Church History 1600 2000 Study Guide

The spirit of reform had broken out with intensity during the 16th century. The Age of Reformation gave birth to Protestantism and shattered the papal leadership of Western Christendom. Four major traditions marked early Protestantism: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist and Anglican. After a generation, the Church of Rome itself, led by the Jesuits, recovered its moral fervor. Bloody struggles between Catholics and Protestants followed and Europe was ravaged by war before it became obvious that Western Christendom was permanently divided. A few pioneers pointed toward a new way: the denominational concept of the Church.

The denominational theory of the Church implies that a Christian group called by a particular name is but one member of a larger group – the Church – to which all denominations belong. It insists that the true Church cannot be identified with any single ecclesiastical structure. No denomination claims to represent the whole Church of Christ. Each simply constitutes a different form – in worship and organization – of the larger life of the Church.

The Reformers had planted the seeds of denominational theory of the Church when they insisted that the true Church can never be identified in any exclusive sense with a particular institution. The true succession is not of bishops but of believers. Martin Luther believed that the outward forms of the Church ought to give the Word of God free course in the world, not block its power to save.

During the 17th century, Independents became aware of the dangers of “dividing the godly Protestant party” and looked for some way to express Christian unity even when Christians did not agree. These “Dissenting Brethren of Westminster”, who represented the minority voice at the Westminster Assembly in 1642, held that several fundamental truths must be recognized:

• First, considering man’s inability to always see the truth clearly, differences of opinion about the outward form of the Church are inevitable.

• Second, even though these differences do not involve fundamentals of the faith, they are not matters of indifference. Every Christian is obligated to practice what he believes the Bible teaches.

• Third, since no church has a final and full grasp of divine truth, the true Church of Christ can never be fully represented by any single ecclesiastical structure.

• Finally, the mere fact of separation does not of itself constitute schism. It is possible to be divided at many points and still be united in Christ.

Thus, the denominational theory of the Church looked for Christian unity in some inward religious experience – and allowed diversity in the outward expressions of personal faith.

The identity of the “one true Church” was restricted to those who shared a common understanding of the core of the Christian faith. This denominational view of the Church found only limited acceptance in England, but gained increasing acceptance in the English colonies of America. It seemed to be God’s answer for the multiplying faiths in the New World.

Advocates of the denominational view had no intention of reducing the basic beliefs of Christianity to a general feeling of religious sincerity but they could not control the future. They simply knew that the traditional bigotry and bloodshed in the name of Christ was not the way forward.

In the end, then, the denominational form of the Church has marked the recent centuries of Christian history, not because it is ideal, but because it is better than any alternative the years have offered.

End of chapter one. 15 more chapters and about 34,890 words in the full book.