This study may be exhausting, but it is in no wise exhaustive. More has been lost to time regarding the true Church than we could ever imagine.
The church begins after Christ is resurrected, though it remained a mystery until Paul pointed it out.
Ephesians 5:32- This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
The eleven disciples of Jesus Christ plus Matthias, which was selected to take the place of Judas Iscariot, are the first stones laid for this mysterious entity of which Christ is the foundation.
To be an apostle, you had to fit certain criteria. There are no apostles living today! They all died out back in the first century.
Acts 1:15-17,21-22- And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
To be an apostle, you had to have started with the baptism of John, and have been a follower of Christ until he ascended to heaven.
The only exception to this would be Paul. We don't know whether Paul was around during Christ's earthly ministry. It is very possible that he was even in the palace of the high priest where Jesus was questioned before the religious leaders of the Jews.
He shows up by name at the end of Acts 7 at the death of Stephen. Paul was called out by God through a sign (because he was a Jew and Jews require a sign) for a specific purpose- to become the apostle to the Gentiles.
II Timothy 1:11- Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
I Corinthians 15:9- For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
Paul didn't think he deserved the title of apostle because he persecuted the church of God. But God had other plans for him. Since the Jews require a sign, God knocked Paul off his horse and spoke to him directly. He was literally called out for the mission.
Galatians 1:15-18- But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
It's been speculated that Paul got some specialized training from God himself while he was out in Arabia. This is perhaps where Paul was taught all the mysteries that were revealed to us through him.
By the end of the first century, all of the apostles had died. Everything that we know comes from what they had written down and had been copied and passed on. There are some things that have been lost to history.
Colossians 4:16- And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
We still have the epistle of Paul to the Colossians, but the epistle to Laodicea has been lost to time. We believe that God made certain everything that we needed to know was preserved for us in our current Scriptures.
Paul is where we get most of our Christian distinctives. Paul was the first to point out that the gospel of Jesus Christ was his death, burial, and resurrection. Paul tells us of the mystery of the rapture. His epistles tell us that once our souls are saved, they are sealed by the Holy Spirit who comes to dwell inside of us.
Most early Christians believed these basic principles:
- God is the head of the universal church, and each local church has a pastor who is suppose to be submitted to God alone. There is no person or entity that resides over all physical churches.
- Every Christian can go before God themselves in prayer and the only mediator that is required is the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Each person has to make their own decision to accept Christ as their personal Savior. It is not something that you are born into or a decision that your parents make for you when you are a child.
- Justification came by grace through faith and works were not a part of the salvation of the soul, but rather should be done because one was already forgiven by God.
- Baptism should only be performed on adult believers after their profession of faith, and it has nothing to do with completing their salvation but rather is a physical picture of their salvation to those who witness the event. Baptism is complete submersion underwater and not a sprinkling of water on a person.
- God is worshipped in spirit and not via idols or images. God is the only person that is worshipped, and no man (living or dead) should ever be worshipped along with Him.
- Those who are saved will be removed from the earth before the Tribulation period happens. This event, called the rapture, will mark the end of the Church Age period. The Tribulation is where God again deals with the Jewish nation, and it will end with the physical reign of Christ on earth. This is also known as eternal security of the soul.
- Christ's one sacrifice on the cross of Calvary is enough to pay for the sins of the entire world, and anyone who will humble themselves and accept Christ as their Savior will be saved. There is no need for continual sacrifices.
- Israel is temporarily blinded to the fact that they rejected their Messiah, but God isn't through with the nation of Israel and will one day restore to them His promises when they repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
Paul's doctrine was not accepted by everyone, even when he was alive. He was constantly calling out the heresies in his epistles. There are some different doctrines, or principles, taught throughout history by different denominations of the church, and when possible I will point these out during this summary. Paul warned about a departure from the faith, and we see that happen throughout the next two millennia.
II Timothy 4:1-4- I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
After the first century, the gospel had been spread throughout most of Europe, parts of Northern Africa, and into Eastern Asia. It spread the fastest among the Greek speaking Romans of Europe, which is probably why it is referred to as the "white man's religion". Most major cities of the Roman Empire contained a church and taught about the Jewish Jesus who died for the sins of the world.
Not only was there much evangelizing happening, but also much persecution and death. Tertullian, one of the 2nd-century ecclesiastical writers, wrote that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church". Note that most of these groups of Christians are named after a well-known leader. This still happens today. Many people who believe the same as Dr. Peter Ruckman are referred to as "Ruckmanites".
John 15:20- Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
The Roman Empire did its best to try to stamp out Christianity. Paul was killed by Nero. Vespasian destroyed the Jewish temple, and then went after the Jews and Christians of his time. Domitian tried to kill and then exiled the apostle John to the isle of Patmos. Then came the persecutions under Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and Maximinus. Next, Decius decided that all Christians had to pay homage to the Roman gods or be killed; he went so far as to prohibit Christian worship within the empire. Valerian continued the terror. He was followed by Diocletian, who brought about the “Great Persecution” which took the killing of Christians to all areas of the Roman empire.
With the passing of the Apostles, the Scriptures became the sole authority on all matters of faith and practice. Those who try to assume the position of an apostle now-a-days are liars looking to teach heresies. The things that seemed harmless, but that crept into the churches were the veneration of martyrs and church fathers (trying to make their teachings of equal authority with the Scriptures), the apostolic succession of leaders (giving them the same authority as the original apostles of Jesus Christ), philosophy and allegorical teaching of Scriptures (instead of literal and spiritual interpretations), accommodation of traditions into the church, and (possibly the largest error) positions in the church given a greater role than that of spiritual oversight and servanthood.
Matthew 20:27- And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Clement of Rome was a leading member in the church of Rome around the end of the first century. The Catholic Church likes to call him the first pope to succeed after the Apostle Peter, whom Tertullian claims actually ordained Clement. He asserted the authority of the presbyters as rulers of the church because they had been appointed by the Apostles. He used the world "laity" to describe the church members, and raised the position of bishop, or pastor, to that equal to the Levitical Priesthood. According to tradition, Clement was banished from Rome to the Chersonesus during the reign of Trajan and was set to work in a stone quarry. He was eventually martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown from a boat into the Black Sea.
Ignatius of Antioch is said to have converted to Christianity when he was a young man. Tradition identifies him as friends with Polycarp and a disciple of the Apostle John. Ignatius was condemned to death for his faith, but instead of being executed in his home town of Antioch, the bishop was taken to Rome by a company of ten soldiers. The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians was said to have been written during this journey. The epistle calls for unity and submission in the church. He also advocates the idea that Christians should observe the Lord's Day every Sunday, rather than the Jewish Sabbath on Saturdays. And he also cautions against false doctrine. He called himself the "son of the church" and reinforced the teaching that the laity be subject to the presbytery. During the journey, the soldiers seem to have allowed the chained Ignatius to meet with numerous Christian visitors. They also allowed Ignatius to send six letters to nearby churches, and one to Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna. He is said to have been martyred during the reign of Trajan.
Polycarp was also said to be a disciple of the Apostle John, and that John himself ordained him as the bishop of Smyrna, on the west coast of Turkey. Polycarp taught that salvation is by grace rather than works and Christ's second coming as a judge. Polycarp in his letter calls Jesus the "son of God" and the "eternal high priest". Irenaeus reports that Polycarp was converted to Christianity by the apostles. He was martyred either under Hadrian or Marcus Aurelius.
Clement of Alexandria was a teacher of Origen. He was an educated man that was greatly influenced by the writings of Plato. He had some very interesting ideas about morality, and taught extensively on Christian virtue. His is the first teaching that ever suggested the Apostle Peter went to Rome, and he believed that baptism is what admitted a person into the church. He is said to die in the early third century, but how and where remain unknown.
Origen Adamantius, the student of Clement of Alexandria, further advocated that pastors are priests and fathers. Eusebius claims that, as a young man, following a literal reading of Matthew 19:12, that Origen castrated himself, though Origen never mentions this in any of his writings. Origin applied philosophy and science to Scripture teaching an allegorical interpretation. His interpretations were used in the Latin Vulgate. Around 249 AD, the Plague of Cyprian broke out, and Emperor Decius, believing that the plague was caused by Christians' failure to recognize him as divine, issued a decree for Christians to be persecuted. Origen was imprisoned and tortured for over 2 years. He refused to renounce Christ the entire time, and once released, died less than a year later.
True Christianity arrived in what we call today Britain in the first or second century. There it flourished in its unadulterated form until in the sixth century when Augustine showed up bringing the Roman Catholic version. Augustine's mission in 597 AD from the Pope in Rome to King Aethelbert of Kent set the future course of Roman Catholicism in Britain, creating an alliance between Roman Catholicism and the monarchy.
Mani was a Persian Christian who believed and taught that both the Old and the New Testaments were inspired by God. He preached the deity of Christ, His death, burial and resurrection, the baptism of adults by immersion, and the Premillennial return of Christ. He was hanged for speculating on a pre-Adamic world (the Gap theory). Anyone who taught that there was a "god of this world" (i.e. the devil) was considered a Manichean.
The Montanists were a group of believers in Phrygia who were known for separation and believed in baptism of adult converts, premillennialism, and speaking in tongues. Anyone who stated they believed in premillennial views was considered a Montanist.
Justin Martyr was a native of Samaria around the end of the first century, who eventually moved to Ephesus. He is said to have met an old man who spoke with him about God, though it is unknown when exactly his conversion happened. Justin mentioned the first three Gospels and quoted, or paraphrased, the letters of Paul and Peter; he was the first known writer to quote from the Acts of the Apostles. He was beheaded by order of Marcus Aurelius along with six other Christians for refusing to offer sacrifices to Roman gods.
It was Justin Martyr who started the infant baptism idea. He called baptism the "water bath of our regeneration". Tertullian takes this and taught that baptism made you a church member. Later, Cyprian would connect baptism with the idea that you could "wash away original sin". This ended with baptism of infants being used to wash away the sin that humans are born with. And this became a distinctive in the Roman Catholic church to bind people into this religious system from fear of damning their children.
The Edict of Serdica, issued in 311 AD by the Roman Emperor Galerius ended the Diocletian persecution. The Edict of Milan, issued in 313 AD by Emperor Constantine, granted religious liberty within the Roman Empire. It is unknown how many Christians had been tortured and killed throughout these first three hundred years, and you might think that this edict was a wonderful thing, but it brought about a very dark entity.
In Northern Africa, the Donatists followed the teachings of Donatus Magnus, who refused to baptize babies, and would rebaptize adult believers. He also believed that penance had the ability to resolve Christians of their sins. The differences between the Donatists and other believers in Carthage began to argue about their differences in doctrinal views. This led them to appeal to Caesar to settle their differences. This one appeal set a dangerous precedent that would allow the government to step into and govern the church. The Council of Arles ruled against the Donatists, and a battle ensued. This led to some churches being confiscated and shut down by the emperor.
This is where the Roman empire started to fade, and we begin to see the rise of the "Holy Roman Empire", also known as the Catholic church. This is where the church and the government basically became one. And it was not the true Christian church that followed the gospel of Jesus Christ.
This new religion was heralded by Augustine, and taught such things as unconditional election (God chooses who would be saved and who would be damned), purgatory, infant baptism, persecution of heretics, and ecclesiastical hierarchy (there's an order of command in the church going up to one all-powerful leader). He promoted a "Christian" city that would rule over the kingdoms of the world.
This new church needed a book to rival the Scriptures. So they hired Jerome who revised the old Latin text from Alexandria which became the standard Catholic bible known as the Latin Vulgate.
Isaiah 31:1- Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
They used this text because it could be easily manipulated. It was full of philosophy. All versions of Bible translations except the King James use this text. All result in doubtful disputations.
Acts 6:9-10- Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.
The sectof the Alexandrians couldn't stand up to Stephen. They resorted to killing him. Any church that relies on this manuscript will be okay with persecution and martyrdom. It's the reason the Latin Vulgate was created.
The Emperor Constantine ordered all other religious books to be burned. He decreed that all who opposed this new religion would be banished or exiled, and have their property confiscated. They even went as far as to pass laws that those who oppose this religion couldn't appeal to Caesar for judgment. It was allowed for anyone who professed Christianity outside the Roman Catholic Church to be abused, raped, sold into slavery, have their homes destroyed, to be banned from businesses, or to be tortured and killed without any legal recourse on the perpetrator.
Acts 24:14- But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
The Council of Nicaea in 325 AD was called to settle a dispute concerning the nature of Christ. The council was called by Constantine because Arius was teaching that since Jesus was a created human, He wasn't divine. It was the first effort to create a "consensus" of leaders in the church to create a summary of beliefs.
The original Nicene Creed read as follows:
We believe in one God, the Father almighty,
maker of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
begotten from the Father, only-begotten,
that is, from the substance of the Father,
God from God, light from light,
true God from true God, begotten not made,
of one substance with the Father,
through Whom all things came into being,
things in heaven and things on earth,
Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down,
and became incarnate and became man, and suffered,
and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the heavens,
and will come to judge the living and dead,
And in the Holy Spirit.
But as for those who say, There was when He was not,
and, Before being born He was not,
and that He came into existence out of nothing,
or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or substance,
or created, or is subject to alteration or change
– these the Catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.
It ended with all non-Catholic views considered illegal, their meetings were banned, and their property was confiscated by the empire. Anyone who even considered aloud would be in trouble of excommunication from the Catholic church.
Patrick was a fourth or fifth century Christian missionary in Ireland. According to Patrick's autobiography, when he was about sixteen, he was captured by pirates from his home in Britain and taken as a slave to Ireland. He writes that he lived there for six years as an animal herder before escaping and returning to his family. He states that the time he spent in captivity was critical to his spiritual development, explaining that the Lord had mercy on his youth and ignorance, and afforded him the opportunity to be forgiven of his sins and to grow in his faith through prayer. After becoming a cleric, he returned to Ireland to preach the gospel. It is said that he baptized thousands of converts, ordained ministers, founded churches, and traveled the whole of Ireland with the gospel.
Columba was a fifth century Irish Christian missionary in Scotland. He is said to have arrived with twelve companions to convert the Picts. He translated books, wrote hymns, founded churches, and even witnessed to pagan kings. Some of the Scottish clans claim to be descendants of Columba.
By the sixth century, the Roman empire was pretty much done for, but the Catholic Religious empire was ready to step in and take charge. As Thomas Hobbes wrote, "The papacy is no other than the ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof." Leo is actually the first pope of this new religion. He was made the supreme pontiff of the church by Emperor Valentinian III. Just 500 years later, Pope Innocent would declare himself king and priest of all earthly kingdoms.
The progression of Catholic Doctrine:
- 300 AD- Prayers for the dead and making the sign on the cross
- 375 AD- Worship of saints and martyrs and use of images in worship
- 431 AD- Worship of Mary as the mother of God, instead of the mother of Jesus
- 526 AD- Last rights
- 788 AD- Worship of cross, images, and relics
- 1074 AD- Clerical celibacy decreed
- 1090 AD- Beads introduced with the rosary
- 1215 AD- Confessional instituted; transubstantiation taught
- 1416 AD- the Cup forbidden for the common people
- 1439 AD- Purgatory proclaimed as Dogma
- 1545 AD- Tradition is equal with Scriptures
- 1546 AD- Apocrypha added to the canon of Scriptures
- 1854 AD- Immaculate conception of Mary (Mary was born without sin)
- 1870 AD- Infallibility of the Pope
- 1950 AD- The bodily assumption of Mary (Mary was taken bodily to heaven)
- 1965 AD- Mary proclaimed to be the mother of the church
