"...we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses...". Hebrew 12:1
It is unfortunate that, in general, Christians do not know their own history, nor the outstanding people who have declared and demonstrated Christ through the centuries. Most of us were neither taught, nor did we seek to learn, Church history. If the same importance had been given to learning Church history as has been given to meetings, rituals and systems, our historical and spiritual myopia might have been avoided. We are not separated from the past - our personal Christian journey is influenced by and builds on Church history.
During the last twenty-one centuries, millions of God's servants have labored hard and paid a great price serving their Lord, His kingdom, His church and His gospel. Though the Gospel is very costly, it is proclaimed freely and, as a result, its real worth is often not fully recognized or appreciated. The comfort and peace brought to us and, most importantly, the faith and knowledge of the things of God, were often bought at a terrible cost by the church fathers. Personal sacrifice has always been a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ and their stories serve to confirm this solemn truth.
Church history is our family history because we are part of God’s family, both in heaven and on earth (Eph. 3:15). Therefore, learning church history is like looking through our family photo album and exploring our family heritage.
In the days to come, we will see some of the pioneers and heroes of the faith and how the Gospel came to India, and in particular, to Tamilnadu.
