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The HISTORY of CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE
by Pastor Gordon Brubaker

Christ Meeting the World

"Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them,
for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you."

1 Timothy 4:16

INTRODUCTION: WHY THE CONCERN OVER DOCTRINE?

Serious Study Home / Community Door


 

CLASS LESSONS:
ONE
APOSTOLIC FATHERS
TWO
HISTORIC OVERVIEW
THREE
TRINITY
FOUR
GOD
FIVE
CHRIST
SIX
HOLY SPIRIT
SEVEN
MAN
EIGHT
SIN
NINE
SALVATION
TEN
CHURCH
ELEVEN
ANGELS
TWELVE
LAST DAYS

The HISTORY of
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE

WHY THE CONCERN OVER DOCTRINE?

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus is a unique experience. It cannot be historically or scientifically proved or disproved because it is unique! This means that there is no comparable or similar event in history to draw upon for comparison. Christianity is NOT a thought process or an acknowledgment of a moral code, it is a personal relationship and thus an experience with the resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The question then is, "On what authority do we accept or reject a particular belief? How do we judge the authority of a religious experience?

WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?






Christianity, like Judaism, is uniquely a HISTORIC FAITH. This means that we worship a God who reveals Himself in history, or in historic events, such as a people sprung from Abraham, Moses delivering Israel from Egypt, men speaking prophetically of future events which by their occurrence confirm the God who sent them, the 70 year exile of Israel in Babylon and their subsequent return to their homeland. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus is documented in a specific time. These events transform our understanding of God and of ourselves. They also give us a background from which to view our faith.

One may say that as Christians we are seeking the Holy Grail of a right faith. This is why the study of doctrine is important.


CLASS LESSONS:

Go to Lesson One - Apostolic Fathers
1) APOSTOLIC FATHERS AND EARLY CONTROVERSY

Go to Lesson Three - Doctrine of the Trinity
3) DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY

Go to Lesson Five - Doctrine of Christ
5) DOCTRINE OF CHRIST

Go to Lesson Seven - Doctrine of Man
7) DOCTRINE OF MAN

Go to Lesson Nine - Doctrine of Salvation
9) DOCTRINE OF SALVATION

Go to Lesson Eleven - Doctrine of Angels
11) DOCTRINE OF ANGELS

 

Go to Lesson Two - Historic Overview of Christianity
2) HISTORIC OVERVIEW
OF CHRISTIANITY

Go to Lesson Four - Doctrine of God
4) DOCTRINE OF GOD

Go to Lesson Six - Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
6) DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Go to Lesson Eight - Doctrine of Sin
8) DOCTRINE OF SIN

Go to Lesson Ten - Doctrine of the Church
10) DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH

Go to Lesson Twelve - Doctrine of Last Things
12) DOCTRINE OF LAST THINGS

THE STUDY OF DOCTRINE

Read Galatians 3:1-14.

Satan is ALWAYS trying to bewitch the Church; to move us from faith into the works of the flesh. We are justified by FAITH, then we must live by FAITH! We receive the promise of the Spirit through FAITH!



WHY SHOULD WE STUDY DOCTRINE?

1. To learn the History of the Church.

2. To enable you to see and discern error.

3. To see what God is doing in the Church TODAY and appreciate the FRESH outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God.

4. Roberts Liardon said, "If you do not learn why men failed, you will repeat their failure."

a. I Timothy 4:1-2. "The Spirit speaks expressly that...some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils."

b. Jude 3-5a. "EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH!" "I will therefore PUT YOU IN REMEMBRANCE."

c. II Timothy 3:1-10. Men "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away". These men are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth". "BUT THOU HAST KNOWN FULLY MY DOCTRINE..."

d. II Timothy 4:1-4. WE MUST LEARN TO ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE!


REASONS FOR WRONG DOCTRINE

1. Failure to faithfully interpret the Word of God.

2. Holding personal religious tradition equal to the Word of God.

3. Interpreting the Word of God according to tradition.

4. Defending pet doctrines, ideas, traditions (right or wrong) as opposed to seeking after truth.

5. Listening to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Examples: "But God told me..." (meaning the understanding came through a spiritual experience, exclusive of Biblical truth); believing oneself or someone else to be infallible, incapable of error (such as a Pope, or one's prideful attitude).



DEFINITIONS:

DOGMA: A firm public resolution or decree. A religious truth based on authority and officially formulated by an ecclesiastical assembly. They are the fruit of human reflection, the reflection of the Church, often as a result of theological controversies. Tend to be exclusive more than inclusive. Inflexible.

1. ROMAN CATHOLIC DOGMA: They minimize, if they do not exclude, the reflection of the Church as a body of believers, and substitute for it the STUDY OF THE TEACHING CHURCH OR THE HIERARCHY of whom the Pope is the infallible spokesman.

2. REFORMERS: Dogmas are derived from SCRIPTURE ONLY. They did not recognize the unwritten word or tradition as a source of dogma. Dogmas were seen as the FRUIT OF THE REFLECTION OF THE CHURCH, AS A BODY OF BELIEVERS, on the truths of revelation, and as the official formulation of competent representative bodies.

3. MODERN: INTELLECTUAL FORMULATIONS OF its EXPERIENCES, SENTIMENTS, and BELIEFS. Their formulation should not be the work of an individual theologian, but of a community, either the Church, or the State going hand in hand with the Church.

DOCTRINE: A DIRECT, often naive, EXPRESSION OF A RELIGIOUS TRUTH. It is often not a precise formulation. It may be the formulation of a single person. Tends to be flexible. BASED ON RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE and thoughts of this experience being compared with other's thoughts.

THEOLOGY: An EFFORT TO EXPLAIN the EVENTS of religious history.

All dogma is doctrine, but all doctrine is not dogma. All doctrine is theology, but all theology is not doctrine.

Serious Study Home / Community Door

CLASS LESSONS:
ONE
APOSTOLIC FATHERS
TWO
HISTORIC OVERVIEW
THREE
TRINITY
FOUR
GOD
FIVE
CHRIST
SIX
HOLY SPIRIT
SEVEN
MAN
EIGHT
SIN
NINE
SALVATION
TEN
CHURCH
ELEVEN
ANGELS
TWELVE
LAST DAYS

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