Church History Overview ENTIRE SERIES

Church History TOTAL SERIES

PART 1

Alright so there was this fella named Adam and this lady named Eve . . .

I hated reading growing up àI read about a book a week for 7 years, and never once chose a book about church history, and yet, it was one of the subjects I enjoyed most

I am using chiefly one of the books used as a textbook in one of my church history classes called Turning Points by Mark A. Noll

Cant cover everything of course . . .

2,000 years of people who loved the Lord and his Word and wrote about it

2,000 years of a Church, movement, the greatest movement that has ever been in all of mankinds history. . . and here we are on the top of it, pressing onward into the future

The kind of movement that doesn’t make sense to historians, it should have died, so many times

And yet here it is, here you are, as proof of its success

The story of church history is not a story of how all these other people got it wrong for 1700 years until our group finally came along and got it right. This is a story of millions of people who loved the Lord and sought after him, and sought to pass it on to the next generation.

Matthew 16:18 – the gates of Hades – I will build My church – reason it did not fail

The church will not fail. Every other Kingdom will fail, this one will not.

Church history is an EPIC Story, its actually the story of the Kingdom that was always promised, that arrived with Christ the King.

Daniel 2 (550 yrs)

WORLD RULING KINGDOMS

Babylon Fell to Persia and Cyrus the Great in 539

Persia Fell to Greece and Alexander the Great in 334

Greece Feel to Rome in 146

Stone

looks weaker than all the rest

Appears as if from nowhere

In the days of Roman Rule

Mountain that Fills the Earth – the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it

Ezekiel 37:21-28

Hebrews 12:26-29

Matthew 28:18-19

Outward – Go make disciples

Inward – Teach to Obey (Disciple)

Jesus appears on the scene (yr 0), life, death, resurrection, ascension – Gospels 0-33

The Acts of the Apostles– Holy Spirit – Advancement of the Kingdom – 33 A.D. à Early 60’s

1:8 à Jerusalem throughout Judea, Samaria, and the rest of the Mediterranean world.

Pentecost – Paul’s missionary Journeys (church planting)

Book finishes with Paul imprisoned under house arrest in Rome but able to gather people and preach and teach

Old Temple vs New Temple – People of God

Persecution from the Old Temple was the force that drove Christianity outward, but there was still this strong connection with Jerusalem

The early center of Christianity was Jerusalem, most significant church, church councils met there, everyone sort of reported back to Jerusalem. It had become sort of new synagoguing.

The early Christian movement didn’t make any sense to the surrounding cultures – Rome thought they were simply a sect inside of Judaism, so they didn’t understand the significant conflict between the two, and beyond that, this movement was multiethnic and crossing cultural and racial and social barriers, all treated as equals, and that was simply unprecedented. But Rome didn’t really do anything about Christianity in particular because they didn’t see it as truly distinct from Judaism.

1st Turning Point: The Destruction of Jerusalem - The Church Pushed out of Jerusalem Once and for All

AD 66– Jewish exasperation with the rule of Rome had reached a fever pitch.

Long history of Strife

Rome let them worship their God, but were still domineering and did what they wanted (taxes temple)

The common view was that just as had been done in Exodus, the Messiah was coming to rid the Jews of the Roman oppression – Peter takes up sword

Ad 66 – Some Greek speakers attacked a group of Jews, and the Roman guards nearby stood by and did nothing – when word spread, there was an immediate reaction. Jews attacked the local Roman garrison, slaughtered its defenders, and appealed for an end of the subjugation. They then stopped the homage paying to the Roman leader.

War was inevitable.

(7) Years of bloody strife followed, the Jews fought hard and even gained the upper hand – but you must understand what this was, this wasn’t ROMAN ARMIES vs Jews, it was pesky Jews, send some troops, and the Jews kept defeating them.

When Rome had had enough, Rome sent 4 legions (5-6,000 per) under Vespasions charge to discipline the Jewish colony

Vespasion became Emperor and passed the charge over to his son Titus. April 70 AD the siege began. The suffering was horrific. The last stand in Jerusalem took place in the temple in September, and Rome finally destroyed it.

Tacitus reported that Titus was eager to destroy the temple because “he wanted to eradicate the temple in order that the Jewish and Christian religions might more completely be abolished . . . if the root were taken away, the stalk would easily perish.”

What this meant, destruction of THE TEMPLE

Hub of Judaism

Location of God

Cessation of Sacrifices

For Christians at the time, this too seemed like an unspeakable tragedy, but it was the final separating factor between Christianity and Judaism – think about how much of the pre-70 NT is seeking to do this

No longer was Christianity seen as simply a variety inside Jerusalem, Christianity was now making its independent way in the Gentile world

------------------------------------------------------

The Theological significance of this event varies based on ones eschatological view – I haven’t studied this deeply enough to take a strong stance . . .

Matthew 24

Luke 21:20ff

Revelation – 666, Beast – Harlot riding the back of the Beast is Judaizing Israel

Christians had gotten out of Dodge (Eusebius says in Pela – NE of Jerusalem across the Jordan)

So this new Christianity, separated from Judaism, had to figure out what it was, it needed something to hold it together, to be the boundaries, to give it structure. – As we will see – Heresy played a major role early in the church, as could be expected – Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, even Islam – Entirely different teaching, but they try to hold hands with Christianity also

Needed guards against this

We don’t have hardly anything until about 110

By the year 112

Ignatius is able to write “Follow the bishop as Jesus followed the Father” – showing some sort of church organization

At least by this time, there were 2 collections of writings that were circulating through the churches – 4 Gospels, and 10-13 letters as authoritative like the Old Testament writings

There also had appeared short concise summaries of what it meant to be a Christ follower or to join a church – Creeds from the latin credo “I believe” or credeemus “We believe” – were useful for marking out the boundaries of the Christian faith

2 Thess 3:6, 1 Cor 11:12, 1 Cor 15:3ff, Col 1:15ff

Ignatius – 110 – Turn a deaf ear to any speaker who avoids mention of Jesus Christ who was of David’s line, born of Mary, who was truly born, ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, truly crucified and died while those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth beheld it, who was truly raised from the dead, the Father having raised him, who in like manner will raise us also who believe in Him, his father, I saw, will raise us in Christ Jesus apart from whom we have not true life. (against Docetism)

The “Old Roman Creed” which later became the Apostles Creed, was used as early as the beginning of the second century, maybe by baptismal candidates

I believe in God the Father almighty; and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord, Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, whence He will come to judge the living and the dead, and in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh (the life everlasting).

3 things that acted as structure in the Early Church – Canon, Creed, Episcopacy – Organized Leadership in the church

Canon – Measuring Stick – Standard

2 Pet 3:16 – “Other Scriptures”

Beyond those 17 books, the other 10 took longer to become Canonized

Key throughout was apostolicity

By the year 200, we have a list of canonical books – All but Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter

Additional books – Wisdom of Solomon, Apocalypse of Peter, Laodicea and Alexandria (against Marcion)

PART 2

Cant cover everything of course . . .

2,000 years of people who loved the Lord and his Word and wrote about it

2,000 years of a Church, movement, the greatest movement that has ever been in all of mankinds history. . . and here we are on the top of it, pressing onward into the future - EPIC Story

The kind of movement that doesn’t make sense to historians, it should have died, so many times

And yet here it is, here you are, as proof of its success

The story of church history is not a story of how all these other people got it wrong for 1700 years until our group finally came along and got it right. This is a story of millions of people who loved the Lord and sought after him, and sought to pass it on to the next generation.

Matthew 16:18 – the gates of Hades – I will build My church – reason it did not fail

The church will not fail. Every other Kingdom will fail, this one will not, and there never was a time when it did.

Church history is an EPIC Story, its actually the story of the Kingdom that was always promised, that arrived with Christ the King.

Daniel 2 (550 yrs)

All around the globe, right now at this moment, people’s hearts are being pricked for the first time . . standing in water awaiting their baptism overjoyed at joining this kingdom . . .

Jesus appears on the scene (yr 0), life, death, resurrection, ascension – Gospels 0-33

The Acts of the Apostles– Holy Spirit – Advancement of the Kingdom – 33 A.D. à Early 60’s

1st Turning Point: The Destruction of Jerusalem

A. The Church Pushed out of Jerusalem Once and for All

What this meant, destruction of THE TEMPLE

Hub of Judaism

Location of God

Cessation of Sacrifices

For Christians at the time, this too seemed like an unspeakable tragedy, they weren’t cheering, but it was the final separating factor between Christianity and Judaism – think about how much of the pre-70 NT is seeking to do this

No longer was Christianity seen as simply a variety inside Jerusalem, Christianity was now making its independent way in the Gentile world

------------------------------------------------------

The Theological significance of this event varies based on ones eschatological view – I haven’t studied this deeply enough to take a strong stance . . .

Matthew 24(:34) - Luke 21:20ff

Matt 24 - Writ Large

Revelation – 666, Beast – Harlot riding the back of the Beast is Judaizing Israel

Soon take place

Christians had gotten out of Dodge (Eusebius says in Pela – NE of Jerusalem across the Jordan)

Questions – I haven’t given myself to deep study on this topic – In the end – we win through Jesus – Im not opposed to changing my eschatology midair, but ask and I’ll be honest about what I currently think for whatever that is worth

B. The Guardrails

So this new Christianity, separated from Judaism, had to figure out what it was, it needed something to hold it together, to be the boundaries, to give it structure. – As we will see – Heresy played a major role early in the church, as could be expected – lot of time arguing about it – not like well they don’t take Lord’s supper weekly, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witness, even Islam – Entirely different teaching, but they try to hold hands with Christianity also

Needed guards against this – new converts – “What is true?”

We take for granted that if you converted today, and looked around and said, wow lots of different beliefs, what is exactly true, Christianity has an answer from you – “Orthodox”

They were living on much shallower ground at the time. There weren’t deep roots, so there were offshoots popping up all over the place, and the early church had to say no, this is what is true, this is what was taught at the beginning.

3 Guardrails

CANON– measuring stick (probably) – Standard - “We don’t have a Bible until 367 or later”

At least by 100-110, there were 2 collections of writings that were circulating through the churches – 4 Gospels, and 10-13 letters as authoritative like the Old Testament writings

NT written from 40’s to 90

NT recognizes OT as authoritative, Already recognition of their inherent authority

2 Pet 3:16 – Paul’s writings scripture, 1 Tim 5:18, 1 Cor 14:37

John 14:26 – Spirit will remind apostles of all things he said

Colossians 4:16 –Send the letter around

More than just for a particular congregation, there is a universal authority – recognized already

Church Fathers, Ignatius (End of 1st century) Irenaeus (second century) quote the 27 NT books as authoritative – we could reconstruct the entire NT just from the quotations of the early church fathers

Over the first few hundred years, most of the NT books were accepted by all as Canon, and they were measuring and judging the rest and seeing if they really carried apostolic authority

First time we get an enumerated list wasn’t until 367 in a letter from Athanasius, but that out of context could leave the impression-

Canon wasn’t declared, it was recognized – the early church was very careful to make sure they only gave the final authority to books that were inspired – there wasn’t a “Hey just bring your book and we will add it” – HISTORICITY

The 27 NT books are the 27 OLDEST

By the year 200, we have a list of canonical books – All but Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter

Additional books – Wisdom of Solomon, Apocalypse of Peter, Laodicea and Alexandria (against Marcion)

CREED(often in response to heresy – Jesus was God in the Flesh, Jesus physically rose from the dead)

There also had appeared short concise summaries of what it meant to be a Christ follower or to join a church – Creeds from the latin credo “I believe” or credeemus “We believe” – were useful for marking out the boundaries of the Christian faith

1 Cor 15:3ff, Col 1:15ff, Phil 2:6-11, 1 Tim 3:16

The “Old Roman Creed” which later became the Apostles Creed, was used as early as the beginning of the second century, just a few decades after the last apostle died, maybe by baptismal candidates

I believe in God the Father almighty; and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord, Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, whence He will come to judge the living and the dead, and in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh (the life everlasting).

EPISCOPACY

By the year 112

What exactly church organization was like in the first years is hotly debated – It is certain that by the end of the 2nd century, most churches were ruled by a single bishop, but it doesn’t seem that was always the case..

NT uses Bishop or overseer and Elder interchangeably (Ac 20:28)

NT sees plurality of elders as standard model (Ac 11:30, 14:23, 15:2, 20:17, Titus 1:5, Phil 1:1, 1 Tim 3:1-7)

Didache (Date unknown, most think about 100) “Elect for yourselves bishops and deacons who are worthy of the Lord…”

In a latter called 1 Clement, dated c. 96 – Clement writes to the church at Corinth trying to convince them to reinstate its bishops/elders who were wrongly deposed. He even quotes the Bible saying it was right to appoint bishops and deacons in every church.

The Shepherd of Hermas, c. 150, writes also of the “presbyters who lead the church”

What caused the transition? Jerome describes it well

The presbyter is the same as the bishop, and before parties had been raised up in religion by the provocations of Satan, the churches were governed by the Senate of the presbyters. But as each one sought to appropriate to himself those whom he had baptized, instead of leading them to Christ, it was appointed that one of the presbyters, elected by his colleagues, should be set over all the others, and have chief supervision over the general well-being of the community. . . Without doubt it is the duty of the presbyters to bear in mind that by the discipline of the Church they are subordinated to him who has been given them as their head, but it is fitting that the bishops, on their side, do not forget that if they are set over the presbyters, it is the result of tradition, and not by the fact of a particular institution by the Lord (Comm. Tit. 1.7📷).

Jerome’s comments provide a great summary of this debate. While the single-bishop model might have developed for practical reasons, the plurality of elders model seems to go back to the very beginning.

Canon, Creed, Episopacy

PART 3

Cant cover everything of course . . .

Matthew 16:18 – the gates of Hades – I will build My church – reason it did not fail

The church will not fail. Every other Kingdom will fail, this one will not, and there never was a time when it did.

Church history is an EPIC Story, its actually the story of the Kingdom that was always promised, that arrived with Christ the King.

Daniel 2 (550 yrs)

All around the globe, right now at this moment, people’s hearts are being pricked for the first time . . standing in water awaiting their baptism overjoyed at joining this kingdom . . .

1st Turning Point: The Destruction of Jerusalem

C. The Church Pushed out of Jerusalem Once and for All

D. The Guardrails

CANON– measuring stick (probably) – Standard

At least by 100-110, there were 2 collections of writings that were circulating through the churches – 4 Gospels, and 10-13 letters as authoritative like the Old Testament writings

Had NT “Scriptures” very early – being sent around

CREED(often in response to heresy – Jesus was God in the Flesh, Jesus physically rose from the dead)

There also had appeared short concise summaries of what it meant to be a Christ follower or to join a church – Creeds from the latin credo “I believe” or credeemus “We believe” – were useful for marking out the boundaries of the Christian faith

1 Cor 15:3ff, Col 1:15ff, Phil 2:6-11, 1 Tim 3:16

----------------------------------------------

EPISCOPACY

What exactly church organization was like in the first years is hotly debated – It is certain that by the end of the 2nd century, most churches were ruled by a single bishop, but it doesn’t seem that was always the case..

NT uses Bishop or overseer and Elder interchangeably (Ac 20:28)

NT sees plurality of elders as standard model (Ac 11:30, 14:23, 15:2, 20:17, Titus 1:5, Phil 1:1, 1 Tim 3:1-7)

Didache (Date unknown, most think about 100) “Elect for yourselves bishops and deacons who are worthy of the Lord…”

In a letter called 1 Clement, dated c. 96 – Clement writes to the church at Corinth trying to convince them to reinstate its bishops/elders who were wrongly deposed. He even quotes the Bible saying it was right to appoint bishops and deacons in every church.

The Shepherd of Hermas, c. 150, writes also of the “presbyters who lead the church”

What caused the transition? Jerome describes it well

The presbyter is the same as the bishop, and before parties had been raised up in religion by the provocations of Satan, the churches were governed by the Senate of the presbyters. But as each one sought to appropriate to himself those whom he had baptized, instead of leading them to Christ, it was appointed that one of the presbyters, elected by his colleagues, should be set over all the others, and have chief supervision over the general well-being of the community. . . Without doubt it is the duty of the presbyters to bear in mind that by the discipline of the Church they are subordinated to him who has been given them as their head, but it is fitting that the bishops, on their side, do not forget that if they are set over the presbyters, it is the result of tradition, and not by the fact of a particular institution by the Lord (Comm. Titus)

Canon, Creed, Episopacy

---------------------------------------

Various persecutions that the Christians endured

some because they saw Christians as disturbing the peace or causing division

some because the emperor demanded to be worshipped as the only Lord and Christians refused

some because they thought suffering was because Christians weren’t worshipping the gods

some because of misunderstanding of Christianity . . . cannibals

Atheists - The Proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. On hearing that he was, he tried to persuade him to apostatize, saying, “Have respect for your old age, swear by the fortune of Caesar. Repent, and say, ‘Down with the Atheists!’” Polycarp looked grimly at the wicked heathen multitude in the stadium, and gesturing towards them, he said, “Down with the Atheists!” “Swear,” urged the Proconsul, “reproach Christ, and I will set you free.” “86 years have I have served him,” Polycarp declared, “and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?”

Thousands of Christians were persecuted and martyred because they refused to deny Christ.

The worst of the persecutions was probably that led by Emperor Diocletian around 300, seeing Christianity as divisive and wanting to unify the empire.

Diocletian set out as never before to actually totally extinguish Christianity. He prohibited all Christian worship, and destroyed all Christian books he could find. He ordered that all Christians be arrested unless they sacrifice to the pagan deities, this lasted for about a decade until Diocletian fell very ill.

Diocletian divided his realm into 4 districts, over 1 of them he installed Constantius Clorus, whose son, Constantine, would emerge as the successor to Diocletian as Emperor. (along with Licenius)

Constantine was not only friendly to Christians, he himself claimed a miraculous conversion to Christianity himself.

When he became co-emporer, he issued the Edict of Milan, which decreed the full toleration of Christianity and all peaceful religions.

324 – Constantine became Soul Roman Emperor – he too was greatly concerned with the unity of the Empire, and saw Christianity as the way to do that

So he set out to solve the Church’s internal strife, thinking if he did so he could find a cultural glue for the Roman world.

In order to do this, he called a Council, the first ever ecumenical (worldwide) council - Acts 15

2nd Turning Point: The Council of Nicea (location of meeting)

SN - Think about how quickly this has gotten to this point, small time Chrisitianity - Jewish, cannibals, atheists . . . Roman Emperor – what could constitute that kind of growth? Its almost like a stone that grew into a mountain . . .

The church would never be the same – Political power involved

Emperor didn’t just call the council, he himself chaired the deliberation and implemented the directives. The church’s history was decisively turned from an alien pilgrim persecuted body to the benefits and perils of establishment, the state support of religion.

Issue causing strife

· Ongoing Effort to define the nature of Christ and what he did (Christ’s divinity)

230 Bishops gathered at Nicea (modern day Turkey)

The most significant of these was a man named Athanasius, who would devote his life to defending and hammering out the declaration at Nicea.

Specific Theological issue concerned the teachings of Arius that had gained a lot of steam

How to define Jesus special status as the Son of God, the Logos of God, the Savior who was One with the Father

HOW TO UNDERSTAND GOD

Declared then and held ever since: Within the One Being that is God, there exists eternally Three co-equal and co-eternal persons: namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Bible is Clear

There is Only One God – Shema – Daily Prayer –

Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. And as for you, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

The Father is God (never in question)

Jesus is God - Jn 20:28, Jn 8:58-59, Rom 9:5, Titus 2:13-14, Rev 22:12-13 (Jesus speaking)

Spirit is God – (Ac 5:3-4, 13:2, 10:19-20, 20:28, 1 Cor 12:11, 2:10-11)

Let me give you an illustration to help you understand the trinity – hey stop listening – there are no good illustrations – because there is nothing like God

In your mind, I want you to come up with a brand new color, create a new color . . . describe it to me so that I can picture it in my mind

The way we understand things is by comparing them to something else we know – tough chicken

When we encounter new things or ideas, it works well to fit them into existing categories by comparing them to past experiences or facts. What is it like to go to a Braves game?

This works quite well for most things, it doesn’t work well for truly unique things though, if the thing is indeed truly unique, then to compare it to things it is quite different than will at best lead to significant error. We may be able to describe an aspect of a unique thing with comparison, but our comparisons will be quite limited and if pushed too far, dangerous. We don’t encounter many truly unique things, so we get along just fine. But God is totally unique.

Isaiah 40:18 - To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?

So to say God, the entirely unique thing, completely other, is like _______ is dangerous ground to walk on. He is totally unlike anything else, this makes it tough to understand him and the Trinity.

1. God is three persons (Distinction)

Deny this Truth: Modalism - 1 appearing in different guises à Water, Dad

2. There is One God (Unity)

Deny this Truth: Tritheism

3. Each Person is Fully God (Deity) (LAST)

Deny this Truth: Arianism - Wanted to logically explain the Trinity – the Father is God, Jesus is not fully God - Jesus was more than human but less than God – the first and greatest of God’s CREATIONS

The Sun – Star itself, the light, the heat – light and heat are just creations or emanations from the Sun and not one in nature with Him

Clover – Partialism – each is a not a distinct person of the godhead but each a part of God, each composing 1/3 of the divine

Egg – Same problem

Arius communicated great respect for Jesus and a HIGH AWE view of God the Father, but Jesus wasn’t God. He famously argued “There was when Christ was not”

(Jn 14:2 – Greater than I, Lk 2:52 – He grew, Jn 4:6-7, 19:28 – He thirsted and fatigued, focused on firstborn – Rom 8:29, Col 1:15)

He was rightly accused of twisting the scriptures and prooftexting, and not dealing with the primary passages that show Christ as God.

(Important that both sides were arguing from scripture, that was the whole argument)

Athanasius focused also on what this would do to salvation - “If Christ were not truly God, then he could not bestow life upon the repentant and free them from sin and death. Yet this work of salvation is at the heart of the biblical picture of Christ and has anchored the church since the beginning.”

2 Cor 5:21– How can this be true if Jesus isn’t God

He was a savior from God and of God that restored humanity to God.

To take divinity away from Christ is to take hope away from us.

1. Christ was true God from true God. Jesus himself was God in the same sense that the Father was God. . .

2. Christ was consubstantial (of one substance) with the Father. (Jn 10:30)

3. Christ was begotten, not made. (Never formed, but was from eternity the Son of God)

4. Christ became human for us humans and for our salvation.

Arius was the dissenter from the already Orthodoxy

Another turning point here was the critical choice that was made for the wisdom of God in preference to human wisdom.

None of this was actually the Nicene Creed you may be familiar with though, that actually occurred at the next church council in 381 at Constantinople – where they reaffirmed what was stated at Nicea and presented a final expanded version of the statement that was referred to as the Nicene Creed (which spoke much more extensively about the Holy Spirit as also being God)

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all the ages, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being (consubstantial) with the Father. For us humans and for our salvation he came down from heaven, by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father [and the Son]. Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. Who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

(Was it just the winners winning history – Athansius banished twice by following Emperors – Constantius II, after Constantine, was an Arian)

What role does the Emperor play? Church State

(Chapter 4 final 10 minutes for transition?)

Greg Is Cool

PART 4

Matthew 16:18 – the gates of Hades – I will build My church – reason it did not fail

Church history is an EPIC Story, its actually the story of the Kingdom that was always promised, that arrived with Christ the King.

Daniel 2 (550 yrs)

All around the globe, right now at this moment, people’s hearts are being pricked for the first time . . standing in water awaiting their baptism overjoyed at joining this kingdom . . .

E. Destruction of Jerusalem: The Church Pushed out of Jerusalem Once and for All

F. The Guardrails

Various Persecutions – “Disrupting Unity,” Emperor demanded to be only Lord, Blamed Christians for bad circumstances, Cannibals and Atheists (Polycarp)

Diocletian Efforts to Wipe out Christianity Entirely

Constantine becomes Emperor, 313 – Edict of Milan

G. 325 – Council of Nicea – First worldwide Council

Political Power involved – chaired council, changed everything – from alien pilgrim persecuted body to the benefits and perils of establishment/state support

Constantine wanted to solve the strife in the church – Divinity of Jesus/Spirit

Arius – There was when Jesus was not

The Bible is Clear - (Important that both sides were arguing from scripture, that was the whole argument)

Can compare God with nothing else (Various heresies)

2 Cor 5:21 – How can this be true if Jesus isn’t God

He was a savior from God and of God that restored humanity to God.

(Was it just the winners winning history – Athansius banished twice by following Emperors – Constantius II, after Constantine, was an Arian)

Declared then and held ever since: Within the One Being that is God, there exists eternally Three co-equal and co-eternal persons: namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I believe I will finish a bit earlier than normal tonight, so if you have questions about anything at all, church history or not, you will likely have an opportunity at the end to ask them. But of course you are all welcome to ask a question as I go along.

4. The Council of Chalcedon – 451

Emperor Marcian - Hoping to End Disputations

If Jesus was fully divine (Nicea), was he fully human? Nicea said these things, that was always the Orthodox position, but it was argued that if he really was fully divine then he couldn’t be fully human.

13 Sessions in that year to come to clarify and codify Christian teaching

WAS JESUS FULLY HUMAN

Some of the things people outside of Orthodoxy were saying – think in your mind what is the problem with this, what would I say if someone said this to me?:

- Divine Person (LOGOS) in a Human Shell (God inside, human outside) - not really human, divine, wearing human

Common Greek viewpoint that we ARE our souls, in bodies . . .

OR – He was divine at some moments and Human at other (to) moments, but never really both

OR – God – A Human – B Jesus – C neither - Red, Blue, Jesus is Purple, neither Red nor Blue

Problems with these? Who cares? (1. Jesus was only human exteriorly, superficially, he only had to deal with pimples, but not a human mind and heart/emotion 2. Totally arbitrary 3. “Jesus knew was it was to be Blue,” no he didn’t, Jesus took on blue to save the blue, no he didnt )

This is so hard to comprehend! And because its so hard to comprehend, we often don’t think about what it really means for us. It is emphatically clear here that it is true that Jesus was fully human

Col 1:22– How have you been reconciled? In Christ’s body of flesh

This doesn’t just mean physical body, there are 2 Greek words here. The first word is SOMA, which is translated body and just simply means physical body, then there is another word, the second word is the word SARX, which is the word used throughout the New Testament as the part of us that is opposed to God, opposed to the Holy Spirit.

Christ really did become human, he is fully identified with us, sinful humanity. He shared the difficulties of humanity. He was tempted in his flesh, experienced our suffering, experienced the battle with sarx, and was victorious over it because we never would be.

I mentioned these categories in a sermon a while back, but I want to see them clearly as to Christ’s real humanity

Christ’s Human Body

John 1:14– WHAT A THOUGHT! The Logos . . .

2 John 7– One of the early tests of false teachers . . .

Jesus was BORN – Lk 2:7, same as you and I were born…

God didn’t just create beings that would experience these things, HE EXPERIENCED IT HIMSELF. He knows what it felt like for your body to wear down, for your mouth to be dry, for your stomach to growl, to go through puberty, to be told by aunts “You’re getting so big.”

Christ’s Human Heart

We don’t often think about this aspect of Christ’s humanity, but Jesus clearly displays human emotions.

Matt 26:37-38a– these words aren’t here just to make a good story, HE ACTUALLY FELT immense sorrow

Matt 8:10 – When he heard the centurions faith, he marveled at it . . . (not, he appeared to marvel at it to the dumb onlookers)

Heb 2:18 – Suffered when he Was tempted

As one theologian memorably summed it up, “Christ has put on our feelings along with our flesh.”

Christ’s Human Mind

We have only experienced one mind, and simply cannot fathom what it would be like for one person to have both a human mind and a divine mind.

We know Jesus didn’t only have a human mind, EXAMPLE? He saw Nathanael under the fig tree while they were still miles apart, He knew Judas would betray him before Judas knew it, He knew how many husbands the Samaritan woman had had, He read the minds of his enemies constantly à Jn 16:30, 21:17 – “You know all things”

And yet

Luke 2:52 – Increased in Wisdom (God cannot increase in wisdom – attributes series)

Mark 13:32 – Of that hour, the Son doesn’t know

What looks difficult at first glance is actually a glorious confirmation of Jesus’s full humanity.

He knows what it is to deal with a mind, just like you and I do, to have to learn. The elusive enemy, so difficult to control

Christ’s Human Will

The difficulty of comprehending doesn’t get easier here. Jesus not only has a divine will, but also a human will.

“I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)

Jesus prays to the Father, “Not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

Jesus has an infinite, divine will that is the will of his Father (one will in God). And as man, he has a finite, human will that, while being an authentic human will, is perfectly in sync with, and submissive to, the divine will.

Jesus knows what it is like when our wills don’t seem to line up with God’s will. How many times have you asked why would God allow this . . .

It is a great mystery, beyond our experience and understanding, and beyond what we will ever know as mere humans, but it is such great and encouraging news that Christ was human, in every respect, like me. BODY, HEART, MIND, WILL. This should lead us not ultimately to confusion, but to worship. . . Would we want to fix our eternal honor and worship on one who was not utterly unique?

Just like with Nicea we said HE BETTER BE FULLY GOD . . .

Hebrews 2:14-18

Hebrews 4:15-16

1 Timothy 2:5The One Mediator between God and man – why is He the only one possible Mediator? God and Man.

Jesus took a human body to save our bodies. And he took a human mind to save our minds. Without becoming man in his emotions, he could not have rescued our hearts. And without taking a human will, he could not save our broken and wandering wills. In the words of Gregory of Nazianzus, “That which he has not assumed he has not healed.”

He became man in full, so that he might save us in full.

Chalcedon’s Answer - “Jesus was 1 Person consisting of 2 Natures”

Sound Doctrine is Important - - - “I just want Jesus”

Who is that?

Ariel telling me about her day “I just want to have a relationship with you” Ariel “I don’t like it when you invite people over without telling me,” “Listen woman, I just . . .”

“The same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a [rational] soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; … born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union

--- Important for going forward ---

Over 500 Bishops met at Chalcedon

Some Bishops held more weight than others, want to guess? – Constantinople, Alexandria, Rome.

Pope Leo the Great (“Pope” was used for many bishops at the time)

Great man (When political power was in flux and barbarians were invading Rome, he negotiated with Atilla the Hun)

Large role in these Christological debates

Leo’s Tome – Single Person 2 Natures – major role at Chalcedon – emphasized the salvific weight of this decision

Also advanced Argument for Bishop of Rome as direct successor of Peter (on this Rock I will build my church)

Hadnt gotten yet to the point where he was King Christian, able to speak with the authority of Canon

East – Constantinople (Greek) and West – Rome (Latin)

PART 5

Matthew 16:18 – the gates of Hades – I will build My church – reason it did not fail (TIMELINE to Today)

I. Destruction of Jerusalem: The Church Pushed out of Jerusalem Once and for All

II. The Guardrails

Various Persecutions à Constantine – Edict of Milan

III. 325 – Council of Nicea – First worldwide Council

1 Being – 3 Persons

Political Power involved – chaired council, changed everything

IV. The Council of Chalcedon - 451

Chalcedon’s Answer - “Jesus was 1 Person consisting of 2 Natures”

V. Monasticism

kkk

--- Important for going forward ---

Pope Leo the Great (“Pope” was used for many bishops at the time) – “Tome” – significant role

Also advanced Argument for Bishop of Rome as direct successor of Peter (on this Rock I will build my church)

Hadnt gotten yet to the point where he was King Christian, able to speak with the authority of Canon

East – Constantinople (Greek) and West – Rome (Latin)

320-1517

V. The Monastic Reform/Advancement of the Church – (Benedicts Rule 530)

What do you know about Monks/Nuns? Can you think of any by name?

1st Monk – Antony – 270 left his family’s farm in Egypt to go out by himself and live at the edge of the desert to find God.

1st Monastery – Pachomius – 320 - men to live together in a life of prayer

Really began growing in the late 300’s and the centuries that followed.

WHY DID IT START? – We don’t know exactly

Antony immense persecution and societal unrest

Christianity now functionally the national religion, what issues do you think that could cause for the heart of Christianity? Problems

Within the rise of the Church Establishment, the life of a church professional offered considerably potential for worldly gain, whether it be status and power of even financial gain.

Re-focus on the spiritual nature of Christianity, the need for honest faith and fidelity – “Living Martyrdom”

Monks known from the beginning for their asceticism à WHY?(response to the worldliness of nominalism, platonic thought (Plato’s cave (Mumford and Sons) EXTREMELY PREVALENT at the time, still affects us –truest and realest things are spiritual, material is low and demonic– so prevalent it is a bedrock belief – like equality or freedom today)

“The ideal Christian life is a passing from the ordinary, the material, and the terrestrial into the extraordinary, the spiritual, and the celestial.”

Flesh is bad – sex, eating, drinking, bad à Monks

Prioritizing inner life – many hermits

Colossians 3:1, Matt 6:25 – material bad

Beauty in it – utter giving up of worldly idols

Problems arise when the cost to be a Christian is low, RAISE THE COST REALLY HIGH

Antony, the first of the Monks, heard a sermon on Matthew 19:21, and he decided to do just that, after just receiving his sizeable inheritance from his parents.

1 Corinthians 7:8 Large Role – Good to stay unmarried

JtB Life in the dessert

Jesus life forsaking wealth

Fascination with Angels and Demons and spiritual realm and warfare that is constant, it was thought that the Monks, by denying the physical world, were able to be involved in that spiritual realm in a way that others were not.

Created a sort of 2 tiered Christianity - Monks (“Athletes of God) who were the TRUEST SPIRITUAL Christians and everyone else

Led to Monks thinking of themselves more highly than they ought, especially of their personal spirituality, and ordinary people thinking too little of the spirituality within their ordinary lives

WHY WERE THEY GOOD

For over a millennium, in the centuries between Constantine and the Protestant Reformation, almost everything in the church that was highest and noblest and truest was done either by those in the monastic way or those inspired directly by them.

Missionary expansion was almost entirely the work of the monks. Intense expansion. Missionary History in the middle ages is traditionally divided into two periods – 500-1000 Barbarians, 1000-1500 Nominals – the key in both were the Monks.

1st half - St Patrick to Ireland and Great Britain in the 5th century, St. Boniface to Germany and France in the 7th century, Cyril and Methodius to Eastern Europe in the 9thcentury. They would move a bit out from a monastery, set up a new monastery, and reach further still.

2nd Half – They were the ones preaching the faith and traveling calling the people to godliness. Additionally, they began the work of apologetics, specifically with the muslims in view – Thomas Aquinas and Raymond Lull - Monks

“Virtually all cross-cultural proclamation of the gospel in the Middle Ages was done by Monks and Friars”

Scripture Study and Preservation and PRAYER

As a part of the evangelism, they began the translations into those languages of the Bible and copied them

Preserved, studied, Copied the Manuscripts

Some of the most learned people, deep study of the Bible when no one else could or would

“Cruce, libro, et atro” – The monks civilized Europe with cross, book and plow.

Serving the Communities

Wide variety of benevolence. As they would build new monasteries, they would begin helping develop the communities around them. They developed considerable skill at draining swamps, clearing forests, breeding cattle and sheep, and farming in various locales.

Manage Directory

Profiles

BENEDICTS RULE

St. Benadict is considered the father of monasticism. Founded many monasteries, the most significant being Monte Cassino, which still exists today, and where he wrote his REGULA – Rule, which quickly won universal approval and was used by all

St. Benadict wrote this rule in order to guide Monk’s to holiness and correct the monastic abuses of his day

Abuses – Zealous spirit bordering on fanaticism, asceticism to Gnostecism or Docetism, for prioritizing scripture over inner spiritual illumination, for making prayer central, for linking exalted religious experience with ordinary work, study, eating and sleeping.

This rule did things like sternly forbidding personal possessions, and also simpler things like advised each room in the monastery to have an older monk rooming with a younger monk, so that when the bell rung at midnight for prayers, “all might rise without delay . . . so they might quietly encourage each other, for the sleepy like to make excuses.”

He also emphasized the need for work, and everything was grounded by prayer.

He allowed the schedules to vary somewhat, but a typical example of a Monks daily Schedule

6-9 AM – Prime (names of various liturgies) in the church – ½ hour, breakfast, Work or Reading

9-10 AM – Chapter Mass in the church

10-11 AM – Chapter Meeting in the Chapter House

11-12 PM – High Mass in the Church

12-2 PM – Dinner then siesta

2-4 PM – Nones in the church, Work

4-6 PM – Vespers in the church, Work

6-7 PM – Supper

7 PM – Compline, the evening prayer in the church, Bed

Midnight – Matins in the church, Back to Bed

Mark Noll (Protestant) – “The rise of Monasticism, after Christ’s commission to his disciples, the most important and most beneficial institutional event in the history of Christianity.”

NEGATIVES

Two-Tiered Christianity

All equal at the cross

All involved in spiritual warfare

All righteous equally by Christ

Asceticism – Platonic

Incarnation proves that body isn’t evil, and God has always called creation itself Good

Shouldn’t withdraw from the world, Jesus and the apostles were in the midst of it

Jesus first miracle was to help the party at a wedding feast, surely he didn’t see wedding feasts as sinful or denying yourself these sorts of joys as a must or even good

Surely he didn’t see the marriage act itself as not good

This world may be but a foretaste of the world to come, but it isn’t a shadow of reality, it is real, and it is good

Heaven is not disembodied, it is embodied, it is eating and drinking and enjoying each other – Jesus eating fish

Life in ordinary society and married sexuality are good gifts of God

Works Righteousness if not careful (Luther, Monk)

POSITIVES

Incredible Devotion

Missionary Efforts

Scripture Copying

Benevolence

Apologetics

Learning and Thinking

Holiness

“Monks for more than 1,000 years sustained what was most noble and most Christ-centered in the church.”

“You cant hate the Catholic church because they brought the faith through generations” – monks did that

PART 6

Matthew 16:18 – the gates of Hades – I will build My church – reason it did not fail (TIMELINE to Today)

VI. Destruction of Jerusalem: The Church Pushed out of Jerusalem Once and for All

VII. The Guardrails

Various Persecutions à Constantine – Edict of Milan

VIII. 325 – Council of Nicea – First worldwide Council

1 Being – 3 Persons

Political Power involved – chaired council, changed everything

IX. The Council of Chalcedon - 451

Chalcedon’s Answer - “Jesus was 1 Person consisting of 2 Natures”

X. Monasticism

NEGATIVES

Two-Tiered Christianity

Asceticism – Platonic

Works Righteousness if not careful (Luther, Monk)

POSITIVES

Incredible Devotion

Missionary Efforts

Scripture Copying

Benevolence

Apologetics

Learning and Thinking

Holiness

“Monks for more than 1,000 years sustained what was most noble and most Christ-centered in the church.”

XI. The Rise of the Pope and Christendom

What do you know about the Pope?

To what extent should church and state overlap?

Downsides? Benefits?

December 25, 800 AD

The celebration of the birth of Christ on this day was already well established, celebrated similarly to as it is today

Something of much broader significance happened this day.

In Rome, in the church dedicated to St. Peter, at the end of the day’s first service, Charles (Charlemagne) King of the Franks, knelt to pray. As he rose from prayer, the Roman Bishop – Pope Leo III moved forward quickly and crowned Charles, the people all around in the church had been told what to do, as soon as he crowned him, they all shouted “To Charles Augustus, crowned by God, great and peace-giving emperor of the Romans, life and victory!)

Charles said later that if he knew that was going to happen, he never would have entered the church, they basically tricked him into being made Emperor.

This event itself is not really the turning point, but it is more like evidence of how different things had become, that the religious figure of the Bishop of Rome had the authority to declare who became Emperor.

“High Middle Ages” – “Christendom” (Christendom pointed to at various points, Noll initiates it here because this is the point where the churches power over all things is most clear)

POPE

The Greek word papas, Pope, was originally applied to high church offices of all kinds, applied to most if not all bishops. This was to some extent the case until 11th century– non-Roman bishops referred to as Popes, however, already in the 200’s and 300’s some were saying the Roman bishop was above all of the rest.

There isn’t one event or one big movement that is black and white and sudden where we all of a sudden have a POPE like we think of it today, or even one who would have the ability to crown an emperor. This is a lesson in the ability of slow incremental change to exert tremendous impact.

From at least the 200s, the bishop of Rome was considered one of the most important bishoprics. Why?

- It was ROME! The ROMAN Empire!

- Rome’s significance in the New Testament

o Acts ends with Paul’s arriving in Rome

o Romans is the fullest expression of Paul’s mature theology – his Magnum Opus

o Revelation contains many veiled references to Rome – likely the ten-horned seven headed beast

o Peter and Paul were both probably martyred in Rome

- Most Roman Bishops were Great, some were GIANTS

o Some of the key men to rebut heresy in the first centuries

o Victor Fixed a common date for Easter

o Damasus commissioned Jerome to produce a Latin Bible – Vulgate, which was THE scriptures of the time period and was very important well into last century

o Leo the Great – Council of Chalcedon – Tome

o Gregory the Great – the list of his accomplishments is breathtaking, and yet he was incredibly humble and pious. When many others tried to heap praise on to him for all he had done, or when others demanded that they be called impressive names, Gregory responded that he cared only to be known as “A Servant of the Servant of God,” a title still used by the Popes today.

255 – Pope Stephen advanced the argument from Matthew 16:18 which is still used today – direct line from Peter passed down

360 – Leo’s further advancement of Matt 16:18

No one act shaped the papacy, but by 800, the Roman Bishop was regarded unquestionably as the prime church figure and even with the authority to crown a new emperor and that task not be questioned.

Christendom

Early 600’s, Mohammed gathered some followers to his new movement – Islam.

622 – They were driven out of Mecca by rivals. They went to Medinah and ended up conquering that city. 8 years later, they return to Mecca and conquered that land. 2 Years later when Mohammed died, Arabia was 1/3 Muslim, 2 years after that, all of Arabia was Muslim. Within the next decade, Muslim armies had conquered Syria, Palestine and Persia and had made it as far East as India and Egypt. Their advancement westward toward Rome seemed inevitable.

Charlemagne’s grandfather was the first one to give a significant defeat to the Islamic forces and turn them back. Charlemagne inherited the alliances that his grandfather had built against the Muslims, and was a very successful military leader himself, having conquered the Saxons and the Spanish and the Lombards, controlling more of Europe than anyone in 400 years.

For the next 800 years, Politics, Learnings, Social Organization, Art, Music, Economics, and Law of Europe would be “Christian” – not necessarily in the truest since of that Word, gospel connected belief, but because the church had been so decisively connected with the new Roman Empire and Emperor – “Holy Roman Emperor”

“Separation of Church and State”

No, in Christendom, everything was based on the Christian faith as communicated by the Roman Catholic Church and protected and guarded by Secular Rulers.

To this day, church establishments exist in almost all European countered, long after the faith itself has left (by and large)

Believed and taught the Gospel, humans are sinners and need to be saved, and this salvation is won by Christ and given us by God’s grace.

The thing that made this era distinctive is the view arose that the way that grace actually comes to people is through the sacraments operated by both church and state.

It came to the place where salvation was less about faith and a heart submitted to God, and more about doing doing the sacraments and thus receiving God’s grace.

This raised the significance of the institutional Catholic church even higher, because they were the ones that had the sacraments.

7 Sacraments for all of Life – Guess them?

Sacrament for Birth – Baptism

Sacrament for coming of Age – Confirmation

Sacrament for the Confession of Sin – Penance

Sacrament for Spiritual Nourishment – Eucharist

Sacrament for Creating a Family – Marriage

Sacrament for Death – Extreme Unction

Sacrament For Spiritual Organization (to provide all other Sacraments) – Ordination

Scripture didn’t become irrelevant, but what had grown in importance was more general theological principles and practices – the scriptural basis for these things came after the system was already in place.

Protestants (non-Catholics – Us) Recognize 2 Sacraments – useless without faith

Communion

Baptism

I reached out to many different minister friends of mine of various denominations and persuasions and asked about sacraments, and pushed back a bit (cuz they’re my friends) on each.

Prefer the word Ordinance to Sacrament

Christ instituted and told the believers to partake in as a representation of the gospel as the church.

Marriage is a picture of the gospel, but it isn’t for all believers to take part in, and it is something that even non-believers can take part in.

It doesn’t seem to me even a category that we need, it seems like something held on from that time period that isn’t all that helpful – It DOES seem like those two things are connected to the local body and the church most – shouldn’t take communion apart from the local body (normatively) and shouldn’t be going around mercenary baptizing folks disconnected from a local church.

The role of the church became Distributing the Sacraments so that needy sinners could receive the grace of God.

At the heart of the ideal was the comprehensive presence and need of divine grace in all of life – to this end the church and state cooperated.

The East and the West had had issues, Islam rose and made those things worse, now there was a Comprehensive Empire ruled by a King and a Pope.

PART 7

Church History Part 7 – Roman Catholicism – You guys had a lot of good questions and seemed very interested . . .

More than 1 week – you guys are interested and its important for me to respond to that thoroughly

Catholic vs. catholic (Early writers didn’t mean Catholic – general, universal)

Over time – Rome started saying the Catholic (Universal) church is whoever submits to Rome – very sectarian

Wasn’t overnight, it was slow, we talked about that last week, podcast or youtube

Agree

Believe in the same Jesus

Trinity

Sets apart from Islam and Cults etc.

Christian Tradition

Respect the Bible – Inspired and Infallible Scriptures

Moral Issues – Pro-Life, Pro-Family, etc. (majority American catholics not pro-life) – largely nominal – whats nominal mean class?

Disagree

· Authority of the “Church” 3 Headed

o Papacy (Magisterium)

o Sacred Scripture

o Sacred Tradition – 21 church councils, church fathers pick and choose – difficult to know what counts – overwhelming amount of material

o All constitute the “Word of God”

All are equally Infallible

Only the church can interpret the Bible– interpretations are infallible - all else is foolishness (what we do, what I spend my week doing in order to . . . )

Here is a problem – they don’t interpret the Bible – officially interpreted less than 10! All I do is interpret the Bible – what if I believed I was the only one capable of doing so – they’ve only ever officially interpreted a few verses.

Convenient because you cant hold them accountable

Bible is a big mystery – cant say anything for sure unless the church has

Where do you get this authority? The Bible. How do you know the Bible says that? We say it does… well I don’t think it says that, it doesn’t matter what you think

Tradition is “developing” - convenient

“The Bible is not Enough”

2 Tim 3:16-17 – It is Sufficient

2 Thess 2:15 – Need traditions

What traditions? The things Paul has taught! Stand fast, hold on to what already given

Not R.C. traditions! Epistles! What he has already taught! Don’t leave this!

Jude 3 – Once and for all Delivered (past tense) to the Saints – not new stuff coming – no expectation for anything else

Gal 1:8 – if an angel from heaven. . .

Ac 17:11 – Bereans (is what PAUL is saying true? Don’t just believe it)

Matt 4 Temptation – What about when there is disagreement about scriptures? Jesus doesn’t go outside of scripture even to his own authority, he goes back into scripture to show it was misinterpreted.

Jesus “Have you not read . . . It is written”

Im going to share some crazy beliefs they hold, to which you’ll ask - “Where does the Bible teach that?” – that doesn’t matter

Cant contradict the Bible – BUT, you cant interpret the Bible, only the church can, they wont pick an interpretation that contradicts their views

We are going to look at the odd things the RC church holds now, and I wont have to really get into the Bible to show you they are unbiblical, you’ll know.

--- Unbiblical Teachings that have resulted ---

Individual Issues/Differences – Most important for Last – though lots of Overlap

POPE/AUTHORITY

They teach he is the

Supreme Authority of the Catholic Church

Infallible ability to tell you what the Bible means . . . imagine that

Infallibly declare doctrines equal to Scripture (higher than) . . . endless possibilities

Peter lived in Rome and stayed there after receiving Popehood as Bishop, passed down from there

Matthew 16:16-19– TWO OF THE VERY FEW THEY HAVE INTERPRETED - if you deny the church’s teachings on this, anathema

They claim the church has always understood this this way

Matt 16 - Early Church Fathers à 800’s – 17 Rock is Peter (none thought he was Pope), 16 Rock is Christ, 8 Rock is Disciples, 44 Rock is Confession

Matt 18:18-20 – keys given to apostles or church as a whole

Did the apostles see Peter this way after this?

Jesus calls him Satan right after this

Luke 22:24ff – which is the greatest – keep debating this, wasn’t it settled?

Ac 15 – James is presiding over the first church council

Paul calls Peter simply the apostle to the Gentiles – confronts him

Gregory the Great - 6thCentury – “64th Pope” – He rejected that title and rejected explicitly the idea that a bishop should be considered higher than any other bishop, he calls it Satanic – Peter, Paul, Andrew John, what were they? - nothing but heads of particular communities!

We read about church offices in the Bible, it isn’t like it was something left for us to decide, nothing like the Pope

Jn 21:15ff (responsible for ALL THE SHEEP)

In these words Jesus gave Peter primacy and he institutes the Papacy

Do we have to talk about it – you would never come to that conclusion – you’ve likely never thought about that – WHAT A DOCTRINE, WORLD CHANGING DOCTRINE TO COME TO

(Ac 20:28) – All elders are told to shepherd the church of God

1 Pet 5:1-4 – Peter sees himself as just “A fellow elder” – and tells them the same things

Who is the Chief Shepherd? Him? NO

“The church has always interpreted this verse this way” – NO early church Father did – no one did until 600’s by a Pope

BIBLE +

No need for self-study – you know your Bible much better than the average Catholic

This current pope is the first one to ever encourage lay Catholics to read their Bible

Is the Bible really the authority if the church is the only one that can tell you what it means?

Protestants - Sola Scriptura – Sola Ekklesia - can’t get teachings just from Bible

Apocrypha – Jews didn’t see them as authoritative, neither did Jesus and the apostles

Not canonized until protestant reformation

PURGATORY

A place of suffering

Purgatory place for the saved who still need to suffer for their sins – character change – more crucially – paying for your sins to make yourself holy enough – “Atoning” for yourself – BLASPHEMY

Ephesians 5:27 – if you aren’t holy and without blemish, purgatory (ignores v 26 – happening right now)

1 Corinthians 3:12-13

Indulgences and Prayers and good works for the Dead in Purgatory – paying for their sin

Biblically Heaven for Saved, Hell for Unsaved – no middle ground – 2 Cor 5:8, Phil 1:21-23 (die wouldn’t be gain for purgatory), Heb 10:14

If anyone ever would go, Thief on Cross, no good works – Luke 23:43 – today you will be with me in Paradise

Word never appears in the Bible

INDULGENCES

Money to the church to pay for sin (some did it for future sins)

Indulgences still given out, not ended – not same as it was – coin in the coffer rings

Pope Francis (current pope) – Indulgences if show up where he was going, extended that offer to those follow him on Twitter

MARY

1854 – Marian Dogmas

Immaculate Conception – Mary born without sin – did not inherit original sin – THEN SHE NEVER SINNED – first sinless human

Lk 1:46 – My spirit rejoices in God my savior – why does she need a savior?

Mk 10:18 – no one is good except God alone

Rom 3:10 – Noone is righteous no not one

Perpetual Virginity – even through birth and rest of life

Matt 1:24-25 – did not know her UNTIL . . . EVER?

SEX IS WONDERFUL IN MARRIAGE, WHY? Holdover of that philosophy we talked about

Matt 13:55, Mark 6:3, Jn 2:12, 7:3, 7:5, Ac 1:14, Gal 1:19, 1 Cor 9:5, Mt 12:46-50 - (Cousins – word could mean cousins)

Bodily Assumption (1950)

When her earthly life was over, she was taken up like Elijah

Co-Mediatrix/Co-Redeemer

1 Tim 2:5 – Mary would be appalled

“By your prayers, you deliver our souls from death” – helps Jesus save us – “the All-Holy one”

SAINTS

These people aren’t in Purgatory, actually in Heaven

Have paid enough for their own sins, you can appeal to them for some of their good works to be for you

They have special access to God, can hear you and help you with your prayers

Pray to them for them to talk to God on our behalf

Example of normal Prayer – Mother of Perpetual Help Prayer

O Mother of Perpetual Help

Thou are the dispenser of all the gifts that God grants to us miserable sinners

And to this end he has made thee so powerful, so rich and so bountiful in order that Thou mayest help us in our misery.

Thou art The advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee

Come to my aid for I recommend myself to Thee into Thy hand I place my eternal salvation and to thee I entrust my soul

Count me among thy most devoted servants. Take me under thy protection and it is enough for me.

For if thou protect me I fear nothing, not from my sins for Thou will attain for me the pardon for them, nor from the devils because thou art more powerful than all hell together, nor even from Jesus my judge because by one prayer from Thee, He will be appeased

But one thing I fear that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to call on thee and thus perish miserably.

Attain for me therefore the pardon for my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O mother of perpetual help.

Mary would be appalled. Phil 4:6 –

Jesus taught us how to pray “Our Father”

1 Tim 2:5 – One mediator, the man Christ Jesus

Mary doesn’t love you more than Jesus.

Prayers throughout the Bible – never to anyone but God.

Numerous passages in the Bible say do not attempt to contact the dead.

PRIESTS

(alter cristo) – Priest can act in the person of Christ – going to Jesus

Purple sash – Authority of Christ to forgive sins

MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN

There’s no list – no actual 7 deadly sins list, not entirely sure

Missing Mass

Go to Priest for Venial Sin – Sin but don’t lose salvation – confess to priest – good to go

Mortal sin Destroys grace of justification – lose salvation (not attending mass) – not saved that week, when you go back, you confess, and priest gives you back salvation

Re-justification needed afterward

Rom 4:6-8 – God will not count his sin

Romans 5:1 – Peace with God?

Luther - Born a Pile of Dung (pile up manure for spring fertilization)

Baptism makes you a Pile of Gold – God likes Gold so you get in

When you, the gold, commit a venial sin – flecks of dung show up, now you have to go to purgatory to burn it off

When you commit a mortal sin, you’re a pile of dung again.

And you never know which one you are.

Justification does not make you gold, it’s the first snow that covers over that pile of dung – takes away your offensiveness – of course Luther believed in sanctification and glorification – but making the point that you don’t become something worthy of God, you are still unworthy, but he Counts you worthy.

7 SACRAMENTS

Ways of getting Grace

Baptism (Infant) – “Makes us Christians,” gets rid of what they call original sin – BORN AGAIN

Ac 8:36 – Believers baptism

Penance – Attrition over sin, Confession to a Priest

Confess both venial and mortal sins – must be to a Priest – only the church has power of forgiveness

Treasury of Merit – Bank Vault – Works of Jesus, Mary, Saints – Extra works, more than enough works to enter Heaven

Priest has key to that vault, unlocks it, applies those merits to you and you are forgiven

Follow instructions of the Priest – “merit grace”

Not confessing to a friend, not going for counseling, not I need a friend and to get some stuff off my chest, this is about getting your sins forgiven by the Priest and church

Once you do these things, your venial sins get washed away so you wont have to pay for them, and your mortal sins are forgiven and you are saved again

No Priesthood in the Bible like this one – 1 Tim 2:5, James 5:16

Jesus is the only Mediator between you and God

Eucharist/MASS – Reason for Mass, IS Mass

Re-Presenting of the sacrifice of Jesus to the Father in order to appease God’s wrath and cover people’s sins

Transubstantiation – bread and wine literally becomes body and blood of Jesus Christ – Jesus is literally present

When the Priest does certain things as says certain things it magically becomes Jesus – they are re-presenting Jesus to the Father for the sins you have committed since you last came.

Not just a memorial – this is actually Jesus àThey worship the bread and cup afterward, physically bowing – TABERNACLE IN FRONT - genuflect

Must have it – only way to get it through the Priest – can’t be saved without this – need more grace this week

Heb 10:11-14

Rom 5:1-2 – We stand in Grace

This is why you probably know many Christians who party Saturday night without worry because they will just have it all cleaned on Sunday at Mass.

Confirmation – Coming of Age (don’t have to but way of getting grace)

Marriage – Divorce is Impossible

(Don’t have to be married – just ways of getting grace)

Holy Ordinance – Officers – Priests activities

Alter-Cristo

1 Pet 2:9

Extreme Unction/Last Rights

– Priest comes one last time to get rid of those sins

Mark 7:6-7– Teaching as law the commandments of men

GOSPELis not the Gospel - incredibly complicated in R.C.

GOSPEL: Romans 1:16 – 17 – Righteousness by Faith, Romans 5:1-2 – Peace through Christ, Romans 3:21-28, Romans 4:1-8, Philippians 3:9 – Righteousness by Faith

Faith in Christ = Salvation + Works

Vs.

Faith + Works = Salvation

Justification begins at baptism, progresses and is maintained by a person’s participation in the 7 sacraments

They don’t deny grace, they just add works to it

Council of Trent “Justified by the good works that he performs (by the grace of God and merits of Jesus Christ)”

Grace is necessary but not enough, we maintain our righteousness through our righteous works

Rom 4:4, 11:6, (Here you can have my Bible for free . . . $20), Gal 5:3-4 – once you add works, it isn’t grace anymore

What about James 2? – Justification in the eyes of men, prove it to be true – written b4 Paul

Luke 10:29, 16:15 (Justify normal usage) – this is the context

Even the example here – Abraham was already credited righteousness

Works as Result – they say anyone who says works are a fruit and not the way is anathema

It is possible in Roman Catholicism to have genuine faith and not be good enough to be saved

Paul anathematizes the Judaizers for adding one thing to what Christ did. Jesus PLUS

There is no finished work of Christ

A lot of Catholics are Christians and don’t know or embrace the Catholic teaching

Video for Great Schism History – Winger - Why Catholicism is Wrong – 43 minutes ish

Part 8

Roman Catholicism – You guys had a lot of good questions and seemed very interested . . .

Agree

Disagree

· Authority of the “Church”

o Papacy (Magisterium)

o Sacred Scripture

o Sacred Tradition

o All constitute the “Word of God”

All are equally Infallible

Only the church can interpret the Bible– interpretations are infallible - all else is foolishness – what we do here . . .

They don’t interpret it

“The Bible is not Enough” (They believe more was needed after)

2 Tim 3:16-17 – It is Sufficient

Jude 3 – Once and for all Delivered (past tense) to the Saints – not new stuff coming – no expectation for anything else

Gal 1:8 – if an angel from heaven. . .

Im going to share some crazy beliefs they hold, to which you’ll ask - “Where does the Bible teach that?” – that doesn’t matter

Cant contradict the Bible – BUT, you cant interpret the Bible, only the church can, they wont pick an interpretation that contradicts their views

--- Unbiblical Teachings that have resulted ---

Individual Issues/Differences – Most important for Last – though lots of Overlap

POPE/AUTHORITY

They teach he is the

Supreme Authority of the Catholic Church

Infallible ability to tell you what the Bible means . . . imagine that

Infallibly declare doctrines equal to Scripture (higher than) . . . endless possibilities

Matthew 16:16-19

They claim the church has always understood this this way

We read about church offices in the Bible, it isn’t like it was something left for us to decide, nothing like the Pope

BIBLE +

Apocrypha – Jews didn’t see them as authoritative, neither did Jesus and the apostles

Not canonized until protestant reformation

PURGATORY

A place of suffering

Purgatory place for the saved who still need to suffer for their sins – character change – more crucially – paying for your sins to make yourself holy enough – “Atoning” for yourself – BLASPHEMY

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

INDULGENCES

(normally) Money to the church to pay for sin (some did it for future sins)

Indulgences still given out, not ended – not same as it was – coin in the coffer rings

You cannot buy one — the church outlawed the sale of indulgences in 1567 — but charitable contributions, combined with other acts, can help you earn one. There is a limit of one plenary indulgence per sinner per day.

Hard to really figure out – read their documents and still not be sure

Pope Francis (current pope) – 2013 Indulgences if show up where he was going, extended that offer to those follow him on Twitter

MARY

1854 – 4 Marian Dogmas – Declared by the Pope as equal to Scripture

Immaculate Conception – Mary born without sin – did not inherit original sin – THEN SHE NEVER SINNED – first sinless human

Lk 1:46 – My spirit rejoices in God my savior – why does she need a savior?

Mk 10:18 – no one is good except God alone

Rom 3:10 – Noone is righteous no not one

Perpetual Virginity – even through birth and rest of life

Matt 1:24-25 – did not know her UNTIL she had given birth to a son . . . EVER?

SEX IS WONDERFUL IN MARRIAGE, WHY? Holdover of that philosophy we talked about

Matt 13:55, Mark 6:3, Jn 2:12, 7:3, 7:5, Ac 1:14, Gal 1:19, 1 Cor 9:5, Mt 12:46-50 - (Cousins – word could mean cousins)

Bodily Assumption (1950)

When her earthly life was over, she was taken up like Elijah

Co-Mediatrix/Co-Redeemer

1 Tim 2:5 – Mary would be appalled

“By your prayers, you deliver our souls from death” – helps Jesus save us – “the All-Holy one”

SAINTS

These people aren’t in Purgatory, actually in Heaven

Have paid enough for their own sins, you can appeal to them for some of their good works to be for you

They have special access to God, can hear you and help you with your prayers

Pray to them for them to talk to God on our behalf

Example of normal Prayer – Mother of Perpetual Help Prayer

O Mother of Perpetual Help

Thou are the dispenser of all the gifts that God grants to us miserable sinners

And to this end he has made thee so powerful, so rich and so bountiful in order that Thou mayest help us in our misery.

Thou art The advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee

Come to my aid for I recommend myself to Thee into Thy hand I place my eternal salvation and to thee I entrust my soul

Count me among thy most devoted servants. Take me under thy protection and it is enough for me.

For if thou protect me I fear nothing, not from my sins for Thou will attain for me the pardon for them, nor from the devils because thou art more powerful than all hell together, nor even from Jesus my judge because by one prayer from Thee, He will be appeased

But one thing I fear that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to call on thee and thus perish miserably.

Attain for me therefore the pardon for my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O mother of perpetual help.

Mary would be appalled. Phil 4:6 –

Jesus taught us how to pray “Our Father”

1 Tim 2:5 – One mediator, the man Christ Jesus

Mary doesn’t love you more than Jesus.

Prayers throughout the Bible – never to anyone but God.

Numerous passages in the Bible say do not attempt to contact the dead.

PRIESTS

(alter cristo) – Priest can act in the person of Christ – going to Jesus

Purple sash – Authority of Christ to forgive sins

MORTAL AND VENIAL SIN - In Debt Again

There’s no list – no actual 7 deadly sins list, not entirely sure

Missing Mass

Go to Priest for Venial Sin – Sin but don’t lose salvation – confess to priest – good to go

Mortal sin Destroys grace of justification – lose salvation (not attending mass) – not saved that week, when you go back, you confess, and priest gives you back salvation

Re-justification needed afterward

Rom 4:6-8 – God will not count his sin

Romans 5:1 – Peace with God?

Luther - Born a Pile of Dung (pile up manure for spring fertilization)

Baptism makes you a Pile of Gold – God likes Gold so you get in

When you, the gold, commit a venial sin – flecks of dung show up, now you have to go to purgatory to burn it off

When you commit a mortal sin, you’re a pile of dung again.

And you never know which one you are.

Justification does not make you gold, it’s the first snow that covers over that pile of dung – takes away your offensiveness – of course Luther believed in sanctification and glorification – but making the point that you don’t become something worthy of God, you are still unworthy, but he Counts you worthy.

7 SACRAMENTS

Ways of getting Grace

Baptism (Infant) – “Makes us Christians,” gets rid of what they call original sin – BORN AGAIN

Ac 8:36 – Believers baptism

Penance – Attrition over sin, Confession to a Priest

Confess both venial and mortal sins – must be to a Priest – only the church has power of forgiveness

Treasury of Merit – Bank Vault – Works of Jesus, Mary, Saints – Extra works, more than enough works to enter Heaven

Priest has key to that vault, unlocks it, applies those merits to you and you are forgiven

Follow instructions of the Priest – “merit grace”

Not confessing to a friend, not going for counseling, not I need a friend and to get some stuff off my chest, this is about getting your sins forgiven by the Priest and church

Once you do these things, your venial sins get washed away so you wont have to pay for them, and your mortal sins are forgiven and you are saved again

No Priesthood in the Bible like this one – 1 Tim 2:5, James 5:16

Jesus is the only Mediator between you and God

Eucharist/MASS – Reason for Mass, IS Mass

Re-Presenting of the sacrifice of Jesus to the Father in order to appease God’s wrath and cover people’s sins

Transubstantiation – bread and wine literally becomes body and blood of Jesus Christ – Jesus is literally present

When the Priest does certain things as says certain things it magically becomes Jesus – they are re-presenting Jesus to the Father for the sins you have committed since you last came.

Not just a memorial – this is actually Jesus àThey worship the bread and cup afterward, physically bowing – TABERNACLE IN FRONT - genuflect

Must have it – only way to get it through the Priest – can’t be saved without this – need more grace this week

Heb 10:11-14

Rom 5:1-2 – We stand in Grace

This is why you probably know many Catholics who party Saturday night without worry because they will just have it all cleaned on Sunday at Mass.

Confirmation – Coming of Age (don’t have to but way of getting grace)

Marriage – Divorce is Impossible

(Don’t have to be married – just ways of getting grace)

Holy Ordinance – Officers – Priests activities

Alter-Cristo

1 Pet 2:9

Extreme Unction/Last Rights (I was wrong)

– Priest comes one last time to get rid of those sins

Mark 7:6-7– Teaching as law the commandments of men

GOSPELis not the Gospel - incredibly complicated in R.C. (Membership Interviews)

GOSPEL: Romans 1:16 – 17 – Righteousness by Faith, Romans 5:1-2 – Peace through Christ, Romans 3:21-28, Romans 4:1-8, Philippians 3:9 – Righteousness by Faith

Faith in Christ = Salvation + Works

Vs.

Faith + Works = Salvation

Justification begins at baptism, progresses and is maintained by a person’s participation in the 7 sacraments

They don’t deny grace, they just add works to it

Council of Trent “Justified by the good works that he performs (by the grace of God and merits of Jesus Christ)”

Grace is necessary but not enough, we maintain our righteousness through our righteous works

Rom 4:4, 11:6, (Here you can have my Bible for free . . . $20), Gal 5:3-4 – once you add works, it isn’t grace anymore

What about James 2? – Justification in the eyes of men, prove it to be true – written b4 Paul

Luke 10:29, 16:15 (Justify normal usage) – this is the context

Even the example here – Abraham was already credited righteousness

Works as Result – they say anyone who says works are a fruit and not the way is anathema

It is possible in Roman Catholicism to have genuine faith and not be good enough to be saved

Paul anathematizes the Judaizers for adding one thing to what Christ did. Jesus PLUS

There is no finished work of Christ

A lot of Catholics are Christians and don’t know or embrace the Catholic teaching

Video for Great Schism History – Winger - Why Catholicism is Wrong – 43 minutes ish

PART 9

Relatively Deep Dive into Catholic Teachings

· “Word of God” – Papacy, Scripture, Tradition

· Only the church (Pope) can interpret the Bible (but they don’t)

· “Where does the Bible teach that?” – They don’t have to answer that question like I do

· Pope – Supreme Authority – Infallibly interprets scripture, infallibly adds dogma (Endless possibilities)

· Apocrypha – Deuterocanonical – late additions

· Purgatory – Place to atone for the sins you have left, be fully sanctified – suffering

· Indulgences – Cant be bought any more, but get with a contribution – payment for sin – Pope Francis and Twitter

· Mary – Marian Dogmas – Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Bodily Assumption, Co-Mediatrix/Redeemer – Gentler than Jesus so talk to her and she’ll reason with him

· Saints – Actually in Heaven – Special Access to God – God listens to them more - Extra Merits that can count for you

· Priests – Alter-Cristo

· Mortal and Venial Sin – In Debt Again – Mortal sin destroys justification – Venial sin adds to Purgatory

· 7 Sacraments – Ways of Getting Grace

o Penance – Confession to a Priest – Treasury of Merit – Follow Priests instructions to “Merit Grace” – this is not like going to counseling or confessing to a friend – it is going for forgiveness/re-justification

o Eucharist/Mass – Re-presenting Jesus sacrifices for recent sins – Tabernacle in front – cannot be saved without this weekly

Mark 7:6-7 – Teaching as law the commandments of men

GOSPELis not the Gospel - incredibly complicated in R.C. (Membership Interviews)

Not too long ago we defined the Gospel with a more extensive study of the word’s usage in the book of Galatians

We are sensitive here – Gospel is the Good News of Christ – it is a message, you can say it’s a person, its not baptism

GOSPEL: Romans 1:16 – 17 – Righteousness by Faith, Romans 5:1-2 – Peace through Christ, Romans 3:21-28, Romans 4:1-8, Philippians 3:9 – Righteousness by Faith

Faith in Christ = Salvation + Works (Trust, more than mere intellectual assent)

Vs.

Faith + Works = Salvation

Justification begins at baptism, progresses and is maintained by a person’s participation in the 7 sacraments

They don’t deny grace, they just add works to it

Council of Trent “Justified by the good works that he performs (by the grace of God and merits of Jesus Christ)”

Grace is necessary but not enough, we maintain our righteousness through our righteous works

Rom 4:4, 11:6, (Here you can have my Bible for free . . . $20), Gal 5:3-4 – once you add works, it isn’t grace anymore

What about James 2? – Justification in the eyes of men, prove it to be true – written b4 Paul

Luke 10:29, 16:15 (Justify normal usage) – this is the context

Even the example here – Abraham was already credited righteousness

Works as Result – they say anyone who says works are a fruit and not the way is anathema

It is possible in Roman Catholicism to have genuine faith and not be good enough to be saved

Gal 1 - Paul anathematizes the Judaizers for adding one thing to what Christ did. Jesus PLUS

There is no finished work of Christ

A lot of Catholics are Christians and don’t know or embrace the Catholic teaching

Catholic church eventually began claiming if you didn’t accept Papal authority, you weren’t Christians.

Great Schism of 1054

There was always dissonance between East and West in Christianity historically.

Inside of the Roman Empire – All of Europe, Western Russia, Mediterranean, North Africa

East – Greece – Constantinople – Jerusalem – Antioch

West – Rome – Alexandria

The East and West did things a bit differently culturally throughout History (Still hear this talked about today)

As early as end of first century

West/Latin

Boldly challenged pagan cultures with truths of Christianity

Coined words like Trinity - Formulas of Faith (Regula) that were expected to end debates

Lawyer

Reason toward action

Practical

Rational

Juridical

Christ the Victim

East/Greek

Sympathetically sought aid for Christianity from the best paganism offered

Mediated on Truths of the Faith – discussion about ultimate realities of Christianity – wiggle room

Philosopher

Reasoned toward Ideas/Truth

Contemplative

Emotional/Supernatural

Worship / Experience / Mysticism (Pejoratively)

Christ the Victor

Each has truth and its place, but each side at times followed its own stuff in isolation forgetting the value in the other side.

The Schism

The East acknowledged Rome’s “First among equals” status as long as Rome didn’t act in dictator fashion, wielding authority without consulting the rest of the bishoprics. But that is of course what Rome began to do, until eventually the East’s refusal to acknowledge the authority and the West’s demands that they did came to a head and both groups excommunicated each other.

In 1054 – Rome got a good Pope and Emperor – aimed at Spiritual Reform, which was good, but part of that was exerting the Popes independent authority clearly, and the Eastern’s weren’t having any of it.

Still sort of acted unified in many ways, UNTIL

The Crusades Sealed the Deal

1095 – Pope “God wills the rescue of the Holy Land from Islam”

Eastern Emperor appealed for Help

Pope gathers Army

Ironic and Tragic Results - Idealists, but more War hungry Loot Hungry Opportunists

1st Crusade captured Jerusalem, but were hardly Christian, slaughtered Jewish and Arab Christians in route, many obviously involved for material gain

4th 1202-1204 – Left battle for Islam, came to Constantinople and destroyed and plundered the city

The leading historian of the Crusades “When the leading crusadors were gathered in the great palace, their soldiers were told they could spend the next 3 days in pilage. The sack of Constantinople is unparalleled in history. For 9 centuries, the great city had been the capitol of Christian civilization. It was filled with works of art that had been preserved since ancient Greece and with the masterpieces of its own exquisite craftsman, but the crusadors were filled with lust for destruction. They rushed as a howling mob down the streets and through the houses snatching up everything that glittered and destroying whatever they could not carry, pausing only to murder or to rape or to break open the wine cellars for their own refreshment. Palaces and houses alike were entered and wrecked. Wounded women and children lay dying in the streets. For 3 days, the ghastly scenes of pillage and bloodshed continued, until the once magnificent city lay in shambles … there was never a greater crime against humanity”

The Pope condemned the conquest but the damage had been done. Hatred had been settled.

Efforts at Reunion ever since then, unsuccessful, 1960’s first time

1964 – Meeting of leaders of both sides (Pope and Patriarch) – 1054 excommunications revoked

Catholic Orthodox communication has grown slowly since

Differences in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox

2009 – Orthodox – 274 Million – 4% world population

Half- Russia/Ukraine (Capital moved from Constantinople to Russia after that Crusade)

Much still the same as it was in 1054

View itself as only Holy catholic apostolic church

Similar to Catholicism at 1054 – no purgatory, no indulgences, no papal infallibility, no marian dogmas

Much of differences still the same as Early List – Not nearly as clear on dogmas – Eastern thinking

I don’t know what they believe – Lacks those sort of Western categories, black and white

Often Cultural and Ethnic over Spiritual and Heart-Affecting

PART 10

Great Schism of 1054

There was always dissonance between East and West in Christianity historically.

Inside of the Roman Empire – All of Europe, Western Russia, Mediterranean, North Africa

East – Greece – Constantinople – Jerusalem – Antioch

West – Rome – Alexandria

The East and West did things a bit differently culturally throughout History (Still hear this talked about today)

As early as end of first century

West/Latin

Boldly challenged pagan cultures with truths of Christianity

Coined words like Trinity - Formulas of Faith (Regula) that were expected to end debates

Reason toward action

Practical

Rational

Juridical

Christ the Victim

Lawyer

East/Greek

Sympathetically sought aid for Christianity from the best paganism offered

Mediated on Truths of the Faith – discussion about ultimate realities of Christianity – wiggle room

Reasoned toward Ideas/Truth

Contemplative

Emotional/Supernatural

Worship / Experience / Mysticism (Pejoratively)

Christ the Victor

Philosopher

Each has truth and its place, but each side at times followed its own stuff in isolation forgetting the value in the other side.

The Schism

In 1054 – Rome got a good Pope and Emperor – aimed at Spiritual Reform, which was good, but part of that was exerting the Popes independent authority clearly, and the Eastern’s weren’t having any of it.

The East acknowledged Rome’s “First among equals” status as long as Rome didn’t act in dictator fashion, wielding authority without consulting the rest of the bishoprics. But that is of course what Rome began to do, until eventually the East’s refusal to acknowledge the authority and the West’s demands that they did came to a head and both groups excommunicated each other (Each considering themselves the one true church – Roman Catholic – Eastern/Greek Orthodox

Still sort of acted unified in many ways, UNTIL

The Crusades Sealed the Deal - What do you know about these?

1095 – Pope “God wills the rescue of the Holy Land from Islam”

Eastern Emperor appealed for Help

Pope gathers Army

Ironic and Tragic Results - Idealists, but more War hungry Loot Hungry Opportunists

1st Crusade captured Jerusalem, but were hardly Christian, slaughtered Jewish and Arab Christians in route, many obviously involved for material gain

3 more over the next hundred years, all similar

4th 1202-1204 – Left battle for Islam, came to Constantinople and destroyed and plundered the city

The leading historian of the Crusades “When the leading crusadors were gathered in the great palace, their soldiers were told they could spend the next 3 days in pillage. The sack of Constantinople is unparalleled in history. For 9 centuries, the great city had been the capitol of Christian civilization. It was filled with works of art that had been preserved since ancient Greece and with the masterpieces of its own exquisite craftsman, but the crusadors were filled with lust for destruction. They rushed as a howling mob down the streets and through the houses snatching up everything that glittered and destroying whatever they could not carry, pausing only to murder or to rape or to break open the wine cellars for their own refreshment. Palaces and houses alike were entered and wrecked. Wounded women and children lay dying in the streets. For 3 days, the ghastly scenes of pillage and bloodshed continued, until the once magnificent city lay in shambles … there was never a greater crime against humanity”

The Pope condemned the conquest but the damage had been done. Hatred had been settled.

Efforts at Reunion ever since then, unsuccessful, 1960’s first time

1964 – Meeting of leaders of both sides (Pope and Patriarch) – 1054 excommunications revoked

Catholic Orthodox communication has grown slowly since

Differences in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox

2009 – Orthodox – 274 Million – 4% world population

Half- Russia/Ukraine (Capital moved from Constantinople to Russia after that Crusade)

Much still the same as it was in 1054

View itself as only Holy catholic apostolic church

Similar to Catholicism in 1054 – no purgatory, no indulgences, no papal infallibility, no marian dogmas

Much of differences still the same as Early List – Not nearly as clear on dogmas – Eastern thinking – almost mystic

I don’t know what they believe – Lacks those sort of Western categories, black and white

Often Cultural and Ethnic over Spiritual and Heart-Affecting

Diet of Worms (Vorms) – 1521 – Start of Protestant Reformation

What do you know about the Protestant Reformation?

What questions do you have about it? Best advice I have ever been given – Don’t be afraid to look Dumb – (I do think there probably are such things as dumb questions – but in more than a decade teaching (lots of dumb kids) – theres only ever been like 2-3 times where I heard the question and thought – that was dumb

“Church of Christ” – we are outside of all of that, we are the remnant, the one true true church, established AD 33 (not the claims of the founders by the way). Speaking purely historically, if there was no protestant reformation, there is no church of Christ.

Martin Luther (37) had been a monk for 15 years – He was appearing before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles

He was summoned by the Emperor to Recant – confess publicly to his mistakes to what he had written about the Gospel, the nature of the church, and the current state of Christendom

Luther wasn’t the first to seek to reform the church and point out some evils, others who had done so before were killed for it, and they tried to kill Luther for it, but he was the most significant and the first to do so in a loud and public way – thanks in large part to the printing press.

Luther was brought to this point largely because of his own inner awareness of insufficiency. He was deeply aware that he was a sinner, that he wasn’t righteous, and that he wasn’t doing enough. (AND HE WAS A MONK!)

Romans 1 – how could God’s righteousness be “gospel” – good news? It is holy and wrathful!

1:17 – (The Gate to Paradise) From FAITH

This led him to begin protesting certain church practices that went against the message of the free gift of grace through faith in Christ

Prime example is the 95 theses – (nailed to the door – wasn’t a big deal, not like we imagine it was like community bulletin board) he wasn’t trying to start a new thing, he was just seeking reform

Theological disputes flourished. First full exploitation of the printing press.

Luther called Pope antichrist- since he was keeping people from understanding the gospel

Luther appealed for leaders to throw off the Roman tyranny

Luther condemned the sacramental system outside of baptism and the Lord’s supper – arguing this had become works of self-righteousness

Luther argued the Christian must do good works, but it is as a result of salvation and not for it.

“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all”

Luther responded that anything he said that anyone there could show him with the Scriptures was not true, he would recant right away and repent, the first to cast his books in the fire.

Mark Noll says, “With these words, Protestantism was born”

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason, for I do not trust either in the Popes or the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves, I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and conscience is bound to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything.”

Protestants would obey the Bible before all other authorities. (Emphasized own conscience)

Europe and Christianity would never be the same.

Immediately upon leaving the Diet, he began work on the first ever German translation of the Bible. (Biography – Long)

One of the emperor’s officials rebuked Luther there for setting himself up higher than the church councils – and asked the key question – What if everyone simply followed their own conscious and interpretation – “We will have nothing certain”

This was at least somewhat True - denominations

All found basically the same gospel – salvation by Faith

Differed on things like baptism, how predestination works, order of worship

Conversion – from proud self reliance to trusting acceptance of God’s grace

Luther wasn’t trying to start a new branch, he was trying to Reform the catholic church – He spoke out against the obvious things like indulgences, but his primary focus was the Gospel.

PART 11

Great Schism of 1054

There was always dissonance between East and West in Christianity historically.

Inside of the Roman Empire – All of Europe, Western Russia, Mediterranean, North Africa

East – Greece – Constantinople

West – Rome

The East and West did things a bit differently culturally throughout History (Still hear this talked about today)

West/Latin

Reason toward action Practical Rational Lawyer

East/Greek

Reasoned toward Ideas/Truth Contemplative Worship / Experience / Mysticism (Pejoratively) Philosopher

Each has truth and its place, but each side at times followed its own stuff in isolation forgetting the value in the other side.

The Schism – New Pope demanded acknowledgement of Supremacy

The Crusades Sealed the Deal

Efforts at Reunion ever since then, unsuccessful, 1960’s first time

1964 – Meeting of leaders of both sides (Pope and Patriarch) – 1054 excommunications revoked

Differences in Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox

2009 – Orthodox – 274 Million – 4% world population

Half- Russia/Ukraine (Capital moved from Constantinople to Russia after that Crusade)

Much still the same as it was in 1054

Much of differences still the same as Early List – Not nearly as clear on dogmas – Eastern thinking – almost mystic

I don’t know what they believe – Lacks those sort of Western categories, black and white

Often Cultural and Ethnic over Spiritual and Heart-Affecting

Diet of Worms (Vorms) – 1521 – Start of Protestant Reformation

What do you know about the Protestant Reformation?

What questions do you have about it? Best advice I have ever been given – Don’t be afraid to look Dumb – (I do think there probably are such things as dumb questions – but in more than a decade teaching (lots of dumb kids) – theres only ever been like 2-3 times where I heard the question and thought – that was dumb

“Church of Christ” – we are outside of all of that, we are the remnant, the one true true church, established AD 33 (not the claims of the founders by the way). Speaking purely historically, if there was no protestant reformation, there is no church of Christ.

Martin Luther (37) had been a monk for 15 years – He was appearing before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles

He was summoned by the Emperor to Recant – confess publicly to his mistakes to what he had written about the Gospel, the nature of the church, and the current state of Christendom

Luther wasn’t the first to seek to reform the church and point out some evils, others who had done so before were killed for it, and they tried to kill Luther for it, but he was the most significant and the first to do so in a loud and public way – thanks in large part to the printing press.

Luther was brought to this point largely because of his own inner awareness of insufficiency. He was deeply aware that he was a sinner, that he wasn’t righteous, and that he wasn’t doing enough. (AND HE WAS A MONK!)

Romans 1 – how could God’s righteousness be “gospel” – good news? It is holy and wrathful!

1:17 – (The Gate to Paradise) From FAITH

This led him to begin protesting certain church practices that went against the message of the free gift of grace through faith in Christ

Prime example is the 95 theses – Oct 31, 1517 (nailed to the door – wasn’t a big deal, not like we imagine it was like community bulletin board) he wasn’t trying to start a new thing, he was just seeking reform – wasn’t yet saying the Pope was the antichrist or the other thing he would. . .

1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ``Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.

2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy.

Theological disputes flourished. First full exploitation of the printing press.

Luther called Pope antichrist- since he was keeping people from understanding the gospel

Luther appealed for leaders to throw off the Roman tyranny

Luther condemned the sacramental system outside of baptism and the Lord’s supper – arguing this had become works of self-righteousness

Luther argued the Christian must do good works, but it is as a result of salvation and not for it.

“A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all”

Luther responded that anything he said that anyone there could show him with the Scriptures was not true, he would recant right away and repent, the first to cast his books in the fire.

Mark Noll says, “With these words, Protestantism was born”

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason, for I do not trust either in the Popes or the councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves, I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and conscience is bound to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything.”

Protestants would obey the Bible before all other authorities. (Emphasized own conscience)

Europe and Christianity would never be the same.

Immediately upon leaving the Diet, he began work on the first ever German translation of the Bible. (Biography – Long)

He also shortly after got married – clergy – married – emphasizing family

One of the emperor’s officials rebuked Luther there for setting himself up higher than the church councils – and asked the key question – What if everyone simply followed their own conscious and interpretation – “We will have nothing certain”

This was at least somewhat True – debates began immediately about church practice, baptism, communion, worship, how predestination works, etc

Denominations - Draw

All found basically the same gospel – righteousness by Faith

Conversion – from proud self reliance to trusting acceptance of God’s grace

(This is much of what led to churches of Christ – we can disagree, agree on Gospel)

Luther wasn’t trying to start a new branch, he was trying to Reform the catholic church – He spoke out against the obvious things like indulgences, but his primary focus was the Gospel.

Focal Point – Sola Scriptura

Christianity is based upon Revelation

God has chosen to reveal himself to us – Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis

The only way we can know anything about God is His decision to reveal it

The Bible seems to proclaim Sola Scriptura

Jeremiah 10:5

Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

‌

– differentiating factor between real God

‌

Deuteronomy 31:9, 12

Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. . . Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law,

‌

2 Timothy 3:15–4:3 – nothing else is spoken of in this way

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

‌

‌

Matthew 4:3–7

And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

‌

– NOT EVEN JESUS RESPONDS IN HIS OWN AUTHORITY (Preacher, Pope)

‌

Acts 17:11

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

‌

Matthew 12:3–5

He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?

‌

Matthew 19:4

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,

Matthew 22:31

And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:

‌

‌

1 Corinthians 14:37

If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.

‌

2 Peter 3:16 and 1 Tim 5 – NT is SCRIPTURE

The only way you can know anything for certain about God

Submission to God means submission to what God says

Neither church councils nor pope has the authority of the Bible.

Sola Scriptura led to other Solas of the Reformation

Sola Christus – In Christ Alone

Sola Deo Gloria – For the Glory of God Alone

Sola Gratia – Grace alone (Rom 11:6)

Sola Fide – James 2

Pray a prayer – just hold mental beliefs

You can still hold these beliefs and say to the Christian, you must be baptized, just like you say to the Christian, you must do good works.

I think, in the past, we have focused TOO much on Baptism itself.

Any other denomination I walk into – if they ask me about baptism, I would say you aren’t taking it seriously enough…here..

There should be no such thing as an unbaptized Christian – it is a crucial element of salvation and should be done immediately upon initial repentance

But if you say things like you MUST be baptized to go to heaven, only baptized people will go to heaven, what do you do with children? I think all babies that die go to heaven – but the biblical case for that isn’t all that strong – but they weren’t baptized. “Well they’re the exception.” OK, but once you allow for an exception, you should not use the word MUST or ESSENTIAL anymore. And there’s other exceptions you would probably grant along with children, like Cornelius in Acts 10 – exception because first Gentiles (though the Bible never says that), or the Apostles themselves who were never baptized to our knowledge, thief on the cross (died after Jesus)

Not to mention the millions of Christians who were baptized as babies and grew up loving the Lord their entire lives, by the way who make a robust weighty biblical argument that their baptisms are legitimate baptisms.

What is terrifying is when you listen to many church of Christ talk – you would think they are more committed to baptism than to Jesus, that they trust more in their baptism than in Jesus, that when asked why they know they are going to heaven think first about their baptism.

1 Cor 1:17

Anyone who comes to me and professes faith and repentance I will “command” to be baptized – if they refuse then they are probably not Christians

That person is altogether different than the person who was baptized as a baby and loves the Lord all their life. . . or the child

Emphasis on Jesus or baptism

Often treated as the Jews treated circumcision

Sola Fide

We trust in Christ and not in ourselves

The Reformers loved to talk about a “great, marvelous exchange.” Christ has taken our sin and its penalty on the cross. What have we received in exchange? The perfect, spotless, righteousness of Christ. Not only have we been forgiven, and our debt been paid in full but imputed to our account is Christ’s perfect record of obedience.

Gen 15:6, Rom 4

That means, then, that God declares us right with him not on the basis of something in us but only on the basis of an alien righteousness, a righteousness that is extra nos, outside ourselves.

2 Cor 5:21, Phil 3:9

Faith, then, is the instrument through which we receive this alien righteousness.

Faith alone is that which is salvific – the only thing that is effectual

Gal 2:15-16, 3:7-9, 14, 22, 24, 5:6

Eph 1:13

Rom 3:22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 4:3-5, 5:1-2

If you believe and you haven’t been baptized, you must, let’s do it today.

PART 12

Diet of Worms (Vorms) – 1521 – Start of Protestant Reformation

Focal Point – Sola Scriptura

Christianity is based upon Revelation

God has chosen to reveal himself to us – Chronicles of Narnia CS Lewis

The only way we can know anything about God is His decision to reveal it

The Bible seems to proclaim Sola Scriptura

It is Written, Have you not Read, not even Jesus responds in his own authority when tempted

Bereans more noble . . .

Neither church councils nor pope has the authority of the Bible.

Sola Scriptura led to other Solas of the Reformation

Sola Christus – In Christ Alone

Sola Deo Gloria – For the Glory of God Alone

Sola Gratia – Grace alone (Rom 11:6) - grace was a dirty word for a long time in coc’s

I purposefully didn’t prepare as much material for today – plenty of opportunity to discuss and you to question my sanity or to email the elders about firing me

Sola Fide – I think you believe this. Let me speak to the church of Christ audience first, then I’ll give the more full defense of Sola Fide.

DEFINING FAITH IS CRUCIAL – Loyalty – Knowledge of, Trust in, Commitment To Christ

Pray a prayer – just hold mental beliefs – We rightfully push back against this – James 2

but know that that is not what the reformers or most today means by faith alone – you may have heard it said saved by faith alone but not a faith that is alone

Eph 2:8-10 and James 2 Agree (Grace àThrough Faith à For Good Works – that is a chain – if no good works, then it isn’t faith)

Coc preachers have strawmanned others for years.

You can still hold these beliefs and say to the Christian, you must be baptized

I think we basically get baptism right – other things I think we probably miss that others get . . . Any other denomination I walk into – if they ask me about baptism, I would say you aren’t taking it seriously enough…here..

There should be no such thing as an unbaptized Christian – it is a crucial element of salvation and should be done immediately upon initial repentance

I think, in the past, we have focused TOO much on Baptism itself as salvation and too little on Christ as savior.

We have treated baptism very similarly to the way the early church treated circumcision – the ritual, without which, no one can be saved.

If when someone asks you what is required for salvation and you think of the ritual before you think of the spiritual, that is an issue. Baptism before you think of Faith. Baptism is the ritual that represents that real.

Horace – anoint with oil – we don’t want people thinking the power is in the oil - we have done this often with baptism

The crucial thing is faith in Christ – that’s the idea of sola fide

Baptism without faith is empty, faith without baptism is still loyalty to Christ!

“There should be no such thing as an unbaptized Christian” but there are and always have been

Faith + Understanding à Baptism

Faith w/o Understanding à Still saved (Biblical faith)

This describes most Christians that have ever lived – didn’t have Bibles – its so clear in the text, yeah well they didn’t have one

What is terrifying is when you listen to many church of Christ talk – you would think they are more committed to baptism than to Jesus, that they trust more in their baptism than in Jesus, that when asked why they know they are going to heaven think first about their baptism.

1 Cor 1:17

We know of exceptions to baptism, there are no exceptions to faith.

Anyone who comes to me and professes faith and repentance I will “command” to be baptized – if they refuse then they are probably not Christians, but its because of the refusal to obey and not the lack of H20 itself.

That person is altogether different than the person who was baptized as a baby and loves the Lord all their life. . . or the child, or the person who hears the gospel and believes but never gets a Bible.

The man standing in the baptismal waters gets shot in the head, is he saved? Why? FAITH! The internal baptism has already happened.

Emphasis on Jesus or baptism

Often treated as the Jews treated circumcision

Sola Fide

The heart of Sola Fide - We trust in Christ and not in ourselves

The Reformers loved to talk about a “great, marvelous exchange.” Christ has taken our sin and its penalty on the cross. What have we received in exchange? The perfect, spotless, righteousness of Christ. Not only have we been forgiven, and our debt been paid in full but imputed to our account is Christ’s perfect record of obedience.

Gen 15:6, Rom 4

That means, then, that God declares us right with him not on the basis of something in us but only on the basis of an alien righteousness, a righteousness that is extra nos, outside ourselves.

2 Cor 5:21, Phil 3:9

Faith, then, is the instrument through which we receive this alien righteousness.

Faith alone is that which is salvific – the only thing that is the effectual cause

Gal 2:15-16, 3:2,7-9, 14, 22, 24, 5:6

Eph 1:13

Rom 3:22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 4:3-5, 5:1-2

If you believe and you haven’t been baptized, you must, let’s do it today.

But if you read the NT for the first time without any presuppositions, you would see FAITH AS THE CENTRAL AND CRUCIAL AND EFFICACIOUS THING

I think you will acknowledge there are exceptions to the norm that those that go to heaven are the baptized. There are some people (under new covenant) that were or are saved before or without physical water baptism.

Cornelius in Acts 10?

Apostles themselves?

Thief on the Cross? (Jesus can do what he wants. THERE IT IS)

Not to mention the millions of Christians who were baptized as babies and grew up loving the Lord their entire lives, by the way who make a robust weighty biblical argument that their baptisms are legitimate baptisms.

Ariel’s sisters

Once you give any exceptions, you can’t say Must anymore. Should is a better word.

Is there something we have that says those are the only exceptions that can exist, or can we just tell people they should be baptized and let God handle the judicial part.

PART 13

Diet of Worms (Vorms) – 1521 – Start of Protestant Reformation

Focal Point – Sola Scriptura – led to the others solas in response to Catholic teaching

Sola Gratia – Not grace plus works, grace alone

Sola Christus – Not Christ plus Church

Sola Deo Gloria – Not to anyone else, certainly the Pope

Sola Fide – I think you believe this.

DEFINING FAITH IS CRUCIAL – Loyalty – Knowledge of, Trust in, Commitment To Christ

Pray a prayer – just hold mental beliefs – We rightfully push back against this – James 2

but know that that is not what the reformers or most today means by faith alone – you may have heard it said saved by faith alone but not a faith that is alone

I think we basically get baptism right – other things I think we probably miss that others get . . .

There should be no such thing as an unbaptized Christian – it is a crucial element of salvation and should be done immediately upon initial repentance

I think, in the past, churches of Christ have focused TOO much on Baptism itself as salvation and too little on Christ as savior.

The crucial thing is faith in Christ – that’s the idea of sola fide – focus off of ourselves and onto Christ

Sola Fide – non coc flavor

The heart of Sola Fide - We trust in Christ and not in ourselves

The Reformers loved to talk about a “great, marvelous exchange.” Christ has taken our sin and its penalty on the cross. What have we received in exchange? The perfect, spotless, righteousness of Christ. Not only have we been forgiven, and our debt been paid in full but imputed to our account is Christ’s perfect record of obedience.

Gen 15:3-6

2 Cor 5:21, Phil 3:9

That means, then, that God declares us right with him not on the basis of something in us but only on the basis of an alien righteousness, a righteousness that is extra nos, outside ourselves.

Faith was spoken of as the instrument through which we receive this alien righteousness.

I thought about doing an exhaustive study of faith and soteriology in the NT, but the word appears 300 times and most of them are at least indirectly in that context, so 1 fairly lengthy selection, and then I picked a handful to just read TO you

Rom 3:21-5:2

Just LISTEN

Matthew 9:2

And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

Matthew 9:22

Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.

‌

Matthew 9:29

Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.”

‌

Matthew 17:20

He said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

‌

Luke 7:50

And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

‌

Acts 15:9

and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

‌

Acts 26:18

to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Romans 1:17

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

‌

Romans 9:31–32

but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,

‌

Romans 11:20

That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith.

‌

Galatians 2:15–16

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

‌

Galatians 3:2

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

‌

Galatians 3:7–9

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

‌

Galatians 3:14

so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

‌

Galatians 3:22–24

But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

Galatians 3:26

for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

‌

Ephesians 2:8–9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

‌

Ephesians 3:12

in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

‌

Ephesians 3:17

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

‌

‌

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

‌

1 Peter 1:9

obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

‌

1 John 5:4

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

‌

Sola Fide

The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart

The English Act of Supremacy (C.o.E/Anglican) – 1534

King Henry 8 of England and the Pope

Henry wanted to marry Anne Bolin to replace Catherine of Aragon

Anne Bolin was pregnant with his child, Henry desperately hoped it was a boy to give him an heir. If that child was to be a legitimate heir, he had to marry Bolin fast

But the Pope wouldn’t annul his wedding to Catherine, his late brother’s widow (married 1509), despite the fact that Henry was convinced that marriage was invalid

There was some more complicated stuff there, Catherine was the Aunt of Charles the Emperor of Rome who the Pope had to please

So what would Henry do? If the Pope wont give me a divorce, I’ll find someone who will. The church in England broke away from Rome.

Anyone who opposed this was killed

Rise of Self-Consciously Local, Particular and National versions of Christianity

More and More European regions were setting up their distinct forms of the faith

Small scale alternatives to the universal catholic church

MOST GENERAL – tons of churches – Underneath Anglican – CoE, Church of Nigeria, Church of Sudan, Episcopal

(Ana) Baptists---------------------------------------------

Anabaptists--------(Adults, disconnect from state)--------------------------------------

(Calv) Presbyterians-------------------------------------

Calvinists-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lutherans---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Method) Pentecostals-------

(Ang) Methodist---------------------------------------

Anglicans---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Ang) Puritan/Quaker--------------------------------

RC----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

catholic ---------

EO--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virtually All protestant churches agree on Sola Fide, on the Gospel, differences on almost all other things led to many many different types of churches, just as was predicted at the Diet of Worms.

One example that is particularly relevant to us as Coc’ers.

Regulative Principle vs. Normative Principle

Regulative – Only do what the Bible commands

Normative – Can do whatever the Bible doesn’t forbid

Zwingli removed all Organs from churches because he could not find a text mandating the use of the organ in Christian worship

Luther promoted all kinds of musical instruments in church because he saw no scriptural rule against them and he felt that music offered an effective means for conveying the gospel

Nobody does only what the Bible commanded, nobody thinks you can do anything – One key I want you to see is the assumed Sola Scriptura

Some freedom for that answer – Principles of worship – why do we sing – what practices best accomplish that goal – all the commands are about singing together – communal thing – room well lit – acapella – one leader not one or multiple performers

Lets do the coc thing and let each church, each body of elders decide for themselves the best way to shepherd their people

PART 14

The English Act of Supremacy (C.o.E/Anglican) – 1534

King Henry 8 of England and the Pope

Henry wanted to marry Anne Bolin to replace Catherine of Aragon

Anne Bolin was pregnant with his child, Henry desperately hoped it was a boy to give him an heir. If that child was to be a legitimate heir, he had to marry Bolin fast

But the Pope wouldn’t annul his wedding to Catherine, his late brother’s widow (married 1509), despite the fact that Henry was convinced that marriage was invalid

There was some more complicated stuff there, Catherine was the Aunt of Charles the Emperor of Rome who the Pope had to please

So what would Henry do? If the Pope wont give me a divorce, I’ll find someone who will. The church in England broke away from Rome.

Anyone who opposed this was killed

Rise of Self-Consciously Local, Particular and National versions of Christianity

More and More European regions were setting up their distinct forms of the faith

Small scale alternatives to the universal catholic church

MOST GENERAL – tons of churches – Underneath Anglican – CoE, Church of Nigeria, Church of Sudan, Episcopal

(Ana) Baptists---------------------------------------------

Anabaptists--------(Adults, disconnect from state)--------------------------------------

(Calv) Presbyterians-------------------------------------

Calvinists-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lutherans---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Method) Pentecostals-------

(Ang) Methodist---------------------------------------

Anglicans---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Ang) Puritan/Quaker--------------------------------

RC----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

catholic ---------

EO--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virtually All protestant churches agree on the Solas, on the Gospel, differences on almost all other things led to many many different types of churches, just as was predicted at the Diet of Worms.

One example that is particularly relevant to us as Coc’ers.

Regulative Principle vs. Normative Principle

Regulative – Only do what the Bible commands (example, necessary inference)

Normative – Can do whatever the Bible doesn’t forbid

Zwingli, prominent reformer, removed all Organs from churches because he could not find a text mandating the use of the organ in Christian worship

Luther promoted all kinds of musical instruments in church because he saw no scriptural rule against them and he felt that music offered an effective means for conveying the gospel

(We’ll look at this more in a bit)

Nobody does only what the Bible commanded, nobody thinks you can do anything – One key I want you to see is the assumed Sola Scriptura

Some freedom for that answer – Principles of worship – why do we sing – what practices best accomplish that goal – all the commands are about singing together – communal thing – room well lit – acapella – one leader not one or multiple performers

Lets do the coc thing and let each church, each body of elders decide for themselves the best way to shepherd their people

COC

I said weeks ago that we in the coc have had the audacity to claim that we don’t have any tradition, that we don’t really have history, we are just the church, the same one from the first century.

“In their zeal to reject tradition, they actually became part of a long tradition in Christian history whose substance was rejection of tradition”

This was the story also of the Zwinglians, the Puritans, the Baptists, and others.

We haven’t escaped tradition, we have simply failed to recognize our traditions.

My mom told me of a time at East Gadsden that they first removed the white cloth from the communion table . . .

Any stories?

OR here – “When are we going to go back to doing communion the right way.”

Baptistry!? Baptized in a baptistry as opposed to “living water”

Why is the main assembly an hour

Why do we do communion devotional? (Good reasons right – that is a tradition that we want to pass down to our children because we think it is wise, even though it isn’t in the Bible)

More substantially, we have traditional ways of Reading the Bible that we don’t get from the Bible itself. With every passage we have to make several interpretational decisions – is this literal, metaphorical, allegorical, was this just for them or is it also for me, is this an enduring eternal principle, is this an allusion to Christ, is that true of all mankind . . . all sorts of questions whose answers we primarily get from tradition.

Example 1 Cor 13:10 – Perfect – Bible comes, Jerusalem was Destroyed – where do we get that from? And your answer to that question which the Bible doesn’t answer explicitly will change all sorts of things for you

The whole idea of restorationism is a tradition and principle that comes not from scripture. We want to do things the way the early church did it. Why? Does the Bible say the church will never get any better than it was right then? Does the Bible say that everyone should be seeking to emulate the way we do things now in practice in the first century? You’d think that if that gates of hell would not prevail against the church, and the Holy Spirit was in every believer, that growth and better understanding WOULD happen. (Communion Devo)

In fact, we DO believe this. Much of the early church thought the Holy Spirit was a created being. We know better now because we have been studying the Word for 2,000 years instead of 100?

And if so, which part of the first century? Should we emulate the church from the 50’s, or the church in the 70’s, or the church in the 90’s, because all of those were different. Does the fact that they were in house churches mean house churches are necessarily superior, or just that they were incapable of doing anything else at the time? Does the fact that they didn’t have Powerpoint mean that we shouldn’t use powerpoint? Does the fact that they didn’t have childrens church mean that we shouldn’t? Should we turn off our air conditioning and toilets?

We have thought through all of those questions, but you must see that all of our answers are tradition AT LEAST AS MUCH as they are biblical. Our restoration principles, which go beyond sola scriptura to what historians call primitivism, are tradition not from the Bible – and a tradition not original to us, it was all the rage when Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone were on the scene.

“You shouldn’t have a baptistry, the early church baptized in rivers.” How do you respond? WHO CARES? Of course they used rivers, they didn’t have running water like we do!

Let me go in a different direction, does the fact that they spoke in tongues mean that we should? Because they did. We have decided that it doesn’t mean that for us; how have we decided that, because the Bible says it, no, well maybe it does, it doesn’t say it explicitly, so it depends how you interpret it, and your traditions.

We must choose whether to understand our traditions and how they have shaped us OR to let those traditions shape us unconsciously.

What if some traditions are very good (communion devo), what if the gates of hell did not prevail against the church, what if the Holy Spirit has been at work all the while – Traditionalism is what we should avoid, not tradition which we cannot and should not avoid

“Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.”

“We should attempt to include the dead in the circle of discourse, thus enriching the quality of the conversation.”

PRIMITIVISM

Renaissance – 14th century – Rejection of Medieval world – thought medieval times had polluted learning, knowledge and culture. So if one wanted to get at what was true and good, one had to go back before that pollution began and return to the teachings of the ancients like plato and Aristotle.

This quest for ancient wisdom came to be called “Humanism” (different than today)

The motto of Humanism was “ad fontes” – back to the fountain/source

From the humanists came the Christianhumanists – Erasmus

Led to Scripture Alone, back to the sources!

John Calvin – “All that we have attempted to do is to restore the first purity . . . and to bring every practice of faith back to its biblical fountainhead”

But even then, as we have seen, its one thing to agree on Sola Scriptura, its quite another to agree on what that means for the week to week life and practices of the church.

Regulative vs Normative for instance

Normative – Lutheran – Reformation

Regulative – Reformed - Restoration

Zwingli made the anti-instruments (organ) argument centuries before we did. He believed the church couldn’t do anything that wasn’t commanded, he even said there was nowhere in the OT OR NT that commanded instruments, and instead all that was commanded was making music in your hearts.

Col 3:16, Eph 5:19 - coc oorah!

Conrad Grebel – a famous Anabaptist – went further and said that we aren’t allowed to sing at all, because the singing in these verses is also said to be done in the heart!

INTERPRETATION

So despite out claims to be only NT Christians and not Protestants, we have deep roots in early protestant traditions, we stress scripture alone, we are strongly anti-traditionalist, we call to return to the sources, we insist on the right for the individual to read the Bible for himself, all these are a legacy passed down to us – HALELUJAH!

PART 15

Gates of Hell have not prevailed

What were some of the key tenants of the church of Christ – what makes coc different?

Lot here didn’t grow up coc, so for the sake of this lesson, help them out

Virtually All protestant churches agree on the Solas, on the Gospel, differences on almost all other things led to many many different types of churches, just as was predicted at the Diet of Worms.

One example that is particularly relevant to us as Coc’ers.

Regulative Principle vs. Normative Principle – Quiz - NO DOUBT THAT GOD CARES WHAT WE DO WHEN WE MEET

(Nadab and Abihu or 1 Timothy)

Regulative – Only do what the Bible commands (example, necessary inference)

Normative – Can do whatever the Bible doesn’t forbid

Nobody does only what the Bible commanded, nobody thinks you can do anything

This is a BIG question for what we will be talking about with the church of Christ history, so let me go ahead and give you our viewpoint here so you can have that in mind as we go, can also challenge it now

Biblically Prudent Principle – Great care to see what is Wise

My Thesis is basically this: We should be looking for the Biblical principle and doing what we can to support that principle.

Biblical Principle of worship/singing – To God For One Another

Eph 5:19, Col 3:16 – Addressing One Another

1 Cor 14 – whole chapter saying the point of you being together is to build each other up, not for some overspiritualized individual experience – 13-19

What practices best accomplish that goal/principle – room well lit – acapella – one leader not one or multiple performers

We shouldn’t apply our decisions in that regard as dogma

COC

“In their zeal to reject tradition, they actually became part of a long tradition in Christian history whose substance was rejection of tradition”

We haven’t escaped tradition, we have simply failed to recognize our traditions.

We talked about some silly traditions we have clung to in the past

“When are we going to go back to doing communion the right way.”

Baptistry!? Baptized in a baptistry as opposed to “living water” – because its easier than going to the river

Why is the main assembly an hour (25 min sermon)

Traditionalism vs Tradition

Traditionalism is what we should avoid, not tradition which we cannot and should not avoid

Traditions are often very good things that we SHOULD hold onto.

“Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living, Tradition is the living faith of the Dead”

“We should attempt to include the dead in the circle of discourse, thus enriching the quality of the conversation.”

Examples? Good Traditions

Communion Devotion

“You shouldn’t have a baptistry, the early church baptized in rivers.” How do you respond? WHO CARES? Of course they used rivers, they didn’t have running water like we do!

Restorationism Itself is Tradition

The whole idea of restorationism is a tradition and principle that comes not from scripture. We want to do things the way the early church did it. Why? Does the Bible say the church will never get any better than it was right then? Does the Bible say that everyone should be seeking to emulate the way we do things now in practice in the first century? You’d think that if that gates of hell would not prevail against the church, and the Holy Spirit was in every believer, that growth and better understanding WOULD happen.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE DO BETTER THAN THEY DID? If so, the early church wasn’t the pinnacle to aim for.

If we are pure restorationists, that leaves no room for growth. What if in AD 65, someone said, we really have let communion become a non-central thing in our time together, what if we stopped and had a devotion . . . Would that be a good thing for the growth of the church, or should they not do it because the earliest church didn’t?

In fact, we DO believe this. Much of the early church thought the Holy Spirit was a created being. We know better now because we have been studying the Word for 2,000 years instead of 100?

And if so, which part of the first century? Should we emulate the church from the 50’s, or the church in the 70’s, or the church in the 90’s, because all of those were different.

We should be restorationists with the Scriptures – we should come up with a slogan to that end, something like, just the scriptures, or back to the scriptures . . . Sola Scriptura - We are Protestants

Does the fact that they were in house churches mean house churches are necessarily superior, or just that they were incapable of doing anything else at the time? Does the fact that they didn’t have Powerpoint mean that we shouldn’t use powerpoint? Does the fact that they didn’t have childrens church mean that we shouldn’t? Should we turn off our air conditioning and toilets? Should we drink Wine at communion? Should I preach all day and night? Should we speak in tongues?

Our restoration principles, historically go beyond sola scriptura to a philosophy that historians call primitivism, are tradition not from the Bible – and a tradition not original to us, it was all the rage when Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone were on the scene.

Coc’ers used to be called Campbellites – you guys couldn’t be called that because half of you don’t know who that is, you just love the Bible, hallelujah

Goal for the rest of the time here is for you to see that our founders weren’t really innovators, as significant of men as they were, their ideas and even their means weren’t new.

PRIMITIVISM/”Humanism”

Renaissance – 14th century (1300s – always confuses me) – Rejection of Medieval world – thought medieval times had polluted learning, knowledge and culture. So if one wanted to get at what was true and good, one had to go back before that pollution began and return to the teachings of the ancients like Plato and Aristotle.

The motto of Humanism was “ad fontes” – back to the fountain/source

From the humanists came the Christianhumanists – Erasmus

Led to Scripture Alone, back to the sources!

Reformers

John Calvin – “All that we have attempted to do is to restore the first purity . . . and to bring every practice of faith back to its biblical fountainhead”

16thcentury we see the Puritansheld this high as well – believing that the entire fate of England depended on restoring the pure church.

One scholar said nothing at this time period was quite so sacred as the idea of the primitive church. Thomas Cartwright, one of the leaders and spokesman, going so far as saying “That is true whatsoever is first, that is false whatsoever is later.”

1600’s John Cotton making the same restoration calls in the Americas.

The Baptistsalso called for restoring the primitive church “to the primitive Apostolic institution” – John Smyth

The early Baptists divided into two basic camps, the generalists and the particularists, which had to do with atonement, but both groups believed in restoring the church to its most primitive form as closely as possible. The Baptists were convinced that they were even closer to achieving this than the Puritans . . . why? Because they baptized adults only.

All of these groups always rejecting creeds and traditions

We also have roots in the Enlightenment, where people like Herbert of Cherbery and John Locke (Father of Enlightenment) were concerned chiefly with Christian unity, and his believed means for achieving this was to reduce religion down to its bare essentials on which all reasonable people can agree. He knew if he insisted on all biblical teachings it would result in strife and division.

Locke’s essentials were to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and to obey his clear and evident commands. (The idea that those wouldn’t be debated seems like a pipe dream)

Enlightenment based on REASON, reason being the solution of all, and so too is the primitive and church of Christ view of the Bible as a BLUEPRINT for what God expects in every aspect of church life – the hermeneutic looked for the Biblical Pattern

The restoration ideal was immensely popular in American at the time that Campbell and Stone came around.

Leonard Allen and Richard Hughes give 5 factors that made this ideal so popular

1. The American land seemed uncorrupted and undefiled – it was like Eden compared to the garbage filled streets and air polluted European cities corrupted in the name of progress. Opportunity to recover pure and simple Christianity.

2. American government seems the government God intended – if they had restored government to its original intention, why not the church

3. This all (mind-boggling Freedom to worship, speech, write according to ones own convictions) led many to believe (including Alexander Campbell) that that millennium was imminent (Campbell’s Millenial Harbinger – he thought his work to unify the church would usher in the millennium)

Anyone have a dollar here – look on the back, theres the pyramid – above it the eye of God looks over the scene and what does it say? Annuit Coeptis – “He has smiled on our beginnings” (Novus Ordo Seclorum – New Order of the Ages)

America had restored the way things were supposed to be.

4. Promise of independence from older European churches – thus a disconnect from Christian history and jurisdiction and a freedom to be sola scriptura

5. Abundance of new denominations/sects (Mormonism popped up easily at this time) – longing for unification. When you converted to Christ in 1200, you became part of the church. When you converted to Christ in 1800 America, you look around and theres Baptists of various types and flavors and congregationalists and Lutherans and presbyterians and methodists and episcopalians and quakers and catholics and numerous smaller groups and you ask where do I go? This was a new problem. Primitivism – back to the fountain, was thus an attractive approach that allegedly avoided all the competing concerns of churches and said just be like the early church – which was a viewpoint everyone at the time was familiar with – Primitivism.

A Group FAR LOUDER and more explicit about this primitivism than even our founders were the Mormons, there whole message was one of a Great Apostasy . . . Mormonism said not only all these groups are different, but all these groups are WRONG, we are the one true AD 33 church.

Campbell and Stone were far from unusual in their time.

So despite our claims to be only NT Christians and not Protestants, the coc folks were just following in the footsteps and thoughtlines of many that had made the same siren calls earlier, and calls that were particularly popular when Campbell and Stone were on the scene.

Campbell, look more next week, believed that if everyone just went to this primitive ideal, there would be unity because everyone would agree.

But even with this BACK TO THE FOUNTAINHEAD idea, as we have seen, its one thing to agree on Sola Scriptura, and even primitivism, its quite another to agree on what that means for the week to week life and practices of the church.

PRIMITIVIST DISAGREEMENTS

Instrument

Zwingli made the anti-instruments (organ) argument centuries before we did. He believed the church couldn’t do anything that wasn’t commanded, he even said there was nowhere in the OT OR NT that commanded instruments, and instead all that was commanded was making music in your hearts.

Col 3:16, Eph 5:19 - coc oorah!

Conrad Grebel – a famous Anabaptist – went further and said that we aren’t allowed to sing at all, because the singing in these verses is also said to be done in the heart!

INTERPRETATION

“Everyone can agree singing without instruments is ok” . . . Well no.

Church Authority

Another common dispute was who had the authority in the early church, was it a presbyterian form or congregational.

Baptism

Baptists thought themselves even more primitive than the Puritans for this reason

Communion and other Ordinances the Church should Practice

17thcentury Baptist preacher and historian Morgan Edwards in his search for the early primitive way of church found 13 scriptural ordinances

Baptism, Lord’s Supper, Right hand of fellowship, laying on of hands, foot washing, the holy kiss, the love feast, anointing the sick, collecting money for the saints, feasts, fasting, funerals, and marriage

He argued also that the Lord’s supper should be observed in the evening, not only because the first was in the evening, but primitive Christians observed it then, and the word supper itself implies it, “as any other time would make it the Lord’s breakfast or the Lord’s dinner”

(interestingly, all of these churches appointed elders, deacons and deaconesses – flashback to our series)

PART 16

1. Traditions aren’t Evil – Traditionalism can be

When are we going back to doing Communion the right way?

Think of any Good Traditions?

2. Restorationism is Tradition

We should be the church of the Bible, which doesn’t necessarily mean do things the way the early church did them.

We have historically taken their circumstances as our commands, they didn’t do Sunday school, childrens church, baptistry, air conditioning, toilets, doesn’t mean we can’t

Have to believe the church was allowed to GROW, Holy Spirit indwelt, to do things better than when they first started

We shouldn’t look for just how did they do it, but why did they do it that way and what is the principle

(Singing – To God For One Another)

Sola Scriptura

3. Our Founders were part of the Hot Movement of the time of Primitivism – not innovative

Reformers, Erasmus, Puritans, Baptists

4. Roots in Enlightenment

Scientific Method, Objective Steps to Take, Reason

We also have roots in the Enlightenment, where people like Herbert of Cherbery and John Locke (Father of Enlightenment) were concerned chiefly with Christian unity, and his believed means for achieving this was to reduce religion down to its bare essentials on which all reasonable people can agree. He knew if he insisted on all biblical teachings it would result in strife and division.

Locke’s essentials were to believe that Jesus is the Messiah and to obey his clear and evident commands. (The idea that those wouldn’t be debated seems like a pipe dream)

Enlightenment based on REASON, reason being the solution of all, and so too is the primitive and church of Christ view of the Bible as a BLUEPRINT for what God expects in every aspect of church life – the hermeneutic looked for the Biblical Pattern

The restoration ideal was immensely popular in American at the time that Campbell and Stone came around.

Leonard Allen and Richard Hughes give 5 factors that made this ideal so popular

6. The American land seemed uncorrupted and undefiled – it was like Eden compared to the garbage filled streets and air polluted European cities corrupted in the name of progress. Opportunity to recover pure and simple Christianity.

7. American government seems the government God intended – if they had restored government to its original intention, why not the church

8. This all (mind-boggling Freedom to worship, speech, write according to ones own convictions) led many to believe (including Alexander Campbell) that that millennium was imminent (Campbell’s Millenial Harbinger – he thought his work to unify the church would usher in the millennium)

Anyone have a dollar here – look on the back, theres the pyramid – above it the eye of God looks over the scene and what does it say? Annuit Coeptis – “He has smiled on our beginnings” (Novus Ordo Seclorum – New Order of the Ages)

America had restored the way things were supposed to be.

9. Promise of independence from older European churches – thus a disconnect from Christian history and jurisdiction and a freedom to be sola scriptura

10. Abundance of new denominations/sects (Mormonism popped up easily at this time) – longing for unification. When you converted to Christ in 1200, you became part of the church. When you converted to Christ in 1800 America, you look around and theres Baptists of various types and flavors and congregationalists and Lutherans and presbyterians and methodists and episcopalians and quakers and catholics and numerous smaller groups and you ask where do I go? This was a new problem. Primitivism – back to the fountain, was thus an attractive approach that allegedly avoided all the competing concerns of churches and said just be like the early church – which was a viewpoint everyone at the time was familiar with – Primitivism.

A Group FAR LOUDER and more explicit about this primitivism than even our founders were the Mormons, there whole message was one of a Great Apostasy . . . Mormonism said not only all these groups are different, but all these groups are WRONG, we are the one true AD 33 church.

Campbell and Stone were far from unusual in their time.

So despite our claims to be only NT Christians and not Protestants, the coc folks were just following in the footsteps and thoughtlines of many that had made the same siren calls earlier, and calls that were particularly popular when Campbell and Stone were on the scene.

Campbell, look more next week, believed that if everyone just went to this primitive ideal, there would be unity because everyone would agree.

But even with this BACK TO THE FOUNTAINHEAD idea, as we have seen, its one thing to agree on Sola Scriptura, and even primitivism, its quite another to agree on what that means for the week to week life and practices of the church.

PRIMITIVIST/RESTORATIONIST DISAGREEMENTS

Instrument

Zwingli made the anti-instruments (organ) argument centuries before we did. He believed the church couldn’t do anything that wasn’t commanded, he even said there was nowhere in the OT OR NT that commanded instruments, and instead all that was commanded was making music in your hearts.

Col 3:16, Eph 5:19 - coc oorah!

Conrad Grebel – a famous Anabaptist – went further and said that we aren’t allowed to sing at all, because the singing in these verses is also said to be done in the heart!

INTERPRETATION

“Everyone can agree singing without instruments is ok” . . . Well no.

Church Authority

Another common dispute was who had the authority in the early church, was it a presbyterian form or congregational.

VERSES

Baptism

Baptists thought themselves even more primitive than the Puritans for this reason

NT never says they didn’t baptize infants, obviously the only ones coming for baptism would have been adult converts, perhaps they were baptizing their whole families and baptized their infants from there-on

What all should the Church do because the Early Church did It

17thcentury Baptist preacher and historian Morgan Edwards in his search for the early primitive way of church found 13 scriptural ordinances

Baptism, Lord’s Supper, Right hand of fellowship, laying on of hands, foot washing, the holy kiss, the love feast, anointing the sick, collecting money for the saints, feasts, fasting, funerals, and marriage

He argued also that the Lord’s supper should be observed in the evening, not only because the first was in the evening, but primitive Christians observed it then, and the word supper itself implies it, “as any other time would make it the Lord’s breakfast or the Lord’s dinner”

(interestingly, all of these churches appointed elders, deacons and deaconesses – flashback to our series)

PART 17

My notes all online when series ends – just google my name and the topic – any of my sermons/lessons

Next series – Divorce?

Last week on COC I promise – Overview of whole discussion and turning points of Church History – itching to get to Bible

I love the coc, the goal of the end of this series is to inform you of our beginnings, and just to push back against some of the things we just accepted for a long time, and really to say that some things that we claimed were black and white and we could draw lines of fellowship over are really grey, and they have good arguments too, so we need to be less dogmatic and sectarian (not us here . . . coc)

Staying in the Forest instead of Trees – Book Recommendation

Any thoughts Questions on COC stuff in particular?

KEY FOUNDATION TYING PRIMITIVISMTO UNITY

Campbell believed that if everyone just went to this primitive ideal, there would be unity because everyone would agree. You still hear some of the echoes of this in the traditional coc’s – “We don’t interpret, we just read.”

PRIMITIVIST/RESTORATIONIST DISAGREEMENTS

Instrument

Read same verses – some said no instruments, some said no singing, some said instruments

I think the arguments made from those verses (melody in your heart) are such a stretch – much stronger to ask the purpose of singing . . .

Church Authority

Read same verses – some said elders, some said congregation is really over the elders

Both really true – elders are spiritual shepherds, but congregation is responsible for making sure they have good elders, not false teachers, and getting rid of them if they do, and also discipline

Baptism

Some, like us, read and saw that the only baptisms that ever occur were believers, others said well of course that’s what you would expect even if they did baptize infants, infants cant come after all, there’s never a command, we just have examples so we can’t draw clear conclusions, and we do have examples of households being baptized

Miraculous

Pentecostal movement was BACK TO EARLY CHURCH – PENTECOST- MIRACULOUS

Practices to Carry Over from Early Church

17thcentury Baptist preacher and historian Morgan Edwards in his search for the early primitive way of church found 13 scriptural ordinances

Baptism, Lord’s Supper, Right hand of fellowship, laying on of hands, foot washing, the holy kiss, the love feast, anointing the sick, collecting money for the saints, feasts, fasting, funerals, and marriage

He argued also that the Lord’s supper should be observed in the evening, not only because the first was in the evening, but primitive Christians observed it then, and the word supper itself implies it, “as any other time would make it the Lord’s breakfast or the Lord’s dinner”

(interestingly, all of these churches appointed elders, deacons and deaconesses – flashback to our series)

Primitivism does not Equal Unity – We still didn’t agree about the secondary non-gospel issues, and that’s probably ok

BUT VERSES – Proof Texts

“ONE MIND” – Phil 1:27-2:2ff – annoying issue of the context

AGREE! – 1 Cor 1:10 – pesky context

2 Cor 13:11 – EVEN THE WORD RESTORATION – Still talking about the same stuff with the Corinthians, and restoration there just means to stop fighting, mend your relationships, nothing about primitivism

2 Jn 1:9 – Pesky Context – 1:7-8, 1 Jn 4:1-3, 2:18,21-23

---------------------------------------------------------

Campbell-Stone Movement

Alexander Campbell – Most Significant Figure

Primitivism à Unity à Millenium

Barton Stone

Piety of Early Church à Unity à Millenium

Campbell was much more Analytical, Pattern of Salvation and Early Church

Stone was much more focused on Faithfulness, Ecumenical

2 Eras of Campbell – Crucial to see – Very Wayne like (many of our stories are 2 eras of coc)

EARLY CAMPBELL

An Enigma

“Never doubted there were ‘New Testament Christians” in various denominations, but also argued that his was the one true church.

Incredibly sectarian – highly combative (didn’t end any time soon)

Viewed himself as an ecumenist, not sectarian

Unity and Restoration were in many ways mutually exclusive – restoration made many direct commands that not all wanted to follow, not everyone thought restoration was a good idea

Central to his vision of the primitive Church

Baptizing Adults, Lords supper every first day of the week (simple memorial feast), strict congregational independence, Worship would consist of – preaching, praying, singing, giving, and communion.

(Why independence by the way? – Ac 15 give any weight to connection? – mostly his fear of high church control just left)

No internet then – Journals

Christian Baptist 1823-1830 Millenial Harbinger 1830-Death 1866

Campbell thought a lot of what he was doing, he thought his call to restorationism would bring the millennium. In 1830, he said “No 7 years of the last 10 centuries contributed more to the dawn of millennial bliss than the last 7”

He wrote also that “Christianity had been buried under the rubbish of human traditions for hundreds of years and that he had disinterred it.”

Movement began to fracture in the 1830s into two discernible traditions, wasn’t officially recognized until 1906

Oversimplification – Big Division in this movement

Early Campbell’s Analytical Critical Focus on Primitivism – Churches of Christ

Late Campbell’s Ecumenical Focus on Unity/Common – Disciples of Christ (Unity OVER primitive order)

1836 – There is a noticeable change in Campbell for a couple of reasons

1. He feared Catholic control of the states

2. He grew more and more frustrated with those in his own movement who focused on the sectarian nature rather than the ecumenical dimensions.

Because of #1, he began debating denominations less and debating catholics more, not about primitivism but just about Protestantism in general. He had one very public debate in Cincinatti, after which he received a letter from the citizens of Cincinatti, that had tons of signatures on it and they claimed they could get more than half the city to sign it if necessary, asking him to come and teach a series of lessons helping them to understand the points he made against the Roman Catholic church and For Protestantism – NOT CHURCH OF CHRIST PEOPLE, many denominations

Campbell shifted from focusing on the Primitive Church as the Millenial Harbinger to focusing on Protestant America. Even aspousing what C.S. Lewis would later call Mere Christianity – what Campbell called “Common Christianity”

We have yet something called a common Christianity – that there are certain great fundamental matters – indeed, every thing elementary in what is properly called piety and morality – in which all good men of all denominations are agreed, and that these great common principles and views form a common ground on which all Christian people can unite, harmonize, and co-operate in one great system of moral and Christian education

He never stopped seeing primitivism as the ideal, but he moved into seeing it as one of many Christian viewpoints instead of the only one.

SENILE!

“This plan of making our own nest, and fluttering over our own brood, of building our own tent, and of confining all goodness and grace to our noble selves and the “elect few” who are like us, is the quintessence of sublimated pharisaism. . . to lock ourselves up in the bandbox of our own little circle, to associate with a few units, tens, or hundreds, as the pure church, as the elect, is real Protestant monkery, it is evangelical nunnery”

In 1837 – Campbell even rejected immersion as absolutely essential to ones status as a Christian

“Should I find a pedobaptist more intelligent in the Christian Scriptures, more spiritually-minded and more devoted to the Lord than a Baptist (baptizer), or one immersed on a profession of the ancient faith, I would not hesitate a moment in giving the preference of my heart to him that loveth moth . . . I cannot be a perfect Christian without a right understanding and a cordial reception of immersion in its true and scriptural meaning and design. But he that thence infers that none are Christians but the immersed, as greatly errs as he who affirms that none are alive but those of clear and full vision”

In 1840 Campbell founded Bethany College which was committed to this “Common Christianity”

But it was too late for many

Post-millenialism was the prevailing and dominant viewpoint and motivation for most Christian leaders, certainly the ones in this movement . . . want to guess when that view all but died (didn’t really . . . )

There is much more to be said – but I don’t want to spend weeks in the weeds here, I am itching to get back to the Bible itself. So, if you read this book, and take it in, you will understand our history thoroughly and absolutely.

Comedian Emo Philips describes walking onto a bridge as he sees a man about to jump . . .

I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew or a Hindu or what?"

He said, "A Christian."

I said, "Small world! Me too. Protestant or Catholic or Greek Orthodox?"

He said, "Protestant."

I said, "Me too! What franchise?"

He said, "Baptist."

I said, "Me too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Baptist."

I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist."

I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist - Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist - Eastern Region?

He said, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist - Great Lakes Region."

I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist - Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist - Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist - Great Lakes Region Council of 1912."

I screamed, "DIE HERETIC!" and pushed him over.