Church History Series (Sunday School); Introductory Lesson

An Introduction to Church History

 

I. The Presumption of the Principle of Dispensationalism.

 

The Church Age is one of the seven Dispensations (or eras of stewardship) in God’s dealings with the human race. In each era, there are different “house rules,” but one way of salvation—by grace, through faith!

 In each dispensation, man is placed within a particular condition and has certain expectations, responsibilities, and requirements. Below is a popular scheme of the various dispensations (there is variation amongst authorities):

 

1.    The Dispensation of Innocence (Genesis 1:28-3:6). The period before the Fall.

2.    The Dispensation of Conscience, from the Fall until the Flood (Gen. 4:1–8:14).

3.    The Dispensation of Human Government (Genesis 8:15-11:9).

4.    The Dispensation of Promise (Gen. 11:10–Ex. 18:27). The Patriarchal Period.

5.    The Dispensation of Law (Ex. 19:1-Acts 1:26). From the giving of the Law to the Atonement of Christ.

6.    The Dispensation of Grace. The “Church Age;” from the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) until the Rapture of the church (1 Thess. 4).

7.    The Millennial Kingdom of Christ (Rev. 20:4-6).

  

Chart: where we’ve been, and where we’re headed...

 

II. The Importance of Church History—our Family History!

We agree with Dr. Henry Halley that Church History constitutes a continuation of the study of Biblical History, and is a sadly neglected area. Church History provides valuable insights into the development of Christian Doctrine, and contains many valuable object lessons as a record of success and failure, triumph and tragedy.

 

III. The Basic Divisions in this Course.

We are studying Church History in seven basic units, which we feel seem to represent natural divisions in the subject matter. It is interesting to note that many interpret the Letters to the Seven Churches of Rev. 2:1-3:22 as prefiguring seven epochs of future Church History.