A Glorious Institution: The
Church in History
-
Stanford E.
Murrell
This book is published by Chapel
Library, Florida, USA. I find it to be not only factual but
also theological because it is about the church of Christ. The author helps
readers to see Jesus Christ building His church amidst all heresies,
corruptions, and persecutions. Here are the Ten Applications I deduce implicitly or explicitly after reading this book:
1. Do not REACT against heresy; rather CONTEND the Faith.
Arius was reacting against the
teaching of Sabellianism too much that he became heretic. It is wrong to react
against anything. The Bible tells us to contend for the faith. It is to defend
the gospel in such a way that we protect the sheep from the influence of
false teachers. Furthermore, the Bible tells us to be as harmless as
doves and as wise as serpents (Matt10:16). There are lots of factions and
divisions among Christians. Denominations are popping up here and there
condemning one another. If we are not reactive but try to sort out things
according to the teaching of the Bible, this thing would not happen so.
In the church, we have even seen
bloodshed and tortures because of reacting against one another. Any reaction is
always accompanied by waves of anger that produce sins. Christians must be
well equipped with Scripture to refute false teaching and to protect the
sheep. If we are not well equipped, we would run short of knowledge and would
compel us to react against them.
The other thing to overcome
reaction is to be depending on God. We should not rely on our strength
to fight against the schemes of Satan (heresy). We have to be prayerful for
wisdom to answer them. Our goal also includes bringing them to the light of the
truth- that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes and grant them repentance
(Acts 8:18-24)
2. Do not be OVERWHELMED with the rise of the world, Christ is
building His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
(Bishops, ecumenical council)
The early century churches were not
only persecuted by the world but were also influenced by the culture of the
world. There were godly men who had the zeal for the spread of the gospel for
the fame of Christ. However, their methods were not always right. The formation of the ecclesiastical hierarchy
was neither scriptural nor justifiable. Rather, it brought an abuse of power
and corruption of the church as a whole. The corrupt leaders extinguished the
light of the truth. One of the reasons for the formation of the hierarchy is to
protect and shepherd the church from false teaching. The Bible requires that a
pastor is the shepherd of the local church - not needed to be accountable to
bishops or popes. He is the under-shepherd of Jesus the Great Shepherd.
When crisis comes, Christ is big
enough to solve it in His ways - not through ecumenical means. Christ is
present in His church. He is building it, nothing can demolish His building
even if it is attacked. Christian must not be overwhelmed to be looking for
one man on earth to make a decree, Christ should be the one. Nor necessarily be
forming a council to prevent it. Christ is actively alive!
3. Do not think Church History as just factual; it is theological
studies. (Sovereignty of God)
In the Old Testament, history, we
see not only factual events, but also the hand of God in preserving the
remnants, and His finger in judging the wicked. That is exactly true as we see
the Church History. He raised up nations, empires, kingdoms that sometimes
favored and sometimes persecuted the church. God is totally sovereign over it.
When there were influential
heresies, God raised up an equally potential man of God to counter it. We see
Athanasius for Arius, Augustine for Pelagius, Luther for Erasmus and the Church
of Rome. God did not leave His church as an orphan to be attacked and be
devoured by savage wolves. As we see the pages of history, we see the character
of God. We see God’s providence, His grace, His judgment. It’s a theological
study.
Christians must be very well
aware of Church History for this reason. It does not only protect us from
heresy. It does not only equip us for the battle, but it also gives us comfort
and confidence and trust to stand true for Christ because God is sovereign. He
is preserving His people.
4. Do not go after influential men; look for faithful men!
In Church History, we see the
false teachers were all influential people. They were not only influential, but
they also occupied some of the greatest influential positions of the church
hierarchy. Often the great heresy came from within the church. For this reason,
when we appoint for church leadership we should be careful of their doctrines.
We should not look for their eloquence, nor should we look for their
intellectual prowess. We can’t look for their social position or economic
status too. We should be looking for faithful men.
Even from the Scripture, we see
the Judaizers were influential men coming from Jerusalem, who had the
reputation of being the men of James. They swayed away even Christians. A
church that has influential people will command the congregation for good or
bad. If he is a leader how much would be the impact? Scripture tells us to look
out for faithful men (2 Timothy 2:2).
In the later part of the Church
History, before the reformation, the church leadership positions were bought by
people with wealth. The people who elected the pope were of the noble Italians
in Rome. In Christianity, leadership is judged by faithfulness. When we are
faithful, Christ rewards us that we would be influential like the light on a
hill - shining brightly for all to see and come to Christ.
5. Be careful/discerning of children who profess to have “spiritual”
knowledge.
In the days of the crusade (1212
AD), a German youth claimed that God had entrusted him for the crusade. 30,000
young people joined him. Many died of hunger, some were devoured by wolves. In
the same year, another guy Stephen claimed to be of God and marched out with
20,000. They got shipwrecked and died. Those who survived were sold as slaves.
What an insane to pay attention or yield to the claim of a mere child!
Christian must be very careful of children no matter how talented or prodigious
they may be. The church of Christ is reasonably sound and spiritually sound,
adequate time must be given to show the fruit of their conversion.
For that matter, children should
not be given a pulpit ministry as seen in lots of charismatic churches.
Moreover, even for the enrollment of membership in the church or in baptism,
children should be evaluated carefully.
6. A plurality of elder is a must.
The church had faced lots of
corruption at the leadership level, which in turn had blinded the whole members
of the church. The hierarchy of leaders was established, which felicitated the abuse
of power by the leaders. They had become lovers of money, glory, and even
sensuality. Of course, there were remnants who were faithful. However, they too
were the product of their times found difficult to discern it or were not aware
of some important matters.
These problems would have been
reduced if they had a plurality of elders, instead of leadership hierarchy. The
Biblical model of church leadership is plurality as is seen with Paul
instructing the churches to appoint elders. In such a model, there would be
checks and balances in everything. They would be accountable to each other. The church
would be healthy. The church would be free from corruption, and it would yield
much fruit.
In one instance the church has 3
popes (1033-1050). The popes excommunicated one another. The author commented that “the depth of human
depravity became manifested” (Chapter 11). Such incident rings out loud that
the plurality of leadership which is the model of the New Testament church is
the best and only form of church leadership.
7. Do not let any philosophy be equal with the Bible.
Church theologians and
philosophers like Thomas Aquinas tried to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy
and biblical theology which has been highly criticized by Protestants. Most of
the time, philosophies developed or discovered by the wise people of the world
are contradictory to the teaching of the Bible. Paul warned the philosophy of
the world in Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you
captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of
men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according
to Christ.”
Moreover, we need to realize that Scripture is
given because no man can be saved by studying the natural revelation. For that
matter, the “natural theology” should not be studied as equal to studying the
Bible. Bible stands above all. It is the only source that teaches man the way
of Salvation and of Christ.
By the way, the heresy of
Arianism and Sabellianism are deeply rooted in worldly philosophy. They were
influenced by pagan philosophy. They did not originate from the Scriptures.
They tried to accommodate the teaching of the Bible in the philosophy
prevailing in their times.
Moreover, it is also true that
there is a mystery in the Trinity. No human ideas can comprehend the depth of
it. Attempting to understand it or deduce it by mere human philosophy is
impossible. In fact, if we can do it, God will not be God. Human beings are not
only depraved beings but also are finite creatures with finite knowledge. So
God gives revelation (Scriptures), that we may know what is needed, which we
would never discover by our philosophy. Every Philosophy should be
scrutinized under the lens of Scripture.
8. Reform the church; don’t break the church.
When Martin Luther nailed the 95
theses it was not to break the church but to reform it. John Wycliffe and John
Huss were not having any intention to break with the church. They were not
trying to make their name or to become popular. They wanted to bring out the
true teaching of the Bible. With great pain, they had to accept the consequence
of what happened when they started proclaiming the truth.
In our days, the church us
splitting every now and then. Rebellion against authority is rampant. Floating
new organizations (in the form of para-churches) and new churches that are not
under any form of accountability have become normal. Nobody seems to love the
unity of the church; everyone seems to love building their own empire under the
name of truth. So, there are confusions among young Christians. The testimony
of unity is greatly affected. Moreover, the churches and the organizations
though claimed to have been formed for purity and truth. They have become more
immature and easily attacked by false teachings.
We do need to learn from the past
reformers. They were first learned man who had a deeply religious life who
lived for the fame of God. They were the people who loved people. They were the
preachers. They were the shepherds. They knew and were concerned about the
people of their times. It was because of these affections, they could reform
the church to bring truth and deliverance for their people from the corrupt
leaders of the church.
Our times are totally different.
Leaders who break away from the churches seem to be very careless of the
spiritual condition of the people and are concerned about their emotional
condition. We do need reformation all the time, especially when our
practices omit or exceed the teaching of the Bible. But our concern must be to
bring back to Scripture, not to break away from a church, on this lies the
spiritual maturity.
9. Reject the traditions when they conflict with the teaching of the
Bible.
From the early century, the
church had lost itself to traditions. These traditions were good at their time,
but not necessarily good for our times. In fact, as culture changes, preference
also changes, and some of the traditions of the past are not only meaningless
but disturbing. Traditions are things not found in the Bible but are handed
down to the church from across the Church History.
Some of these traditions are
heresy like ‘Mass,’ ‘Veneration of Mary.’ Some are just problematic like the
position of church leadership: Bishops and Popes. We must reject them. We do not need
bishops. Elders in the church are sufficient for the individual believers for
spiritual guidance, in fact, he has the Holy Spirit as the true teacher. Christ
is the builder and nourisher of the church. One must yield to His leadership
and not to the imaginary leadership in the form of man (Pope and bishops).
Furthermore, all kinds of traditions
concerning dresses and celebration of days must not be legalized. Even the
established traditions concerning such as baptism must be in accordance with
the scripture.
10. Be equipped to counter heresy; it never dies.
Heresy existed right from the
times of the Apostles. The Judaizers of the New Testament church had reappeared
in the form of Roman Catholicism. Recently it appeared in the form of a New
Perspective on Paul (NPP). The Gnosticism of the Bible appears in the form of
Jehovah's Witnesses and others. The heresy of Pelagianism in the form of Arminianism.
Heresy never dies. It just comes in new clothing.
We must be well equipped. Paul,
Peter, and Jude warn us to do that. We are not to give up the fight but must
contend for the faith. This equipping is not only for protecting ourselves but
also for the congregation who are under the care of shepherds. Pastors are
accountable to God for the sheep under his care.
In the olden times, people
condemned heresy by forming a church council. In our days, church councils are
formed to not condemn heresy, but to get along with it. We are living in a
difficult time where heresy is acceptable and even endorsed. People are
pleasing the sinners to come to church, rather than to please the One who
called them to holiness. We must be well equipped not only
to detect heresy but also to rescue the people who are held captive by it.
