1 00:00:04,660 --> 00:00:09,800 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a 2 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:14,279 moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. 3 00:00:14,699 --> 00:00:22,460 And today I want to ask you, what are the seven great myths of church history? Seven great myths 4 00:00:22,460 --> 00:00:28,079 of church history. There are more than seven, believe me, but I've chosen seven of the bigger 5 00:00:28,079 --> 00:00:36,719 ones to treat here as we prepare for our church history course. Indeed, that is coming up. God has 6 00:00:36,719 --> 00:00:44,119 decided, He has determined that He's going to save a people for Himself in history, real time and space. 7 00:00:44,619 --> 00:00:49,560 And so church history is important to your understanding. But there are seven great myths 8 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:54,820 of church history that I want to dispel, even as we anticipate our church history course. 9 00:00:54,820 --> 00:01:03,799 And that is going to begin then on Thursday, October 14th. That's a Thursday evening. And it'll 10 00:01:03,799 --> 00:01:10,819 start at 7 p.m. at Leo's Place in Idaho Falls. And I would just encourage you to come and join us. I'm 11 00:01:10,819 --> 00:01:18,459 very excited about this. We've got an excited group as well, anticipating unfolding their heritage 12 00:01:18,459 --> 00:01:23,980 throughout church history. And I just encourage you to join us. Maybe you've been curious about who we 13 00:01:23,980 --> 00:01:29,739 are, who I am, what I'm about. And you'll get a taste of that in our church history course, 14 00:01:30,019 --> 00:01:39,040 beginning Thursday, October 14th at 7 p.m. at Leo's Place. We'll have a party room. Hopefully, 15 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:45,280 there'll be somewhat of a jovial atmosphere, not a party per se, but a very friendly atmosphere in 16 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:53,019 which to look at your past heritage in church history. And we'll be using Dr. Bruce Shelley's book, 17 00:01:53,439 --> 00:02:00,260 Church History in Plain Language. Still the best layman's church history book out there. And get a 18 00:02:00,260 --> 00:02:06,900 copy before you come. I may have a few copies available for sale, but I would just encourage you 19 00:02:06,900 --> 00:02:13,500 to go ahead and order your own church history in plain language by Dr. Bruce Shelley. And come and 20 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:21,500 join us. But as a kind of a preparation for that time, I'm covering the seven great myths of church 21 00:02:21,500 --> 00:02:26,860 history. And we treated three of them last week. That is, church history doesn't matter. That's the 22 00:02:26,860 --> 00:02:33,400 first myth. Church history doesn't matter. All that matters is what I believe today, right? We dispelled 23 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:39,719 that myth. And then we also dispelled the second great myth. I can leap over 2,000 years of church 24 00:02:39,719 --> 00:02:45,360 history and do things exactly like the perfect, pristine New Testament church of Peter, Paul, and the 25 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:52,599 apostles. And I can do it like they did it in the book of Acts. And that is a common mystery. That is a 26 00:02:52,599 --> 00:02:59,419 common myth that we find in churches, especially many contemporary churches. And we dispelled that myth. 27 00:02:59,419 --> 00:03:07,300 And you can find all of these on our radio programs that are cataloged at our radio website. And I'll give 28 00:03:07,300 --> 00:03:12,219 you that in a minute. But our third great myth that we dispelled last week was that the true church of 29 00:03:12,219 --> 00:03:19,620 Christ disappeared in apostasy at some point in history and has only been recently restored, right, by a 30 00:03:19,620 --> 00:03:28,680 variety of prophets. That's a common myth that you find in primitivism. That's the idea that we can go back 31 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:37,080 and restore a lost golden age of the church. And we dispelled that myth. And you can review all of 32 00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:44,699 these radio programs. We have them cataloged on our website for the radio spots. And that is found at 33 00:03:44,699 --> 00:03:53,439 omnispotestas.org. Let me spell that. That's Latin for all authority. That's omnispotestas.org. And it's 34 00:03:53,439 --> 00:04:15,159 O-M-N-I-S dash P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org. And there you'll find years of our radio programs cataloged, 35 00:04:15,159 --> 00:04:21,620 but especially this first one on the seven great myths of church history. And you'll find the first 36 00:04:21,620 --> 00:04:29,519 three catalogued there at that website. Well, let me continue then with the fourth of the great 37 00:04:29,519 --> 00:04:34,879 seven myths of church history that I want to help dispel before we even start our church history 38 00:04:34,879 --> 00:04:43,279 course. And that fourth myth is the Catholic Church has always been the same. One monolithic, 39 00:04:43,939 --> 00:04:50,519 unbiblical, and apostate church. Oh, apostasy seems to be a great theme through all of this, 40 00:04:50,519 --> 00:04:56,579 isn't it? That is number four. The Catholic Church has always been the same. One monolithic, 41 00:04:56,779 --> 00:05:01,800 unbiblical, and apostate church. This myth is a kissing cousin with the previous one. And 42 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:07,079 many Protestant evangelicals, no good Catholic would say that, of course, but many Protestant 43 00:05:07,079 --> 00:05:13,160 evangelicals believe that whenever they hear the word Catholic, that immediately means the Church of 44 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:19,060 Rome with a pope and a superstitious mass with crucifixes and funny hats and a laundry list of 45 00:05:19,060 --> 00:05:24,980 works that one must do to be saved rather than being saved by grace through faith. Well, they, 46 00:05:25,319 --> 00:05:29,459 of course, believe that such has it been from the beginning, is today, and ever shall be. Amen. 47 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:35,720 Right? The fourth great myth of church history is that the Catholic Church has always been the 48 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:43,420 same. One monolithic, unbiblical, and apostate church. Now, before we go any further, let me remind 49 00:05:43,420 --> 00:05:49,220 you that I am a Christ-centered, believing Presbyterian who holds to the authority of the 50 00:05:49,220 --> 00:05:54,959 Bible, not a pope, and I will live and die as a Protestant, or pronouncing it differently, a 51 00:05:54,959 --> 00:06:00,680 protestant, that is one living in protest to the Roman Catholic Church. And I believe that the 52 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:07,379 Reformation of the 16th century was a long overdue necessity for the Church when it finally came. 53 00:06:07,379 --> 00:06:12,100 And men like Martin Luther and John Calvin and John Knox, they all brought the Church back 54 00:06:12,100 --> 00:06:17,720 to her biblical roots, and we're all better off for it. Well, then, you might say to me, 55 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:23,379 Mr. Evangelical, how can you then say anything good about the Catholic Church, Mr. Smarty-Pants 56 00:06:23,379 --> 00:06:29,600 Pastor? Or how can you say that it's been anything else than one monolithic, unbiblical, and apostate 57 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:37,000 church? Well, I call it a myth precisely because I'm a student of church history. I was a church 58 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:44,000 history major for my Master of History at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. And as such, I know 59 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:49,959 that the Church of the New Testament has kept its roots and has kept its integrity and faithfulness 60 00:06:49,959 --> 00:06:55,259 since the days of the apostles. There has always been a true church on the face of the earth. 61 00:06:55,660 --> 00:07:00,600 And conversely, I know that the Roman Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Church that we see 62 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:06,319 before us today with the Pope at the Vatican in Rome and priests and rosaries and funny hats 63 00:07:06,319 --> 00:07:12,620 and endless Hail Marys. Well, that's not the same church that's been through all of church history. 64 00:07:12,980 --> 00:07:19,800 That's why we study church history to sort these things out. Let me first define several of my terms 65 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:26,899 as well before we go on dispelling this myth. First of all, the term Catholic. Now, that term Catholic, 66 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:33,879 small c Catholic, means universal. It means all-encompassing. And we can call the early 67 00:07:33,879 --> 00:07:39,660 church Catholic precisely because it was universal. All believers belong to the same church of Peter, 68 00:07:39,660 --> 00:07:46,279 Paul, and the apostles. There were no denominations as we know them today. Even today, we can call the 69 00:07:46,279 --> 00:07:53,339 church universal, composed of all true believers who are united to the body of Christ, regardless of 70 00:07:53,339 --> 00:07:59,720 their denomination. And we can call this the Catholic Church, small c. This is what we mean at New 71 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:06,079 Geneva. When we confess in the Apostles' Creed, for example, I believe in the Holy Catholic Church. 72 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:13,199 We're merely speaking of all true believers united to the body of Christ, regardless of denomination. 73 00:08:13,500 --> 00:08:19,800 So, Mr. Smarty Pants Evangelical, do not distort this teaching just because you have never thought 74 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:25,399 past your nose about the nature of the church or because you have a superstitious reaction to the 75 00:08:25,399 --> 00:08:32,899 word Catholic. Let me also define the term Roman Catholic. Roman Catholic, that's a different 76 00:08:32,899 --> 00:08:40,200 story. This is the denomination of Catholicism that so many evangelical Protestants confuse with the 77 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:47,539 broader church universal. And it is identified as Roman Catholic because over time, the Bishop of Rome 78 00:08:47,539 --> 00:08:53,200 claimed supremacy over the bishops of all the other churches of the world. So, it's important to 79 00:08:53,200 --> 00:09:00,960 remember the qualifier over time. It did not happen overnight. Now, so many believers, excuse me, 80 00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:08,779 have naive, simplistic thinking about what happened soon after the Apostle Paul died. No sooner, 81 00:09:09,159 --> 00:09:13,279 the story usually goes something like this, and I'm exaggerating a little bit, so bear with me, 82 00:09:13,860 --> 00:09:18,480 but the story goes something like this, that no sooner had Paul been laid six feet in the ground when a 83 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:23,159 guy in a robe and a funny hat with a rosary in his hand jumped out from behind a bush and said, 84 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:30,399 aha, I'm Pope Godfather or something like that, and I'm taking over here, see? And the people just 85 00:09:30,399 --> 00:09:35,120 kind of rolled over, and ever since then, we've had the Catholic Mass and rosaries and Hail Marys and 86 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:41,360 eating fish on Fridays. And sometimes a person will look a little deeper, maybe, and see that the Roman 87 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:48,159 Catholic catechism teaches that a person's works justifies it before God. Or they may also discover 88 00:09:48,159 --> 00:09:55,460 the doctrine of transubstantiation, the belief that the bread and wine of the Eucharist actually becomes 89 00:09:55,460 --> 00:10:02,659 Christ's body and blood. That's, in sum, the doctrine of transubstantiation. And they also see that these 90 00:10:02,659 --> 00:10:10,700 are vital tenets of the Roman Catholic dogma. But what must remain clear in our heads, dear believer, 91 00:10:10,700 --> 00:10:18,460 is that the Catholic Church of the Apostles was the same church the day after the death of the last 92 00:10:18,460 --> 00:10:26,120 apostle that it was the day before his death and for centuries after that. And the death of the last 93 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:33,100 apostle was the apostle John, who died early in the second century. But the day he died, the apostolic 94 00:10:33,100 --> 00:10:41,720 church before his death was the same church after his death and for many centuries afterwards. The myth 95 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:49,019 of some kind of pope godfather who bullied unsuspecting believers into worshiping Mary and all the other 96 00:10:49,019 --> 00:10:57,120 stuff is just that, a naive evangelical myth. And we hope to dispel this myth even further with you 97 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:06,200 in our church history course, which is, of course, beginning Thursday, October 14. And it will start 98 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:14,399 at 7 p.m. at Leo's Place. And we'll begin and every Thursday thereafter at Leo's Place at 7 p.m. 99 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:20,139 We will commence again with a new lesson. And we're going to be doing this probably right on through 100 00:11:20,139 --> 00:11:25,659 the month of May. So we'll have a whole semester, two semesters, really, to study this issue. 101 00:11:25,659 --> 00:11:33,120 And that myth, the evangelical myth, that some kind of pope godfather, right, who bullies 102 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:38,679 unsuspecting believers right after Paul dies and bullies them into things like worshiping Mary or 103 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:45,419 handling rosaries, praying rosaries, that is just that a naive evangelical myth. Let me point out 104 00:11:45,419 --> 00:11:52,200 several things with you. First of all, the church of the early church fathers, and by the church of 105 00:11:52,200 --> 00:12:01,220 the early church fathers, we mean approximately A.D. 100 to A.D. 325, when the first council of Nicaea was 106 00:12:01,220 --> 00:12:09,919 called. The church of those early fathers is a true and faithful church in which we could find Christ 107 00:12:09,919 --> 00:12:17,399 and in which we could faithfully worship, dear believer. That early church preached and prayed and 108 00:12:17,399 --> 00:12:26,220 suffered. They loved one another and enemy alike. And slowly, soul by soul, this church of the church 109 00:12:26,220 --> 00:12:32,120 fathers spread the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. And they collected and they copied and 110 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:37,259 they preached the writings of the apostles, which would later become our New Testament. And they did all of 111 00:12:37,259 --> 00:12:45,340 this and much more, being utterly faithful to the very same gospel of the apostles. We have extensive 112 00:12:45,340 --> 00:12:51,700 writings from them that definitively answer this for us, dear listener. Let me give you one example. 113 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:57,720 I would highly commend to you the book. It's called The Justification Reader by Thomas Oden. 114 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:06,379 The Justification Reader by Thomas Oden, O-D-E-N. And in this volume, Dr. Oden carefully reviews the 115 00:13:06,379 --> 00:13:12,299 writings of the church fathers, excerpting extensively. And he shows how the doctrine of 116 00:13:12,299 --> 00:13:18,600 justification by faith alone was taught and preached by them, the church fathers. And what Dr. Oden does 117 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:24,919 for justification can be replicated with other major doctrines of the faith. There has always been a 118 00:13:24,919 --> 00:13:31,740 true church teaching true doctrine and practicing true worship. And secondly, we must also note the 119 00:13:31,740 --> 00:13:39,000 church of Rome only began to aggressively assert its preeminence in the mid-5th century under Pope 120 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:43,980 Leo the Great. This is a nugget of church history you have to get straight in your mind, dear evangelical 121 00:13:43,980 --> 00:13:50,100 Christian. Not until the middle of the 5th century under Pope Leo did Rome begin to aggressively 122 00:13:50,100 --> 00:13:56,860 assert its preeminence. Before that, every church was equal to any other church. And when they gathered 123 00:13:56,860 --> 00:14:03,779 to meet to find solutions to practical and doctrinal issues in early forms of presbyteries, 124 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,379 these gatherings, these meetings, they were presbyteries. That's one reason we call ourselves 125 00:14:08,379 --> 00:14:15,899 Presbyterians. Well, then those representative leaders, the elders and the bishops, were all of 126 00:14:15,899 --> 00:14:21,720 equal standing. No one church's voice or vote was more important or carried more weight than another. 127 00:14:22,399 --> 00:14:27,340 But gradually over time, and we'll cover this in our church history course, gradually over time, 128 00:14:27,419 --> 00:14:32,559 some of the bigger cities began to carry more influence, cities like Jerusalem or Antioch or Rome 129 00:14:32,559 --> 00:14:39,559 or Constantinople and Alexandria. But Rome was never thought to be preeminent among them. But for a variety 130 00:14:39,559 --> 00:14:45,039 of reasons, which we will cover in our church history course, for a variety of reasons, the bishop of 131 00:14:45,039 --> 00:14:51,539 Rome began to assert his primacy among equals. And Pope Leo the Great put it on steroids, if you will. 132 00:14:51,740 --> 00:14:58,000 But even then, it would take more centuries before that was finally achieved. And we have the Roman 133 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:03,879 Catholic Church that we have today. And then note with me as well, all of the doctrines that we 134 00:15:03,879 --> 00:15:10,720 associate with the Roman Catholic Church took many centuries to morph from the orthodoxy of the apostles 135 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:19,080 to what we see today. For example, transubstantiation became an official dogma. That is, you had to believe 136 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:27,320 this. It didn't become dogma until the Council of Trent in 1563. 16 centuries transpired before 137 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:33,460 transubstantiation became dogma or papal infallibility. When do you think that became official doctrine? 138 00:15:33,460 --> 00:15:42,139 It wasn't the day after Paul died. No, it was 1870, declared by Pope Pius IX at the First Vatican Council. 139 00:15:43,100 --> 00:15:51,480 1870, before papal infallibility came into dogma. And then, or another example, the sinlessness of Mary. 140 00:15:51,779 --> 00:15:57,039 When do you think that became official dogma of the church? The sinlessness of Mary, or her immaculate 141 00:15:57,039 --> 00:16:04,220 conception, as it's called. That wasn't until 1854. And on and on we could go. The bottom line is, 142 00:16:04,460 --> 00:16:10,360 what the Catholic Church believed and practices is not always the same as what the Roman Catholic 143 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:18,919 Church came to believe and practice. These two are not the same. And you, dear listener, dear evangelical 144 00:16:18,919 --> 00:16:24,740 believer, you have much more in common with the Catholic Church than you may at first assume. 145 00:16:24,740 --> 00:16:31,220 That Catholic Church, small c, is and was composed of pastors and elders and deacons and believers 146 00:16:31,220 --> 00:16:36,580 of many convictions, stretching over the entire two millennia of church history. You will not only 147 00:16:36,580 --> 00:16:42,820 worship with all of them in heaven before the throne through all eternity, but you would have found 148 00:16:42,820 --> 00:16:48,960 yourself worshiping with the Catholic Church. In the second century, for example, before you were all 149 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:54,159 thrown into the Colosseum to be killed by lions, you would have found yourself worshiping with the 150 00:16:54,159 --> 00:17:00,840 Catholic Church in Gaul in the fourth century after being converted from pagan tribal human sacrifice. 151 00:17:01,379 --> 00:17:07,500 You would have also found yourself worshiping with a Catholic Church under Charlemagne, a king who 152 00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:13,880 began to supply churches in his kingdom with priests who could actually read a Bible and write coherent 153 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:19,200 sermons. And you would have found yourself worshiping with the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, 154 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:26,240 in great cathedrals or faithful gospel preaching priests. And yes, there were those faithful gospel 155 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:32,579 preaching priests who would teach the Bible to the illiterate people like you. You would have been an 156 00:17:32,579 --> 00:17:39,099 illiterate peasant most likely in those days. There was only a two percent literacy rate throughout the 157 00:17:39,099 --> 00:17:44,539 Middle Ages, and you would have been probably illiterate, one of those great unwashed 98 percent. 158 00:17:44,539 --> 00:17:51,859 And you would need a gospel preaching priest who would teach the Bible to you using the stories 159 00:17:51,859 --> 00:17:57,920 of the Bible in stained glass windows and statues and paintings. They were teaching tools. They 160 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:05,339 weren't being worshiped, okay? So in our church history course, we will show you how God has been 161 00:18:05,339 --> 00:18:12,440 faithful in making a true church across the span of some 20 centuries and hundreds of cultures, 162 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:21,220 making a church composed of the one body of Christ, the church universal. Yes, the Catholic Church. 163 00:18:21,299 --> 00:18:28,380 That's you. That's me. That's all true believers who ever lived or will live. Well, let me tell you 164 00:18:28,380 --> 00:18:34,400 that we will be doing this in our church history course, which we will be studying and taking up 165 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:42,640 on October 14th. That's a Thursday night at 7 p.m. And we'll be meeting at Leo's Place. We'll have a 166 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:48,180 party room there, and you can look for us then at Leo's Place on October 14th and every Thursday 167 00:18:48,180 --> 00:18:54,059 thereafter, beginning at 7 p.m. And we just encourage you to pick up the book, 168 00:18:54,059 --> 00:19:00,259 Church History in Plain Language by Dr. Bruce Shelley. And you can call me for more information 169 00:19:00,259 --> 00:19:04,400 or just let me know you're coming. I'd like to have an idea of how many people we're going to have. So 170 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:11,859 you can call me and let me know you're going to be there. Call me at area code 208-523-0196. 171 00:19:11,859 --> 00:19:26,900 Well, our fifth great myth of church history is this, number five. Things like creeds, confessions, 172 00:19:27,180 --> 00:19:33,099 catechisms, elaborate liturgies, and deep theology are basically a waste of time. All I need is Jesus 173 00:19:33,099 --> 00:19:40,480 in my Bible. Yes. Oh, that's a common, common one, especially among lazy evangelicals. Things like 174 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:45,420 creeds and confessions and catechisms and elaborate liturgies and deep theology, these are all 175 00:19:45,420 --> 00:19:51,559 basically a waste of time. All I need is Jesus and my Bible. I've had this said to me so many times. 176 00:19:52,380 --> 00:19:57,960 Well, just let me say to begin with that Jesus and your Bible, that's a good start. I am not 177 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:06,740 demeaning that at all. But what kind of life is it that fails to apply that Bible to your life? In fact, 178 00:20:06,740 --> 00:20:11,859 every area of your life. And what are the consequences when you do? Christ and his book 179 00:20:11,859 --> 00:20:16,799 then begins to affect your thinking and your acting in the world. Patterns and habits and ways of living 180 00:20:16,799 --> 00:20:21,539 develop and you begin to account for them to yourself and others and you write them down. You organize them 181 00:20:21,539 --> 00:20:26,799 so you can remember them and repeat them. Then it is that others, your spouse, your children, your friends 182 00:20:26,799 --> 00:20:31,559 and fellow believers, they can live the biblical truths you have discovered. In addition, you learn from 183 00:20:31,559 --> 00:20:36,559 them how Jesus and the Bible has transformed and shaped them and you can apply it to your own life 184 00:20:36,559 --> 00:20:42,500 too. That way, you don't have to reinvent the wheel as the cliche goes every time a new situation in life 185 00:20:42,500 --> 00:20:47,640 comes up for you. You have the advantage of someone in the past, a situation in life that has been 186 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:52,759 experienced by another believer in history. And by writing down your understanding of that truth in 187 00:20:52,759 --> 00:20:58,559 life, you also provide understanding for living to the next generation from Jesus and the Bible. 188 00:20:58,559 --> 00:21:06,220 This really, in its simplest form, is what theology is. By theology, I mean the study of God. That is 189 00:21:06,220 --> 00:21:13,339 what theology means. Theos meaning God and logos meaning a study of. Theology in its broadest sense 190 00:21:13,339 --> 00:21:19,619 is really nothing more, nothing less than Jesus and your Bible encountering the real world in history 191 00:21:19,619 --> 00:21:27,140 and you recording the consistent effect of that encounter for yourself and others to come. In this sense, 192 00:21:27,140 --> 00:21:32,720 every true believer is a theologian. You might as well set yourself to be the best theologian you can 193 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:38,880 be and disabuse yourself of this myth that things like creeds and confessions and catechisms, elaborate 194 00:21:38,880 --> 00:21:44,279 liturgies and theology are basically a waste of time. All you need is Jesus and your Bible. That's a myth. 195 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:51,480 For example, the Bible clearly asserts the divine nature of Jesus. The Word made flesh. In the beginning 196 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:57,480 was the Word, John says, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Now that's a glorious truth 197 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:02,940 that God has revealed to us, one that will transform our lives when we make it a part of our daily 198 00:22:02,940 --> 00:22:09,819 living. It is then that we begin to ask questions like, well, who is this Word and what is He like? 199 00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:16,079 What does it mean that the Word is God? Why is it necessary for this to be true? On and on we could go. 200 00:22:16,079 --> 00:22:21,799 The minute you begin to ask and answer these questions, which the very first believers did, 201 00:22:22,039 --> 00:22:28,200 then you begin to make theology. Certainly, you have your basic text of truth that is the Bible. 202 00:22:28,519 --> 00:22:32,640 But in answering those questions and applying them to daily life, you begin to generate 203 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:37,460 understandings of that truth. Things like confessions of faith and creeds and catechisms 204 00:22:37,460 --> 00:22:42,839 and systematic theologies are nothing more than the orderly arrangement and clear presentation 205 00:22:42,839 --> 00:22:49,339 of that understanding. And they are necessary, too. They are necessary to a real living of Jesus 206 00:22:49,339 --> 00:22:54,980 and your Bible. That's because Jesus and your Bible have been interacting with the real world 207 00:22:54,980 --> 00:23:01,359 for over 2,000 years now. And true believers have not been lazy in leaving us a record of that 208 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:06,680 interaction either. Confessions and creeds and catechisms, liturgies and theologies, not to mention 209 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:13,059 church histories. And you'd be nowhere without them. Your life, your morals, your society, your 210 00:23:13,059 --> 00:23:18,160 culture, even your government have all been shaped and influenced by these things for over 2,000 years 211 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:26,539 now. By analogy, in 1905, Albert Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity in which he disclosed 212 00:23:26,539 --> 00:23:33,319 his core discovery of mass and energy equivalents in the formula E equals mc squared, right? Bingo! 213 00:23:33,319 --> 00:23:38,599 That paper helped to transform our fundamental understanding of the universe and brought us 214 00:23:38,599 --> 00:23:44,700 everything from the atom bomb to the iPhone. No one said, all I need in life is a copy of Einstein's 215 00:23:44,700 --> 00:23:51,200 paper on relativity and E equals mc squared, did they? Au contraire, that would be incredibly naive 216 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:57,240 and stupid. We'll see how long it takes you to create an iPhone or a nuclear reactor to heat your home 217 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:02,359 with just Einstein's paper and a rudimentary understanding of E equals mc squared. Instead, 218 00:24:03,079 --> 00:24:09,680 that basic text has generated greater and greater understanding as it is applied to every area of 219 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:14,640 life. And as a consequence, we have hundreds of subsequent texts that arrange in orderly fashion 220 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:20,259 that understanding, and we do it in clear presentations. Additionally, those fundamental texts, 221 00:24:20,500 --> 00:24:24,920 including those you use to master your field of study if you're an engineer, for example, 222 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:31,279 these texts have generated whole wings of libraries filled with further knowledge that even helped 223 00:24:31,279 --> 00:24:37,640 to construct those modern library wings in which they're deposited. Well, this is a rough analogy 224 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:45,220 to what you and your Bible have done in the world as that Bible has interacted with the souls and lives, 225 00:24:45,259 --> 00:24:52,700 right? Believers throughout redemptive history, it has created confessions and creeds and liturgies 226 00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:58,960 and theologies that have shaped your understanding without your even being aware of it. If you believe 227 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:04,680 the myth I just outlined for you, and just as you could no more pick up your iPhone to call and leave 228 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:10,640 an indignant message if you disagree with me without that previous history of physics, well, so I suggest 229 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:17,160 to you that you could no more go to church this Sunday and worship with fellow believers and do so in 230 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:23,759 spirit and in truth without that previous history of theology in the history of the church. It has 231 00:25:23,759 --> 00:25:29,759 shaped you more than you realize. This is also why a study of church history, that is things like 232 00:25:29,759 --> 00:25:35,839 confessions and creeds and catechisms and theologies, it is so important. It helps you understand a little 233 00:25:35,839 --> 00:25:41,819 more what has brought you to this point in your Christian life and help you this Sunday as well when you 234 00:25:41,819 --> 00:25:46,680 go to be with your fellow believers and worship in spirit and truth. You can do so in part because 235 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:53,400 of what previous generations have given you and handed you in their study of Jesus and their Bible, 236 00:25:53,880 --> 00:26:01,160 right? Well, join us for that study. I encourage you to go ahead and join us at New Geneva. We will be 237 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:07,740 meeting for our church history course beginning on October 14. That's a Thursday night at 7 p.m., 238 00:26:07,740 --> 00:26:14,400 and we'll begin every Thursday thereafter at 7 p.m. at Leo's Place. We'll be taking up our church 239 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,660 history course, and you can call me for more information on the course and let me know you're 240 00:26:18,660 --> 00:26:28,160 coming by calling area code 208-523-0196. And New Geneva also meets for holy worship on Sunday 241 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:35,119 at 10 a.m. Come and join us then. 10 a.m. on Sunday morning at 101 4th Street on the corner of 242 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:41,640 4th and Boulevard. Holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. And you can call us for more information at area 243 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:49,359 code 208-523-0196. 208-523-0196.