I have met Christians who believe that the Pentecost revival on Azusa Street starting in 1906 was the first time there were spiritual signs and manifestations since the time of the Apostles. But it is erroneous to think that the Pentecostal movement of the early 20th century was the first time since the apostolic age […]

If the Anabaptists claimed that the reformers did not go far enough in restoring the Christian faith it can be just as well be argued that they made statements beyond what Scripture actually teaches also. Consider this teaching by Pilgram Marpeck (Marpeck was a very significant figure in the early development of the Anabaptists. A

Melchior Rinck, 1493 –1545, challenged the Christian authorities at Wartburg, “the fact that you bring against me and all who are of the same face murder, robbery, prison, fire, water, sword and similar lying arguments, proves by your own work that your baptism is an anti-baptism and that you are indeed the Anti-Christ, of whom

As persecution increased in Switzerland the brother and spread to the southeast, Arabia, and North and the South Germany. Dr Balthasar Hummeier, around Easter time, 1525, was a priest in the Waldshut area. “Upon accepting faith baptism as a visible sign of the restored Christian community, Hoffmeyer resigned as priest and immediately he was reelected

In The Anabaptist View of the Church Franklin Littell wrote: “The important point to emphasize is that the real issue here was not the act of baptism, but rather a bitter and irreducible struggle between two mutually exclusive concepts of the church. Zwingli was finally committed to the state church; and the continuance of the

Anyone who promotes Believer’s baptism, baptism by immersion involving someone who is mature enough to make a decision for Christ, is following, at least in part, the Anabaptist movement. The Anabaptists chose adult baptism as a central issue in their stand in the Christian faith. Historically speaking, as strong as some of the reforms in

Perhaps the most famous movement in the Christian Church is the Reformation. As powerful as it was, it is important to note that the emphasis of the Reformation movement was not to restore the church to the standards of the first century. Wordnet defines the reformation as “a religious movement of the 16th century that

The largest Christian church doesn’t use the word “Christian”, rather it uses the word “Catholic”; the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic means “universal” or “everywhere” and so the meaning is that the Catholic church is the only true church and it is everywhere. This article looks at the significance and meaning of Catholicism, a movement that

Jesus Christ was the most incredible man in history and the first movement of the Christian church has to start with him. Jesus was a man of impact, drawing crowds wherever he went. As the promised seed he walked with a plan which he declared was written in the book of Isaiah: The Spirit of

Clement of Rome is significant in Christian history in a number of ways. As we have seen in previous articles his epistle, 1 Clement, was almost included in the canon of scripture we use and was included in some bibles for centuries. His writing not being included in our canon, Clement becomes the first early

The concern of the Epistle of 1 Clement is that some of the Corinthian Church presbyters have been replaced illegally. It speaks to the reality that divisions in the church have been around since the beginning. There are verses in Paul’s epistle that state that there were already divisions then (1Cor 3:3). Clement writes; It

One of the earliest Church fathers to leave writing(s), if not the earliest, is Clement of Rome. Clement was a leader in the subapostolic era and wrote 1 Clement anywhere from around 80AD to 100 AD, but 95-96 AD is commonly held. That means this document was written in the same period as the New

The time of the apostles is the apostolic age. The period right after is called the subapostolic age. Actually, the period of the first few centuries of Christianity has several names including the “time of the apostolic fathers”, the “high patristic age” age, or just “the patristic age”. Names of these fathers include (but not

One of the tenets of interpreting the New Testament is that making doctrine out of the Book of Acts is a slippery slope. That is because it is recognized that the Book of Acts is a historical record. It is an account of what happened, not necessarily what was supposed to happen. For example, on

I have put a timeline page in the menu above. This timeline puts people, places and events in the articles on this website in chronological order. It is a work in progress. Watch for additions to the timeline as articles are added.

Politicians study political history in order to be better rulers. Military men study military history to be better military tacticians. In almost every field an understanding of its history helps practitioners be better at what they do. Yet many Christians ignore any historical information outside of that in the bible itself. One way to view