As the Christian church continues to grow, it’s important to look back at the people and events that have had a lasting impact on the church today. That’s why Vyrso has bundled together two ebooks on Christian history in the Christian History Bundle.
Two people you may not have learned much about in Sunday School, but have unquestionably made an impact on the church, are Josephus, the Jewish Historian, and King Henry VIII, the King of England.
Josephus was not a Christian and although he was Jewish, he was seen to be a traitor by most Jews. He was born wealthy and well-educated, and eventually Josephus became a commander of Jewish fighters. He survived many lost fights and saw over fifty thousand Jewish men and women, including his wife and parents, die. Eventually he and a few Jewish men were trapped in a cave by Roman soldiers, here he betrayed his heritage and left the cave a servant of Rome and traitor to the Jews. In his final years he wrote three historical works, Antiquities of the Jews, War of the Jews, and Against Apion. Through his records the church today finds understanding of what life was like in the for first-century Jews and Romans. Alton Gansky writes in Sixty People Who Shaped the Church: Learning from Sinners, Saints, Rogues, “Taken as a whole, his writings have benefited the church by painting the backdrop of the life and times of first-century Jews and Romans.”
Kenneth Curtis, J. Stephen Lang, and Randy Peterson even provide an example of the understanding we gain from Josephus in The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History. Here’s what they have to say: “Jewish historian Josephus said that Titus wanted to preserve the Temple, but his soldiers were so angry at their resilient opponents that they burned it.” They go on to explain what this meant, that when the Temple was destroyed, even though unintentional, it had a lasting effect on Christianity. Now “the Christians could no longer rely on the empire’s protection of Judaism. There was nowhere to hide from Roman persecution.” They were forced out of Jerusalem and into the world.
In 1534, King Henry VIII decided to take drastic measures and split from the Roman Church. But this wasn’t for doctrinal reform, rather it was because he longed for a divorce from his wife. Convinced his wife would never bare him a son and in love with another woman, he decided to part with the Roman Church when the Roman Church refused to let him part from his current wife. Here’s what Gansky has to say about it:
“Henry VIII shaped the church with a wedge, splitting the English church from the Roman Church. Ironically, he had no dispute with Roman Catholic doctrine, unlike the Protestants of the Reformation movement. Yet the pope and the inconvenience of Roman Church politics stood in the way of his desires.”
King Henry VIII may not have split because he wanted reform, but once he broke from the Roman Church this gave Reformers the perfect foothold to encourage change. Curtis, Lang, and Peterson all agree that this split as a huge moment, “Once broken from the pope, the Church of England remained separate. Succeeding waves of Reformation in England were rapid and tumultuous.”
Learn more about the people and events that have influenced the church through the ages in Alton Gansky’s Sixty People Who Shaped the Church: Learning from Sinners, Saints, Rogues and Kenneth Curtis’, J. Stephen Lang’s, and Randy Peterson’s The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History. Save 84% and get both ebooks today with the Christian History Bundle, available through July 31.
As the Christian church continues to grow, it’s important to look back at the people and events that have had a lasting impact on the church today. That’s why Vyrso has bundled together two ebooks on Christian history in the Christian History Bundle. Two people you may not have learned much about in Sunday School, but have unquestionably made an […]