Understanding Where We Came From Before Judging Where We Are - A Duty for Every Well-Thinking Christian

For two year now, I have been studying the early church fathers and early church history. I know that I don't know very much. But since, reading the early church fathers, the scholastics, and the reformers, my knowledge and understanding become exponentially smaller.

Historically, most of the theological, intellectual, and philosophical battles that we find ourselves in, have been fought a thousand times over in our rich Christian heritage.

For instance, reading through Augustine's, City of God, is almost as if I am reading a newspaper, except the Roman gods would be replaced with today's gods of intersectionality--and intersectionality's random grasps at relative truth for each section of race, gender, economic power, and social power. The absurdity of both, play on and on, ad nauseaum, until one tires of the many gods for each aspect of life that is forced upon us with fear-mongering tactics and mob-like intensity. The truth of the gospel cuts through the absurdity in the same way a hot knife slips to the bottom of a butter cube with no effort.

So before I make a case against anything or for anything, the case I am making, is that we have much work to do in regards to understanding the gospel and its Kingdom-building principles that have been playing out in history for that last TWO THOUSAND YEARS. I emphasize the number, because we Christians have done such a poor job of gleaning from our past, that it is appalling to see us struggle so sorrowfully in less frictional and problematic times than our forefathers of grace and faith.

It would behoove us to stop complaining and shouting opinions and start studying our own history. The signal of perseverance and providence in the noise of our current and past calamities, would be deafening. A few years ago, I felt as if I had finally established some headway in regard to theology and philosophy, only to find myself at a stopping point.  I realized I must re-establish some grounded truths that built many of the flourishing and free societies of our past (i.e. medieval christendom or even Athens, Sparta, Israel, and Rome).

Our Church fathers and Church history are far too rich in their insights and truth and practical application of our Christian faith to ignore. Yet somehow, we think we got it all figured out. Looking around our Christian landscape today, demonstrates that we do not have it figured out. We have been pretending the richest mines in our historical books are tapped out. Yet, we haven't even entered the mine. For if we had, we would see the richest ores of knowledge, truth, faith, and grace that was applied so well, or was mistakenly walked out. Of course, God's Word is primary. But acting like the church fathers and our church history doesn't have anything to say about God's word in our lives and what was successful versus what brought failure, is to have wise counselors and never speak with them. May we all pick up the books, and bring the Church forward in God's grace, through our faith, and see His yeast permeate the whole loaf.

Take some time to study the past, so that we may learn from it, and forge a Church resting on the promises of our sovereign triune God through our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ and the work of His Holy Spirit through the lives of the communion of His saints.