Historical Theology

Historical theology is a study of church history, which looks at theological development in the church fathers, creeds and councils. It is an important field of study for all pastors. We are not the first people to study the Bible. Rather than reinvent the wheel, we should learn from those who went before us. This appears to us to be basic common sense and humility.

We should learn from history. The same errors come around every generation. We can study their consequences in history. Historical theology will show us what the church has believed and taught in the past. This will put present day beliefs in a much broader perspective. While a doctrine may be popular today, it may not have enjoyed popularity on the whole throughout church history. If not, then why?

It takes effort to gain more than a superficial view of history. Some books about the past available today have been re-edited, so in order to get a reliable historical view we have to know earlier editions. A problem occurs when we repeat what we have heard from others concerning history, without really knowing much about it.

Everybody has an historical understanding. Every person’s life style is affected by their theological view and their theological view is affected by their perceptions of history. Everybody thinks about history and our thinking is important to how we live. If history was not important, why are so many people trying to rewrite it? The attitude of let others study history and tell us their views on what happened will depreciate our Christian influence in society. We must participate in the process.

There are pragmatic comments like “Some make history, others study it”. Those who say this are more likely to make a historic shipwreck. God told us to take counsel. If we do not know where we have come from, we will not know where we are going to. We will not have the values that we learn from history.

Historical theology includes a study of those the Lord has used before us. We look at their strengths and weaknesses. We look at main historical church movements and assess their fruits and failures. We see how recent trends developed in history and understand how our current thought patterns were developed.

We also get an understanding of the debt we owe to those who stood firm in the past and this, in turn, causes us to live for future generations and not for our self. People in the past gave their lives for our benefit. We should find out why they did so, lest it be in vain as far as we are concerned.

Past church creeds and early church councils are important. The early Nicaea council of 325AD, made up of independent church leaders from all over the world, addressed important issues of the day. Its theology is not a local or isolated expression. Every Bible student should be familiar with the major church creeds, such as the Nicene, Apostles and Athanasian creeds. These are available in book stores and on the Internet.

If our teaching today is contrary to any of these creeds, then it is likely there is a problem with our teaching. These creeds are not inspired like scripture, but neither are they to be taken lightly. The creeds afford us the opportunity to reflect on scripture. We do not fellowship just with our own generation, but also with those before us. This is vital study.

The Westminster Confession was formulated over a 10 year period with leaders from many nations, whom God used in significant ways, who sought to stay in tune with scripture and with historical positions in the church. The confession became the basis for much of the revival that occurred in the 17th – 19th Centuries.

Many in early 20th Century Pentecostalism claimed they did not need history. They claimed to have no historical connections. This was partly due to the restorationist nature of the movement, believing that all history except the original church in Acts was wrong. While they were correct to avoid liberal theology, they were not correct to think they had it all. They had taken on more traditional baggage than they realised.