FIRST LECTURE
"Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many
generations; Ask
thy father and he will show thee. Thy elders and they will tell
thee."
(Deut. 32:7)
1. What we know today as "Christianity" or the
Christian Religion, began with Christ, A.D. 25-30in the days and
within the bounds of the Roman Empire. One of the greatest
empires the world hasever known in all its history.
2. This Empire at that period embraced nearly all of the then
known inhabited world. Tiberius
Caesar was its Emperor.
3. In its religion, the Roman Empire, at that time, was pagan. A
religion of many gods. Some
material and some imaginary. There were many devout believers and
worshipers. It was a religion not simply of the people, but of
the empire. It was an established religion. Established by law
and supported by the government. (Mosheim, Vol. 1, Chap. 1.)
4. The Jewish people, at that period, no longer a separate
nation, were scattered throughout the
Roman Empire. They yet had their temple in Jerusalem, and the
Jews yet went there to worship, and they were yet jealous of
their religion. But it, like the pagan, had long since drifted
into formalism and had lost its power. (Mosheim, Vol. 1, Chap.
2.)
5. The religion of Christ being a religion not of this world, its
founder gave it no earthly head and no
temporal power. It sought no establishment, no state or
governmental support. It sought no
dethronement of Caesar. Said its author, "Render unto Caesar
the things that are Caesar's and to
God the things that are God's." (Matt, 22:19-22; Mark 12:17;
Luke 20:20). Being a spiritual
religion it was a rival of no earthly government. Its adherents,
however, were taught to respect all civil law and government.
(Rom. 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; 1 Pet. 2:13-16)
6. I want now to call your attention to some of the landmarks, or
ear-marks of this religion--the
Christian Religion. If you and I are to trace it down through 20
long centuries, and especially downthrough 1,200 years of
midnight darkness, darkened by rivers and seas of martyr blood,
then we will need to know well these marks. They will be many
times terribly disfigured. But there will
always be some indelible mark. But let us carefully and
prayerfully beware. We will encounter many shams and
make-believes. If possible, the very elect will be betrayed and
deceived. We want, if possible, to trace it down through credible
history, but more especially through the unerring,
infallible, words and marks of Divine truth.
Some Unerring, Infallible Marks
If in going down through the centuries we run upon a group or
groups of people bearing not these
distinguishing marks and teaching other things for fundamental
doctrines, let us beware.
1. Christ, the author of this religion, organized His followers
or disciples into a Church. And the
disciples were to organize other churches as this religion spread
and other disciples were "made."
(Ray, Bapt, Succession, Revised Edition, 1st Chap.)
2. This organization or church, according to the Scriptures and
according to the practice of the
Apostles and early churches, was given two kinds of officers and
only two -- pastors and deacons. The pastor was called
"Bishop." Both pastor and deacons to be selected by the
church and to be servants of the church.
3. The churches in their government and discipline to be entirely
separate and independent of each other, Jerusalem to have no
authority over Antioch -- nor Antioch over Ephesus; nor Ephesus
over
Corinth, and so forth. And their government to be congregational,
democratic. A government of the
people, by the people, and for the people.
4. To the church were given two ordinances and only two, Baptism
and the Lord's Supper. Theseto be perpetual and memorial.
5. Only the "saved" were to be received as members of
the church (Acts 2:47). These saved
ones to be saved by grace alone without any works of the law
(Eph, 2:5, 8, 9). These saved onesand they only, to be immersed
in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). And
only those thus received and baptized, to partake of the Lord's
Supper, and the supper to be
celebrated only by the church, in church capacity.
6. The inspired scriptures, and they only, in fact, the New
Testament and that only, to be the rule
and guide of faith and life, not only for the church as an
organization, but for each individual member of that
organization.
7. Christ Jesus, the founder of this organization and the savior
of its members, to be their only
priest and king, their only Lord and Lawgiver, and the only head
of the churches. The churches tobe executive only in carrying out
their Lord's will and completed laws, never legislative, to amend
or abrogate old laws or to make new ones.
8. This religion of Christ to be individual, personal, and purely
voluntary or through persuasion. No
physical or governmental compulsion. A matter of distinct
individual and personal choice. "Choose you" is the
scriptural injunction. It could be neither accepted nor rejected
nor lived by proxy nor under compulsion.
9. Mark well! That neither Christ nor His apostles, ever gave to
His followers, what is know today
as a denominational name, such as "Catholic,"
"Lutheran," "Presbyterian,"
"Episcopal," and so forth
-- unless the name given by Christ to John was intended for such,
"The Baptist," "John the Baptist"(Matt. 11:11
and 10 or 12 other times.) Christ called the individual follower
"disciple." Two or more were called
"disciples." The organization of disciples, whether at
Jerusalem or Antioch or elsewhere, was called Church. If more
than one of these separate organizations were referred to, they
were called Churches. The word church in the singular was never
used when referring to more than one of these organizations. Nor
even when referring to them all.
10. I venture to give one more distinguishing mark. We will call
it -- Complete separation of
Church and State. No combination, no mixture of this spiritual
religion with a temporal power.
"Religious Liberty," for everybody.
And now, before proceeding with the history itself, let me call
your attention to the following chart
(Sorry, we haven't been able to put the chart up yet)
I believe, if you will study carefully this chart, you will
better understand the history, and it will
greatly aid your memory in retaining what you hear and see.
Remember this chart is supposed to cover a period of two thousand
years of religious history.
Notice at both top and bottom of the chart some figures, the same
figures at both top and bottom -
100, 200, 300, and so on to 2,000.
They represent the twenty centuries of time--the vertical lines
separating the different centuries.
Now notice on the chart, near the bottom; other straight lines,
this line running left to right, the long
way of the chart.
The lines are about the same distance apart as the vertical
lines. But you can't see them all the way.
They are covered by a very dark spot, representing in history
what is known as the "dark ages." It
will be explained later. Between the two lowest lines are the
names of countries . . . Italy, Wales,
England, Spain, France, and so forth, ending with America. These
are names of countries in which
much history is made during the period covered by the names
themselves. Of course not all the
history, some history is made in some of the countries in every
period. But some special history is
made in these special countries, at these special periods.
Now notice again, near the bottom of the chart, other lines a
little higher. They, too, covered in part
by the "dark ages," they also are full of names, but
not names of countries. They are all
"nick-names." Names given to those people by their
enemies. "Christians"--that is the first: "The
disciples were called Christians first at Antioch" (Acts
11:26). This occurred about
A.D. 43. Either the pagans or Jews gave them that name in
derision. All the other names in that
column were given in the same manner -- Montanists, Novationists,
Donatists, Paulicians,
Albigenses, Waldenses, etc., and Ana-Baptists. All of these will
again and again be referred to as
the lectures progress.
But look again at the chart. See the red circles. They are
scattered nearly all over the chart. They
represent churches. Single individual churches in Asia, in
Africa, in Europe, in mountains and valleys, and so forth. Their
being blood red indicates martyr blood. Christ their founder died
on the Cross. All the Apostles save two, John and Judas, suffered
martyr deaths. Judas betrayed his Lord and died in a suicide. The
Apostle John, according to history, was boiled in a great
cauldron of oil.
You will note some circles that are solidly black. They represent
churches also. But erring churches. Churches that had gone wrong
in life or doctrine. There were numbers of these even before the
death of Peter, Paul and John.
Having now about concluded with a general introduction and some
very necessary and even vital
preliminaries, I come to the regular history:-
FIRST PERIOD A.D. 30-500
1. Under the strange but wonderful impulse and leadership of John
the Baptist, the eloquent man
from the wilderness, and under the loving touch and
miracle-working power of the Christ Himself,
and the marvelous preaching of the 12 Apostles and their
immediate successors, the Christian
religion spread mightily during the first 500-year period.
However, it left a terribly bloody trail
behind it. Judaism and Paganism bitterly contested every forward
movement. John the Baptist was
the first of the great leaders to give up his life. His head was
taken off. Soon after him went the
Savior Himself, the founder of this Christian religion. He died
on the Cross, the cruel death of the
Cross.
2. Following their Savior in rapid succession fell many other
martyred heroes: Stephen was stoned,
Matthew was slain in Ethiopia, Mark dragged through the streets
until dead, Luke hanged, Peter
and Simeon were crucified, Andrew tied to a cross, James
beheaded, Philip crucified and stoned,
Bartholomew flayed alive, Thomas pierced with lances, James, the
less, thrown from the temple and beaten to death, Jude shot to
death with arrows, Matthias stoned to death and Paul beheaded.
3. More than one hundred years had gone by before all this had
happened. This hard persecution by Judaism and Paganism continued
for two more centuries. And yet mightily spread the Christian
religion. It went into all the Roman Empire, Europe, Asia,
Africa, England, Wales, and about
everywhere else, where there was any civilization. The churches
greatly multiplied and the disciples
increased continuously. But some of the churches continued to go
into error.
4. The first of these changes from New Testament teachings
embraced both policy and doctrine. In the first two centuries the
individual churches rapidly multiplied and some of the earlier
ones, such as Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, etc., grew to
be very large; Jerusalem, for instance, had many thousand members
(Acts 2:41; 4:4, 5:14), possibly 25,000 or even 50,000 or more. A
close student of the book of Acts and Epistles will see that Paul
had a mighty task even in his day in
keeping some of the churches straight. See Peter's and Paul's
prophecies concerning the future (II
Pet. 2:12; Acts 20:29-31. See also Rev., second and third
chapters).
These great churches necessarily had many preachers or elders
(Acts 20:17). Some of the bishops
or pastors began to assume authority not given them in the New
Testament. They began to claim
authority over other and smaller churches. They, with their many
elders, began to lord it over God's heritage (III John 9). Here
was the beginning of an error which has grown and multiplied into
many other seriously hurtful errors. Here was the beginning of
different orders in the ministry running up finally to what is
practiced now by others as well as Catholics. Here began what
resulted in an entire change from the original democratic policy
and government of the early churches. This irregularity began in
a small way, even before the close of the second century. This
was possibly the first serious departure from the New Testament
church order.
5. Another vital change which seems from history to have had its
beginning before the close of the
second century was on the great doctrine of Salvation itself. The
Jews as well as the Pagans, had
for many generations, been trained to lay great stress on
Ceremonials. They had come to look
upon types as anti-types, shadows as real substances, and
ceremonials as real saving agencies.
How easy to come thus to look upon baptism. They reasoned thus:
The Bible has much to say
concerning baptism. Much stress is laid upon the ordinance and
one's duty concerning it. Surely it
must have something to do with one's salvation. So that it was in
this period that the idea of
"Baptismal Regeneration" began to get a fixed hold in
some of the churches. (Shackelford, page
57; Camp p. 47; Benedict, p. 286; Mosheim, vol. 1, p. 134;
Christian, p. 28.)
6. The next serious error to begin creeping in, and which seems
from some historians (not all) to
have begun in this same century and which may be said to have
been an inevitable consequence of
the "baptismal regeneration" idea, was a change in the
subjects of baptism. Since baptism has
been declared to be an agency or means to salvation by some
erring churches, then the sooner
baptism takes place the better. Hence arose "infant
baptism." Prior to this "believers" and
"believers" only, were regarded as proper subjects for
baptism. "Sprinkling" and "pouring" are not
now referred to. These came in much later. For several centuries,
infants, like others, were immersed. The Greek Catholics (a very
large branch of the Catholic church) up to this day, have never
changed the original form of baptism. They practice infant
baptism but have never done otherwise than immerse the children.
(Note -- Some of the church historians put the beginning of
infant baptism within this century, but I shall quote a short
paragraph from Robinson's Ecclesiastical Researches.)
"During the first three centuries, congregations all over
the East subsisted in separate independent
bodies, unsupported by government and consequently without any
secular power over one another.
All this time they were baptized churches, and though all the
fathers of the first four ages, down to
Jerome (A.D. 370), were of Greece, Syria and Africa, and though
they give great numbers of
histories of the baptism of adults, yet there is not one of the
baptism of a child till the year 370."
(Compendium of Baptist History, Shackelford, p. 43; Vedder, p.
50; Christian, p, 31; Orchard, p.
50, etc.)
7. Let it be remembered that changes like these here mentioned
were not made in a day,
nor even within a year. They came about slowly and never within
all the churches. Some of
the churches vigorously repudiated them. So much so that in A.D.
251, the loyal churches
declared non-fellowship for those churches which accepted and
practiced these errors. And
thus came about the first real official separation among the
churches.
8. Thus it will be noted that during the first three centuries
three important and vital changes from
the teachings of Christ and His Apostles had their beginnings.
And one significant event took place,
Note this summary and recapitulation:
i. The change from the New Testament idea of bishop and church
government. This change
grew rapidly, more pronounced, and complete and hurtful.
ii. The change from the New Testament teachings as to
Regeneration to "baptismal
regeneration."
iii. The change from "believers' baptism" to
"infant baptism." (This last, however, did not become
general nor even very frequent for more than another century.)
9. "Baptismal regeneration" and "infant
baptism." These two errors have, according to the
testimony of well-established history, caused the shedding of
more Christian blood, as the centuries
have gone by, than all other errors combined, or than possibly
have all wars, not connected with
persecution, if you will leave out the recent "World
War." Over 50,000,000 Christians died martyr
deaths, mainly because of their rejection of these two errors
during the period of the "dark ages"
alone -- about twelve or thirteen centuries.
10. Three significant facts, for a large majority of the many
churches, are clearly shown by history
during these first three centuries.
i. The separateness and independence of the Churches.
ii. The subordinate character of bishops or pastors.
iii. The baptism of believers only.
I quote now from Mosheim--the greatest of all Lutheran church
historians. Vol., 1, pages 71 and
72: "But whoever supposes that the bishops of this golden
age of the church correspond with the
bishops of the following centuries must blend and confound
characters that are very different, for in
this century and the next, a bishop had charge of a single
church, which might ordinarily be
contained in a private house; nor was he its Lord, but was in
reality its minister or servant. . . All
the churches in those primitive times were independent bodies, or
none of them subject to the
jurisdiction of any other. For though the churches which were
founded by the Apostles themselves
frequently had the honor shown them to be consulted in doubtful
cases, yet they had no judicial
authority, no control, no power of giving laws. On the contrary,
it is as clear as the noonday that all
Christian churches had equal rights, and were in all respects on
a footing of equality."
11. Up to this period, notwithstanding much and serious
persecutions, Christianity has had a
marvelous growth. It has covered and even gone beyond the great
Roman Empire. Almost, if not all the inhabited world has heard
the gospel. And, according to some of the church historians, many
of the original churches organized by the Apostles are yet
intact, and yet loyal to Apostolic teachings. However, as already
shown, a number of very marked and hurtful errors have crept in
and gotten a permanent hold among many of the churches. Some have
become very irregular.
12. Persecutions have become increasingly bitter. Near the
beginning of the fourth century comes
possibly the first definite government edict of persecution. The
wonderful growth of Christianity has
alarmed the pagan leaders of the Roman Empire. Hence Galerius,
the emperor, sent out a direct
edict of more savage persecution. This occurred Feb. 24, 303 A.D.
Up to this time Paganism
seems to have persecuted without any definite laws to that
effect.
13. But this edict failed so utterly in its purpose of stopping
the growth of Christianity, that this
same emperor, Galerius, just eight years thereafter (A.D. 311)
passed another edict recalling the
first and actually granting toleration -- permission to live the
religion of Jesus Christ. This was
probably its first favorable law.
14. By the beginning of the year A.D. 313, Christianity has won a
mighty victory over paganism.
A new emperor has come to the throne of the Roman Empire. He
evidently recognized something of the mysterious power of this
religion that continued to grow in spite of persecution. History
says that this new emperor who was none other than Constantine
had a wonderful realistic vision. He saw in the skies a fiery red
cross and on that cross written in fiery letters these
words--"By this thou shalt conquer." He interpreted it
to mean that he should become a Christian. And that by giving up
paganism and that by attaching the spiritual power of the
Christian religion onto the temporal power of the Roman Empire
the world could be easily conquered. Thus the Christian religion
would in fact become a whole world religion, and the Roman Empire
a whole world empire.
15. So under the leadership of Emperor Constantine there comes a
truce, a courtship and a
proposal of marriage. The Roman Empire through its emperor seeks
a marriage with Christianity.
Give us your spiritual power and we will give you of our temporal
power.
16. To effectually bring about and consummate this unholy union,
a council was called. In A. D.
313, a call was made for a coming together of the Christian
churches or their representatives . Many but not all came. The
alliance was consummated. A Hierarchy was formed. In the
organization of the Hierarchy, Christ was dethroned as head of
the churches and Emperor Constantine enthroned (only temporarily,
however) as head of the church.
17. The Hierarchy was the definite beginning of a development
which finally resulted into what
is now known as the Catholic, or "universal" church. It
might be said that its indefinite beginnings
were near the close of the second and beginning of the third
century, when the new ideas concerning bishops and
preacher-church government began to take shape.
18. Let it be definitely remembered that when Constantine made
his call for the council, there were
very many of the Christians (Baptists) and of the churches, which
declined to respond. They wanted no marriage with the state, and
no centralized religious government, and no higher ecclesiastical
government of any kind, than the individual church. These
Christians (Baptists) nor the
churches ever at that time or later, entered the hierarchy of the
Catholic denomination.
19. When this hierarchy was created, Constantine, who was made
its head, was not himself at that
time a Christian. He had agreed to become one. But as the erring
or irregular churches which had
gone with him into this organization had come to adopt the error
of Baptismal regeneration, a
serious question arose in the mind of Constantine, "If I am
saved from my sins by baptism,
what is to become of my sins which I may commit after I am
baptized?" He raised a question
which has puzzled the world in all succeeding generations. Can
baptism wash away yet uncommitted sins? Or, are the sins
committed prior to baptism washed away by one method (that is,
baptism), and the sins committed subsequent to baptism washed
away by another method?
20. Not being able to settle satisfactorily the many questions
thus arising, Constantine finally
decided to unite with the Christians, but to postpone his baptism
until just preceding his death, so
that all his sins might thus be washed away at one time. This
course he followed, and hence was not
baptized until just preceding his death.
21. Constantine's action in repudiating for the whole Roman
Empire, the pagan religion, and
accepting Christianity incurred the hot displeasures of the Roman
Senate. They repudiated, or, at
least opposed his course. And their opposition finally resulted
in the removal of the seat of empire
from Rome to Byzantium, an old city rebuilt and then renamed
Constantinople for Constantine. As a result there came to be two
capital cities of the Roman Empire -- Rome and Constantinople.
The
two rival cities several centuries later became the ruling
centers of the divided Catholic church --
Roman and Greek.
22. Up to the organization of the Hierarchy and the uniting of
church and state, all the persecution
of Christianity has been done either by Judaism or Paganism. Now
comes a serious change.
Christians (in name) begin to persecute Christians. Constantine,
desiring to have all Christians join
with him in his new idea of a state religion, and many
conscientiously opposing this serious departure from New
Testament teachings, he begins using the power of government to
compel. Thus begin the days and years and even centuries of a
hard and bitter persecution against all those Christians who were
loyal to the original Christ and Apostolic teachings.
23. Remember that we are now noting the events occurring between
the years A.D. 300 and 500.
The Hierarchy organized under the leadership of Constantine,
rapidly developed into what is now
known as the Catholic church. This newly developing church joined
to a temporal government, no
longer simply an executive to carry out the completed laws of the
New Testament, began to be
legislative, amending or annulling old laws or enacting new ones
utterly unknown to the New
Testament.
24. One of the first of its legislative enactments, and one of
the most subversive in its results, was
the establishing by law of "infant baptism." By this
new law, "Infant Baptism" becomes
compulsory. This was done A.D. 416. Infants had been infrequently
baptized for probably a century preceding this. Insofar as this
newly enacted law became effective, two vital New Testament laws
were abrogated -- "Believers Baptism" and
"Voluntary personal obedience in Baptism."
25. As an inevitable consequence of this new doctrine and law,
these erring churches were soon
filled with unconverted members. In fact, it was not very many
years until probably a majority of the
membership was composed of unconverted material. So the great
spiritual affairs of God's great
spiritual kingdom were in the hands of an unregenerate temporal
power. What may now be
expected?
26. Loyal Christians and churches, of course, rejected this new
law. "Believers baptism," of
course, "New Testament baptism," was the only law for
them. They not only refused to baptize their own children, but
believing in the baptism of believers only, they refused to
accept the baptizing done by and within the churches of this
unscriptural organization. If any of the members from the
churches of this new organization attempted to join any of the
churches which had refused to join in with the new organization,
a Christian experience and a rebaptism was demanded.
27. The course followed by the loyal churches soon, of course,
incurred the hot displeasure of the
state religionists, many, if not most of whom, were not genuine
Christians. The name "Christian,"
however, was from now on denied those loyal churches who refused
to accept these new errors.
They were robbed of that, and called by many other names,
sometimes by one and sometimes by
another, "Montanist," Tertullianists,"
"Novationists," "Paterines," etc., and some
at least because of
their practice of rebaptizing those who were baptized in infancy,
were referred to an "Ana
-Baptists."
28. A.D. 426, just ten years after the legal establishment of
infant baptism, the awful period known
as the "Dark Ages" had its beginning. What a period!
How awfully black and bloody! From now on for more than a decade
of centuries, the trail of loyal Christianity is largely washed
away in its own blood. Note on the chart some of the many
different names borne by the persecuted. Sometimes these names
are given because of some specially heroic leader and sometimes
from other causes, and frequently names for the same people vary
in different countries and even in different centuries.
29. It was early in the period of the "dark ages" when
real Popery had its definite beginnings. This
was by Leo II, A.D. 440 to 461. This, however, was not the first
time the title was ever used. This
title, similar to the Catholic church itself, was largely a
development. The name appears, as first
applied to the Bishop of Rome 296-304. It was formally adopted by
Siricius, Bishop of Rome
384-398. Then officially adopted by Leo II, 440-461. Then claimed
to be universal, 707. Then
some centuries later declared by Gregory VII to be the exclusive
right of the papacy.
30. Now to sum up the most significant events of this first
five-century period:
i. The gradual change from a democracy to a preacher-church
government.
ii. The change from salvation by grace to Baptismal Salvation.
iii. The change from "believers' baptism" to
"infant baptism."
iv. The Hierarchy organized. Marriage of church and state.
v. Seat of empire changed to Constantinople.
vi. Infant baptism established by law and made compulsory.
vii. Christians begin to persecute Christians.
viii. The "Dark Ages" begin 426.
ix. The sword and torch rather than the gospel become the power
of God (?) unto salvation.
x. All semblance of "Religious liberty" dies and is
buried and remains buried for many centuries.
xi. Loyal New Testament churches, by whatever name called, are
hunted and hounded to the
utmost limit of the new Catholic temporal power. Remnants
scattered over the world are
finding uncertain hiding places in forests and mountains,
valleys, dens and caves of the earth.