Round the Sphere Again: Church History

Eleven Reasons
Don Sweeting lists some of the blessings of studying church history:

1. It reaffirms a Biblical value of looking to the past.
2. It  tells us the rest of the story.
3. It frees us from faddishness.
4. It is an antidote to arrogance.
5. It exposes us to some of the issues faced by the church in every age.
6. It helps us see further than we naturally can on our own.
7. It gives us insight into our own culture.
8. It provides warnings about what to look out for and what not to do.
9. It can be used to spark a longing for awakening and revival.
10. It Implants hope in dark times.
11. It offers company and help in difficult seasons of ministry.

Read the whole post for more explanation of these points.

Two Lectures
Last week I listened to these talks by Michael Haykin (Sermon Audio) and recommend them to you. If you don’t know much about church history, Haykin’s lectures are a good place to start.:

• Introduction to Church History
• What the Bible Says About History

Next up on my audio list is a biographical sketch of Thomas Cramner.

Update: In the comments, Juanita pointed me to a few messages on revival in 18th century England that Michael Haykin gave recently at a conference at her church.

One Book
Peter Leithart recommends Robert Louis Wilken’s The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity. He calls it “a substantial historical study,” but also one that “assumes little prior knowledge.” I’m thinking of buying it for my church library.

Theological Term of the Week

historia salutis
The unfolding in history of God’s plan for the salvation of the world; the events in space and time by which God brings salvation.  

• From scripture:

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, [5] to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5 ESV)

…a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:10 ESV)

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13 ESV)

• From Pactum Salutis, Historia Salutis, Ordo Salutis and the Ministry:

Creation, the fall, the flood, the call of Abraham, the exodus, the captivity, the life and death of Christ, Pentecost, all of these are events of the historia salutis. On the one hand, they are true events of cosmic history.They actually happened in space and time.  But in another sense, they bear theological significance, because they come in order to fulfill—accomplish—the eternal decrees of God. We do not simply speak of abstract decrees of God, but of genuine historical events bearing a great theological significance. We believe that the Scriptures record the actual historical events of redemption, occurring over several millennia, from creation to consummation. The events recorded in Scripture, while real events in human history, bring into human history the decrees of God. They give substance and historical reality to these decrees. 

Learn more:

1. The Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies: Pactum Salutis, Historia Salutis, Ordo Salutis and the Ministry
2. From me: Historia Salutis
3. Dr. Lane Tipton: The Meaning of Historia Salutis and Ordo Salutis (video)
4. Bruce Waltke: Summaries of the Stages of Redemptive History (pdf) 

Related terms:

• already/not yet
• decree(s) of God
• order of God’s decrees
• ordo salutis
• pactum salutis
• typology

Filed under God’s Nature and His Work

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Historia Salutis

Because I can’t find much online on this theological term, I’m redone an old post from my old blog so I can link to it when I do this week’s theological term post.

The historia salutis refers to the history of salvation — what God did to work redemption in history. The ordo salutis explains the order of the application of the benefits of redemption to an individual person, but the historia salutis explains the events God worked in history to bring salvation to the world. Or it might be better to start with the historia salutis—God’s work in the history of the world to accomplish redemption of his creatures and his creation—and then move to the ordo salutis, which tells us how the redemption accomplished historically by God becomes effective in the life of one who is being saved. 

Christ’s work—his coming in the incarnation, dying, rising, and sending the Spirit, etc.—is at the center of the historia salutis, but God’s creation, mankind’s fall, God’s covenant with Abraham, and God’s establishment of the nation of Israel, etc. would also be included. It is with the historia salutis that we see the big change that occurred with the death of Christ and the new age ushered in at the time of his death/resurrection/ascension. Pentecost, the growth of the church, and spread of the gospel throughout the world are all part of the history salutis because in them God is working out in history the results of Christ’s accomplishments.

When someone speaks of the “history of redemption”, they are refering to the historia salutis. The concept of “already/not yet“—the acknowledgement that the kingdom of God was inaugurated with Jesus’ life and ministry, but will not be consummated until his second coming—is also closely associated with the historia salutis.