The treasures of church history

I just finished a book this morning entitled Pages from Church History by Stephen J. Nichols. Stephen has written several very readable books on the lives of major figures in church history. This book devotes one chapter to thirteen such men who made a mark on the church. Each chapter provides an excellent overview of each man's life with a lot of personal information and vignettes. The rest of each chapter considers one of the man's major writings, normally a book or two, and ends with the continuing legacy of this man's influence in the church today.

For example, Nichols spends several pages unfolding the life of John Bunyan, the beloved author of Pilgrim's Progress and several other lesser known books such as The Holy War which some of our church children are reading this year. Bunyan was imprisoned for holding an illegal religious service. He was to be released after three months, but his three month sentence turned into twelve years because he could not promise that he would not preach again when he was released.

Nichols picks up the story:

He feared most of his family as they would be without support, and he absolutely dreaded what might await his beloved blind daughter, Mary.

The church in Bedford rose to the occasion and supported the family throughout his imprisonment. Bunyan also contributed to his family's support by making shoelaces. So his fears for his family were never realized. In fact, Mary eventually memorized the route from her home to the prison, and the highlight of Bunyan's day came every evening as Mary arrived with a bowl of soup for her father. While she brought soup, Elizabeth [his wife] made daily treks to the courthouse to plead for her husband's release. . . .Always a lover of music, he fashioned a flute from one of the legs of his formerly four-legged stool.

Of course, Bunyan spent much of his time in prison writing his books as well. Eventually he was released from prison and spent the rest of his life preaching and writing. He was imprisoned again for six-months but was released largely due to the efforts of John Owen. H died on August 31, 1688 having contracted a fever on a horseback ride to London to preach.

Our study of Scripture ought to be a first-order discipline in our lives. But the study of church history can definitely be a worthwhile second-order discipline. This year I have already benefited not only from this work but also by listening to John Piper's biographical sketch of Andrew Fuller, a contemporary of and huge supporter of William Carey. Piper has delivered several such talks on men like Owen, Bunyan, Mueller, and Judson to name a few. Also our family is reading Piper's little 80 page book on William Wilberforce which has some great gems of truth. Even our youngest son is enjoying this journey into church history as we learn about Wilberforce's younger years and his steadfast, joyful perseverance in serving God in government and in the church!

Nichols ends his work with a balanced reminder of how we should interpret the lives of men and women in church history by noting,

Our tendency is to go on one extreme or the other. On the one hand, we tend to nearly idolize our heroes. Historians call this hagiography, the turning of our heroes into saints who can do no wrong. On the other hand, we can unduly judge them against modern standards or standards developed later in time. . . .Succumbing to either tendency causes us to misread and misapply history.

Reading church history doesn't have to be boring. It can be exhilarating and thanks to men like Nichols, John Piper, and Steve Lawson, it is easily accessible to us today.