SONGS FROM THE CLOSET - Chris' Homepage (Overview of Church History)

In reality, there was good reason for Gamaliel to issue this warning to his fellow Jews of the first century. After God delivered his Old Testament people from their slavery in Egypt, one could almost describe the history of the Jews as the history of a people fighting God. There were exceptions, of course. There were individuals here and there who loved God and wanted to live for him. There were times when great leaders moved the people as a whole to acts of faith and obedience, but the overall trend was in another direction. From the time of the Exodus to the time of Jesus, those who were the objects of God's affection were often in rebellion against his plans for their lives.

Stephen, that Spirit-filled Hellenistic Jew, preaching to the Jewish ruling counsel after the death of Jesus, proclaimed that Jewish history was the story of their rejection of God. He concluded powerfully with these words:

For hundreds of years, God had been trying to love them and lead them, but for most of those years they had been fighting God.

Sadly, the history of Christianity, particularly after the first century, has often been a repeat of the Old Testament story. The church of Jesus began in a great way and had great impact, but eventually came adrift from the exciting truths that turned the world upside down. Yes, there have been heroic personalities. There have been those with great courage who from time to time rose up and insisted on returning to the Scriptures. There have been people consumed with the mission of Jesus, but there has been much tragic confusion and division because, in reality, many were fighting God and not submitting to him.

Obviously a short article has great limitations in attempting to describe something as complex as more than 1900 years of church history, but many people do not have even a rudimentary understanding of how we got from the dynamic first-century church to the divided religious world of today. Our goal is to give you the basic outline.

I. 100-312 A.D.-Growth and Departures
The first-century church experienced remarkable growth. Starting in a lightly regarded place in the expansive Roman Empire, within 30 years it had established strong beachheads in most of the great population centers and in many places in between. From a human point of view, the church should not have enjoyed such success, but God had chosen the right time to send his son (Galatians 4:4), the gospel was the power of God and the church was indwelt by the Holy Spirit. By the time Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians, he could say that the gospel had "been proclaimed to every creature under heaven" (Colossians 1:23).

As the church moved on into the second and third centuries growth continued, even as the church was frequently persecuted. However, with the passing of the apostles, growth was accompanied by false doctrines. Consider three examples:

There is no doubt that the church in the first three centuries was under much stress and pressure and that there were some heroic personalities who held to Jesus, but we can see fairly early a trend toward resolving matters with human logic, not with a careful study of Scripture. Such a trend laid the basis for the coming of the Catholic Church.

II. 312-600 A.D.-The State Adopts the Church
The changing attitude of the state toward the church was in many ways the most significant development during this period. After enduring persecution from the government for most of its history, the church first found itself in a position of being tolerated, then being granted more privileges and finally being officially embraced by the Roman government (395 A.D.). So complete was the relationship between church and state, that the emperor himself became the initiator of the ecumenical councils, in which the bishops came together to define and agree on doctrine. A worse development may not have been possible. When Christianity is tied to governments, the biblical challenge to the world always suffers.

During this period the hierarchy of the church solidified and became a kingdom of this world. Emphasis shifted from following Jesus to preserving the structure and position of the church. The church drifted farther from its original passion and commission to save souls, and authority was seen coming from the decisions of the priesthood and bishops instead of from the Bible. For the first time we see the papacy as a widely accepted institution. Infant baptism by pouring and then sprinkling replaced the original immersion of committed adult believers in the first century.

Augustine became the most influential theologian of this time as he laid down doctrinal roots for the teachings of original sin, celibacy and the elevation of church tradition to be equal with Scripture: "I should not believe the Gospel unless I were moved to do so by the authority of the Catholic Church." He is often referred to as the "father of the (Catholic) church."

By 600 A.D. all the essential ingredients were in place for almost a 1000 years of virtually unchallenged Catholicism. The "presbyters" (elders) of the New Testament (who were to be the husbands of one wife) had now been transformed into parish priests (who could never marry), the Lord's Supper was now a sacrament that could only be administered by the priests, the worship of Mary was well under way and the Bishop of Rome as Pope was almost universally accepted. History, politics and tradition were the greatest influences and Scripture was mostly lost in the shuffle.

III. 600-1500-Catholicism in Full Bloom
Gregory the Great, the first pope of this period was a man of high morals who stressed spiritual qualities and reacted negatively to the title of universal bishop, preferring to be called instead "the servant of servants." However, his teachings often included the superstitions, and even pagan ideas, of the masses that were being meshed together with biblical ideas. Under his leadership anti-Scriptural ideas such as penance and purgatory were further developed and strengthened.

After Gregory, the papacy began a moral descent reaching bottom during the tenth and eleventh centuries. Popes of the latter period were found to be guilty of all kinds of incredible excesses and immorality causing the papacy to lose credibility. Eventually there were reform movements that brought the popes back into greater influence, but various efforts from outside the hierarchy to call people back to the simplicity of the Bible were squelched. The Bible had become the property of the educated clergy and was considered "too difficult" and "too holy" for the common masses. Eventually the reading of Scripture by anyone other than priests was officially condemned. Also during this time hundreds of years and lives were spent in building massive cathedrals that were now viewed to be "God's house," straying from the liberating New Testament concept of all disciples apart from buildings being a temple of the Holy Spirit. The church in the minds of most became the hierarchy and the building.

During this period, after years of simmering problems, the final break between the Eastern (or Orthodox) Church and the Western (or Roman Catholic) Church took place, with the patriarch and the pope both excommunicating the other (ca. 1050 A.D.).

Significant is the fact that neither group was making any real appeal to Scripture to back their dogmas.

Occupying much attention during at least two hundred years of this period were the much talked about Crusades in which soldiers fought in the name of Christ to take the Holy Land away from the Muslims. There was even a tragic Children's Crusade that brought death to many children who left their homes in 1212 to go fight the unbelievers, believing God would bless those with purer hearts. This is a far cry from Jesus' declaration, .,my kingdom is not of this world."

Monasticism and asceticism under the leadership of such men as Francis of Assisi became popular during this period. Whole movements of people mistakenly thought the only way to be truly holy was to seclude themselves from the world and to follow severe regimens of self-deprivation (Colossians 2:16-23). More and more men and women were taught that salvation was a matter of receiving the right sacraments, doing the right acts of penance, learning to use all the fight symbols (e.g. the sign of the cross) and venerating the right objects (e.g. statues of Mary or relics from the past)-things noticeably absent in the Scriptures.

IV. 1500-1700-Rediscovering the Bible: The Protestant Reformation
On October 31, 1517, the Spirit of God moved a thirty-four year-old German priest named Martin Luther, to post 95 theses on the castle door at Wittenburg University, and what would be known as the Protestant Reformation was underway. Preceded by courageous but persecuted thinkers like John Wyclif (in England) and John Hus (in Bohemia) and inspired by studies in Romans and Galatians, Luther decided he could no longer be silent in the face of a religious system that had replaced the commands of God with the traditions of men. The center of his message was (1) justification by faith (in opposition to the Catholic idea of justification by works) and (2) the belief that Scripture alone (and not the edicts of popes and councils) is the authoritative standard. In The Babylonian Captivity of the Church he challenged so much that had become a part of traditional Roman Catholicism (including the sacraments, the priesthood and the papacy). In 1521, after saying his conscience was held captive by the word of God, he was expelled from the Catholic Church by Pope Leo X. Eventually new churches were set up where one found missing the office of bishop, the mass, the priesthood, the restrictions on marriage, and the statues. In their place was an emphasis on teaching and preaching the word of God.

The steps Luther took against an intimidating system must be appreciated. His was a major move away from an apostate church. Sadly, Luther's reforms of the church did not lead to discipline relationships nor to reform of his own character. He himself wrote that he was often lacking in self-control and could be rude or even coarse in his dealings with people. What resulted from his reforms was not a full return to biblical practice but a denomination named for him (contrary to the teachings of I Corinthians 1: 12).

Contemporary with Luther were other reformers such as Ulrich Zwingli who led much of Switzerland in a revolt against Catholicism and John Calvin. a brilliant young scholar from France. In 1536 Calvin published his Institutes of the Christian Religion which became known as the landmark work of the reformation. From Calvin came the "reformed tradition" which later included the Dutch Reform Church, the Church of Scotland, Presbyterians and Baptists, unfortunately emphasizing his five major doctrines, summarized with the TULIP acrostic. They were: (1) total depravity of man, (2) unconditional forgiveness by God, (3) limited atonement (i.e. Jesus did not die for everyone), (4) irresistible grace (i.e. those elected to be saved cannot resist the grace of God, and (5) perseverance of the saints (more popularly presented as "once saved, always saved").

Those of us in the modern multiplying ministries movement may find our closest kinship in the Reformation in that group known as the Anabaptists (a name given by their opponents who despised the idea that they taught that you should be baptized again). Considered "radicals" and "fanatics" even by reformers like Luther and Calvin, this group sought a more thorough return to New Testament Christianity. Speaking plainly about "discipleship," they rejected the idea of infant baptism, insisting that every person who follows Jesus must make his own decision to be baptized based on his own faith and conviction. They insisted on being the very kind of church described in the Bible and that church was not an institution that made alliances with the state but was a family of believers who were sent by God to be salt and light in a sick and dying world. In perhaps the greatest move toward a biblical church, disciples were expected to help one another actually obey all the teachings of Jesus. Protestantism, in their view, had not gone nearly far enough. As a result these people were severely condemned by the likes of Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, and terribly persecuted by the members of the mainstream Reformation as the reformers had been persecuted. Those caught "rebaptizing" were officially executed by drowning.

The Reformation in England was a very different sort of story from that on the continent. It was not biblical conviction but pure political expediency that lead Henry VIII to renounce the authority of the pope and transform the Catholic Church in England into the Church of England. The king had wanted the pope to annul his marriage so that he would be free to marry the younger Anne Boleyn. When the pope refused, Henry declared the Church of England to be a separate organization and secured from it the permission to remarry. He was not really interested in changing any doctrines, and for half a century the Church of England (or Anglican Church) would swing back and forth sometimes in the direction of Protestantism and sometimes in the direction of Catholicism but there was never any real passion for biblical Christianity.

Catholicism obviously suffered losses during the Reformation period,. but eventually mounted a counterreformation and an internal reform movement of its own in an attempt to blunt the effect of the Protestants. Led by such men as Ignatius Loyola they attempted to revive spiritual concerns and interest in converting the pagans. However, at the famous Council of Trent they specifically rejected the Reformation doctrines, insisting that Luther's idea of "Scripture alone" was false and reaffirming their belief in the authority of the pope and the bishops. Meanwhile, since Gutenburg's invention of the printing press in 1455, the Bible had been translated into the common language of the people and spread among the common man fueling the Reformation and leading to the modem day.

V. 1700-Present - A House Divided: The Dominance of Denominationalism and Loss of Faith
Two major developments characterize the last 300 years of "modem Christianity." The first is loss of faith. As the western world grew more educated, industrialized, mechanized and now digitized, the cultures where Christianity was dominant became very impressed with what man could do. God was relegated to an irrelevant slice of life or molded into any shape that would serve man. Science and progress puffed up human ego. God was now measured by man's scientific method instead of men being measured by God's word and spirit. The result was an incredible faith in scientific theory and unscrupulous doubt in the Bible. The major universities once founded on verbalized allegiance to God now scoff at his very existence. Seminaries still produce far more doubt than faith.

The second major development was "denominationalism." Religious people had seen the number of groups that came out of the Reformation and gave up on the ideal of being one body in Christ as Jesus himself prayed for us to do (John 17). They decided to think of each group as a part of the larger body of Christ even if the groups were disunited in conviction, thought and practice.

Most people recognized that this was not the ideal way for the church of Christ to function, but it was felt that it was a great improvement on the literal warfare that had characterized religious disagreements for many years. The result has been that for 300 years or more denominations have been an accepted part of the religious landscape, with split after split after split creating an incredible proliferation of groups all wearing different names, from the mainstream Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian to the smaller splinters like the Fire Baptized Holiness Church of God of the Americas.

Early in the nineteenth century in the United States there were those who sought another path. Believing denominationalism was against the spirit of unity found in the New Testament, leaders like Barton Stone and Thomas and Alexander Campbell (all from Presbyterian roots) and James O'Kelley (from the Methodist tradition), called for an effort to unite the sects. Their unity efforts eventually caused them to seek "a restoration of the New Testament church" which led to a rediscovery of certain biblical doctrines such as adult immersion for the forgiveness of sins. This movement which eventually produced such groups known as the Disciples of Christ, the Christian Church, and the Churches of Christ was for over a century the fastest growing indigenous religious movement in the United States. However, power struggles, the Civil War and quarreling over words led this unity movement into its own divisions and either legalistic viewpoints or abandonment of the restoration idea. Later these churches would suffer from a consuming materialism and loss of evangelistic zeal and purpose and the growth became a decline. However, within this movement would be found the seeds of our own multiplying ministries movement. From a small beginning in churches of Christ came a renewed vision to truly be the New Testament church with its central goal of carrying out The Great Commission.

Another very interesting development in the United States was the Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions conceived by Dwight L. Moody at Northfield, Massachusetts in 1886. This movement rapidly spread throughout the campuses with a call for students to commit their lives to "the evangelization of this world in this generation." Campus ministries were started at prestigious schools that were founded as religion institutions but had become hostile to Christianity. After s World War 1, the Student Volunteer Movement declined, but it is estimated that it moved 20,000 students to become missionaries. This was the forerunner of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Campus Crusade for Christ and the Navigators who emerged in the 1940s and '50s.

VI. The Restoration of New Testament Discipleship in Our Day
The '60s and '70s were troubled times in the United States. The dreamers of the country, John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, were assassinated. The sexual revolution, Vietnam and Watergate ate away the fabric of moral conviction and self-respect in American society. Meanwhile, God was raising up people who knew Jesus was the only real way to live. Disheartened with empty secular materialism, bankrupt religious ritual, tradition and prejudice, many in the churches of Christ searched the Scriptures for a renewed vision of what Jesus' church should be. Suddenly the '70s blossomed with soul winning workshops, schools of preaching, and bus ministries. This period also saw unrest on the U.S. campuses give birth to dynamic campus ministries. Their emphasis on Jesus and the Bible captured the imagination of disillusioned youth across the nation. However, when put to the test of criticism, purity, humility and conviction, these various efforts failed Jesus' call for unity and commitment.

It was at this moment that God raised up Kip and Elena McKean to start a movement that has spread around the world to every major city in only 12 years. Beginning in 1979 with a small church of 30 in Boston, Massachusetts, God grew the Boston Church of Christ to a Sunday attendance approaching 5,000 at the famed Boston Garden, the largest church ever to meet in skeptical New England. Kip's powerful, distinctive message was simply calling people back to the original message of Jesus: That you must be a disciple of Jesus to have a relationship with God and therefore, to be a Christian, and that Christ's church is made up of disciples only. Thousands of marriages and broken homes have been healed. People enslaved by alcohol, drugs, abuse and violence have been transformed as they have totally committed their lives to following Jesus. Hypocrites have repented and hatred, jealousy, greed and immorality have been replaced with love, peace, patience and joy with a purpose. Disciples are multiplying around the globe every day without advertising, televangelism and church buildings-they just preach the Word.

The magnitude of this movement is just now dawning on church historians. In only 18 years,* God, working through the original men and women of the Boston church, has planted churches around the world who are planting churches who are planting even more churches. From 30 members in one small congregation in one nation to more than 150,000 meeting on Sundays in 311 congregations in 124 nations, these ministries continue to multiply at an unprecedented rate, just as Jesus commanded. Under the leadership of Kip and the world sector leaders, the movement has united behind the commitment to plant at least one church in every nation that has a city of at least 100,000 by the end of the year 2000, and to build "super churches" in the "super cities" of the world that their vast populations may be reached. At this printing in the fall of 1997 there are 35 dynamic churches throughout the world averaging more than 1,000 people in attendance each Sunday in these cities:

Los Angeles................11,769
New York........................8262
Boston............................6825
Atlanta............................4631
Chicago..........................4390
Manila............................4278
Mexico City...................4273
Lagos.............................4223
San Diego......................3586
San Francisco...............3083
Johannesburg...............2956
Miami.............................2890
Sao Paulo......................2822
Hong Kong...................2766
Washington DC...........2589
Moscow.........................2571
London..........................2378
Kiev................................2245

Abidjan..........................2241
Toronto.........................2073
Kingston.......................1936
Dallas/Ft. Worth..........1770
Orlando.........................1625
Nairobi..........................1522
Triangle........................1516
Phoenix.........................1362
Oahu.............................1288
Denver..........................1268
Jakarta...........................1239
Philadelphia..................1204
Accra.............................1190
Bangalore......................1123
Seoul..............................1054
Bogota...........................1049
Singapore......................1038

The challenge of church history from the first century until now for the modern disciple is: to always remain true to Christ, the Bible and his purpose, until people from "every tribe and language and people and nation" have been redeemed. (Revelation 5:9) For those of us in God's modern movement, we "cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20) as we press on with our radical, "foolish" efforts to preach Christ where he is not known. Gamaliel's words should ever echo in our minds. If we were ever to slip into weak imitation of true Christianity, we would soon repeat history, walking the doomed path of tradition and eventual apostasy. May we never find ourselves fighting God, but fighting together for him. With his power we will see the world evangelized in our generation (Matthew 28:18-20). And to God be the glory!

Editors’ note:
The story goes on from here as you write history with your lives into the twenty-first century, the Lord willing.

*Changes to this article were made in November 1997 to reflect the growth that last occurred since 1991.