The Invention of Religion (2)
But I confess this to you, that in accordance with the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets; Acts 24:14 NASB
The Way – After these recent studies about the development of heresy as a tool for separating Jews and Messianic believers, I would like to offer these lectures to you for free today.
They were given many years ago, so you might find some things that need to be updated, but I hope you will discover (if you haven’t already heard them) just how the Christian religion came into being.
Have fun!
The Formation of the Christian Church CLICK HERE
Topical Index: formation of the Church
Skip, thank you for your generosity! We look forward to hearing this!
Skip, does this “process” (as described in the referenced lectures) then mean: 1) that the “body of Christ” was formed by natural/ordinary means; 2) that “the light” of which John speaks in his gospel (and the epistles attributed to him) derives from natural/ordinary means; 3) or, are we to conclude that in fact the church itself is merely another form of man’s own vain imaginings?
If none of the above, then what is the nature of “the light” of which John speaks, and also the Apostle Paul: “Therefore do not be sharers with them (the sons of disobedience), for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live like children of light… all things exposed by the light are made visible, for everything made visible is light.” (Cf. Ephesians 5:7-8; 13, 14)
And finally, by “Have fun!” did you intend for us to be amused, or perhaps simply to enjoy exercising some critical consideration of that presented? It seems that what you suggest in Today’s Word (above) is that heresy was merely a tool used by “the church” to separate Jews and Messianic believers, and while it is true that this “tool” was used in such a diabolic endeavor, is there then no actual/legitimate heresy? If so, what is the nature of actual heresy… how does one identify such actual heresy, and what should be the response of the person of faith in the faithfulness of YHVH to such heresy? Thanks, Skip!
Yes, heresy was a tool used by early church fathers, particularly Justin, to justify separation from the Jews, and the rabbis adopted the same process on their side of the fence. So, RELIGION is man-made. You first three questions can be answered by noting that Paul and John were never Christians. They have a Jewish orientation to this problem. We’ll tackle this some more later.
What is the ultimate paradigm… is is there any such paradigm… against which one may come to an accurate understanding of the truth of the God of Scripture?
The very definition of paradigm denies the idea of an “ultimate” one. But that doesn’t mean that some work better than others, and that history supports some rather than others, etc.
Thank you Skip. I’m sure I’ll have some questions 🙂