Steve

Steve

I will finally share my thoughts on church history being that salvation is huge topic to discuss. Your video response has inspired me really in several areas: 1) talk about theology debates since our generation rarely digs deep into Christian heritage, 2) know why we believe to understanding doctrine and know how to defend the truth, 3) That good theology would shape our Christian worldview to understand Hebrew, Greek and Hermeneutics as “iron sharpens iron” biblical truth is life or death matter. Thank for taking the time to prepare your response to the scriptures that I shared being so honest.

The role of Doctrine

1. Definition of Doctrine: Taking a reality as revealed through Scripture
A) “Doctrine” comes from the Greek word “to teach or teaching” (didasko)
B) The source of Doctrine: God’s Word 2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

2. Why is Doctrine important?
A) We need it: The Christians closest to Jesus’ “42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42
B) Doctrine is the foundation of our ministry(-eis). Without it we have no rudder.
1 Timothy 4:6 “6If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.”

C) Doctrine preserves us from sin Psalm 119:11 “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

3) Example: Jesus is repeatedly shown as instructing in correction

Matthew 13:54 “and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?”

Mark 1:22 “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.”

Mark 10:1 “And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.”

Biblical Interpretation:

• Observation
The inductive study method will help you slow down to focus on God's Word, and see what it really says.

* Interpretation
Careful observation enables us to discover what the text means in its context. Since the Bible is its own best interpreter, the more accurate your observation, the greater will be your understanding of God's Word.

* Application
The Creator and Author of life has shown us how to live a satisfying, eternally significant life. Intentional, disciplined observation and interpretation lead you to the profoundly applicable Truth of the Bible.

Key movements in Church History:

Peter Waldo, one of the most effective of the pre-Lutheran Reformers, was a wealthy merchant of Lyons, France. Impressed with the way of poverty and service to Christ as the path to heaven (based on Matthew 19:21), he sold most of his holdings in 1176 and gave the proceeds to the poor. He retained some property to care for his wife and daughters, however. Within a year or so, he was joined by others, men and women, who called themselves the “Poor in spirit,” and undertook an itinerant ministry of preaching repentance and living from the handouts of listeners.

John Wycliffe (1330?–1384) was a biblical reformer, bringing to bear the teachings of Scripture on the practices of the Roman church. He also engaged in Bible translation, and it was largely through his influence that the first English version was produced. Though he personally translated or supervised translation of parts of the Bible, his version was not completed until after his death, by Nicholas of Hereford and John Purvey. Without doubt, its widespread use had an influence on the development of the English language. Wycliffe was educated at Oxford and later became master of Balliol College there. For a while chaplain to the king, with access to Parliament, he was able to reach some of the upper-class English. But he also sought to reach the common people, sending out lay evangelists to instruct them.

John Hus (1372?–1415), professor of philosophy at the University of Prague and preacher at Bethlehem Chapel, did not slavishly depend on Wycliffe, however. The old view that he was influenced by Wycliffe to the point that he simply adopted the views of the Englishman as his own must now be abandoned. A Czech reform movement, dating to about the middle of the fourteenth century, paralleled Wycliffe’s efforts. Hus was in the tradition of the native movement and a product of it. But during the early fifteenth century indigenous and imported varieties of reform joined to form a single development.
When the pope summoned Hus to the Council of Constance to stand examination on his views, the emperor Sigismund ordered him to go and promised safe conduct to and from the council. But when the council condemned him as a heretic and burned him at the stake, Sigismund did not interfere. Like Luther, Hus came to blows with the pope over the issue of indulgences (among other things); but Europe was not so ready for the Reformation in 1415 as it would be a century later.

Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498) was a forceful preacher against the worldliness and corruption of church and society in Florence. A Dominican, he was transferred to the priory of San Marco in Florence in 1482 and gradually rose in influence and power in the city. His studies in the Old Testament prophets and the book of Revelation helped to make him a powerful preacher against the evils and corruption of society.

During 1513–1518, Luther lectured on Psalms, Romans, Galatians, Hebrews, and Titus and sometime during that period came to an acceptance of the doctrine of justification by faith. He was a Saul turned Paul. He abandoned the prevailing Scholastic and allegorical interpretation for a more strictly literal and grammatical interpretation. His students responded enthusiastically to his pedagogical method. Luther’s influence expanded as he was given charge over eleven monasteries in 1515. In the same year the town council of Wittenberg called him to the pulpit of the City Church, where he continued to minister the rest of his life. From that vantage point, he could carry his views directly to the laity.
The issue that brought Luther to the attention of all Europe was indulgences. Initially, an indulgence provided for the remission of punishment imposed by the Roman Catholic church on someone who was guilty of a specific sin. An indulgence was based on the principle that sinners were unable to do sufficient penance to expiate all their sins. Hence it was necessary for them to draw on the “treasury of merits,” to which Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints contributed and which could be dispensed by the pope. In earlier days one might gain an indulgence for risking his life in fighting the infidel during the Crusades. Gradually however, financial sacrifice was accepted in lieu of physical risk. And the financing of the building of churches, monasteries, hospitals, and the like could be designated by the pope as warranting indulgences. During the later Middle Ages, indulgences came to involve not only remission of punishment imposed by the Roman church, but also absolution of all guilt incurred before God.

Great Distinctives of the Lutheran Reformation
Justification by faith alone
Salvation by grace alone
The Bible alone as the authority for doctrine and practice
The priesthood of the believer
Promotion of congregational singing

HULDREICH Zwingli (1484–1531) sparked the Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland. After study at the universities of Bern, Vienna, and Basel, he was ordained and became parish priest at Glarus, where he remained for ten years. At Glarus he studied extensively the classics in the original languages, thus laying the foundation for his future Reformation work. During those years he also served as chaplain to Swiss mercenaries in Italy and began a campaign against Swiss mercenary service. This effort brought him many enemies in some of the poorer areas of the country, where that means of employment was thought to be necessary. Such animosity would be important in the later factionalizing of the country. He also fell under the influence of Erasmus during the Glarus period.
In 1516 he moved to the monastery church of Einsiedeln for a three-year ministry. There he studied the Greek New Testament published by Erasmus. He later claimed that at Einsiedeln in 1516 he had begun to found his preaching on the gospel. Because the monastery church had a well-known image of the Virgin Mary, it had become a pilgrimage center. To such comers Zwingli began to preach against the belief that religious pilgrimages were a means of obtaining pardon.
After becoming priest in the cathedral of Zurich (1519) Zwingli gradually became more open about his views. He broke with the pope and married, and preached openly against celibacy. Popular feeling was roused to such a point that the city council felt that it was necessary to appoint a public meeting for the discussion of religious subjects. When it convened, Zwingli presented his Sixty-seven Articles and was so convincing that the council declared that thereafter all religious teaching was to be based on the Bible alone and that the state would support this principle. Zwingli directed the Reformation in Switzerland along civic lines, with a view to establishing a model Christian community. He persuaded the city council to legislate the various details of the Reformation and supervise the carrying out of its decisions. In other words, he aimed at political as well as spiritual regeneration. Zwingli’s theology put great emphasis on the sovereignty of God and His election unto salvation. He held that the Lord’s Supper contributed nothing to the elect; it was merely a symbol or remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ. He could not agree with Luther, who held that the body and blood of Christ were really present in the Communion.

METHODISM
The Moravians had a direct influence on the establishment of the Methodist movement, which was founded by John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield. Moravian missionaries exposed the Wesleys to the gospel message while the latter were on a fruitless missionary journey to the New World and had not yet been converted. Later, another Moravian, Peter Boehler, brought the Wesleys to Christ. Shortly thereafter, John Wesley visited Zinzendorf in Germany and then embarked on his lifework. Methodist was the name applied to the “holy club” at Oxford to which the Wesleys and George Whitefield had belonged; they had founded the organization because of their concern over the spiritual condition among the students. Because of the strict rules and precise spiritual methods of the group, they were nicknamed “Methodists”; subsequently the name passed on to the movement begun by the three.
John Wesley (1703–1791) and George Whitefield (1714–1770) were the great preachers; Charles Wesley (1708–1788) though also a preacher, was the hymn writer. Having composed some 7,270 hymns, he is ranked by many as the greatest hymn writer of all ages.
As the Wesleys carried on their revival efforts, they received little encouragement from the Anglican church, of which they were members. Shut out of many Anglican churches, they took a cue from Whitefield, who had had great success in outdoor preaching in America. Tremendous crowds constantly gathered for their meetings.
Early Methodism was characterized by the preaching of present assurance of salvation, development of the inner spiritual life, belief in the attainability of Christian perfection in this life, and a dignified ritual. The Wesleys were Arminian in their theology, but Whitefield was Calvinistic. Originally, John Wesley did not wish to organize the Methodist church as a separate denomination; he set up societies within the Anglican church. But the success of the American Revolution demanded a separation there, and the Methodist Episcopal church was established in 1784. In England, Methodism separated from the Anglican church about the same time.
As well as having a wide spiritual impact, Methodism proved to be a very real answer to the social ills of the day. Spiritually, Methodism was the answer to deism in England, especially among the lower and middle classes. And it met the needs of the new laboring classes in the cities, for whom the Anglican church did not assume much responsibility. Socially, in large measure it retarded forces that in France led to revolution: it provided medical dispensaries, orphanages, and relief for the poor; it stood at the front of the movement for prison reform, the abolition of slavery, and the regulation of industry.

I will respond to your scriptures at Galatians 5:4 and 2 peter 2:22 later.

In Christ,

Nathan

“The Christian response to ungodly leadership”

would be timely given the strong feelings being expressed by many believers toward our current political administration in the U.S. A thoughtful application of both Daniel and Joseph's behaviors might be a great place to start on this.

I'm really curious about the video and I tried everything I know (that's not much though:)
but I'm still staring at a black screen… What am I doing wrong??

Oh, and I'm going up to oxford in a couple of weeks love going up! My friend is working at the John Radcliffe. Hopefully going to go punting! the weather has been pretty nice over here so hope it stays! I'll say hi to the city for you