---
title: 'Henry B. Smith on the Place of Church History'
type: post
author: 'R. Andrew Myers'
date: 2023-11-18
url: https://confessional.org/blog/2023-henry-b-smith-on-the-place-of-church-history
---

# Henry B. Smith on the Place of Church History

“In the whole history of man we can trace the course of one shaping, o'ermastering and progressive power, before which all others have bowed, and that is the spiritual kingdom of God, having for its object the redemption of man from the ruins of the apostasy.” — [**Henry B. Smith**](/authors/henry-boynton-smith), *Nature and Worth of the Science of Church History: An Inaugural Address, Delivered Before the Directors of the Union Theological Seminary, New York, Feb*. 12, 1851 (1851), p. 9