If I were going to lecture a new members' class on the history of Christianity, I would imagine how clergy and scholars might have experienced and expressed their Christian faith and life with respect to this history. From the clergy's point of view, I would expect the development of Christianity in the Middle Ages as it led to a rise in academic institutions where weighty matters of religious thought were debated might be a key area of interest. From the scholars' point of view, I would imagine that accounts such as those regarding Blandina and other martyrs would be considered amazing and almost unbelievable, as well as inspiring. Both groups would be inspired by the stories of great Christian preachers and leaders-both in the Bible and since-who accomplished impossible tasks by virtue of their faith in God's Word. Increasingly, though, I have come to believe that what impacts people of every ilk most powerfully for the cause of Christ is His love. Thus, I would focus on extending that love to new members, teaching them how great men and women in Christian history extended it to others, and how my church is working to communicate that love in its neighborhood and throughout the world.
To begin my class for new members, I would provide a brief overview of my Christian tradition-the Baptist one-and how it arose. The Baptists began as a response to the Protestant Reformation, in which 16th-century English Christians began demanding reform in the Church to address the corruption and selfishness that had become prevalent in it.[1] By the sixteenth century, multitudes of English Christians were demanding reform in their church. They sensed that the church had become corrupt and selfish, and that it had largely left the simple message of the Bible. Several factors contributed to this clamor for reform: the teachings of such great reformers as Martin Luther in Germany and John Calvin in Geneva; the new translations o...