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Most people from the distant history of Christianity did not have bibles to read or they could not read , or their were laws which deny people access to bible as the clergy had power over the church and common people were pushed away from knowing God and reading the bible ..... Like the Catholic closed the bible for most people , and even King Henry the Eight passed laws who denied people access to the bible ......So by this apostasy would always be there, as even today people have access to the scriptures but many deny the Holy Spirit ,or do not get born again and miss having profound experience with God , , and then there are believers who spend their time talking to familiar demonic spirit thinking that this is God , where they never get cleansed of demonic spirits or believe in them ...... See finding the truth can have many obstacles , but obeying Jesus and His Words can be faster for believers
Why do some Christians not know about the history of Christianity, or dismiss it as centuries of apostasy that was only reversed when their particular denomination began?
Why? for the most part because of being influence by their fake 'weed/tares' clergy class which started to develop after the first century ended - Acts 20:29-30 - when clerical 'wolves' dressed in sheep's clothing started fleecing the flock of God.
They would cause the flock to be spiritually drowsy, or spiritually asleep as in spiritual darkness.
Do you recall Jesus' illustration at Luke 19:11-26 where Jesus taught that he ( as the noblemen ) would journey first to a far country ( heaven ) before he would long later return to see what people would be doing with their ( spiritual ) money.
The apostate people would Not be doing the Lord's work as Jesus said to do at Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:18, but would be squandering their talents.- Matthew 28:18-20
Yes, 'Christianity' as we know it -> aka Christendom ( so-called Christian but mostly in name only )
The '66' books of Bible canon were established by the end of the first century.
The apocryphal books simply exclude themselves because they are out of harmony with the '66'.
The ancient manuscripts support Bible canon.
The ' 66' have corresponding, or parallel, cross-reference verses or passages harmonizing among the writers.
Christendom's history started after 1st-century Christianity ended - Acts 20:29-30
Wolf-like clergy dressed in sheep's clothing starting fleecing the flock of God.
Fake ' weed/tares' Christians grew together over the centuries with the genuine ' wheat ' Christians.
Growing together until the ' harvest time ', or til the soon coming ' time of separation ' of Matthew 25:31-33,37
Where is your proof that "real" Christianity was replaced by Christendom? Didn't Jesus say the jaws of death would not prev ail against his church? It was Martin Luther who excluded certain books from the Protestant Bible.
Where is your proof that "real" Christianity was replaced by Christendom? Didn't Jesus say the jaws of death would not prev ail against his church? It was Martin Luther who excluded certain books from the Protestant Bible.
Which books did Martin Luther exclude ?
True, there would always be genuine ' wheat ' Christians, but as Jesus' forewarned that fake ' weed/tares ' Christians would grow together with the genuine ' wheat ' Christians until the Harvest Time. A harvest comes at the end of a growing season. So. the fake ' weed/tares ' would be in existence until the soon coming ' time of separation ' of Matthew 25:31-33,37 when Jesus, as shepherd, will separate the genuine ' wheat ' and humble 'sheep ', from the fake ' weed/tares ' haughty ' goats'.
Gospel writer Luke wrote forewarning that an apostasy would soon begin at Acts of the Apostles 20:29-30
How many Christians ask Him for wisdom and ask the Holy Ghost to teach them and not man, and then wait upon Him until He begins to? And by wait, I mean not taking other men's opinions, nor reading any other books other than the Word and trusting Him to reveal it in due season. True agreement can come only through His Spirit, for the Spirit is not divided and He can teach the same principles in myriads of different scriptures, thereby being a witness to someone who has been taught THE SAME PRINCIPLE, even if through different scriptures, for out of two or three witnesses is every word confirmed.
And then, how many use the pattern referred to us in Hebrews 9, the tabernacle of Moses, to compare natural things with spiritual things?
There are your answers to why so many sincere people come to different conclusions. Unless wisdom builds the house they labor in vain, and wisdom comes from above, like every other good and perfect gift. Peace
which sadly can be the result of NOT paying attention to history or ONLY looking at the stuff that agrees with our pre-conceptions and possible prejudices Catholic or Protestant, Christian or non-Christian.
the Church had no reason to "outlaw" bible reading in an age where books of any sort were expensive and rare and most people were illiterate and in fact by preserving old copies and producing many new hand-written copies of the bible in the days before printing AND starting up schools and universities it could be said to have been in most cases a positive force for both more bibles and more bible reading!!!
in point of fact and just like the very first Christians, the poor and illiterate could HEAR the Gospel read and preached to them every time they went to church in the form of the gospel, epistle, and psalm readings that were/are a part of every Mass. special orders of "preaching" monks like the Dominicans (aka "blackfriars" because of their robes) were established to do this very thing in those areas where the clergy and laity needed more exposure to the word of God.
interestingly enough even after the Reformation, a large percentage of the population in both Catholic and Protestant countries was STILL illiterate and continued to receive their instructions in the Christian faith through the preaching of Catholic priests or Protestant ministers using their respective versions of the Bible.
If that is the case, then why did Christ flout Old Testament teachings? For example, in the Old Testament law for adulterous women was stoning. Yet when confronted with an adulterous woman, Christ finessed matters so that the law wasn't carried out.
Do you know why he did not judge her? If you knew old testament law you would know.
Where is your proof that "real" Christianity was replaced by Christendom? Didn't Jesus say the jaws of death would not prev ail against his church? It was Martin Luther who excluded certain books from the Protestant Bible.
Actually the word is not "Church" as in an organization. It uses the word ekklesia which means the people who worship together. There have always been people trying to live a Godly life, they are just buried in the weeds. The "Church(s)" were controlled by the weeds/tares and actively stopped people from learning anything other than what the "Church" told them. This is history and scripture.
Actually the word is not "Church" as in an organization. It uses the word ekklesia which means the people who worship together. There have always been people trying to live a Godly life, they are just buried in the weeds. The "Church(s)" were controlled by the weeds/tares and actively stopped people from learning anything other than what the "Church" told them. This is history and scripture.
don't think the "ekklesia" is simply just "the people who worship together" but instead people who worship together because they SHARE and confess "one faith, one Lord, on baptism, one Father...." which would seem to pretty much equal what we call a "church" with doctrines. as with any gathering or church there ends up with some kind of organization with positions of authority AND service like "elders"(presbyters---which is the root word for "priest" I do believe) and "deacons" (like St. Steven the first martyr) selected by the original apostles by "laying on of hands" as done with Matthias who replaced Judas in Acts 1: 21-26.
please give a link or reference to any recent NON-PARTISAN history book or site even Wikipedia supporting you assertions that is NOT affiliated with some group that has a vested interest in "proving" that the Catholic (and by extension the Orthodox) is the great force of evil in human history and the "dark side" adversary of all that is good and true.
in the peace of Christ.
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