ow did so many move so far so quickly? This is the question that simply leaps out at us as we examine the history of the early Church.
At the time of the Apostle John's death near the dawn of the second century A.D., the Christian movement, though obviously beset by many problems and false teachers, bore at least a recognizable resemblance to the Church of God of the book of Acts. But, by the beginning of the third century A.D., most of those same congregations, though still at that time calling themselves "Church of God," bore far more resemblance in doctrine to the Catholic Church of the medieval age than to the Church of God during the days of the apostles Peter, James, Paul and John.
During the second century a number of gradual shifts occurred in both the doctrine and practice of the vast majority of church congregations. The stage was set for those shifts by some of the very ideas which began to be promulgated only a few years after Christ's resurrection and ascension into heaven. Ideas always produce consequences!
Anti-Jewish Sentiment
One attitude that increasingly took hold on the Roman world during the latter first and early second century was a strong anti-Jewish sentiment. The Jewish revolts in Palestine were a definite factor in this sentiment. In addition, the Roman emperors needed to find scapegoats on whom to blame the worsening economic and political problems of the empire. We have already taken note of the fact that increasing confusion on the subject of law and grace had been engendered within the Church since the middle of the first century. Even prior to the Apostle John's death, certain "leaders" were denying that it was necessary for Christians to keep the commandments. For them, holding worship services on the Sabbath was regarded as simply a custom from the Jewish origin of the Christian church.
Dr. Samuele Bacchiocchi writes of the role that contemporary political events had in shaping the teachings of three second-century "church fathers" mentioned in the last chapter. He states:
This brief analysis of the texts of Ignatius, Barnabas and Justin has confirmed the presence in their respective communities (Antioch, Alexandria, Rome) of strong anti-Judaic feelings which, augmented by social tensions and theological convictions, created the necessity of avoiding any semblance of Judaism.
Ignatius at Antioch condemns the "judaizing" of some Christians and particularly their "sabbatizing" (that is, the observance of the Sabbath according to the manner of the Jews), enjoining Christians "to live according to the life of the Lord." Although, according to our evaluation, the text of Magnesians 9, 1 refers to the "Lord's life" rather than the "Lord's day," this does not minimize the fact that the condemnation of "sabbatizing" and the invitation "to live not according to Judaism," indicate that a separation from Judaism was being urged. These conditions undoubtedly encouraged the adoption of Sunday worship in order to force a clearer distinction from the Jews.
Barnabas in Alexandria, in his effort to neutralize the influence of Jewish customs, assumes a radical position, repudiating, with his allegorical method, the historic validity of Jewish practices and beliefs and "denying purely and simply that the literal practice of the Sabbath had ever been the object of a commandment of God." He empties the Sabbath of its significance and obligation for the present age in order to present the eighth day as its legitimate continuation and replacement.
Finally, the testimony of Justin, coming from Rome, confirms what we have already gathered from other sources, namely the existence, particularly in the capital city, of deep anti-Judaic feelings. These apparently influenced Justin in reducing the Sabbath to "the very sign of the reprobation of the Jewish people." The adoption of a new day of worship appears to have been motivated by the necessity to evidence a clear dissociation from the Jews.... The primary causes that contributed to the forsaking of the Sabbath and to the adoption of Sunday are to a large degree social and political in nature. The social tension that existed between Jews and Christians as well as the Roman anti-Jewish policy greatly conditioned Christians in their negative evaluation of significant Old Testament institutions like the Sabbath [From Sabbath to Sunday, The Pontifical Gregorian University Press, Rome, 1977, pp. 233-235].
Another Gospel
Throughout Jesus Christ's ministry, He expounded a message of the coming establishment of the government of God on this earth. "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God" (Mark 1:14 KJV). This message included repentance and faith: "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15 KJV). Jesus' Gospel insisted that our faith is perfected by our perseverance in righteousness: "He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved" (Matt. 24:13 KJV).
If we truly repent of sin, believe the Gospel and remain faithful until the end, then we will inherit the Kingdom of God as spirit-born Sons of God. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory... Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. 25:31, 34 KJV). Christ also taught, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:5-6 KJV; cf. also Paul's teaching in 1 Cor. 15:44, 50, 54).
Christ spent His ministry preaching the "Good News" of a coming divine government that would replace the oppressive human governments Jesus' listeners knew all too well. The disciples asked Him for signs showing when that time would be near (Matt. 24:3). The last question they asked as He was preparing to ascend into heaven concerned whether it was yet time for that Kingdom to be established (Acts 1:6). In the last stage of Paul's ministry of which we have any record, we find that Paul was still "preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him" (Acts 28:31 KJV)! Even in the last inspired book of the New Testament canon, Jesus Christ inspired the Apostle John with visions about the literal establishment of the Kingdom of God on this earth (Rev. 19:11-21; 20:4-6; 21).
With this clear record, however, we read in 2 Corinthians 11:3-15 that, within less than 25 years of the founding of the NT Church, false ministers had crept in and were preaching "another gospel." By the second century the true Gospel that Jesus Himself taught was being labeled as a "doubtful opinion" by the leaders of the budding "Orthodox" Christian church and, by the third century, it was being regarded as rank heresy. During the second and third centuries, the "gospel" that was being preached focused almost exclusively on the person of Jesus. Also, at that same time, pagan concepts about the immortality of the soul, as well as heaven and hell, gained acceptance.
The correct understanding about the Kingdom of God was maintained well into the second century, even by men such as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. Of course, they were seriously off-track in other areas, such as their teaching concerning God's law. Edward Gibbon writes of this period:
The assurance of such a Millennium was carefully inculcated by... [those] who conversed with the immediate disciples of the apostles.... But when the edifice of the church was almost completed, the temporary support was laid aside. The doctrine of Christ's reign upon earth was at first treated as a profound allegory, was considered by degrees as a doubtful and useless opinion, and was at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism [Decline and Fall, vol. 1, ch. 15].
Much of this progression was the result of Origen's influential doctrines. Origen was, as we shall shortly see, one of the least soundminded individuals ever to be accepted as a Christian theologian. He played a major role in formulating Catholic teaching on the Trinity, the immortality of the soul and the Kingdom of God.
As the foundational understanding of the true nature of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God was abandoned, there were many disastrous consequences. One was the participation of church members in politics and in the military. Historians are virtually unanimous in acknowledging that early Christians avoided such involvement: "But, while they inculcated the maxims of passive obedience, they refused to take any active part in the civil administration or the military defense of the empire" (Gibbon, The Triumph of Christendom in the Roman Empire, p. 41). By the end of the third century, however, there were "Christian" legions in the Roman army. Professing Christians were told that political involvement was acceptable.
The Immortal Soul
The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, virtually universal in paganism, is not taught in either the Old or the New Testaments. Notice the admission of the Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible in this regard:
In the KJV of the OT [the clue is partly obliterated in modern translations] "soul" represents almost exclusively the Hebrew [nephesh]. The word "soul" in English... frequently carries with it overtones, ultimately coming from philosophical Greek (Platonism) and from Orphism and Gnosticism, which are absent in [nephesh]. In the OT it never means the immortal soul, but is essentially the life principle, or the living being... [psyche] in the NT corresponds to [nephesh] in the OT... [vol. 4, p. 428].
How did the concept of an immortal soul enter into Christianity? As early as 200 B.C. some Jewish sects were beginning to absorb this idea due to Greek influence and were attempting to meld it with the biblical teaching of the resurrection. This is evidenced by such intertestamental apocryphal writings as the Book of Jubilees and Fourth Maccabees, as well as by both Philo and Josephus. The Gnostics, with their emphasis on pagan dualism, stressed the immortality of the soul in contrast to the resurrection of the body. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states: "There is a distinction between a Platonic belief in the immortality of the soul alone and biblical teaching regarding the resurrection of the dead" (vol. 2, p. 810).
Late second and early third century writers such as Tertullian and Origen played a major part in shaping future Catholic doctrine regarding heaven, hell and the immortality of the soul. The ISB Encyclopedia goes on to reveal, "Early Christians were often influenced by Greek as well as Jewish thought. For example, many were influenced by Pythagoras' teachings about the soul's division into several parts and its transmigration: "Platonic and Neoplatonic [especially Plotinus'] understandings lay behind Origen's view of the soul.... Tertullian followed Stoic thought..." (vol. 4, p. 588). The Encyclopedia of Religion brings out that many later influential Catholic theologians "all interpreted the biblical concepts of the soul along Platonic lines and in the general tradition of Origen and his school."
The Trinity
There wasn't simply one heresy regarding the nature of God, but many different contradictory ones. There seems to have been almost as many different ideas as there were philosophical schools and teachers. Mainstream Catholic thought, from which orthodox Protestant teaching on the subject sprang, merely represents the particular brand of heresy that won out over its competitors. Since it is this teaching that has survived, with some modification, until our time, it is the one that we will examine most closely.
The background of third century orthodoxy on the subject of the Trinity is to be found not in the biblical text, but in Greek philosophical writings. The Roman Catholic New Theological Dictionary makes a number of frank admissions in this regard. Concerning the Scriptural teaching on the nature of the Holy Spirit, in its article, "Trinity," it acknowledges, "As such, the Spirit is never the explicit object of NT worship, nor is the Spirit ever represented in NT discourse as interacting in an interpersonal way with the Father and the Son."
Later in the same article, modern Catholic scholars, discussing the background of orthodox teaching on the Trinity, confess pagan influences upon their theology:
Christians... conversant with the then dominant philosophy of middle-Platonism seized the opportunity to proclaim and elucidate the Christian message in a thought form which was meaningful to the educated classes of the widespread Hellenistic society. This movement, which Catholic theology has generally evaluated positively, will have an enormous impact on the development of Christian theology.... Confident that the God they [pagan Greek philosophers] preached was the Father of Jesus Christ and the salvation they proclaimed was that of Jesus, the apologists adapted much of the Hellenic worldview... [Tertullian made] the first known use of the term "trinity."
Origen appropriated the philosophy of middle-Platonism more systematically than the apologists and Tertullian had. In fact, his "concept of eternal generation" was an adaptation of the middle-Platonic doctrine that the whole world of spiritual beings was eternal. The Son is eternally derived (or generated) from the very being of God and hence is of the Father's essence, but second to the Father.... Origen, like Tertullian coined a generic term for the "three" of the divine triad. The Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit are "three hypostases".... Origen's major contribution to the formulation of the trinitarian doctrine is the notion of eternal generation. His generic term for the "three" (hypostases) will be adopted and refined in the fourth century [p. 1054].
As we look at the development of "Christian" theology in the late second and early third centuries, the names of Tertullian and Origen keep coming up. Tertullian (c. 150-225 A.D.), called the father of Latin theology, was "one of the most powerful writers of the time and almost as influential as Augustine in the development of theology in the West" (Eerdman, Handbook to the History of Christianity, p. 77).
Tertullian lived in Carthage and was one of the first to teach that a fiery hell began at death. In his later years he broke with Rome and became a Montanist. This meant that he accepted the claims of two demon-possessed women who many considered prophetesses. They went into ecstatic frenzies and "spoke in tongues," claimed to be the "Paraclete" (a term for the Holy Spirit in John's Gospel), and taught a message termed the "New Prophecy."
Origen (c. 185-254 A.D.) "was the greatest scholar and most prolific author of the early church" (Eerdman, p. 104). About 203 A.D., Origen succeeded Clement of Alexandria as leader of a famous school which purported to prepare Christians for baptism and offered courses in philosophy and natural science for the general populace. For all his reputation as a great scholar and teacher of theology, how much did Origen really understand? According to fourth century church historian Eusebius, not too long after he took over the school at Alexandria, Origen castrated himself! This act was based upon his understanding (or rather, misunderstanding!) of Christ's words in Matthew 5:29-30.
This utter lack of soundminded understanding of the real meaning and intent of Scripture is poignantly evidenced in much of his theological writing. "Origen introduced the possibility of a remedial hell [purgatory]" (International Bible Encyclopedia, "Hell"). He also played an important part in what later developed into Catholic Mary-worship by first proposing the idea that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus.
Religious Art In Worship
One of the most drastic changes that came about in the church since the first century was the introduction of religious art into worship. This innovation so obviously smacked of the idolatry prohibited by the second commandment that it was slow to catch on.
Both Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria regarded this prohibition as absolute and binding on Christians. Images and cultic statues belonged to the demonic world of paganism. In fact, the only second-century Christians known to have had images of Christ were radical Gnostics.... Yet before the end of the second century Christians were freely expressing their faith in artistic terms [Henry Chadwick, The Pelican History of the Church, p. 277].
The earliest example of a church that had pictures on the wall was a third-century building in Dura on the Euphrates. Even then, it was primarily Old Testament scenes.
With the conversion of Constantine, the Church no longer had to be reticent in expressing its faith. Churches became public buildings. In architecture, sculpture, mosaic decoration, and in paintings the symbols of Christianity and the themes of the gospel provided a rich material for artistic expression [p. 280].
Even as late as the Emperor Constantine, many leaders of the professing Christian church were still shocked at the idea of having pictures or images of Christ.
About 327 [A.D.] the learned historian Eusebius of Caesarea received a letter from the emperor's sister Constantia asking him for a picture of Christ.... Eusebius wrote her a very stern reply. He was well aware that one could find pictures of Christ and of the apostles. They were for sale in the bazaars of Palestine, and he had himself seen them. But Eusebius did not think the painters and shopkeepers selling these mementos to pilgrims were Christians at all... [he] takes it for granted that only pagan artists would dream of making such representations [pp. 280-281].
Epiphanius of Salamis, a fourth-century church leader, was horrified to find a curtain in a church-porch in Palestine with a purported picture of Christ. He not only lodged a vehement protest with the bishop of Jerusalem, but personally tore down the curtain and destroyed it. By the time of his death in 403 A.D., however, portrayals of Christ and the saints were becoming very widespread. This was accompanied by the veneration of Mary which, by 400 A.D., was occupying an ever-increasing place in private devotions.
The Imperial Church
After almost three centuries of on-again, off-again persecution by the Roman government, the Edict of Toleration was issued at Milan in 313 A.D. Soon after, Christianity went from simply being officially tolerated by the Roman Empire to actually becoming the official state religion of the empire. Did this represent a success story for the Church that Jesus Christ built? Had true, biblical Christianity triumphed in the Roman Empire?
Far from it! What we have actually seen is a politically correct, Gentile-influenced religion which appropriated Christian terminology while retaining pagan traditions--all enforced by the Roman emperor, Constantine. It was vastly different from the persecuted, Judeo-Christian Church established by Jesus Christ Himself in the first century. Constantine recognized the important role that religion could play in uniting his empire and giving his populace a common identity. Motivated primarily by these political concerns, Constantine forged an alliance with the bishop of Rome and began the process of creating a "standard brand" of "Christianity" throughout his empire. He was instrumental in calling the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and actually presided over it himself. Keep in mind that Constantine was not even baptized yet! In fact he put off baptism until he was on his deathbed, at which point he was too ill to be immersed. His personal example of being sprinkled contributed much to an abandonment of immersion in favor of sprinkling.
The Council of Nicea primarily sought to resolve two thorny issues which had never been fully settled earlier. These involved controversies about the nature of God as well as the Easter/Passover question. Backed up by imperial muscle, the views of the Roman church prevailed at the council. All opposition was squelched.
Constantine was also responsible for making "the venerable day of the Sun" a state holiday when the courts were to be closed and most businesses were to shut their doors.
This Roman emperor had previously been a devotee of Sol Invictus ("the Unconquered Sun") and with his "conversion," many motifs of sun worship, such as the use of the cross and the halo in art, entered "Christianity." Also at this time, there began to be mass conversions of the populace. To facilitate this, popular holidays such as Saturnalia and Lupercalia were recycled into new "Christian" observances, now called Christmas and St. Valentine's Day. The leaders of the church at Rome claimed that they were merely broadening the way, making Christianity more accessible to the masses and certainly much less "Jewish." Anti-Semitism was a motivating force in Roman Christianity.
Where Was the Church That Jesus Built?
What had happened to the Church that was established through an outpouring of God's Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in 31 A.D.? Where was the Church which followed the teachings and practices of Jesus Christ, its living Head? Did the fourth century Catholic Church, dominant throughout the Roman Empire, represent an advanced stage in the growth and development of that first century Church? Where were the truly converted Christians? Were they still sitting in the church congregations of Rome and Alexandria, accepting the authority of the bishop of Rome and waiting for Christ to straighten things out? Were they excitedly accepting the pronouncements of the Council of Nicea as new truth? Where was Christ and what was He doing during this time?
In the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, we find messages which Jesus Christ recorded for the seven churches of Asia Minor. In chapter one, the Apostle John saw a vision of the glorified Christ standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands. These seven lampstands represent the Church of God in its entirety throughout time (Rev. 1:12-20). The seven cities of Asia Minor mentioned in Revelation were physically situated as successive stops on a Roman mail route. What is the significance of these seven oracles?
Clearly there is a historical application of the message to seven literal congregations in the first century. Some have considered that these congregations can possibly exemplify attitudes and problems that might characterize individual Christians at any time period.
When we look at the whole context of the book of Revelation, however, we must recognize that it is primarily intended as a prophecy. Revelation 1:1 shows that the whole purpose of the book is to show to God's servants things that would soon begin to happen.
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We must also recognize that certain different circumstances present in the seven churches could not have been comtemporaneous. For instance, Smyra, in Revelation 2:10, could not have been enduring "ten days" (i.e. ten years, cf. Num. 14:34; Ezek. 4:6) of terrible Roman persecutions while, just a few miles away in the same province, Philadelphia had freedom to preach the Gospel (Rev. 3:7-8). Notice also that Philadelphia is to be protected from the Great Tribulation which occurs just prior to Christ's return (Rev. 3:10; cf. Matt. 24:21-22). Thus the seven Churches should primarily be understood as representing the entire history of God's Church in seven successive church eras.
The first Church to be addressed in Revelation 2 is the Church at Ephesus. This Church characterized the Apostolic Era. In verse 2, we read that the great test of that first era lay in determining who were the true apostles of Christ and who were liars (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3-15). This was an era that labored long and hard to do the Work of God and endured much difficulty and persecution in the process. The true Christians of the Ephesian Era were those who rejected and hated the practices of the Nicolaitans (followers of Simon Magus).
However, after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D., discouragement and spiritual lethargy set in. The brethren had expected Christ to return shortly after Roman armies had surrounded Jerusalem. But now most of Judea and Galilee lay in ruins--occupied by Roman legions. The Jewish Christians were considered traitors by their fellow countrymen, and probable troublemakers by the Roman authorities. Life was hard and dangerous.
This era had left its first love, that early zeal for doing the Work. The membership began losing focus on those things which gave them their true identity and purpose.
The living Christ's message to that era was that if they did not repent and return to their first works of zealous proclamation of the Gospel, He would remove their lampstand. The apostasy of the overwhelming majority of the Jerusalem Church in 135 A.D. (when the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome was totally crushed) is taken by some to mark the ending of the Ephesian Era. Those who remained faithful during these trying final days were labeled as "Nazarenes" (cf. Acts 24:5) and "Ebionites" (poor ones) by the larger church. As is also the case today, coexisting with the Church was a variety of independent groups holding a wide assortment of ideas, mixing truth and error. These groups were sometimes lumped in as fellow "heretics" with the "Nazarenes" or "Ebionites" by the Roman church.
The Church at Smyrna is the second of the seven Revelation churches to be addressed. The Apostle John died in Ephesus at the end of the first century. The next faithful leader in Asia Minor, as noted in the previous chapter, was Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. As a young man, Polycarp had been a personal disciple of John and had observed the Passover with him on several occasions. Polycarp became prominent during the first couple of decades of the second century. The churches under his leadership remained almost the only area where God's Festivals continued to be observed throughout the remainder of the second century. In his old age, Polycarp even made a journey to Rome seeking to convince the bishop of Rome, Anicetus, of his errors in not celebrating the biblical Passover date and in observing, in its place, an annual Sunday Paschal observance (Easter) and a weekly celebration of "Eucharist."
As we have also seen, in the closing decades of the second century, a new faithful church leader arose named Polycrates, who had been personally trained by Polycarp. He alone remained as the only Christian leader of prominence who was faithful to the example of the apostles of the Jerusalem Church of God. Polycrates taught the true Gospel of the literal establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth, the unconscious state of the dead awaiting the resurrection, the importance of keeping God's law and the observance of the biblical Festivals.
Towards the end of the second century, Victor, bishop of Rome, was labeling Polycrates and those who followed his teachings as heretics and sources of discord and schism in the church. Polycrates remained faithful despite increasing pressure and isolation from supposed "fellow Christians," as well as persecution and hostility from the surrounding pagan society. After his death, however, we don't know of any other strong, prominent leader among those faithful churches in Asia Minor.
In the public's perception, true Christians lost ground to the much more popular and accommodating Roman church. Their numbers shrank and they became increasingly isolated. Despised and labeled "Ebionites" by the mainstream church, individuals and groups of families who remained faithful had to relocate into more remote areas of Asia Minor.
Even as early as the end of the first century, there were true Christians being put out of congregations headed by apostate leaders (3 John 9-10). By the second century, others, such as the faithful remnant who refused to accept "new truth" from Bishop Marcus of Jerusalem, were being forced to withdraw themselves from congregations of which they had been members. This occurred as unfaithful leaders led the visible church further and further astray.
The great test of the Smyrna Era lay in two areas. One was their ability to distinguish between the continuation of the true Church of God and what was, in reality, the emerging Synagogue of Satan. The other lay in their willingness to endure persecution and even death in order to remain faithful to God (Rev. 2:9-10).
Physically, the Christians of this era were impoverished and persecuted. They were rejected as heretics by the rapidly growing "Orthodox" movement, labeled as apostates from the synagogue by the Jews and looked upon with contempt and suspicion by the surrounding pagan Roman society. In God's estimation, however, those who remained faithful during this horrible time were accounted as having spiritual wealth of great value and will ultimately receive a crown of life (Rev. 2:9-10).
Many true Christians were martyred during those years. In addition, many Jews and followers of the church at Rome also suffered during some of the persecutions because of their refusal to worship the Roman emperor.
After Constantine began the systematic enforcement of compliance with Roman theology in 325 A.D., the remnants of the true Church were in large part forced to flee the bounds of the Roman Empire into the mountains of Armenia, and later into the Balkan areas of Europe. They were few in number, utterly lacking in prestige or wealth and labeled as enemies of the state by a supposedly "Christian" Roman Empire.
In God's sight, however, they were precious. It wasn't God's purpose that His true Church grow into a great, powerful organization that would "Christianize" the world. His true Church was to remain a "little flock" (Luke 12:32). Its continuity would be measured, not by a succession of proud, powerful, presiding bishops in a particular city (cf. Heb. 13:14), but by a succession of faithful, converted people who, though scattered and persecuted, continued to worship the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).
There would be times when God would raise up faithful leaders to revitalize His people and do some sort of Work that had public visibility, at least in localized areas. There were other times when God's Church continued to exist in such scattered obscurity that it was visible only to God. Nevertheless, it never died out.
And, regardless of their circumstances, the people who have remained a part of the true Church of God down through the ages have been those who have had a deep, abiding loyalty and commitment to God and to the practice of His Truth. They have kept His commandments (Rev. 12:17) and have been willing to be faithful to their calling, even unto death!
