The Sequel

by McCubbin, A. D. | Category: The New Testament Churches Of God(their History, Order And C | Nov 1982

The New Testament describes how the gospel spread to many countries, where through the power of the Holy Spirit disciples were made and churches of God were founded during the first century A.D. The expansion continued in the following centuries to even more distant countries, being assisted by the general peace and prosperity in the Roman empire, which allowed relatively easy and safe travel, and by the use of the common Greek language in most parts. However the falling away from the faith, which had so disturbed the New Testament writers, increased in the following century, and rapidly led to departure from the scriptural principles of churches of God. In this article the word church is used of general Christian witness and does not imply conformity to a New Testament church of God. Details of the expansion are given in the writings of several early historians, of whom the best known is Eusebius (263-339). While these writings lack the authority and authenticity of the Scriptures, the general pattern of subsequent development can be reasonably established. The success of the work can be seen in the estimated ten-fold increase in the number of churches from the first to the third century, which was achieved despite increasing opposition, as the arch-enemy Satan sought to impede the work both by opposition from the ruling authorities and by infiltrating false teachers in the churches. The New Testament contains warnings of both fiery trials (1 Pet. 4:12) and "enemies of the cross of Christ" (Phil. 3:18).

External Forces

The initial opposition to the gospel came mainly from Jewish leaders, but from 64 A.D., when the Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for the great fire of Rome, general persecution became more widespread. The intensity and extent of the harassment were increased by the Emperor Domitian (81-96), who, having assumed divine honours, expected the people to worship him, but the Christians would not comply and suffered accordingly. There was little respite from succeeding Emperors for over a century, and so the fiery trials continued. The legal basis for the measures taken against the Christians is unclear, and it was not until 110 A.D. that specific laws were directed against them. False witnesses could always be found to bring strange charges, such as atheism, because the Christians had no visible god, and for their refusal to respect heathen idols. Refusal to offer incense to the Emperor was considered as treason, and as a secret society they were alleged to threaten the peace of the Empire. While some defected and showed outward conformity most Christians insisted that only God could be worshipped, and so they suffered punishment.

Some of the church leaders wrote to the authorities in defence of their faith (called Apologia), arguing that they were innocent of any crimes, and that their faith was reasonable. These writings were largely ignored, and Justin, Polycarp and Ignatius among very many others suffered as martyrs. Others were banished to remote parts, or sent to work in the mines, and no estimate can be given of the total number who suffered for the sake of the Name (Acts 9:16). Tertullian (160-240 A.D.) wrote that the blood of martyrs is seed-so the Christians went on increasing in number.

The third century saw some respite, as external troubles started to threaten the Empire from both the north and east. There were still several periods of persecution, and it was particularly severe under the Emperor Diocletian (284 - 305 A.D.), when Satan seems to have made a last direct assault on the churches in attempting to obliterate the Christian witness and exterminate the Scriptures.

A major change took place in 313 A.D., when Constantine became Emperor, and he espoused the Christian faith; it is difficult to determine the genuineness of his conversion, as he still retained some pagan ideas. Constantine did much to redress the past effects and restore church properties. He actively supported the copying of the Scriptures, to make up for the many copies previously destroyed. Some of the leading extant versions of the Greek Bible, such as the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus date from this period.

While the cessation of persecution was welcome, there were other results, which were far from desirable, as the churches accepted state patronage; this even allowed the Emperor to preside over church councils as a "bishop of bishops", although he was very much lacking in spiritual discernment. Church leaders were given political power, and the state erected ornate buildings to cope with the bigger church congregations. Nearly all the subsequent Emperors were nominally Christian, but their involvement in church disputes became less effective, for although they could protect the churches against outside foes they were powerless to give internal peace. The imperial power declined until the fall of the Roman empire in 600 A.D. in the west; by that time the Bishop of Rome had become the ruler of much of Italy. In the east the Emperors continued to exercise authority in the churches until the 15th century.

Internal Problems

The problems that troubled the New Testament churches of God, relating both to doctrine and practice, continued in the following centuries. There is little reliable information on the spiritual condition of the churches in the second century, though they continued to expand numerically despite the furious persecution. Their general conduct and display of mutual love, and care for the poor, despite the conditions, brought out favourable comments even from pagan writers. The majority of the new converts were Gentiles, and many brought with them pagan ideas, so that heresies developed, which often assimilated elements of mythology, and it is highly significant that the majority of heresies related to the nature of the Godhead. An early heresy, known as Docetism, denied the true humanity of Christ, and regarded Him as assuming a temporary appearance in human form and so His sufferings were only an illusion. This type of error continued in a general form as Gnosticism, whose basic premise was that matter is inherently evil, and which taught the need for superior knowledge; this teaching developed in several forms, varying from strict asceticism and monasticism to extreme moral laxity. Some other early heresies were Marcionism, which repudiated the Old Testament; Ebionism, which denied the Deity and Sonship of Christ; and Sabellianism, which considered that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were only different roles of one person. These dreadful forms of error were opposed by many church leaders, such as Ignatius, Irenaeus and later Origen.

The most potent heresy came in the fourth century, propounded by Anus, who claimed that Christ was essentially different from God the Father, and a created being. The Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) was called to debate the issue; there Anus was powerfully opposed by Athanasius, who argued that if Christ were less than God, He could not be the Saviour, and only God could reconcile man back to Himself. This view was accepted and a statement of faith, known as a creed, was drawn up, which began, "We believe in one God, the Father, Almighty maker of all things, visible and invisible: and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father...." The creed was extended by other church councils in the continuing battle by the faithful to maintain the apostolic teaching. Professions of faith had started much earlier from the simple expression "Jesus is Lord" (1 Cor. 12:3), and other statements such as 1 Tim. 3:16, which were used as baptismal confessions. Errors continued to reappear, as indeed they still do. It was widely recognized as vital in opposing heresy to establish the canon of divinely inspired writings or Scriptures. While the first three Gospels together with most of the letters of Paul were generally accepted by the middle of the second century, there were various reservations about the other books. It was not until the Council of Cathage (400 A.D.) that the complete New Testament was generally recognized as Scripture. It was also important that many other letters, such as the Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache, which were widely circulating at the time, were excluded as being spurious or of dubious authority.

Thus able teachers could establish from the Scriptures a systematic theology, but by this time much effort was being expended by Origen and others in allegorical interpretations of Scripture, which have very little support from the New Testament. Augustine, who was the last well known advocate of divine grace until the Reformation, also supported allegorical interpretations, and additionally supported infant sprinkling that was replacing believer's baptism. There was little opposition to the growing ritualism and materialism in the churches. Since all seemed to feel the need for strong rule to avoid divisions, there soon developed the clerical system; a hierarchy of clergy, bishops, cardinals and Pope was formed, and this increased in grandeur as time went on. There was also a proliferation of rites and ceremonies.

Summary

While in the first five centuries of this era the number of churches had increased dramatically, they had seriously departed in both doctrine and practice from the faith of the New Testament churches, and most members were only nominally Christian. Most regrettable was the neglect of the power of the Holy Spirit, and the search for justification through works. So they were holding "a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof" (2 Tim. 3:5, AV). The dark ages had arrived, but at least the Scriptures survived, though largely unread at the time, so that although the divine light was obscured, the enemy was never able to obliterate it. We can now rejoice that the faith has been gradually recovered in its fulness, but the history of early times should be a warning to us of how rapidly a decline can take place.

A suggestion for further reading

A series of twelve articles entitled "Departure from the Faith" appeared in Needed Truth for the year 1972. These supply interesting detail about subjects mentioned in the foregoing article and also in this month's Focus. The matters dealt with are: Judaism, Gnosticism, Arianism, Nestorianism, Pelagianism, Church and State, The Papacy, Baptismal Regeneration and Transubstantiation.

McCubbin, A. D. | Nov 1982
The New Testament Churches Of God(their History, Order And C