This is only tangentially related to religion or the life of a PK, but I have been studying several hours a day for the Canadian citizenship test for the last couple of weeks.As studying is such an important part of my life for the time being I've been bringing up Canadian history with Canadian friends and relatives as often as they are willing to discuss it.
It's absolutely fascinating to see which parts of their history they know (as well as the parts of which they know little to nothing!) When I lived in the U.S. I noticed similar trends - some people were fairly to rather knowledgeable about U.S. history, most were aware of at least the basics, and a minority seemed to have somehow slumbered through twelve or more years of history classes without learning anything at all. ( ;) )
I wonder to what extent this is true of church history as well? Does the average Christian know the basics of their church history?
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I was the preacher's kid. These are my stories.
About Me
- The Preacher's Kid
- I was the Preacher's kid. These are the stories I've always wanted to share. Names, dates and locations may remain vague for privacy reasons in some posts.
Skribit
Followers
Links
Labels
Agnostic
(3)
Blog Business
(10)
Death
(2)
Family
(27)
Food
(10)
Funny Stories
(23)
Gender Roles
(8)
Grief
(1)
Guest Posts
(3)
Health
(2)
Holidays
(7)
Homeschooling
(2)
Interviews
(4)
Introduction
(3)
Literature
(9)
Marriage
(6)
Milestones
(11)
Music
(3)
Prayer
(5)
Prophecy
(2)
Race
(2)
Religion
(32)
Secular Society
(19)
Sexuality
(1)
Sin
(5)
The 1980s
(27)
The 1990s
(53)
the 2000s
(31)
the 2010s
(9)
Things I Don't Miss
(16)
Things I Miss
(21)
Vacations
(6)
Witnessing
(3)
Posts
6 comments:
The extent of church history I was taught at the evangelical church we attended was all from the time of the protestant reformation on, with an emphasis on the Puritans, because the leaders liked their theology so well. In fact, all church history taught there was done with an eye towards teaching theology.
So basically I came away with next to no knowledge of church history. That might be because the pastors were not typically seminary-educated though, so they probably lacked a background in it as well.
You didn't mention how much church history you have learned!
To your question, "Does the average Christian know the basics of their church history?", my answer is emphatically "no". That may be one reason there are so many of them around. ;)
I don't think I've ever been in a church that routinely taught the full spectrum of church history. They all taught the little bit that applied to their own denomination, and with a slant toward their own way of thinking.
This is interesting to me. In our 30+ years of church involvement and ministry, I don't remember anything being taught about church history...other than occasionally hearing about Azuza St. revival.
But, I think my Dad was interested in Mennonite history. We had books of it as well as Martysr Mirror which was graphic and he would read it to us. He also talked about Menno Simmons and the history of the Mennonite church, and I'm sort of inclined to think that some in the Menno church lean more toward that interest than those in the charismatic church.
Teresa, I've seen that too, perusing a Mennonite church library. I suppose they have a larger body of writing about them than do the charismatics.
"You didn't mention how much church history you have learned!"
Not enough. I actually learned way more about Mennonite/Anabaptist history growing up than I did about the Pentecostal churches that were the places we actually pastored. I think you all were right when you said that Mennonites have more interest in such things (at least when it comes to the average person.)
"That may be one reason there are so many of them around. ;)"
Heh, could be. But it scares me a little to see people so uninterested in where they come from. How can one move forward if they don't understand where their ancestors and been? How can mistakes be corrected if we don't even remember what they were?
Post a Comment