If you are like most people, you probably don't know too much about the history of the developement of Christian thought. I postulate that only clergy know much about this subject. This article is meant to give only a cursory sketch of the general developement of Christian thought over the last two thousand years. There are only a very few names mentioned here and there have been many that have affected the developement of the Church over the centuries. If you want a thorough history of the development of Christian theology, I strongly recommend "The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform," by Roger E. Olson; it is a very readable and enjoyable treatise on the subject. I will begin by defining exactly what theology is, then launch immediately into the history of the general developement of Christian theological thinking from the first century through to the present one. I will then give my take on the whole vast panorama of the business along with what I genuinely feel will be the solution to the problem of Christian disunity worldwide. These are not merely suggestions as I have been sent by the holy God to reunify the Christian world and return the nation of Israel to its holy ways; they are actually commands,for I am the true head of the Churches of Christ, being from heaven. Let's begin with a description of what theology is.
Theology, according to the New Standard Encycolpedia is the "study and interpretation of religious experience and the nature of God." It is commonly associated with the three major monotheistic religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The aforementioned faiths tend to base their beliefs on a type of theology called "revealed" theology. A revealed theology has the characteristic that its beliefs are based on messages believed recieved by certain enlightened individuals called prophets who were chosen to be in contact with the Creator of the Universe, for whatever reason. This is in stark contrast to a "natural" theology which is based upon reasoning and observation of the world around us. The story of the developement of Christian theological thinking did not actually begin until about the begining of the second century A.D., and its basic purpose is to somehow understand and properly explain salvation - God's redemptive activity in forgiving and transforming sinful humans. The one thing you need to understand about Christian theology is that all questions debated by it and beliefs developed by it over the years was always for a reason - never for no reason. Irenaeus, a second century bishop of the Church, was the first to attempt a theology of Christianity; this he did in response to serious threats to the early Church by cultists, a movement called Gnosticism, and a very serious critic called Celsus.
Theology did not develop in the Christian Church until the second century because up until that time, the early apostles of Jesus were still alive and could be depended on to answer all questions of doctrine and belief. With the death of John in about A.D. 90, this changed. Christian theology arose during the second century for three basic reasons: out of conflict between the then fledgling Church and a cult lead by a man called Montanus; because of the threat to the true gospel of Jesus posed by Gnostics; and, as mentioned earlier, because of an extremely well educated and sophisticated Roman critic called Celsus who, of course, would have a great deal of influence over the Roman Emporer. The early Bishops' of the Church response to these threats were to formalize the teachings and beliefs of the Christian movement by writing letters, booklets and by collecting the apostles' writings and circulating these things among their various congregations; thus began the evolution of Christian thought that we today call theology.
By the third century there came a formalization of the hierarchy of the Church, the formulation of creeds and the establishment of a formal canon of Christian Scripture. The basic apostle's creed was established at the Council of Nicaea in 325, but was not finalized until 381 at constantinople. The doctrine that Jesus was truly God and truly human - consubtantial with both - was established at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
By 1054, the Eastern and Western churches seperated from one another because they had, basically, begun to think too differently about many things than one another. The split between the two, however, was over the filioque clause which was added to the Nicaeo-Constantinopolitan Creed out of nowhere by the Western Pope. The Latins, whose thinking was more legalistic and monergistic, stood in stark contrast to that of the Eastern Europeans who were less formal and more synergistic in their beliefs. The theology of the West was based mainly upon Augustine, while that of the East was based upon Origen, an early North African who was probably Black.
By the eleventh century, scholasticism had taken hold in the Western half of the Church. Scholasticism was a movement that had its origins in the cathedral and monastic schools of the time. The basic quality of Scholastic theology is that it tried to show methodically and philosophically how Christian theology was inherently rational and consistent within the cultural context of Europe. After the advent of this movement, things slowed down in the development of Christian thought for a long time and life went stagnant. By the beginning of the sixteenth century, however, a big shakeup occured.
In 1517, Martin Luther, an Augustinian Monk and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg in Germany, posted his 95 theses on the door of the cathedral church there, thus initiating the series of events that would come to be known as the Protestant Reformation. The 95 theses were critiques of the then current practices of the Roman Catholic Church, among them: simony, indulgences, nepotism, and a host of other things. There is no question there were serious problems in the Roman Church as there still are today, but Luther did not expect to divide Christiandom so decisively. Early on there developed four principal forms of Protestantism - Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist and Anglican - but all have as there basis three principal beliefs that are in contrast to that of the Roman Church. These three beliefs are: sola gratia et fides, sola scriptura, and the priesthood of all believers.
Protestants have found themselves in disagreement over relatively minor aspects of faith, but principally it is the idea of Jesus' presence in the Lord's Supper that is the main source of disunity here. Shortly after the fan de siecle, in 1901, the publication of two notable books - "What is Christianity," and "Reconstruction in Theology," - heralded in the age of Liberal Protestant Theology. By 1950 there was a slight reconciliation between the various branches of Protestantism, but not much of one. With this, we come to things as we have them today.
Now, this is the thing you have to understand about theology, whether you are a Christian, a Jew, or a Muslim: You have to be God Himself to get it right. If you are not, it is best to keep silent about such business! Where, then, does this leave us? What on earth are we to do about the business of the massive separations that exist between the Churches of Christ down here? What are we to do? Simply this: Obey, Obey, Obey! Just know that it is not wise to allow sin and that this is mostly about what's in the Old Testament of the Bible and not just what's in the Gospels. Indeed, holiness, whatever it is and its requirements and salvation, whatever it is and its requirements are the same yesterday, today and tommorrow, and whatever the Gospel message is, it is not "cease being a good Jew!", rather it must be "be a better, even perfect, one!" We the kings of Israel know this for sure, and it's why Jesus spoke in parables. Christianity is the light in Jewish faith for one reason and one reason only: It takes away sin. If you do sin, you are not a Christian, but, as has been noted here, to be a Christian is to be the best of the Jews of ancient times! Follow Saint Peter!
