Smoky Mountain Bible Institute
(Est. 2009) Lesson #94
We last left off in 1580 with the
Book of Concord, which was published for the first time in Dresden. This book
is the confessional standard for all orthodox Lutheran church bodies. LCMS
pastors publicly commit to teach in accord with its confessions at their
ordinations and installations. All LCMS congregations also have an unalterable
article in their constitution that commits them to teach in accord with the
Book of Concord’s confessions.
That being said, a lot has happened
in church history over the past 438 years. Here is a smattering of significant
events as I see them from the 16th century (1500s) to the present.
In 1525, the Anabaptist (re-baptism)
movement began. They were considered part of the radical reformation, rejecting
baptismal regeneration and the real presence of Christ in the Lord’s supper.
Ulrich Zwingli is often misidentified with this group because he did not
believe in the real presence, however, he did believe in baptismal regeneration
and infant baptism.
In 1529, King Henry the 8th
of England began a break from the Roman Catholic Church, and after a number of
parliamentary acts (the final being 1534), the Church of England (COE) was
established with the King being given the title “Supreme Head of the Church of
England”. Initially, the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church were
doctrinally very similar. Over time, however, some protestant reforms became
part of COE doctrine, developing over time into what we know today in America
as the Episcopal or Anglican churches. A number of church bodies can trace
their roots to the COE: Puritan, some Baptist, Methodist, Quaker, Unitarian,
Universalist.
In the late 1530s, John Calvin began
his reform efforts, publishing his institutes in 1536. Having been born in
France, he spent much of his adult life in Strasburg and Geneva. Reformed,
Presbyterian, Unitarian /Universalist, Pentecostal, and many other church
bodies can trace their roots to John Calvin.
In the 1600s, the many Baptist,
Puritan, and Presbyterian churches became what is known as congregationalist.
The polity of the LCMS is heavily influenced by congregational practices.
In the early 1800s, the Adventist
and Holiness movements splintered from Methodism, and later in the early 1900s,
the Pentecostal movement splintered from the holiness movement.
In 1854, Rome established the
doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and in 1870, the doctrine of Papal
Infallibility. However, Papal Infallibility is only said to apply when the Pope
makes a doctrinal proclamation Ex cathedra (Latin for “from the chair”), meaning the seat or
throne of authority.
While Eastern Orthodoxy has about 14
self-governing bodies that are all doctrinally very similar, the western
Christian church is split into many. About half of the world’s Christians claim
to be Roman Catholic, but the rest of Christianity is in as many as 25,000
denominations.
That will wrap up our discussion of
history. The next topic I had planned on addressing was the social sciences,
then theology, but this discussion of so many Christian church bodies makes me
think that you may wonder more about them and their differences, so I think we
will begin to address that question next month and see where it takes us.
In Christ,
Pastor Portier
