Hold to What We Have Been Taught

Why should we study the history of the Church? Is it just a matter of gaining knowledge about what happened and when? Isn’t history simply a collection of facts? Or could we actually gain spiritual benefit from studying Church history?

There is one additional matter to tend to before we launch out in search of answers to those questions. If I have noticed nothing else in my limited study of history, it is this: it is easy, even accidentally, to latch on to a particular situation out of context and to understand it in a faulty way, especially when I have an underlying motive in mind. Therefore, lest I inadvertently use some parcel of knowledge to prove a particular point, I strive to not only present the facts, but also to continually ask the question of what brought that about. At least, I will try to remember to ask myself.

As a history professor back in college tended to remind us, “History makes no sharp turns.” The Apostles did not suddenly set up the Church as we see it today (regardless of our confession, even Orthodox). And the Bible was not the source of doctrine, life, and practice when the Church was being established, because it was not written or distributed as a whole for quite some time. The Church did not convene an ecumenical council just because they had a sudden urge to talk about the Greek word “homoousious”.

So, in an attempt to find a connection between the early Church and today’s Church, I ask myself how we got from there to here, that is, what has been the progression instead of just speaking of one isolated time or event. A verse from St. Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians comes to mind: “brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.” What does he mean by, “which ye have been taught”?

When I was young, I was taught primarily by my parents, but certainly also by the youth minister and teachers at my Protestant church. That much I know personally. Are those teachings and practices the same as fifty years ago? 100 years? 500? Are they the same teachings and practices as the Apostles who established the Church? To that last question, I can undoubtedly say that today’s practices are different.

It does not take much historical knowledge to know that Catholicism and Protestantism are quite different than in the time of the Reformation, 500 years ago. And even in speaking in much shorter time periods, in the span of my own life, I can see a significant amount of change from my childhood till now. Looking all the way back to the early Church is considerably more difficult: not only is it further back in time, but confusingly, there are a multitude of interpretations of the few facts we have.

I do not claim to be a learnéd historian, but I will attempt to share a few significant points that may expose a broader perspective of history. And that, in turn, will hopefully be more than just a collection of interesting trivia, but rather guidance of how we may proceed with our own faith and practice today, for none of us is solidified in time: we are making decisions every day, making our own history, approaching new issues, and navigating waters than can feel quite uncharted.

Each step of the way, I want to return to the words of St. Paul and evaluate if we have remained in the teachings we have been taught by St. Paul and Twelve Apostles.

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