The Church and Western Culture
An Introduction to Church History
by
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Excerpts from The Church and Western Culture:
History is a massive shadow that hovers over our every step. The successes and follies of the past generations loom large on the path behind us, surround us in our present circumstances, and beam an occasional light on the divergent crossroads that lie ahead. We may not like the accumulated tendencies of the human race, but we ignore them at our own peril. As Churchill and Truman wisely advised, to dismiss history and the experiences of others as irrelevant, only augments our risks of repeating mankind’s failures. (p. 3)
The roots of the church’s beliefs and life practices are embedded in the soil of history. Whenever people cease to be aware of membership in an order—an order that joins the dead, the living, and the unborn, as well as an order that connects individual to family, family to community, community to nation—those people will form a “lonely crowd,” alienated from the world in which they wander. But the opposite is also true. We need not be the “lonely crowd.” As we willingly join ourselves to our human history, there is hope that we will find in our roots the very things that unite and support both church and society. (p. 236).
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About the Book
To live meaningfully in the present, and to plan wisely for the future, means building on the past. This kind of understanding is important when it comes to questions concerning both faith and culture. In the development of the Western world there has been a dynamic relationship between the church and civilization in general. This interplay has produced a rich heritage and foundations affecting governments, economics, family life, education, the arts, literature, science, the practice of religion, and many other areas. The church has played a major role and cannot be brushed aside as secondary or irrelevant to our present lives. It is especially important that followers of Christ know the church’s history.
Today there is neglect, almost disdain, for history. This is sad because history really is about us. There is a common nature shared by people in every age who face over and over the same issues, opportunities, problems, and the same mortality. In our ancestors we see ourselves. They are there for us to learn from, to teach us lessons that help keep us from the same mistakes, and inspire us to strive for the good and the great. The past is more than just names, events, and dates. It is filled with actual people with real lives, possessed of important thoughts and ideas that should be carried into the present. This book claims that knowledge of these people and past events is necessary if we are to know ourselves, maintain our sanity, and find our way.
About the Author
As the teaching elder of Zionsville Fellowship, a church he planted in 1981, Tom Streeter combines a pastor’s heart with a teacher’s mind. Deeply committed to biblical authority, his 40 years of pastoral ministry have been characterized by an unswerving devotion to developing disciples in the context of the church. Whether training believers in participatory worship, meaningful relationships, cultural engagement, or a vigorous life of the mind, Tom supplies a passion for right thinking and authentic living. He is recognized for honoring the beauty of God’s created order, the benefits of long term commitment to one community, the joys of consistent study, along with the goodness and quiet purposes of the divinely designed stages and rhythms of human life. Tom and his wife Judy live in