Introduction
The church universal and especially the unique, individual congregations of the church have had many meanings in the history of humankind and the history of the church. Many have seen the church as an arm of oppressive government; baptizing war, causing destruction, and stifling academic and scientific progress. For others, the church in its global and local form is a tool for political and social agendas; an agent of governmental and societal “progress”. For the faithful the church is an educator, a social club, a place of worship, a place of edification, a place of conflict, a place of love, and much, much more. The entities known as “the church” over the last many thousand years have at one time or another been negative and positive influences towards the reconciling efforts of our loving God.
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