Monday, May 8, 2023

It is the 8th of May, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Happy Monday- today, we head to the mailbag- so many emails recently- thank you, perhaps an all-mailbag weekend edition or week of shows coming up, so keep sending your questions in.

We have a relatively new listener who sent a question- Amanda in Port Perry, Ontario, Canada. She pointed out that it was the home of DD Palmer- the father of Chiropractic study- also kind of a nut. Saw himself as a religious leader of chiropractors who received the techniques from the spirit of a dead physician and believed that 95% of all illnesses came from a subluxated vertebra. Wow. Also- Canada needs to win the Stanley Cup- Tampa Bay, of all places, can’t keep taking the greatest of North American trophies. The last time it was won in Canada, I was 14.

Well- Amanda asks:

“My question is whether there is a line of evangelicalism (namely Fundamental Independent Baptists) that can trace their roots back to the time of Christ?” She had a friend who didn’t recognize the Reformation and thought their church went back to the original church. But Amanda thought that the Catholic Church goes all the way back, and if you broke from them, you were Protestant."

Ok- so, it gets really tricky. But to simplify- in the 400s, a number of churches broke from the established churches in Rome and the Byzantine Empire. This happened around the council of Chalcedon when Christians were debating how Jesus had two natures- or was both God and Man. And then, in 1054, the Churches in the West- Rome and Greek divided over mostly political beef but also the wording in the Nicene Creed. And then, in 1517, the Protestant Reformation took place (and some Anglicans and even some Lutherans like to be pedantic and say, well, actually, we aren’t Protestants either- ugh). So essentially, these are the main schisms, and then amongst Protestants, there was schism like wildfire.  

Some independent churches in the Baptist tradition claim autonomy from the Reformation- but their roots are technically in the Radical Reformation- the Anabaptists and the like. But the “our church goes back to the beginning” is a common claim from various churches that want to establish the validity of their tradition with an appeal to history. It is a common thing amongst all people, not just Christians, to appeal to a “golden age”- a time when things were better. The problem is that you’re just swapping some problems for others. As far as the church goes- schism and disagreement have been around from the beginning of the church- it seems part of the curse that will take the second coming to resolve. This shouldn’t relegate us to doing anything, however. Jesus’ final prayer was that his church should be one and we should do all we can to find unity based on truth. But we also mustn’t get disillusioned when it doesn’t all work out.

So- every church has a history and tradition. Almost all claim some kind of connection to the Apostle’s teaching, and some try to make historical arguments, but lacking the historical record, often we have to then say, “My tradition says so” or “My interpretation of the Apostle’s teaching says so.”

Protestants historically have said they connect to the early church on account of teaching the same thing the Apostles did. I think this is an important point for those of us who do celebrate the Reformation. At its best, it wasn’t innovation but trying to better follow the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. At its worst, it becomes one more schismatic movement that begets more schism. Of course, I say this as a scholar-in-residence for 1517- I’m pro-Reformation but wary of it becoming a new idol. So I get your friend, Amanda- who says, “I don’t need the Reformation I need the early church”. But, we are all somewhere on the family tree- and the vast majority of churches (maybe all) have a past with either the schisms of the 400s, 1054 or 1517. I think we might do we ll to remember the oft quoted (although we aren’t certain who said it first) maxim: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

We need to define essentials- but you get the gist. Thanks, Amanda for listening, and you can send me your questions at danv@1517.org.

The last word for today from the daily lectionary- from Psalm 102 and the Scottish Metrical Psalter:

 13  Thou shalt arise, and mercy yet

        Thou to mount Zion shalt extend:

     Her time for favor which was set,

        Behold, is now come to an end.

 14  Thy saints take pleasure in her stones,

        Her very dust to them is dear.

 15  All heathen lands and kingly thrones

        On earth thy glorious name shall fear.

 16  God in his glory shall appear,

        When Zion he builds and repairs.

 17  He shall regard and lend his ear

        Unto the needy's humble pray'rs:

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 8th of May 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by the one-time bassist for the death metal band subluxated vertebra, he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man still making his way through the Exorcist movies- 2 were horrible, but three was surprisingly good until the end. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.