We have the New Testament because of theological diseases
We have the New Testament largely because of the theological diseases that infected and afflicted the first-generation churches. The apostles wrote to clarify and remind early believers of things they had been taught and to correct false doctrines that were springing up. All of church history resembles the New Testament: remarkable outpourings of the Holy Spirit , gospel advances, churches planted, outbreaks of persecution and martyrdoms, doctrinal distortions and leadership abuses and all manner of sin causing churches to be, as the old hymn says , “by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,” followed by Holy Spirit-empowered revival and reformation movements. Best to Know Your Bible To have knowledge of church history is good — really good. It helps us keep perspective. It helps us keep from being too euphoric and triumphalist in revival, too depressed and defeatist in tribulation, and too enamored of The Next Big Thing, the new method, strategy, or movement that promises