What is church history?

Don't worry, I am not going to attempt to cover 2000 years worth of church history in this blog. This is the topic that we are learning about this week and next here at Kings. It is a compelling topic, I like it especially because studying history has always been a favorite subject. So far this week we worked up to the Reformation, next week will carry on with the Reformation and up to the present day. Some quick reflections upon the first 1500 years are:

• The church has made a number of mistakes, but it has also grown, attempted to listen to God and been a beacon of light for many people
• The church during the Roman Empire had much faith, not like what we see today in the West, but more of what we see in Africa, South America and Southeast Asia
• The persecution that the church went through before Constantine took over was brutal, and the early church fathers were incredibly strong.
• There is much value to liturgy and stating what you believe, even though we do not use that type of worship much in our stream of churches
• The monastic (monk) movement that sprung up as a revolt to the established church was probably needed to give people another point of view, I am glad that I have not been called to be a monk
• The Celtic tradition is quite compelling, if you have the internet do some searching on their history, I am going to

I could go on and on, but I alas I won't, don't worry faithful readers, not all posts will be this meaty, maybe next time I can write about the joy of table tennis, our booked travel to Prague in February, the simplicity of a nice walk on a cool autumn day, etc... later

earl