'Once during my time teaching in Wesley College, after four terms taking a particular class through the history of the church in the ancient world and the Middle Ages, one of my students asked in despair "But where is the good news in all of this?" It was a fair question, to which I could best reply that all the story was good news. The history of Christianity is frequently sordid and depressing, and very frequently, apparently sacred events turn out to have very secular causes. Christians will remain beginners in their faith if they do not face up to this. The miracle of the church's story is that after all its mistakes, bewildering transformations and entanglements in human bitterness, it is still there'
Diarmaid MacCulloch, Groundwork of Christian History, p 11.
1 comment:
Yes, I like the point that accepting the realities of church history is a matter of maturity. I think as our eyes are opened to the mixed motives and downright sinfulness of Christians in the past, we will begin to accept these same characteristics in ourselves. As long as we view the past through rose-coloured glasses we will either be in denial about ourselves or in despair.
Post a Comment