I have the privilege of teaching church history to theological students.
And though they are almost always too polite to say so outright, a fair few of their number come to the study of the past with a bit of scepticism. Is this relevant? Is this useful? Is this actually helping me to ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (2 Pet. 3:18)?
Among the many good answers one might give to these, not unreasonable, questions, one of my favourites is this: the study of church history reminds us of life’s brief duration and challenges us to build today on that which really matters.
The Jewishness of the Gospels proves they're true
When speaking to Jewish and Gentile friends you might have heard the accusation that the Gospel accounts were written centuries …