The Need For Church History

The last few weeks we have been posting many articles about the Lakeland Revival and Todd Bentley. The false teaching and deception makes me angry and upset. As I sit and watch and listen to what is being said, I cannot understand how so many people can be deceived.

Those who are deceived and are lost, their deception makes sense. They are blinded to the truth of God, they are spirtually dead. But how can true Christians be led astray so easily?

I think there are two important things happening in the American Church that is making people easy prey:

1. Lack of careful verse-by-verse preaching of God's Word!

2. Lack of teaching on Church History.

Ask the average Christian some of the following questions:

1. Who was Augustine?

2. Who did Augustine have a controversy and debate against?

3. What was the debate and controversy about?

4. What is significant about the Council at Carthage that met in 418 A.D.? 5. Who were the Ebionites?

6. What was Docetism?

7. What was Arianism?

8. What is significant about the Chalcedonian Creed?

Sadly most Christians will have no idea what you are talking when asked the above questions. Why? because their church never teaches history.

This is important because much of Church history is the story of how doctrinal error began and how the early church fought against it. Today many of the ancient heresies are present and many christians are believing them because they have no idea that they were condemned by the early church!

To help equip people in the subject of Church history I want to point people to the following resources:

Grace Baptist Church in California did a great series on Church history you can listen and download all the messages for free: Here is the Link: History

James White taught a good series on Churh History and you can listen to the messages at this link: History

Covenant Theological Seminary has placed all the lectures for the Ancient & Medieval Church History class online. You can listen at this link: History