"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." George Santayana
This famous quote is a little misleading. When Santayana says "we are DOOMED to repeat it"this insinuates that history is a bad, negative force. There are some things in history that we do not wish to repeat, like the Holocaust. There are others that we should strive to repeat, like the emphasis on scripture (sola scriptura) of the Reformation.
How much church history do you know? Any? Some?
I don't know nearly as much as I would like, but I have learned some. Church history can have many important points of applications to our lives today.
Here is an example. Recently I read a historical biography about George Mueller who lived in the 1800's. His life challenged me greatly in the area of prayer and faith. I would love to repeat his passion and dependence on prayer.
There are many other noble reasons to delve deeply into history in general and church history in particular. Jason Duesing has written an excellent white paper article that details these benefits. I encourage you to read it and learn from history.
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