Someone recently commented to me that most Advent Christians are not well read on our history or theology. That sentiment resonates with me, though I’d take it a step further to say that most American Christians are not well read on church history more generally. Many of us are so consumed with the “here and now” of daily life or the “not yet” of eternity that we ignore the great gift of the story of God’s people in redemptive history.

American evangelicalism has four common ways of viewing church history. The first is what I call the myopic view of church history. This is a very narrow view that only conceives of church history going back 50, or at best, 150 years. The myopic view loses sight that the church of Jesus Christ has had some pretty important stuff happen for the last two thousand years, not just the last century.

Related to this is the fragmented view which acknowledges the past two millennia of church history by rightly pointing us to the advancement of the gospel in the book of Acts. But then, this view jumps to the mid-20^th century as if the Lord didn’t do much between Pentecost and Billy Graham. Like the myopic view, this view ignores most of the vital history of how God has been working out his redemptive plan through his church.

Often connected with the fragmented view is the utopian view of church history. This view acknowledges certain times and periods, rightly pointing us to times of God’s transforming work in human history. But then, the purveyors of this view lament the loss of these times and wish we could return to these “good old days.” But as that great philosopher William Joel reminded us, “The good old days weren’t always good and tomorrow ain’t as bad as it seems.” Every epoch of church history has been tainted by human sinfulness. Even when we idealize the church in Acts we must remember that it was not perfect. Half the New Testament owes its existence to the fact that the apostles were addressing problems in the early church.

The final view of church history is what I label the dismissive view. This view might acknowledge two thousand years of history, but ultimately dismisses it as irrelevant and unhelpful. After all, we have a more advanced culture, a more complicated world and superior intellectual minds than our primitive forebears. This is what C.S. Lewis referred to as chronological snobbery; the idea that that which is new is always superior to that which is old.

Church history is a great gift that all believers should care about. To ignore or dismiss it is to our own detriment because studying church history has several benefits. First, history helps us to learn from the mistakes of others, so we don’t repeat the same mistakes (1 Corinthians 10:6). Human nature hasn’t changed and most, if not all, heresies and false teachings have already been addressed with sound doctrinal responses.

The second benefit is related to the first. History allows us to build on the hard work of others. We don’t have to figure out everything from scratch. We have centuries worth of brilliant, godly and wise scholarship to stand and build on.  We have the collective wisdom of saints that span time, culture and geography at our disposal to help us navigate life and ministry no matter where we find ourselves today.

Third, history reminds us that we are a part of something bigger, something ancient. The church of Jesus Christ spans not just the globe, but also the last 2,000 years. Church history reminds us that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves, our local church or even our denomination. We are part of a body of believers that has existed for two millennia.

Fourth, studying church history inspires us. We can read of the sacrificial faithfulness of missionaries like Jim Eliot and Adoniram Judson for motivation to live sacrificial lives for Christ. God’s extraordinary use of ordinary and sinful people like Augustine, Athanasius, John Bunyan, David Brainerd, George Mueller, William Wilberforce, and Charles Spurgeon stirs us that if he used them, he can use us too.

Finally, history encourages us. In church history we see God working, winning when battles seemed hopeless and moving things to his perfect consummation. Because we have seen God’s faithfulness to his promises in the past, we can be encouraged that his promised future is secure and certain.

The two feature articles in this issue of the Witness aim to teach us some important church history. Matt Rice’s article on the Council of Nicaea reveals to us one of the critical theological struggles in church history. Bob Price’s article helps us discover an important, but little known, aspect of our history as Advent Christians. I commend both to you for the benefits noted above. Tolle Lege!