Lesson 8: The Confessional Horizon
Why Is It Important?
“That book was written in the fourth century! People were ignorant of modern science, so what possible value could a book written then have for me?”
“That book was written in the Dark Ages, before the Reformation, when the Catholic Church dominated Europe; it must be full of heresy.”
“That book was written in the 1600s, and the issues addressed are completely unlike today’s. It couldn’t have any relevance for the modern era.”
C.S. Lewis warns us against such arrogance. People who think like this are bloated with...
...the cocksure conviction of an ignorant adolescent that his own village (which is the only one he knows) is the hub of the universe and does everything in the Only Right Way. For our own age, with all its accepted ideas, stands to the vast extent of historical time much as one village stands to the whole world.
—C.S. Lewis, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature, 138, quoted by Michael Reeves in "How to Fight Chronological Snobbery."
How can we be cured of this mental blindness?
The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us. Two heads are better than one, not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely to go wrong in the same direction. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a corrective as the books of the past, but unfortunately we cannot get at them.
—C.S. Lewis, “On the Reading of Old Books,” emphasis mine.
Restate the above quotation simply in one or two short sentences, making sure the meaning is clear.
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Biblical Principles for the Confessional Horizon
Not convinced that we need to rely on others from the past? Consider how the Bible itself provides us with a foundation for studying historical theology:
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. —Deuteronomy 32:7
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. —Proverbs 18:1
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. —Ephesians 4:11–13a
Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. —Hebrews 13:7
And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old." —Matthew 13:52
It is the fool who refuses to remember God’s works in the past, who relies on his own isolated judgment, who ignores the wisdom of those God has given to the church to build up Christ’s body, who looks away from the faithful witness of godly men and women.
You might argue that I didn’t quote any biblical command that requires historical theology itself. That’s true. No Bible verse directly commands us to study historical theology. However, I would argue that biblical principles, derived by implication from Scripture, require it.
One such biblical principle is that “where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Prov 11:14). Why wouldn’t you seek out the best possible counselors in biblical interpretation? As one theologian wrote, practicing historical theology “is a determination to make one’s theological decisions in the best company.”¹
Where could you find better company than men like Athanasius, Augustine, Martin Luther, or Jonathan Edwards?
What other biblical principles show the need of historical theology? Quote and discuss at least one verse.
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