Darrell L. Bock, research professor of New Testament studies at Dallas Theological Seminary, has an interesting brief article on the necessity of knowing early Christian history. He says that “we are now in a period when it is not enough to know only about the Bible. The apologetics of the past is no longer adequate. Today's questions involve not only how the Bible came to be, but even if there was originally such a thing as orthodoxy.” Bock makes a good case for familiarizing ourselves with the roots of our faith because of the revival of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism. Though brief, his article is a good stimulus to further study.
Thanks for pointing out this article. I second your recommendation of it. I remember reading it in the CT issue that came in the mail some weeks ago. I'm eager to become more familiar with early Church History.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of two things. 1) Following Dever's Canon of Theologians we begin in January by reading Early church writings (1st-3rd centuries). 2) I recently saw a notice of a unique devotional guide produced by IVP called the Ancient Christian Devotional: A Year of Weekly Readings. Of this volume Professor Carl Trueman has said, "If I had my time again, I would probably have spent it studying patristic or medieval theologians. The reason? Reformed theology, at least as developed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, drank deep at the wells of the early fathers and the greats of the Middle Ages; and, ironically, to understand Reformation theology one really needs first to have a good grasp of that which came earlier and which frequently stood in continuity with later Protestant developments." (Read his review here.)
I hope that our time researching and writing "Today in Church History" articles will help us all to be better acquainted with our roots.