Thesis 33/36: Basic History of the Church

DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH
Doctrine 33 / 36 Basic History of the Church

When John was given the Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapters 2-3 of that book were written to the angels of seven churches in Asia-Minor. While these seven churches were literal churches, it appears to also have a prophetical significance predicting seven periods of church history.

Ephesus: (Pentecost - 100AD)
After Jesus' resurrection, the book of Acts and the Pauline epistles give much of the history of the that early church. It was a time when the gospel was spread throughout the world, but it took some instigating by persecution in the beginning, to get the church out of Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). The time was identified with the Jews ultimately rejecting Christ, Paul taking the message to the Gentiles, the writing of the New Testament, but also by the persecution of Roman Emperors, like Nero, who is credited for beheading the Apostle Paul. John, the last of the apostles died about 100AD, and was the only one that was not martyred for the faith.

Smyrna: (100AD - 313AD)
This second period of church history was a time of persecution. In Revelation 2:10, the angel of the church in Smyrna is told of ten days of tribulation, and during that time period of history, there were ten strong waves of persecutions of the early church by the Romans. The church was in hiding, fearing persecution, and continued to spread around the world because of the persecution.

Pergamus: (313AD - 590AD)
The third period of church history was the beginning of the secularization of the church. The Roman Emperor Constantine, head of the political world, proclaimed tolerance for Christianity with his Edict of Milan in 313AD. Christians were saved from persecution at this point, and Constantine even called the Council of Nicaea in 325AD to solidify certain Christian doctrines such as the Deity of Christ, which at the time was a debate going on between Arius (believing that Jesus was distinct from God) and Athanasius (who believed that Jesus was Deity). The fact that a Roman Emperor began to call Church Councils should have been a warning to the church which was called to be in the world, yet not of it. This period of time begins the rise of political interest by the church's leaders.

Thyatira: (590AD - 1517AD)
The fourth period of church history is the Middle Ages. It begins with the rise of power with the Roman patriarch. In earlier periods, the church had five patriarchs that tended to govern the church. They were the patriarchs of the cities of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Jerusalem. However, with Gregory the Great, who was pope from 590-604AD, the power of the Roman patriarch grew into a political and even military power. It took supremacy over the other patriarchs, which had been developing over time, but was here solidified. This time period developed into a time of essential tyranny of the Roman Catholic church over the people. People were forced to comply with the priests' commands or they would be threatened with excommunication. Fear was a tactic used by the church to control its subjects. The sale of indulgences began in this time to raise money for the church. The masses were all said in Latin, and there was no Scripture for the common person to read as the cost and language made it near impossible. There was a remnant of the faithful in the Roman Catholic church and also outside of it. Two of the more famous groups during this period were the Albigenses of the 13th century and the Waldenses of the 15th. Though their doctrine was not perfect, they were brutally persecuted by the Roman church for failing to convert to Roman Catholicism. John Wycliffe was a man in England during this time that also was against some of the teachings of Romanism, and he translated the Bible into the English language to try to enable the common person to have God's word directly available.

Sardis (1517AD - 1793AD)
This fifth period of church history began with the nailing of Martin Luther's 95 Theses to the door at the University at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. Martin Luther was a priest that wrote on some of the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Martin Luther only wanted to reform and better the church he was in, his refusal to compromise began a movement that spread throughout Europe. Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox all began movements in their areas that created a group of churches that were in protest to the Roman Catholic Church. They were termed Protestants as a result. Their overriding themes were the five solas: Sola scriptura (Scripture alone), Sola fide (Faith alone),Sola gratia (Grace alone), Solus Christus (Christ alone), Soli Deo gloria (Glory to God alone). They emphasized Scripture and its teaching, and gave it authority over the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. It was a period of wars between the Protestants and Romans, but it ended with a Europe divided into nations with different churches. The unified, political, Roman church was no longer what it used to be.

Philadelphia (1793AD - 1881AD)
The sixth period of church history begins with the travelling of William Carey to India. This short era was a time of great missionary movements around the world. As Revelation 3:8 says, Christ opened a door that no man could shut for these missionaries. Men were going to the uttermost part of the earth: William Carey to India, Hudson Taylor to China, Adoniram Judson to Burma, David Livingstone to Africa. They were praised for having kept God's word.

Laodicea (1881AD - present)
This last period in church history may be said to begin with the publication of the Revised Version of the New Testament along with Westcott and Hort's Greek New Testament in 1881. Christ says nothing good about this church in Revelation 3:14-22, but rather that it is a lukewarm church that does not recognize its poverty. It has been a time of much compromise with the world, of much laziness on the part of many Christians. The Scriptures are not treated as God's very words, and therefore not obeyed as much. And while there truly have been localized revivals of religion during this age, the overall presence of the church in Christ's eyes is that of a lukewarm church.

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."