Why Church History?

00:00
00:00

The history of the church has shaped who we are as Christians today. The more we understand our story, the more we understand ourselves. Today, W. Robert Godfrey explains why church history matters. With your donation of any amount, request A Survey of Church History, Part 1: A.D. 100–600. You’ll receive W. Robert Godfrey’s teaching series on DVD, plus lifetime digital access to the messages and study guide: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3763/survey-of-church-history   Meet Today’s Teacher:   W. Robert Godfrey is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and chairman of Ligonier Ministries. He is president emeritus and professor emeritus of church history at Westminster Seminary California. He is the featured teacher for many Ligonier teaching series, including the six-part series A Survey of Church History. He is author of many books, including God’s Pattern for Creation, Reformation Sketches, and An Unexpected Journey.   Meet the Host:   Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Released on 7 Dec 2024

Share this page...

Coming up next

The Lamb of God

8 Dec 2024
26:26

John the Baptist summarized the ministry of Jesus in one declaration: “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” From his sermon series in the gospel of John, today R.C. Sproul explains the biblical imagery behind this title...

Joy and Peace

9 Dec 2024
26:26

Christians do not honor the Lord by wearing a superficial smile. Our true joy is anchored in the victory of Christ. Today, R.C. Sproul offers needed clarification about the fruit of joy in the Christian life. Get R.C. Sproul’s book Growing in...

Longsuffering and Kindness

10 Dec 2024
26:26

A mature Christian does not react to humiliation with a spirit of retaliation. Today, R.C. Sproul considers some of the most challenging fruit of the Spirit to cultivate when we find ourselves in trying circumstances. Get R.C. Sproul’s book Growing.....
View all episodes
RequestMessagesTimelineExceptionsViews62RouteQueries25Models16Livewire1MailsGateSession
SettingsRequest history8.3.17PHP Version164msRequest Duration3MBMemory UsageGET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
status
200 OK
full_url
https://premier.amperative.site/podcasts/renewing-your-mind-with-r-c-sproul/episodes/why-church-hist...
action_name
podcasts.episodes.show
controller_action
App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
Theme
Open Button Position
Hide Empty Tabs
Autoshow
Reset to defaults
status
200 OK
full_url
https://premier.amperative.site/podcasts/renewing-your-mind-with-r-c-sproul/episodes/why-church-hist...
action_name
podcasts.episodes.show
controller_action
App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
uri
GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
scope_bindings
true
controller
App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
file
app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:20-36
middleware
web
duration
165ms
peak_memory
6MB
response
text/html; charset=UTF-8
request_format
html
request_query
[]
request_request
[]
request_headers
  0 of 0   
array:15 [▼
  "host" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "premier.amperative.site"
  ]
  "connection" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "keep-alive"
  ]
  "pragma" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache"
  ]
  "cache-control" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache"
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua" => array:1 [▶
    0 => ""Chromium";v="130", "HeadlessChrome";v="130", "Not?A_Brand";v="99""
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua-mobile" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "?0"
  ]
  "sec-ch-ua-platform" => array:1 [▶
    0 => ""Windows""
  ]
  "upgrade-insecure-requests" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "1"
  ]
  "user-agent" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)"
  ]
  "accept" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,image/avif,image/webp,image/apng,*/*;q=0.8,application/signed-exchange;v=b3;q=0.7"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-site" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "none"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-mode" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "navigate"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-user" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "?1"
  ]
  "sec-fetch-dest" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "document"
  ]
  "accept-encoding" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "gzip, deflate, br, zstd"
  ]
]
request_cookies
[]
response_headers
  0 of 0   
array:3 [▼
  "content-type" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "text/html; charset=UTF-8"
  ]
  "cache-control" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "no-cache, private"
  ]
  "date" => array:1 [▶
    0 => "Fri, 04 Jul 2025 20:15:27 GMT"
  ]
]
session_attributes
  0 of 0   
array:1 [▼
  "_token" => "jgoickUyTwaBJog4Ey8bJ1GhaaZM2gbjLognAYBv"
]
    • Booting (39.08ms)time
    • Application (125ms)time
    • Routing (4.96ms)
    • 1 x Application (76.17%)
      125ms
      1 x Booting (23.82%)
      39.08ms
      1 x Routing (3.03%)
      4.96ms
      62 templates were rendered
      • 1x templates.podcast-episodes.showshow.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x livewire.section-podcast-playersection-podcast-player.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.sections.header-playerheader-player.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.sections.header-topheader-top.blade.php#?blade
      • 35x components.iconicon.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.player.tracktrack.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.modals.modal-confirmationmodal-confirmation.blade.php#?blade
      • 3x components.modals.generic-1generic-1.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.sharethissharethis.blade.php#?blade
      • 3x components.cards.episodeepisode.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.modals.model-show-signupmodel-show-signup.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.recommendations.index-bespokeindex-bespoke.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.promotional-blockspromotional-blocks.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.sections.footerfooter.blade.php#?blade
      • 2x components.form.inputinput.blade.php#?blade
      • 2x components.form.input-groupinput-group.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.layouts.mastermaster.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.faviconfavicon.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.social-metasocial-meta.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.modals.searchsearch.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.toast-controllertoast-controller.blade.php#?blade
      • 1x components.modals.model-show-thank-youmodel-show-thank-you.blade.php#?blade
      uri
      GET podcasts/{podcast}/episodes/{episode}
      middleware
      web
      scope_bindings
      true
      controller
      App\Http\Controllers\PodcastEpisodesController@show
      as
      podcasts.episodes.show
      file
      app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:20-36
      25 statements were executed (14 duplicates)Show only duplicates58.39ms
      • RedirectMiddleware.php#49premier1.17msselect * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null
        Bindings
        • 0: 1
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:49
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:116
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:797
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:776
      • RedirectMiddleware.php#79premier630μsselect * from `redirects` where `is_regex` = 0 and `match` = '/podcasts/renewing-your-mind-with-r-c-sproul/episodes/why-church-history' and `is_active` = 1 and `redirects`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 0
        • 1: /podcasts/renewing-your-mind-with-r-c-sproul/episodes/why-church-history
        • 2: 1
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Middleware/RedirectMiddleware.php:79
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:116
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:797
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:776
      • DatabaseSessionHandler.php#97premier500μsselect * from `sessions` where `id` = 'Pa5hrVPlQbnznSC671Lt4BU5HWUoH3RN6FvFkgBz' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: Pa5hrVPlQbnznSC671Lt4BU5HWUoH3RN6FvFkgBz
        Backtrace
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/DatabaseSessionHandler.php:97
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:113
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:101
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Store.php:85
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php:147
      • ContentFamilyTrait.php#42premier1.51msselect * from `podcasts` where `slug` = 'renewing-your-mind-with-r-c-sproul' and `is_active` = 1 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: renewing-your-mind-with-r-c-sproul
        • 1: 1
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:42
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:61
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:947
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:41
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180
      • ContentFamilyTrait.php#59premier28.5msselect * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` = 46 and `podcast_episodes`.`podcast_id` is not null and `slug` = 'why-church-history' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        • 1: why-church-history
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Traits/ContentFamilyTrait.php:59
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ImplicitRouteBinding.php:56
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php:947
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Middleware/SubstituteBindings.php:41
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php:180
      • PodcastEpisodesController.php#22premier460μsselect exists(select * from `brands` where `brands`.`id` is null and `brands`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Controllers/PodcastEpisodesController.php:22
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Controller.php:54
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/ControllerDispatcher.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:259
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php:205
      • PodcastEpisode.php#195premier660μsselect exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 25606 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode
        • 1: 25606
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41
      • PodcastEpisode.php#102premier490μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 46 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:102
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
      • Podcast.php#215premier610μsselect exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 46 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        • 1: App\Models\Podcast
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Podcast.php:215
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:104
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
      • SectionPodcastPlayer.php#108premier530μsselect * from `listenable_progress_items` where `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` = 25606 and `listenable_progress_items`.`listenable_id` is not null and `user_id` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode
        • 1: 25606
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:108
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:43
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93
      • SectionPodcastPlayer.php#168premier9.33msselect * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 46 and `published_at` < '2024-12-07 05:01:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` desc limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        • 1: 2024-12-07 05:01:00
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:168
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:45
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93
      • SectionPodcastPlayer.php#178premier6.83msselect * from `podcast_episodes` where `podcast_id` = 46 and `published_at` > '2024-12-07 05:01:00' and `podcast_episodes`.`deleted_at` is null order by `published_at` asc limit 3
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        • 1: 2024-12-07 05:01:00
        Backtrace
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:178
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:46
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93
      • PodcastEpisode.php#195premier580μsselect exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 25606 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode
        • 1: 25606
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • Podcast.php#215premier500μsselect exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 46 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        • 1: App\Models\Podcast
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Podcast.php:215
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:4
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59
      • Setting.php#20premier560μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_donation_link
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • Setting.php#20premier460μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_donation_link
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • Setting.php#20premier440μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_donation_link
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:59
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/View.php:195
      • PodcastEpisode.php#195premier760μsselect exists(select * from `musicables` where `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\PodcastEpisode' and `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 25606 and `musicables`.`musicable_id` is not null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: App\Models\PodcastEpisode
        • 1: 25606
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:132
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:93
      • Podcast.php#215premier890μsselect exists(select * from `music_genres` inner join `musicables` on `music_genres`.`id` = `musicables`.`music_genre_id` where `musicables`.`musicable_id` = 46 and `musicables`.`musicable_type` = 'App\Models\Podcast' and `music_genres`.`deleted_at` is null) as `exists`
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        • 1: App\Models\Podcast
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Podcast.php:215
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:195
        • app/Http/Livewire/SectionPodcastPlayer.php:132
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/BoundMethod.php:36
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Container/Util.php:41
      • PodcastEpisode.php#102premier600μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 46 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:102
        • app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26
        • app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84
      • PodcastEpisode.php#102premier450μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 46 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:102
        • app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26
        • app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84
      • PodcastEpisode.php#102premier500μsselect * from `podcasts` where `podcasts`.`id` = 46 and `podcasts`.`deleted_at` is null limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: 46
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/PodcastEpisode.php:102
        • app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:26
        • app/Models/Traits/ThumbnailImage.php:66
        • view::livewire.section-podcast-player:168
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:84
      • Setting.php#20premier610μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_login_modal_title' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_login_modal_title
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69
      • Setting.php#20premier450μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_login_modal_subtitle' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_login_modal_subtitle
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69
      • Setting.php#20premier370μsselect * from `settings` where `setting_key` = 'web_donation_link' limit 1
        Bindings
        • 0: web_donation_link
        Backtrace
        • app/Models/Setting.php:20
        • app/Helpers/Settings.php:6
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Filesystem/Filesystem.php:110
        • vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Engines/PhpEngine.php:58
        • vendor/livewire/livewire/src/ComponentConcerns/RendersLivewireComponents.php:69
      App\Models\Setting
      6Setting.php#?
      App\Models\Podcast
      5Podcast.php#?
      App\Models\PodcastEpisode
      5PodcastEpisode.php#?
      section-podcast-player #nqQbocytAQUhnKhuqmg7
      array:5 [ "data" => array:10 [ "podcast" => App\Models\Podcast {#2055 #connection: "mysq...
          _token
          jgoickUyTwaBJog4Ey8bJ1GhaaZM2gbjLognAYBv
          ClearShow all
          Date ↕MethodURLData
          #12025-07-04 21:15:27GET/podcasts/renewing-your-mind-with-r-c-sproul/episodes/why-church-history6225161