Proper Title

What is the proper title of someone who not only studies the bible,but also the lives of people like Martin Luther,David Brainerd and Charles Spurgeon? Is this the title of a theologian?
I was never sure what to call someone like this.
I have noticed a few of John Pipers audio sermons have included the biographies of such people.Does anyone know any other sermons that feature biographies of christians?
GOD Bless
John

Here's one for you: "Why God Used D.L. Moody"
a testimonial given by Reuben Archer Torrey.
You can find it in the Text sermons section
here on this site. Well worth the read!! ;-)

Spending and Being Spent, by Ben Crandall is excellent.
I have it on DVD, and have watched it twice.
God Bless
Nellie

What is the proper title of someone who not only studies the bible, but also the lives of people like Martin Luther, David Brainerd and Charles Spurgeon?

I would call this person a Historian who specializes in Church History.

An excellent historian will check out all the available facts and present his/her findings. It is very different from the way a news reporter operates. A news reporter often, because of time constraints, cannot check out all the facts before publishing his/her story, hence the errors in their reports.

I love history since it teaches us a lot about human nature -it does not change; it teaches us how God is not mocked - whatsoever a man sows he shall reap; that God is faithful and man is not, hence not worthy of worship and even any adulation - sometimes. It teaches us and we do well to study it and take lessons. The wise person said that "one thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history": people insist on making the same mistakes!

History has gotten a bad rap from most people. And one contributing factor that gives it a bad name is because of the way it is taught. Too many history teachers are too intent on having the students memorize names, dates: and know you have learned history! For many people this is a "Lord, have mercy!" situation. So people are turned off.

Another thing that turns people off is that they do not want to learn from the lessons history teaches. They declare the historians to be biased, having an axe to grind. No doubt this can happen but facts are facts and we must allow them to minister to us, else we will repeat the same errors or sins.

A personal story: several years ago I compiled a genealogy book of my maternal great-grandparents and all their descendants, totalling almost 1500 persons. I interviewed the old people, got family stories to flesh out the hard cold facts of births, marriages and deaths. Anyhow, there are a lot of people who have adopted children. One family did NOT, no, insisted I do NOT indicated which children are adopted. And yes, everyone knows they are but do not put it in a genealogy book!! Their reasoning is because they are family. Emotionally they are right, but genealogy is blood relations. And one also needs to know that when a person died from an illness whether there is a genetic problem present which contributed to it. And I have been asked for help in compiling this info (although it is interspersed in the book - it is easier to ask the compiler then do all the reading yourself). Anyhow, some people do NOT like facts to be written down. I got inspiration from the Biblical writers where God had recorded facts, flattering and otherwise, mostly otherwise and how did He inspire the writers to do it. Great lessons there - for the historian (EDIT) and the reluctant historian.

My opinion...and I love history.

ginnyrose

Thanks for all the great titles everybody has given me.
Ginnyrose,I also love history.Only within the last few years have I really studied history and not just great christians.Although that is where I spend most of my time lately.I sometimes make the mistake of reading more biographies than the Word itself.I have an account with Amazon.com and there is almost no book I cannot find.I just ordered the biography of Smith Wigglesworth (I am on a Smith W kick lately) and also the DVD Gods Generals - Smith Wigglesworth which has some great old video of him.
GOD Bless

Hi jamccor...

I agree with Sister ginnyrose. In addition to news sources, you should also check the credibility of a book. Not all books (including biographies) pass the test of academic, historical or scholarly scrutiny. In fact, I have read several different Smith Wigglesworth biographies that actually differed in their historic accounts and narratives. There are some works that are obviously biased (sometimes for good reason), but this can lessen the academic prowess of the work. The author, for instance, could also cause a work to be questioned.

You mentioned [i]God’s Generals[/i]. This book and DVD were written and produced by Roberts Liardon, the pastor of a once-large megachurch. Liardon became famous for his claim to have visited Heaven (in which he stated that we will have jobs and income). He later went on to become a self-proclaimed Charismatic/Pentecostal historian. Roberts Liardon’s public ministry [url=http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=5416]came to a standstill[/url] when he admitted to have had an ongoing homosexual affair with his ministry’s youth pastor. After a short period of time in which he “stepped down” from his pulpit, he went back to preaching. Later, he led some “homosexual Christian” tours to the Holy Land. I’m not sure where Liardon stands now. He remains unmarried and works with his sister in a much smaller congregation.

Does this information change the truthfulness of what is written or included in the [i]God’s Generals[/i] book or DVD? No. But it might have had some sort of influence upon the manner in which that information is presented. Often, a historian attempts to “interpret” the meaning of a document, conversation or historical record. They often place thoughts into the minds of the subject of the work, which may or may not have been accurate. This thought infusion is often the result of the author’s own mindset.

I Thessalonians 5:21 recommends that we “prove all things” (or as the NIV puts it: “Test everything.”). After such a test, we are also instructed to hold on to what is good. This is true of anything that we read outside of the sure Word of the Lord. I encourage you to continue your reading! Like you, I am a fan of biographies – particularly of Church leaders. I must confess that I prefer AUTOBIOGRAPHIES over mere biographies, simply because of the level of credibility. My favorite autobiographies are MEMOIRS OF REVIVAL by Charles Finney and THE CROSS AND THE SWITCHBLADE by David Wilkerson. I also enjoyed GOD’S SMUGGLER by Brother Andrew, THE HIDING PLACE and TRAMP FOR THE LORD by Corrie ten Boom, and BWANA TEMBO by Morris Plotts. Great reading!

:-)