7 - Reflections on Church History

Despite growing up in a Christian family and attending almost exclusively Christian schools (except for my 9 th  and 10 th  grade years) from kindergarten through undergrad, I never learned much about Church history. I knew some information about Luther, Calvin, the Protestant Reformation, the Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed. I knew that the early Christians were severely persecuted and many were martyred for their faith. I knew there was violent conflict between Catho

How can we discern what is of the Holy Spirit and what is sinful or from Satan, particularly when considering the complexity of Christian history? God’s Word is very helpful in answering this important question. Consider the Scriptures below. Galatians 5:13-23 says, “13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh [ a ] ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one c

Note: The first part of this post is from section 1 of my blog on the history of the Trinity and Jesus’ divinity (you can find the references in section 1’s reference page). The second part are additional reflections  that are new. Reading part 1 is a necessary prerequisite to best understanding part 2 and together are my complete historical reflections regarding the Trinity and Jesus’ divinity, so I include it here. Part 1: History’s Witness- is the Trinity Doctrine true?  I

The fact that the Holy Spirit as the feminine nature of God is not prevalent in the Church today is not evidence that this is not true or biblical. Women have been oppressed for the vast majority of history (Williams, 2025). This began to change in the 20 th  century, at least in the United States in 1920, with women being able to vote (in some countries) (Williams, 2025). Men have dominated Church leadership since the beginning, though there is evidence in the first 3 centur

Universal Salvation and Church History The Church largely believed in universal salvation for the first 5 centuries of its existence (Hanson, 2022). It was really with Augustine that eternal hell solidified as the “orthodox” Christian doctrine (Hanson, 2022). Even if this is not true, given the Church’s, at times, horrific and judgmental stance and action toward every person or group who disagreed with them, completely contrary to Jesus’ message of love, between the 4 th  – 1

If we do not know our Church history, we should read it – and read it from a variety of sources with different viewpoints on the history we are trying to understand. I have tried to do that, and these are my reflections from reading history from a variety of viewpoints. I can of course read more and be more informed than I am! I think I have barely scratched the surface in terms of understanding the history of the topics I have researched in my blog. But, my goal is not to be

C. S. Lewis. (2025). Mere christianity C. S. lewis . Global Publishers. Didache | definition, history, importance, & facts | britannica. (n.d.-a). https://www.britannica.com/topic/Didache Engle, K. (2024, November 7). The Council of Nicaea and its influence on replacement theology . ICEJ USA Branch. https://icejusa.org/2024/11/04/the-council-of-nicaea-and-its-influence-on-replacement-theology/ Hanson, J. W. (2022). Universalism, the prevailing doctrine of the Christian Church