Communion With the Christ:: A Very, Very Brief History of the Church: Part 7

"I will build my church;

and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."Matt:16:18

From the very beginning of the Christian Church there has been discussions within the Church attempting to understand what God has, is, and will yet, do in and by Jesus.

Understanding the work of Christ has come at times, little by little. Often among varies groups there would arise differences of opinion as to whom was give the rightful place as the custodians of the truth of the Gospel message and the authority to proclaim that message.

Gnosticism

As peoples were converted and then entered the Church, they would sometimes bring some of their past ideas and would attempt to merge their ideas with the understanding of who Jesus is and what they should believe about him. Often, these past ideas were drawn from the mystery religions which they had been a part of prior to conversion.

Some of these ideas are generally referred to as Gnostic, with means "knowledge". This "knowledge" almost always carried with it a claim to have a unique understanding which others did not have or access to, or an alternate tradition which they and only they were the caretakers and defenders of this tradition.

This Gnostic thought brought beliefs which the main body of the Church did not embrace.

Many Gnostic teachers claimed to have "epistles" written by the Apostles or other documents some of which were found within the Psudopigrapha (which itself was a body of writings that was not universally accepted as "canonical" , that is speaking with divine authority,) which the Church at larger did not have, or these teachers claimed that they had the "key" to truly understanding the Scriptures which gave them special understanding and insight that the greater Church did not accept and sought to suppress.

Often Gnostic teachers would have highly edited copies of the Gospels or Epistles to give support and credibility to their ideas. Some gnostic teachers would use only certain parts of the Gospels and epistles.

Arise of Gnostic Teachings

Some Gnostic teachers said that Jesus was not really God eternally, but rather a man who "earned the right" to become the Son of God. Others taught that Jesus was not a man at all, but rather some sort of image or "projection", and that, Jesus left no footprints in the dust when he walked the Earth.

Others believed that Jesus was a man who became "possessed" by a "divine spirit”, this "divine spirit" then abandoned Jesus while he was upon the cross.

Another Gnostic teaching presented Jesus as a created "God", and therefore by venture of having been created was and is less than God the Father.

Some Gnostic teachers taught that God is a "family" or that God is two, or even three separate "divine" God beings and or that the Holy Spirit is not God, but rather just a "power" which flows out from God. Some rejected the Holy Trinity, claiming the the Holy Spirit did not have personhood but rather was only a way of describing God's divine power.

Other Gnostic teachers had an intense interest in angels seeing them in elevated roles greater than what Scripture has assigned to them.

The Apostles Creed

This interjection of Gnostic thought compelled the Church to define what the Church as a whole understood regarding Jesus Christ and the Salvation he had brought.

This defining of the accepted or Orthodox beliefs of the Church came to be embodied in what is known as the Apostles Creed. The earliest forms of the Apostles Creed date as early as around 153 AD just as the Apostolic period of the Church was coming to an end.

The roots of the Apostles Creed which has been a safe-guard of Christian teaching and theology from the earliest times finds it's origins in a series of question which were asked to new converts just prior to the administration of the sacrament of Baptism.

Roots of the Creed

In the primitive Church baptisms were generally, but not always, conducted once a year. New converts were baptized on Resurrection Sunday (Easter) after a time of reflection and prayer; usually this was a forty-day period of time which gave rise to what became the Lenten Season in the Spring of the year.

As new converts came to and then entered the water for the Sacrament of Baptism, they were asked a series of questions to confirm the new candidate’s acceptance of Jesus before being immersed beneath the water, affirming that they believed and accept all that Jesus had accomplished on their behalf.

These questions were the root of the Apostles Creed. The minister would ask each one the following questions.

Do you believe in God the Father Almighty?

Do you believe in Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who was born of the Holy Spirit and Mary the virgin, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died and rose again at the third day, and ascended to Heaven and sat at the right of the Father, and will come to judge the quick and the dead?

Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Church and the resurrection of the flesh.

The Apostles Creed became the safe guard of and defined Orthodox Christian teaching, as long as what was being taught or preached conformed to the Creed it could be accepted as sound Orthodox teaching.

If the candidate affirmed that they believed and accepted these things, the elders would then immerse them as confirmation and they then were now a part of the communion of the Church.

The Creed

Over the centuries the Apostles Creed has stood the test of time, it has had only minor changes in the wording to accommodate each of the Christian Church bodies which uses it, but the intent always has remained and proven to keep teaching Orthodox to what has come down through the ages from the earliest times.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy all-embracing Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Marcion

Marcion was a Gnostic teacher who arose at the end in the late first century. Marcion had been raised and grew up in a Christian family, his father was a Bishop in the town of Sinope in Pontus.

Marcion grew to have a deep disliking for the Jewish people and the "material world" . His version of Christianity was hostile toward the Jewish people and this world. Marcion's dislike of the Jews was linked to his view that the "material world" was evil.

Around 144 AD Marcio traveled to Rome and began to teach his doctrine. After a time, he developed a following of disciples who embraced his teachings. The Church leadership at that time saw that Mrcion's doctrine was not compatible with what was accepted as Christian Orthodoxy.

Jehovah

Marcion saw that the "world" was evil, therefore it could not have been created by a perfect loving God, but rather that the world was either created by and "evil god" or an "ignorant god".

Marcion reasoned that the Father of Jesus being full of love and grace and wanting a "spiritual world" could therefore not be the "God" of the Old Testament, who was Jehovah. Jehovah, in Marcion's mind, created this world and put humanity in it. Jehovah either did this out of ignorance or out of evil.

So, if the "God" of the Jews created this evil world therefore Jehovah being evil is therefore worshiped by evil people, the Jews.

In Marcion's view Jehovah was a cruel and vindictive "God" who wanted to extract punishment as often as possible.

Marcion believed that the Father of Jesus was above Jehovah and out of pity for humanity the Father sent Jesus to set humanity free from Jehovah's control.

Mracion believed however, that Jesus had not really been born. Marcion said that if Jesus would have been born this would have put Jesus under Jehovah's control. Jesus, rather, "appeared" on the earth as a man.

This Jehovah, according to Marcion, chose the People of Israel, the Jews. Whereas the Father of Jesus wanted all people to love him. The Jews in turn wrote the Old Testament Scriptures about their relationship with this "God" Jehovah, Marcion therefore rejected the Old Testament as evil or at best flawed.

Marcion's Scriptures

Marcion having rejected the Hebrew Scriptures made what he considered a list of canonical writings, which were made up of St. Paul's writings and St. Luke's account of the life of Jesus. Mracion also explained that any reference to the, or quotes from the Hebrew Scripture in the Epistles or his accepted writings was due to the conspiratorial editing done by Judaizes.

It is recorded in the histories of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church that Maracion went to the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor around 90 AD to see St. John and attempted to present to him a copy of his Scriptures to which the elderly Apostle labeled him a "child of Satan" and ended their conversation.

Marcion's list of canonical writings, which he favored, also led the Christian Church to begin the dialogue(s) that would lead to the canonical councils which resulted in the confirmation and recognition of the compilation of what we now consider to be the authorized body writings that speak for God to humanity, the Holy Bible. This process was over many years and often was arrived at by mutual consensus.

Prior to the assembling of the "Cannon" when anyone talked about Scripture they meant the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament. The translation which most were familiar with was the Septuagint, that is the "Work of the Seventy Translators". Even the Apostles quoted from the Septuagint, reflecting it's wide uses in the even some synagogues.

Marcion's church was far from being a small isolated group with its own esoteric doctrine that lingered on the fringe of the Church. Mracion's movement grew to considerable size and established its own hierarchic with Bishops overseeing congregation in many places.

Marcion's church had some influence with some people even in the Church. There are early Christian traditions that the aged Apostle St. John confronted Marcion himself, and that the three Johnaine epistles were written to address Marcion's doctrine which some Christians may have embraced.

Montanus

Marcion was not the only un-orthodox teacher who arose during the early years of the Christian Church. There was Montanus. Montanus had been a pagan priest who had come in contact with Christian teaching and became converted in 155 AD .

Montanus after his conversion claimed that the Holy Spirit entered him and gave him prophecies. Along with Montanus there were two woman who joined him, they were Priscilla and Maximilla, they too claimed to receive prophecies and revelations from God.

Some, began to follow and believe Montanism which declared that with his ministry came the inauguration of a "new age". This" new age" which had arrived would introduce a greater "spiritual and moral piety" to those who followed Montanus.

Montanus began to influence some in Church, even Tertullian, who fought to combat heresy in the Church, would become a Montanist. It may have been the high moral standard that appealed to Tertullian.

Tertullian eventual, found that the high promises of Montanism were unworkable and of left the Montanus movement disappointed and founded a group and started a work of his own.

The Church as a whole resisted Montanus' preaching, as he claimed that he regarded himself as the bringer of the "new age" and that they, and all who came before him, were invalided. In essences he was declaring his ministry as the "One True Church" .

Marcion's, Montanus' and others challenge to the Christian Church had the effect of causality, that is the Church had to determine what it believed and created a statement to give affirmation of that belief, as well, this challenge sparked the discussion that led to the canonization of the Holy Bible.

To Be Continued....

Benediction: May we each and all ever praise our God who has preserved the truth down thru the ages by which we are saved all thru our Lord Jesus Christ, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.