Upside Down Thinking During Trials

Now the believer of humble means should take pride in his high position. But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow. For the sun rises with its heat and dries up the meadow; the petal of the flower falls off and its beauty is lost forever. So also the rich person in the midst of his pursuits will wither away. Happy is the one who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God promised to those who love him.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. (James 1:9-18)

As we previously established, James is writing as a pastor to a scattered flock of persecuted Jewish believers in Jesus Christ. Significantly, James is probably the earliest (or one of the earlier) New Testament texts ... so these believers lacked even rudimentary Christian teachings to carry with them into Gentile lands. What they did carry, however, was a strong background in the "Old" Testament and a fully Jewish worldview.

In this worldview, Deuteronomy 28-31 played a key role; blessings followed obedience to God, and curses followed disobedience. Prosperity, therefore, was expected to follow those in whom God was pleased. Suffering was considered a sign of God's judgment. Jesus' disciples expressed the Jewish worldview perfectly in their question to Jesus in John 9:1-2: Now as Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man or his parents?”

James knew his flock was suffering, and he also knew what they were thinking. So he sent them a letter filled with some "upside down" thinking to help them better understand their trials. After telling them to rejoice for the growth the trials were facilitating, and reminding them of the wisdom God offers, he interjects what at first appears to our linear Western minds to be a new topic, but in James' eastern circular presentation serves to expand upon the original idea of trials. Specifically, James "evens the playing field" for both rich and poor believers. Rather than feeling they are on the wrong end of judgment, each has something to glory in: those of "humble" circumstances have a "high position"; while those well-off should glory in the transitory nature of their riches. Neither is condemned here for undergoing trials; instead, each is exhorted to view their earthly financial circumstances through a broader, eternal perspective. Both have the opportunity to see their trials turned into a crown of life.

James then explicitly addresses the human tendency to blame God for temptations that we give into. Again, this is closely related to the original subject, trials, because every trial affords either an opportunity for growth or the chance to yield to temptation. James reminds believers that God doesn't tempt man. Sin instead comes about when man is tempted by desires - the picture painted by "lured and enticed" signifies an entrapping and indeed, the original Greek references a fish drawn out of the safety of its retreat. After yielding, it conceives and gives birth to sin, whose progeny is death. James is brutally straightforward here. We may parse Paul and come down on different sides of the interpretive coin, but here James is not so nuanced. Enticement - lust - sin - death. We might not like it, but we get it - without any further cross-referencing or word studies necessary.

James then cuts to the heart of how we can avoid temptation during trial - or any other time. "Don't be led astray - God gives good gifts" is the heart of his message. Ultimately, sin is the result of desiring something more than God, of thinking that what temptation offers is better than what God offers. James lifts up the promise of God's good and perfect gifts. Against the lure of temptation, God has something better - always. Whatever the trial they were facing, they could know that what He offers is wonderful. And He doesn't change. James here is reminisicent of Hebrews 13:5: Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” In other words: Be content with what you have, because what you have - is HIM!

James concludes this portion of his exhortation with a reminder: God gave birth to us through the message of truth so we can be firstfruits of all His creation. Interestingly, the phrase "gave birth" is the same as in verse 15, where desire "gives birth" to sin. Because God gave birth to us as His firstfruits, we no longer have to give birth to sin. Instead, He works within us to produce the fruits that reflect our Father. Here is the reminder that indeed, faith is at the heart of James' message.

Wisdom in Trials

But if anyone is deficient in wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without reprimand, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:5-8)

We often look at this passage as wisdom in life - and indeed that is a Biblically consistent interpretation. This is the New Testament equivalent of Proverbs 3:5-6:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

James covers the same points as Solomon: Faith, consistency, acknowledging God. We do well to look to God for wisdom in all areas of life.

But a look at the context of James 1:5-8 affords a special blessing, because we see that he broaches the subject of wisdom in the context of trials. As we considered previously, James presents trials as inevitable, and calls us to joy in them as God works them in our lives to complete us. The "But" of James 1:5 connects the two thoughts: James is essentially saying, "Trials are going to come - hang in there, have joy, let God work out in you what He intends. But if you need wisdom ...".

In times of trial, wisdom is often at a premium. So James lets us know that it's okay to ask for wisdom during those times. In fact, God will give it to us generously and without reprimand.

What exactly is "wisdom"? James himself defines it for us later in this letter. James 3:17-18 lays out the elements of godly wisdom, contrasted from the demonic "wisdom" of the earlier verses:

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical. And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace.

During times of trial (as other times) we can expect God's course of action for us to include these characteristics-purity, peace, gentleness, accommodation of others, mercy, good fruit, impartiality, authenticity. We can also know that the fruit produced will consist of righteousness, and the soil is peace.

Faith characterizes our receipt of this wisdom. Ronald Dunn, in his classic work Don't Just Stand There, Pray Something, recalls learning this through the experience of his son's illness. While he prayed desperately for wisdom, he never experienced a flash of brilliance or a burning bush. Instead, he made the decision that seemed right to him after prayer, and upon reflection saw that at every point he had made the correct choice. That's when he realized that this passage doesn't say, "and he will feel wise". It says, "and it will be given to him." We have to believe that God has answered our prayer for wisdom!

Faith is a major theme in James, as is authenticity. In many ways this passage is the first example of the works that James expects to accompany a believer. James doesn't want his flock to be easily tossed, to be double-minded, or to be unstable. He contrasts doubt with the faith that God has granted prayers. This foundation of faith will be crucial as we progress in our study, for only in faith can a believer fulfill the works that God intends for him or her to pursue.

In this context we can see that even the seemingly "harsh" words for those who do pursue wisdom without faith, with instability, with wavering - that they should not expect to receive an answer - is still within the overall context of maturing their faith, making them complete. God challenges them to truly believe that He will give them wisdom in their trial - and the result, as James 3 states, will be righteousness.

The book of James consistently moves believers toward authenticity in their faith. The way we pursue wisdom needed during trials is just one example of the maturity God desires to bring into each believer's life.

Consider it Joy: James 1:1-4

(Biblical text and some background information from www.nextbible.org)

From James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes dispersed abroad. Greetings!

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything.

James doesn't waste any time with his dispersed audience. He immediately addresses the situation they find themselves in: trials. James' audience was the "12 tribes" in the Dispersion - the Jewish Christian community spread throughout the region. Jews were scattered throughout the Roman empire prior to the time of Christ, but two specific persecutions led to a diaspora of Jewish Christians from Jerusalem: the persecution of the church by Saul (approx. 34 AD, Act 7-8), and Herod’s persecution (approx. 44 AD, Acts 12). Whichever context led to the need for James to reach his flock by letter, the fact is that they were being persecuted before they left Jerusalem.

As James makes clear in both chapter 2 and chapter 5, their oppression was not merely because of their faith. To "fall into" trials literally means to be encompassed by them, surrounded. These people were poor, and rich landowners took advantage of the poor regardless of religious status. In Palestine before the fall of the temple in AD 70, most of the population were peasants with small land plots. Some family members worked the land, but most brothers were either traders or laborers. Wealthy landowners took advantage of the situation, robbing people of their lands, discriminating in hiring labor, and at times suppressing the church. This was a time in church history where most persecution was by Jews, as the church was still considered a sect of Judaism by the Jewish leadership. So, these Jewish Christians had the additional trial of their so-called brothers of the flesh persecuting them for their faith. A further trial was the prophesied worldwide famine (Acts 11:27-30) which happened around the time of Agrippa's persecution. Thus, the "trials" James addresses cover a broad range of challenging circumstances.

James' writing style typically involves a summary statement, followed by explanations, examples, and other supporting details. This passage is no different. James outlines to his audience the broad command: "Consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials". Obedience to James' admonition does not rely upon mere emotion or mindset. The word James uses for "consider" carries a connotation of judging, or making a determination, as a ruler would do. James is essentially teaching his scattered, persecuted, impoverished, hungry flock: "Weigh the evidence, and make a decision to view this as nothing but joy." James calls his readers to involve their will in the process. The difference this makes is significant: Rather than following our feelings, or trying to convince ourselves and others that it's really going to be okay, we can look at all the evidence and choose the side of joy.

Joy, of course, is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), so this decision will have to be a Spirit-empowered one. Yet James does not leave us without a tangible motivation as well. The very trials we are choosing to count as joy, James tells us, are the things that lead to our endurance, our perserverance. Endurance, Strong's lexicon tells us, is "characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings." Essentially, James is telling us that if we choose to consider THIS trial as joy, we will be strengthened and the next one will be less likely to sway us. Since the trials are presenting as coming "when" rather than "if", we can know that they will happen. We can be equipped for them by weighing our options and coming down on the side of joy.

Furthermore, James observes, perserverance isn't the end of the road for believers. We don't merely muddle through trials. As we learn to perservere in them, we are "perfected" or made mature ... lacking nothing or as this translation states, "not deficient in anything." Not lacking, not deficient ... calls to mind the literal translation of Ps. 23:1: "The Lord is my Shepherd; I lack nothing." Mankind tends by nature to focus on what we don't have ... but by the Spirit-empowered decision to consider a trial as JOY we can instead grow in perserverance and eventually feel that we lack nothing.

One Powerful Message

If you were a church leader and had an opportunity to write a letter to your scattered flock undergoing persecution, what would you deem important to communicate? Would your purpose be logical, philosophical arguments for significant doctrinal truths - or would you be more intent on focusing on the practical application of the elements of the Christian faith?

That's somewhat the situation faced by James - not the apostle, most likely, but the brother of Jesus. James became a follower of Jesus after the resurrection and went on to be a leader in the Jerusalem church. These Jewish Christians were scattered following the stoning of Stephen (Acts. 8:1-4; 11:19) and endured persecution in other locales as well. At a very early date - likely in the mid-40s, even before the Jerusalem Council - James wrote a "circular letter" that was passed along the Jewish Christian networking lines. It is preserved in our Bibles as the book of James, possibly the earliest written text of the New Testament, and one that is not without controversy. Viewed in the context of its writing, however, many of the questions raised about James can be answered.

James' main purpose is to encourage scattered Christians to live out their faith in practical ways. In fact, the theme of the book could be simply, "A Working Faith." James is not concerned as much with orthodoxy - though he is fully orthodox in his theology - as with orthopraxy, or right living. His famous section in 2:17-26 includes a challenge that would have hit at the heart of his Jewish audience: "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." (v. 19). In the straightforward way of a man with no time to lose, he observes that the basic Jewish confession, the Shema, the heart of theology for Jews which was still recited by Jewish Christians, was incomplete by itself. Even the demons believe in one God, he writes ... but he goes on to challenge that confession apart from works of faith.

It was this section of the book, which goes on to extol the necessity of works for justification, that led Martin Luther (among others) to reject this book as non-canonical. However, a thorough study of the book will show that James is not inconsistent with the fundamental theology of the New Testament and its emphasis on justification by faith; he simply has a different emphasis or priority in his theology. Again, the fact that he is writing to a scattered audience undergoing persecution is critical to understanding his theology. James is teaching them as a pastor, trying to cover as much ground as possible in one letter, knowing that their need for teaching is probably urgent (remember, there likely were no other New Testament scriptures at this point). His pleading with them comes through as we read and re-read his letter. He repeatedly calls them "brethren", and carries a pleading, corrective tone along with exhortation and encouragement.

James is an epistle of wisdom. While it has an internal structure, its form is not obvious like Paul's doctrinal/practical divisions in his epistles. Instead, James blends the doctrinal with the practical. One possible way of viewing the internal structure is around the theme of faith: Faith and trials, faith and works, faith and prayer.

In the epistle, James touches on the themes of faith, perseverance, favoritism, works, the law of liberty, the tongue, sinful attitudes, wisdom, relationship with believers, judgment, and prayer. Some of his key points include:

• The testing of faith is a joy because it produces endurance.
• Become a doer of the word, not merely a hearer. Endure to do!
• Faith without works is dead - the works perfect or complete the faith.
• A truly mature person will bridle the tongue and practice wisdom from above.
• A mature person will maintain an attitude of humble submission to God.
• Believers should be patient during suffering - praying in faith.
  

That James does not contradict Paul's teaching on justification by faith will bear out over future lessons. However, one verse will show that while James is emphasizing the work of faith, he has a complete grasp of the Godward aspect of salvation:

In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. (James 1:18)

Here James is very specific - God brought us forth by His will, by the word of truth, for a specific purpose: that we would be "first fruits" among His creatures. This is the basic teaching of Jesus - we are to be fruitful. We are chosen to bear fruit for God's glory, Jesus said, and here James wholeheartedly concurs. James' epistle focuses on what that fruit looks like in real life.

Radical Christianity

Something happened to the church around 311 A.D. After nearly 3 centuries of being persecuted, tolerated, or ignored - but not legally recognized in most places - the church in the Roman Empire experienced a profound cultural shift. Emperor Constantine reportedly saw a cross in the sky with the Latin words meaning "In this sign, conquer". He adopted the cross as his standard and in 313 A.D., through the Edict of Milan, gave Christians full legal status. Suddenly Christianity was not a religion of outsiders.

Like any cultural change, this one did not happen in a vacuum. Almost immediately, the church in Persia, previously at peace with the government there, began to be persecuted. It appears that the Persian leaders associated Christianity with being in opposition to Rome. Rome's enemies, therefore, were Persia's friends. But when Christianity in Rome became acceptable, Persia's Christians were no longer considered Rome's enemies. The worst persecutions of Christians to that date took place - including 153,000 Christians murdered in one incident.

Whether Constantine's edict was a good thing or not remains a debated question even within the modern church. But the fact is, when Christianity was accepted legally and even adopted by leaders, it became easier for people to be Christians. And with that came a high degree of nominalism and compromise - not unlike what we in American Christianity experience today.

These ripple effects soon had a significant impact on believers who were grieved at the lack of depth in Christianity once it became a mass movement. These "radical" Christians began to respond in extreme ways, living in the desert and adopting ascetic practices. The monastic movement soon developed as a direct response to nominalism.

Interestingly, monasticism developed in the other areas of the church as well, but with different dynamics. Ultimately the Coptic, Celtic, and Byzantine (Nestorian/Persian) churches all had monastic movements. We have seen how the Celtic monks preserved ancient texts after the fall of Rome. Another key contribution of the monastic movement was the continuation of the Christian mission. Simply put, without the monastic movement, not much would have taken place in missions from about 400 AD until the Reformation. While there were solitary individuals from time to time, by and large the monks of the various religious traditions carried the Gospel in an effort to fulfill the Great Commission.

This fact of Christian history can provide key lessons for us in retrospect. As 21st century Christians seeking to grasp "the big picture" and be on mission with God, what can we learn from a millenium where mission was dominated by monasticism?

• Don't underestimate the value of lay people. While church leaders did eventually come from the monastic orders, the initial movement was begun not by clergy, but by laity who were frustrated by spiritual leaders focused more on political power than on the Gospel. If you are Protestant, you can see in this example part of the origin of the idea of the "priesthood of the believer" - the idea (rooted in Scripture) that we are all a kingdom of priests.
• Don't minimize the impact of fringe movements. Ralph Winter observes that most if not all the key missions and renewal movements since the New Testament have started with "fringe" movements. The believers who wanted to pursue a radical lifestyle as a protest to the nominalism of their day soon grew into a movement significant enough to impact the world for Christ. We've seen this in our own day - half a century ago no one had heard of Youth with a Mission, but this "fringe" group now has nearly 16,000 people serving in 149 countries!
• Don't assume God waits until we're "ready". The various monastic groups spread the Gospel with varying levels of Scriptural understanding or even Scriptural texts. Their attempts to hide from the world usually backfired, and people found them to demand teaching. Their resources were slim and their methods radical: Celtic monks, for example, would set sail from Ireland without any direction in mind, trusting that wherever they landed was their mission field. In later years, when monks were pressed into leadership roles in the church it was often against their wishes and even despite their blatant protests. Yet the fruit of their labors remains - a Chinese inscription dated in the 600s AD shows us Nestorian monks made it to the other side of the world. All of which leads to another point...
• Don't reject the importance of the church structure. The core of the church played an important role in providing doctrinal guidance and spiritual leadership to a zealous monastic movement. While there was much that occurred that should not be emulated, there was also a thread of continuity that was vitally important. For the most part, the monastic movement knew that they were bringing new believers into the larger body of Christ and that the creeds and doctrinal statements were important to successful adoption of the new religion.
• Prioritize Scripture. Where they were most successful, the monastic movements spread with Scripture in the native language of the people. Those regions that had a stronger emphasis on Scripture taught to them were more likely to be orthodox than regions that only had Scripture minimally or as a veneer to paganism. Scripture also provides a safeguard - as discussed before there is a fine line between contextualization and compromise.
• Christ has built His church on a rock, and nothing can prevail against it. But we can boast only in Him. The study of church history has convinced me that only God could have caused the church to prevail through the centuries. Persecution couldn't kill her; compromised leadership couldn't kill her; theological hair-splitting couldn't kill her; and even a ragtag bunch of radical believers could be used in her advance. Whatever challenges the church faces around the world today - from humanism to nominalism to persecution to inept leadership to zealous but untrained laity - she remains the bride of Christ, the one He will present to God "without spot or blemish". Most remarkably, Paul says in Ephesians 3:10 that through the church - through this weak, fallible bunch of people - God displays His mainfold wisdom in the spirit realm. Surely that manifold wisdom is reflected in Christ Himself, as God chooses the foolish of the world but ultimately reveals His wisdom in Christ:

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many
were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:18-31)

Doctrinal Differences

This week I've studied about the advancement of the church into Asia and Africa, and the doctrinal questions that arose in the first centuries of the church. Looking beyond the borders of Christianity to the unreached world of India, Southeast Asia, Oceania, and the Americas, it becomes apparent that as Christianity expands, doctrinal questions will continue to arise. In actuality, that is exactly what happened.

Because Christianity allows cultural adaptation in its forms, the potential for doctrinal adaptation exists as well. In fact, doctrinal controversies were more common than not as the Gospel spread.

One of the most important controversies was that of the doctrine of Christology - who was Jesus? Was He God in the flesh? Was He a man? Was He both? Some significant divisions arose over seemingly subtle differences in these definitions. The orthodox description of Jesus as fully God, fully man, developed over a couple of centuries of discussion, debate, and controversy. This was ultimately reflected in the Nicene Creed.

On the fringes of orthodoxy, the Nestorians - which would come to dominate the eastern church - emphasized the humanity of Christ, while the Monophysites - which strongly influenced North Africa - emphasized Christ's deity. Both groups were ultimately castigated as heretical by the Roman church, but both developed a strong missiological impact. It is noteworthy that while there were extremes in each group, the mainstream of both groups did not deny either Christ's deity or humanity - only the emphasis was different. However, there were groups that were fully outside the realm of orthodoxy which completely denied either Christ's deity or His humanity; these groups were more at home in the gnostic realm than the Christian world.

What made the difference? In general, as the Gospel spread, those regions that had all of Scripture in their language were closer to true orthodoxy. Areas that had some Scripture in their language tended to be orthodox in those areas they had Scripture, and fell into the fringes or beyond where they did not have Scriptural references. And regions where the church failed to produce Scripture in their own language were most likely to be completely outside the realm of orthodoxy.

This is significant for missiology today. As the Gospel spreads, it is crucial to provide written Scripture in the heart language of the people. Where written Scripture exists, literacy improves and other literature follows.

Another significant point: New churches need doctrinal guidance and direction. It is critical to train indigenous leadership and allow them to see for themselves the truths of Scripture, but this should not be done in a vacuum. Eph. 4:11-14 teaches that teachers are one of God's gifts to the church until there is unity of faith, so that we won't be swayed by every doctrine that comes along. That means that teaching should be a significant part of missions - even though the goal is not to stick around forever, but to equip the church to be able to carry on the faith "once for all given to the saints."

There may still be differences in doctrinal emphasis - each church arises in a unique environment, facing challenges that will naturally be expressed in the emphasis made in their doctrinal statements. Yet the common thread of orthodoxy, especially about the Christian distinctives, can unite believers despite other cultural differences.

Under the Surface of History

Christopher Dawson, in Religion and the Rise of Western Culture, highlights for us how the Apostle Paul's experience in Europe and Asia effected such a subterranean change that the world hardly saw it coming:

When St. Paul...came to Philippi in Macedonia, he did more to change the course of history than the great battle that had decided the fate of the Roman Empire on the same spot nearly a century earlier, for he brought to Europe the seed of a new life which was ultimately destined to create a new world. All this took place underneath the surface of history, so that it was unrecognized by the leaders of contemporary culture....a new principle had been introduced into the static civilization of the Roman world that contained infinite possibilities of change. (p. 27; emphasis mine)

The story of church history is almost inextricably bound to the story of world history. The difference is that what we consider "world history" - the rise and fall of empires, conquests and wars, peace treaties and negotiations - took place on the surface level. Yet just as Dawson notes that the seed of the Gospel planted by Paul in Europe would change the world, so too throughout history "the rest of the story" is what God was doing - "underneath the surface of history".

Consider some examples:

• In 410 A.D., Rome fell, due to internal and external factors that have been debated for centuries. The barbarians at the gates were desperate and could no longer be held back. A "successful" change from nomadic life to settled agriculture resulted in a population explosion. Their land was insufficient to feed their large contingents, and so out of desperation, they eyed the weakening borders of Rome. For the West, the "dark ages" soon ensued...yet for the barbarians, this was an age of enlightenment. They were suddenly exposed to those aspects of civilization Rome did best - political systems, literature, religion. From their exposure to Christianity more than a few barbarians were converted - in fact, "the Christianization of the Goths" provides a study unto itself! Under the surface of history, the invaders were exposed to the Gospel and transformed.

• When Rome fell, Ireland was just beginning to experience literacy and "civilization". Yet a growing Celtic church there developed a monastic movement that would become highly significant in the course of history. These monks, according to Thomas Cahill, "saved civilization" by copying everything of western literature they could lay their hands on. These Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian writings were then transmitted throughout the tribes of Europe and, when the Dark Ages were over, contributed significantly to the world as we know it today. Under the surface of history, God was preserving early Christian writings and Scripture, alongside literary works that shed much light on the context in which Christianity was formed.

• As the western part of the Roman Empire was ransacked and the eastern part continued to exist and gain more prominence for a time, the church in Asia was establishing itself as outside the Roman church hierarchy. For a significant period of time, it was the eastern church that sent out missionaries to the rest of the known world. Portions of the eastern church, including the Armenian church and the Nestorian church, continue down to this day. Under the surface of history, God was continuing His kingdom advance despite the turmoil of the western church.

One benefit of studying history from a Godward perspective is that it gives us a better grasp of our own times. The spiritual warfare and extensive prayers of the church behind the Iron Curtain is as much a part of the story of the stunningly fast fall of Communism, as are the political figures of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbechav. Similarly, we are wise to look below the surface in our own country's political scene. Under the surface of history - God is up to something!