It's time to derive your worldview from the Bible

Rather than reading the Bible through the eyes of modern secularism, this provocative six-part course teaches you to read the Bible through its own eyes—as a record of God’s dealing with the human race. When you read it at this level, you will discover reasons to worship God in areas of life you probably never before associated with “religion.”

Chapter 4 – The Historical Maturing of the Church

Mar 2002 - Nov 2002

**Please note that there is a navigation bar at the bottom of the page that enables you to go to the next page for additional lessons in this chapter.

Thu, Mar 07, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 25 mins 42 secs
Features of the founding period of the church. Why it’s important to study church history. Historically interrupted revelation requires a canon. Apocalyptic literature. The authority of oral tradition versus the authority of written tradition. Questions and answers.
Thu, Mar 14, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 17 mins 1 sec
Revelation and inspiration are not the same thing. Defining the Canon of Scripture. The sufficiency of Scripture. Is the standard of truth (authority) Scripture or church tradition? Questions and answers.
Thu, Mar 28, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 27 mins 12 secs
God the Holy Spirit’s sequencing of the church’s foundation period. The authority for truth resides in the revelation (Scripture) not the human messenger or tradition. The tests for a true prophet. The powerful way the New Testament writers showed that Jesus Christ is God. The many arguments concerning Christ’s deity. Questions and answers.
Thu, Apr 04, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 17 mins 2 secs
Major doctrinal questions in church history, from Augustine to the Reformation. Lines of evidence for the deity of Christ. Historical church debate over the purpose and results of the work of Christ on the Cross. Questions and answers.
Thu, Apr 11, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 22 mins 59 secs
Review of the Framework. Apostolic succession. You can’t understand the Cross of Christ without a firm understanding of God’s justice. The ethical dilemma of all religions without a blood atonement. Debates in church history over human free will and total depravity. In what way are all men related to Adam and the fall? Questions and answers.
Thu, Apr 25, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 28 mins 55 secs
Church history during the Reformation. The issue of how God’s grace comes to man from the Cross. The three areas of sin. The Council of Trent and the Reformation. Roman Catholic and Protestant definitions of “justification.” The correct definition of sin. What is the purpose, goal, nature, and role of the church? Questions and answers.
Thu, May 02, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 32 mins 38 secs
Church history. Grace is not a reward for obedience. The connection between the nature of the church and the nature of future things. Premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. The church was premillennial for the first 300–400 years of its history. Matter is not inherently evil. Anti-Semitism. The Bible Conference Movement, the Scofield Bible and Fundamentalism. Your view of the nature of the church is intimately related to your eschatology. Questions and answers.
Thu, May 16, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 20 mins 47 secs
If God’s revelation is not your authority, something else will be. Evolution is ultimately an irrational belief because it destroys categories and, therefore, destroys logic. Church history: the Modernists versus the Fundamentalists. Fundamentalists believe what was once universally held by all Christians. Ministries of the three Persons of the Trinity. The intersession of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Questions and answers.
Thu, May 23, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 25 mins 51 secs
Sanctification in the Church Age. The phases of sanctification. The aim of sanctification. Jesus Christ’s humanity went through a sanctification process. The dimensions of sanctification. The true definition of “confession.” The means of sanctification. Questions and answers.
Thu, May 30, 2002
by Charles Clough
Duration: 1 hr 8 mins 12 secs
The carnal mind is at war with God. There is no neutrality in sanctification. The believer is either maturing or not. The dimensions of sanctification. Every other religion in the world demands that man approach God based on his own merit. What occurs at salvation? Ritual uncleanness, in the Old Testament, related to coming into contact with the results of the fall. Confession and restoration to fellowship. The enemies of sanctification.