This is a rewrite of an article published a dozen or so years ago with more insight hopefully to make clearer what the beginning of the Gospel of John actually says. As John 1:1-14 is not literal the original article focused on how languages are imprecise and could be misleading if someone tried to take …
Waldo (also called Valdez) was a prosperous merchant in Lyons in 1176 AD. At that time, he was affected by the song of a wandering minstrel who was singing about the best way to God. He was affected by this verse: Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you …
Montanism refers to a group of Christians who followed the teachings of Montanus who came into prominence in Phrygia in Asia Minor mid-second century. Montanus was a former priest of Cybele, a goddess similar to Gaia who was revered as the Earth Mother. Prophecy was not new to the area as the cults of Men, …
Most Christian denominations designate certain individuals as “clergy.” Clergy in these denominations or groups hold most, if not all, of the leadership positions. Besides administrative functions, they do most of the teaching, perform baptisms, weddings, and lead services, etc. It is hard to pin down the purpose of having a laity. Most groups with clergy …
This article does not include a comparison to original Christianity in the matters discussed. It presents what happened in these matters along with occasionally reporting what the writers of these histories deemed important for our understanding. Remember the point of this website is to see how different doctrines developed over time, and how they compare …
Who was in Charge in the Apostles’ Tradition? While there is no manual on Church government in the New Testament, there are numerous sections of scripture that itemize requirements of leadership as well as records of leadership decisions. But, most importantly, the role of the headship of Christ and the operational capacity of the Holy …
The epistles are packed with references to the body of Christ. For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or …
This is just an overview of the beginning of the movement in the church to have general councils without addressing how they compare to original Christianity other than to say that the only council mentioned in Acts involved actual apostles and prophets and the decision “seemed good to the Holy Spirit” so the Holy Spirit …
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:12 WEB) Although it may appear so, scripture says that our Christian struggle is not with people. …
While in some ways this is a sad lesson, it is a vitally important one. We have seen in Tradition in Original Christianity, Part 3, Prophets and Prophecy Were Vitally Important how fundamental prophecy was to the newly established church. Part of the Apostles Tradition is that while they were there, after they passed, and …
Before we get into more about devil spirits, we are going to look at how scriptures speak about resisting the devil and overcoming temptation. And we are going to be talking about sin which is far less exciting than manifesting the power of God, and in fact, a subject that some avoid. However, as Jesus …
T 1.62 How the Devil Tempts Us to Sin, Resisting the Devil Read More »
Of all the Christian traditions water baptism seems one of the longest enduring and most rooted. In fact, it reaches so far back that reconciling it to some of what happened in the book of Acts with all of the outpouring of spirit appears hard to reconcile due to a number of confusing elements which …
Since we are talking about devils as evil spirits and discerning of spirits now is a good time to take a deeper look at the word spirit in scripture. Spirit is one of those things like electricity. You can’t see it; you only know what it is by its effects. Oh, you can see lightning …
In the world, there is a lot of television programming these days about the devil. Lucifer is a TV program that presents the devil who looks like a charming man in all of his charming ways. He is the hero of the show and presented in a somewhat sympathetic way. Supernatural is a show where …
“In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity.” I have heard this quote repeated in regards to many of the differences between churches. It has been attributed as the watchword of Christian peacemakers by Phillip Schaff, a noted nineteenth century church historian. While some ascribe this quote to Augustine, it actually comes …
T 19.1 Modern Christian Traditions – The In Essentials Unity Doctrine. Read More »
I have many times heard a preacher or teacher substitute one word for another in a verse or set of verses. For example because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved[emphasis added]. (Rom 10:9 ESV) The …
The Importance Of Each Word, More on Word Studies Read More »
This particular word study is very personal to me, and it may be to you because it has to do with the origin of the Gospels. I was raised a Roman Catholic and had twelve years of religion classes in Catholic schools. However, my mother’s side called themselves Protestant and believed in the Bible as …
Doing a Word Study To Determine a Word’s Meaning in the Original language Read More »
Paul admonishes believers to not shy away from the manifestations of the Spirit . Don’t quench the Spirit. Don’t despise prophesies. (1Th 5:19-20 WEB) The word quench is the Greek word sbennumi. Its translated quench, extinquish, go out. Here’s an example where it is translated “going out”. The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us …
A recent article in Christianity Today starts with, “Are American Christians really this bad at theology? Are we simply just a band of unwitting heretics? Ligonier Ministries and LifeWay Research’s recent State of Theology study seems to indicate that, yes, a large percentage of us are at odds at what we believe.”1 The article goes …
Theology Is As Clear As Mud To Americans in 2020 Read More »
Christianity is about love. And we are in the administration of grace. So surely no persons or churches should be reproved, rebuked, or corrected, right? There should be no criticism of any kind, constructive or destructive, right? Terms I hear expressed are to be loving, forgiving, “giving grace” and “endeavoring to keep the unity of …
Here is a picture of an ancient Greek manuscript page from the Digital Walters (link opens new tab to view page) which are released for free under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (link opens new tab to view page) license for anyone who wants to use them: This page is somewhere in Acts or …
From the gospels and epistles, we have in the writings of the apostles and their agents that prophets and prophecy were a vitally important part of the apostle’s traditions left for us to follow. From recognition in the gospels of how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ were foretold in the Law …
Some churches teach that Christians are required to tithe. Tithing is giving one-tenth of your income to God’s work. I have personally heard tithing taught in Baptist, Full Faith, Assembly of God, and Pentecostal churches. Most of these churches teach that not tithing is robbing God. And I have sat and heard those warnings. In …
Believers are charged to follow the apostles’ tradition: So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. (2Th 2:15 ESV) Remember that tradition encompasses both what is taught and what is practiced. One thing the apostles emphasized both in …
The message of the Gospel is the good news of Christ. And spread that message is what Apostles did, first and foremost. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. (Act 5:42 ESV) When they had appointed a day for …