Church History, an Overview

The first presentation on the church history overview can be found below:

CH volume 01

"He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened." Matthew 13:31-33

This verse gives us a picture of the kingdom of God being worked out in the life and development of the church. If we attempt to listen as the original audience did, we would look for the true explanation and interpretation of these parables in vain. We might guess that the kingdom of God would start small and grow large. We might even interpret this Messiah, Jesus, and his parables as a Jewish revolution that starts small but gradually restores the glories of King David or his son Solomon. We could hardly understand, however, that what this parable truly spoke of was the kingdom of God in the growth of the church. From a strictly human perspective, that small Jewish sect eventually overthrew and became the Roman Empire. They did not take up the sword, they did not hold massive conferences, and they didn't have the blessing of the empire. One author has said that the Early Christians outlived, outdied, and outloved the rest of the world.

“During this long succession of centuries it has outlived the destruction of Jerusalem, the dissolution of the Roman Empire, fierce persecutions from without, and heretical corruptions from within, the barbarian invasion, the confusion of the dark ages, the papal tyranny, the shock of infidelity, the ravages of revolution, the attacks of enemies and the errors of friends, the rise and fall of proud kingdoms, empires, and republics, philosophical systems, and social organizations without number, “ (Schaff, Vol. 1, 19)

As we take time to look back over the history of the church, we can be confident in understanding what Jesus meant when he talked about the mustard seed. The tree has grown and is growing still. Jesus is still working through his Holy Spirit to propel the growth of the church to the four corners of the earth.