Monday, July 17, 2023

It is the the 17th of July 2023 Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org, I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A very happy Monday to you. We head to the mailbag today not to answer just one question but rather to give a kind of full response to a show which recently garnered more emails than I have ever received for a single show- it was one weekend ago when I introduced my, for lack of a better term “flavor wheel” of Christian experience. Based on teaching I’ve been doing at churches and camps in person over the past few years, I’ve been trying to do a kind of “big picture” of Church history- a view from 30,000 feet, if you will.

The most common question I get when I’m asked to teach or speak often can be boiled down to “How did we get here?”. And this is a great question. History starts when we ask questions about what it was like for the people who came before us- how did grandma and grandpa get here? What was their life like? What about their grandparents and so on and so forth? And I found that the Lutherans and Presbyterians and Baptists here in Southern California were often very different from those, say, in Minnesota, New Jersey, and Alabama. Histories of denominations are helpful and important, but there seems to be something bigger- something a little more universal to the history of Christians than the designation on the church sign out front.

So, first- to the emails that asked what we should do about this, I say, recognize it, see where you are, where some of your brothers and sisters might be, and recognize the diversity in the church- it’s not debatable that it exists so we might as well try to classify to understand. Let’s run down the list real fast (and I’m adding two because I can)- in chronological order: Martyrdom, Monasticism, Mysticism, Confessionalism, Pietism, Puritanism, Revivalism, Rationalism, and then we will add Ecumenism and Activism.

First, while we see each of these as universal impulses in the church, they do have seasons in which they have been emphasized. But confessionalism existed in the 4th century with the councils and Creeds and then again in the 16th and 20th centuries. Same with our new additions, Ecumenism, and activism.

Ecumenism- that is, the stress on the whole. On unity. We had the “ecumenical” councils in the first centuries of the church, the conciliarism of the 15th century (that is, stressing the role of councils over popes), and then a new push for unity in the 20th. From the World Council of Churches to the conservative International Council of Christian Churches, this is an impulse across the spectrum and sometimes joining disparate churches- of course, they have to balance unity and truth- this is the perennial question with the ecumenical movement. And then “activist.” Of course, we often refer to the “others” as the “activists,” but take this in the best possible sense. Those in the church see a pressing moral issue and decide they are going to speak up. It could be poverty, right-to-life issues, racism, etc. It was the conservative 19th-century evangelicals in the UK and America who were activists at the forefront of slavery, and numerous “activist” groups within churches today exist to raise awareness and combat issues we might consider conservative or progressive.

Someone asked why I didn’t stay with “M’s” after the first three-oh, I wish I could, but that would be straining the thesaurus- so I opted to give the words that you would find in church history books. Some asked if I had a handout- yes, but it’s lame because I’m not good at making stuff like that- if anyone wants to make one and send it my way at danv@1517.org I would be happy to receive it and send it to others. And as for me- some of you asked- how about 3,3,7,7,6, 1, 2, 6, 8, 6? I think. Thanks for all the feedback! You can send me your questions at danv@1517.org

The last word for today comes from 1 Corinthians 12 because it seems appropriate:

12 There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13 We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.

15 Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 16 And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20 As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 17th of July 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man with an ear for sound and a nose for good coffee; he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who thinks church historians are the spleen of the body, you don’t need us, but we can be helpful. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.