Church History/Christian History

The Reformation at 500: Luther’s Wasted Year?

Paul J. Scharf

I love studying the Reformation at this season of the year. I am invigorated by listening to lectures about it on sunny, summer walks, thinking about the coming fall, which points toward another Reformation Day.

Recently my mind was drawn back to the Wartburg Castle, and I thought of Luther spending nearly a year in hiding there from May of 1521 to March of 1522, following his victorious stand at the Diet of Worms. I wonder if, while he was enduring such a trial, he ever considered his stay to be a waste of precious time.

Discussion

How to Use Confessions and Church Covenants in Ministry

Filings

“We honestly hope that the next several minutes of conversation, pastor, will help you perhaps re envision the role that confessions of faith and other documents can play in the life of your church.” - TGC

Discussion

John Witherspoon and the Spirit of 1776

Filings

“Few Christians in the eighteenth century wore as many vocational hats, and accomplished as much in so many different fields, as John Witherspoon. The question is whether all these hats held together. I think they did, perhaps just barely, but they did.” - Kevin DeYoung

Discussion

Is "Easter" a Pagan Word?

Filings

“I do understand we as believers don’t want our holy days to be sullied by association with idolatry. And I want to state here at the outset that no one should call Easter Easter against his or her conscience. But I don’t think we ought to be upset about the word Easter. And here’s why.” - Mark Ward

Discussion

Moments in Church History: The Life & Ministry of Martin Luther with Dr. Matt Shrader

Filings

“We discuss Luther’s spiritual struggle with personal sin and the “light bulb” when he realized that righteousness is a gift from Christ rather than something earned through the church’s system. Dr. Shrader describes the spark of the 95 Theses, Luther’s defiant stand at the Diet of Worms, and his translation of the Bible into the common tongue.” - Central Seminary

Discussion

Did Emperors Actually Run the 7 Ecumenical Councils?

Filings

“They presided over the procedures, sometimes through representatives. We’ll talk through that one at great length. They enforced the decisions legally and sometimes they influenced or pressured outcomes. Sometimes pretty tight control.” - Gavin Ortlund

Discussion

Were First Century Christians That Much Better?

Ed Vasicek

(From the archives)

One of the most interesting words in the English language is hagiography. One of its definitions is the one I have in mind, an “idealizing or idolizing biography.” The idea is that once someone has died, we remember the individual as being better than he or she actually was. This adjusting of memory and idealization of those who lived before us is common throughout the human race.

But people “back then” were really not as wonderful as we think they were.

This is universally done with the folks who made up the very early church. Although the very early church had its strong points (the Apostles were around to teach and lead, God worked some unprecedented miracles like raising the dead, etc.), the people who made up the early church community were far from wonderful.

The case of Corinth

Consider the words of the New Testament itself about the believers who made up the family of faith. In Corinth, we notice a man sleeping with his stepmother (1 Cor. 5:1) while fellow Christians in the church accepted this brother as someone in good standing. The Corinthian church was divided into factions, each following the unique perspectives of a famous Christian leader (1 Cor. 3:4-5).

Things were so bad at Corinth that during their carry-in dinners members were consuming all the food before all arrived; some even became drunk while they waited (1 Cor. 11:21). The Corinthian Christians invented the “happy hour.”

Discussion