not only were there differences between Lutherans, Catholics and Reformed Churches in regard to baptism, Holy Communion and other doctrines, but what now became a block to the hope of the ecumenical union was rationalism and theological liberalism. There were those in certain denomination that denied the inspiration of Scripture, thus paving the way for the denial of other major doctrines like the deity of Christ, the Trinity, and salvation alone through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

LIBERALISM

Liberal Christianity is a method of biblical interpretation with an emphasis, not on doctrine, but using modern methods of understanding any ancient writings. Liberalism does not claim to be a belief structure such as doctrinal or creedal statements. Liberalism actually began in the late 18th century in the Age of Enlightenment. Theologians of liberal persuasion do not consider the Bible as a collection of factual statements; rather, they look at the cultural and historical context and at the author’s beliefs and feelings about God at their time. Liberals subject Scripture to human reason. The father of liberalism was a German theologian and philosopher named Friedich Schleiermacher. He claimed that religious experience was introspective, and that the truest understanding of God consisted of a sense of absolute dependence. He also became influential in the evolution of higher criticism, a method of investigating the books of the Bible, and denied that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch. He also said that he could not believe in the vicarious atonement and rejected orthodox Christianity. Another liberal was Adolf Von Harnack, who is credited with the establishment of the historical-critical method of interpreting the bible. He rejected the historicity of the Gospel of John and criticized the Apostle’s Creed.

With human reason being the criterion for approaching the Bible, liberalism also removed the supernatural, the miracles of Jesus from the Bible. Jesus’ divinity is also thrown into question. Those Christians who attempt to explain miracles were mocked. One of the leaders of the liberal movement in America was Harry Emerson Fosdick, an ordained Baptist minister. He became a figure in the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy. In a famous sermon entitled, ―Shall the Fundamentalist Win?‖, Fosdick defended the modernist position. He said the Bible was not the literal Word of God, and saw the history of Christianity as one of development over the years.

To conservative Christians, this was rank apostasy, and the battle lines were drawn. This gave rise to Christian Fundamentalism. Christian fundamentalists were American evangelical Christians who opposed modern, liberal theology. It should be noted that over time words take on different meanings. For someone today being called a fundamentalist is derogatory and means someone who is ultra-conservative, a literalist and legalistic. Historically, that is not what the term fundamentalist means. As a reaction to liberalism, evangelical Christians set forth five 33 fundamentals of the Christian faith, which were: the inerrancy of the Bible; the virgin birth of Jesus; Jesus’ substitutional atonement for sin; the resurrection of Christ; and, Jesus’ miracles. Christianity is still divided today, not only between liberals and conservatives, but there are other movements that cause division.

PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT

Another noteworthy development in the 20th century was the rise of the Pentecostal movement. Sprung from Methodist and Wesleyan roots, it arose out of a meeting on Azusa Street in Los Angeles. From there it spread around the world. Pentecostalism also gave birth to the Charismatic movement. Pentecostals place special emphasis on a personal experience of God through baptism of the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from the Day of Pentecost recorded in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. It was there that the Holy Spirit poured out power on the apostles causing them to be able to speak in various languages. Pentecostals place importance on spiritual gifts such as healings, speaking in tongues and interpreting prophecy. There are several Pentecostal Church bodies, some of which are: The Church of God in Christ; Pentecostal Assemblies; Church of God; Pentecostal Free-Will Baptist; Church of the Foursquare Gospel; and, United Pentecostal Church. There are also charismatic Christians in mainline denominations which have, in some cases, brought about controversy causing some congregations to split.

CULTS

There are a number of cults or sects in the world that have also caused division within Christendom. A cult or sect is a religious group that has deviated too far from the teachings of the true Church to be considered Christian. Here we will just deal here with two of the larger ones that have grown in many parts of the world: Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Mormons, or as they like to be called, ―The Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints, was started by Joseph Smith. Smith lived in upper state New York. He was once placed on trial as a public nuisance for claiming to have a ―seer stone,‖ by which he could find hidden treasure. Smith said that an angel named Moroni appeared to him at night while in bed and told him about some buried golden plates. He was not to take them at that time, but after a few more visits by the angel, Smith was told that the plates were buried in the Hill Cumorah.

Much later on, Smith said that the vision of the golden plates was not the first vision he had received. When he was 14-years-old, Smith claims that when he was out in the field with his father, God and Jesus appeared to him. Joseph asked the question: ―Which church should I join?‖ the answer from God was, ―Do not join any of them for they are all an abomination.‖ This first so-called vision gave Joseph a reason to begin a new church, for if all other Christian Churches were an abomination to God, then that became a justification for the true church.

From the unearthed golden plates, Smith says he translated the Book of Mormon, and it was published in 1830. Some of the major teachings of the Mormon Church are that there are many gods and that as man is, God once was, and that what God, is man may become. So they believe that by faith and obedience to the laws of the church, Mormons can become gods. The church also teaches baptism for the dead, that is, even a non-Mormon, already dead, can be baptized and 34 thus be saved. They also deny the Christian view of the Trinity stating that there are three personages and that Jesus was born of God like everyone else and that Jesus is Lucifer’s brother. Believing that in obeying a long series of rules and laws will save them, they deny salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. One leading Mormon theologian called the teaching of justification by faith a most pernicious doctrine. The Bible, they say, has been so corrupted that it can’t be trusted, and yet, besides the Book of Mormon, they hold that only the King James Version is authoritative.

Unlike the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses do adhere to the Bible as God’s Word, but their use of allegorizing certain passages and making changes in other places, takes them outside of orthodox Christianity. For example, they also deny the Trinity and the divinity of Christ. This can be seen in that they have changed the Gospel of John. In John 1:1, the original text reads, ―In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.‖ Obviously, this text contradicts their denial of Jesus’ divinity. So in their New World Bible John 1:1 reads, ―And the Word as a god,‖ First of all, there is no indefinite article in the Greek and, second, they spell the name God with a small g, ―a god.‖ Like all the cults, Jehovah’s Witnesses teach salvation by good works and say that no one can be sure on one’s salvation even though God’s Word gives us that assurance.

The danger of Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses is that they have a strong mission outreach. Many house calls are made by Jehovah’s Witnesses, and young Mormon men give up two years of their life going to various mission fields all over the world, even into Cambodia. Mormons attract people due to their strong appeal to families, their charities and their clean living. Jehovah’s Witnesses often confuse people by their attack on the doctrine of the Trinity and their misuse of the Bible. While both cults may claim to be Christians, their many false teachings place them outside of true Christianity.

SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

On October 11, 1962 Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church. The purpose of the council was spiritual renewal. The council was pastoral in nature, emphasizing and clarifying dogma, revising liturgical practices and providing guidance in teaching traditional beliefs in modern times. The council is best known for its instruction that the Mass may be celebrated in the local language.

CAMBODIA

The first known attempt to set up a Christian mission in Cambodia was undertaken by Gaspar da Cruz, a Portuguese member of the Dominican Order in 1555-1556. According to his own account, the mission was a complete failure. The country was run by a ―Bramen‖ king and ―Bramen‖ officials. In Hinduism, Brahman is one supreme, universal spirit. It is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead. Gaspar da Cruz discovered that the Bramenes were difficult to convert, and no one would dare convert without the king’s permission.

Despite the French colonization in the 19th century, Christianity made little headway in the country. In 1972 there were 20,000 Christians in Cambodia, most of whom were Roman 35

Catholics. In 1953 an American Unitarian mission maintained a teacher-training school in Phnom Penh, and Baptist missions functioned in Battambang and Siem Reap provinces. American mason activity increased in Cambodia after the establishment of the Khmer Republic. The census in 1962 reported 2,000 Protestants in the country. Up until 1980, five weekly Protestant services were held in Phnom Penh by a Khmer pastor, but services were reduced to one weekly after police harassment. Estimates suggest that in 1987 the Christian community in Cambodia had shrunk to only a few thousand members.

The Lutheran Church in Cambodia began with a Cambodian refugee, Peter Sok. Escaping from Pol Pot, he traveled to Thailand where he was imprisoned. While in prison, a missionary from the World Missionary Alliance visited him and gave him an orange, a clean shirt and a Cambodian Bible. Since Peter was literate, he read the Bible while in prison and witnessed to the other prisoners telling them about God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. After release from prison, Peter taught the Bible in a refugee camp.

In 1979 Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Aurora, Colorado sponsored Peter while he was in the refugee camp. He discovered that his brother lived in Boulder and decided to move to be with him. Mt. Olive asked Pastor Reiss of Mt. Hope in Boulder to make contact with Peter since he was interested in attending church. After the first day attending services at Mt. Hope, Peter said he wanted to be a pastor. Through his teaching at Mt. Hope, many people were baptized.

Because of his interest in becoming a pastor, Sok enrolled in a two-year lay minister program at Concordia University in Wisconsin. He graduated in January 1983 and was installed as Lay Minister at Mt. Hope. In 1987, he was called to Trinity Lutheran Church in Stockton, California, where he currently serves. Peter often said that his goal was to return to Cambodia as a missionary. In 2001, he and his wife, Mary, returned to Cambodia to look at the next step in his goal. In 2002, Peter returned to Cambodia, and this time purchased land for $3,000 and planted the first Lutheran Church in a tiny hut in Battambang. They broke ground and laid a cornerstone for the new church. At this time Pastor Kosal Hun was named the first pastor of Trinity. The church was completed at a cost of $23,000. In 2004 a three classrooms were built. Funds for the land and buildings were raised by Peter Sok and Pastor Harold Reiss.

In 2004 LCMS World Missions assigned Peg Wolfram, a lay volunteer, to develop a ministry in Cambodia and provide some assistance to Trinity in Battambang. The LCMS then called career missionaries Rev. Charles and Dr. Jeanette Groth to work in greater Cambodia and spend one week each month at Trinity Church and school in Battambang. Greg Holz, an intern, also served with the Groths for a year. The Groths returned to the states in the spring of 2008, and Dr. Fung Lo arrived in July of 2008 as missionary executive for Cambodia and maked his home in Phnom Penh. MODERN TIMES, THE 20TH CENTURY ONWARD

Two World Wars, Nazism and Communism have wreaked havoc on Christianity, but the Catholic Church in Germany resisted the lure of National Socialism (Nazism) better than the Protestants. Pope Pius XI, although some differ on whether he cooperated with Nazism or not, did declare that Nazism was pagan and placed the German nation over God. Some have claimed that the Pope was silent over the killing of 6,000 Jews, which the Catholic Church vigorously 36 denied. Catholic priests were imprisoned and executed alongside Jews. For example, 2,600 Catholic priests were imprisoned in Dachau and 2,000 of them were executed. The relationship between Nazism and Protestantism, especially the German Lutheran Church, was complex. Although many Protestant church leaders supported the Nazi’s growing anti-Jewish activities, some, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (a Lutheran pastor) were strongly opposed to the Nazis. Bonhoeffer was later found guilty in the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and was executed.

After World War II, Christianity in Germany waned. Beautiful, massive churches are attended by relatively few people. Communism, being atheistic, also did much to stamp out religion. Russia, China, North Korea, Viet Nam and Cambodia persecuted Christians. Yet, true Christians went underground. In china, only those churches that are approved by the state, can really operate openly, but are watched closely. Under Communism, so many people have been brainwashed by atheists, and have been raised to reject religion altogether, and yet, it has turned others to faith.

These modern times are characterized by an accelerated secularization of Western society. At the same time, state-promoted atheism in Communist Europe brought many Eastern Orthodox Christians to Western Europe and the United States. Mission work still continued. The Catholic Church instituted many reforms in order to modernize. It also made inroads in the Far East establishing churches in China, Taiwan and Japan, Protestant churches also continued mission work. There are churches established almost every day in Africa and Asia. These groups are largely Evangelical and Pentecostal.

Within the last fifteen years or so, mega-churches seem to be the trend with many leaving main denominational churches, which have more modern worship services in non-threatening venues. Another phenomenal occurrence is the start up of new store front type, non denominational churches, and they also seem to attack a large number of people. Most main line churches have been losing members, some at an alarming rate. Part of the problem might be due to certain mainline denominations becoming quite liberal in doctrine, some moving so far from the central teachings of the Bible that one begins to wonder if they are still Christian.

Because of churches becoming liberal, there have been some splits instead of unity among church bodies. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has declined altar and pulpit fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America due to the liberalism of the ELCA and their declaring fellowship with the Episcopal Church. And yet, besides these divisions, Christianity is growing strong in other places like Africa and South Korea. While the Christian Church is under attack in many places today, no matter how bad things sometimes look to be, Jesus promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Church. The Church of Christ will be triumphant in the end when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead.

Some have predicted the demise of the church and several tyrants have over the years tried to destroy the church. Yet the church remains. Some of the old churches of Europe, with Scriptural and historical appropriateness, chose for their motto a phrase referring to the burning bush— ―Nevertheless, it was not consumed.‖ That is the sentence with which one must conclude every chapter of the history of the church. After every fire of false teaching, of schism, of persecution, of corruption and apostasy, that is the record: ―Nevertheless, it was not consumed.‖ 37

The history of the Christian Church goes on and will end only when Jesus comes again on that last day. In the meantime, the true church continues to obey the command of our Lord to go and make disciples of all nations. When the saving Gospel is proclaimed into all the world, then Jesus will come again in glory and raise the dead and grant to all believers eternal life. And with that we can all say, ―Come Lord, Jesus. Amen.‖

(This course maybe be used with permission of Rev. Dr. Norbert Kleidon)