Chapter 7
The Logic/Illogic of it all.
Denying history and the only Christian Faith of the
1 st millennium
Do you consider yourself a Bible Believing Christian? (BBC) Do you embrace what the Holy Bible says, no matter how much of a “hard saying” it is? (E.g., John 6:60) All Christians should desire to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's early Church, no matter where it leads them and no matter what it costs them. Do you feel this way? Below is a logical and biblical Case for the Catholic Faith, the only Christian faith for the first 1000+ years of Christianity. The Holy Bible tells us that there is but ONE Faith. "There is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God." (Eph 4:5-6) A BBC believes what the Holy Bible tells us and concurs that there really is but ONE faith, not 1000s. (Look up "church" in your yellow pages for an illustration). The Holy Bible tells us that the Church Christ himself founded would never succumb to the "Gates of Hell." For Christ said:
"And I say that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it, I give you the keys to kingdom of Heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and what ever you loosen on earth will be loosened in Heaven." Matt 16:16-19.
Either the "Gates of Hell" overcame Christ's Church in the first millennium or they didn't. A BBC believes they didn't. Before Our Lord ascended into Heaven He promised to be with His Church until the "end of the world." Since the Apostles would not live until the end of the world, this promise was for the Church He commissioned:
"Teach them to observe all I have taught you and behold I am with you always until the end of the world" Matt 28:20.
Either Christ is with His Church until the end of the World or He is not. A BBC believes He is with, (until the "end of the world") the Church the Holy Bible calls:
"The church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" 1 Tim 3:15 .
In the first millennium there were no denominations. There was One Church, One universal faith. The Church of Corinth did not differ in beliefs from the Church of Ephesus or the Church of Rome. It was truly a Universal Faith and there existed but One Christian faith for the next 1000+ years. Either this Church is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and foundation of truth, or it isn't. A BBC believes it is for there WAS no other faith. Just as the Holy Spirit guides the Bible from error, the same Spirit guides His Church from error (in matters of faith or morals). Christ said he would send the "the spirit of truth to guide you into all the truth" (John 16:13) and as Christ told his disciples: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Luke 10:16).
What was the Christian Faith called in the early Church? The Holy Bible tells us the people were called "Christians" and these Christians tell their Faith was called the "Universal" Faith or the "Catholic" Faith, which in Greek means universal (Katholikos). It was called the Catholic or Katholikos Church in Greek. As early a 110 AD, in the same city where the term "Christian" was coined (Antioch), we find written example of it being called the "Universal" or "Catholic" Church by one of St. John's students.
"Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church"
(by Ignatius of Antioch, Second Bishop of Antioch and disciple of John the Apostle, Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2 [A.D. 110]).
On the other hand, the Protestant communities, (comprises 1000s of conflicting and ever evolving faiths) did not exist until the 16th century when Martin Luther broke from the Universal Church. Before this time there were no Protestant churches or any Protestant ideas. The Apostles did not teach distinctive Protestant ideas in any form for they were not invented yet. Please test this fact of history for yourself.
The laws of deductive logic tell us:
If the premises of a valid argument are true, then its conclusion must also be true.
and
It is impossible for the conclusion of a valid argument to be false while its premises are true.
A. All boys are human.
B. Billy is a boy.
C. Therefore Billy is human.
The premises in this case are true, therefore Billy is human. (For a crash course in deductive logic and the laws thereof visit: http://www.philosophypages.com/lg/e01.htm
And likewise:
If the premises of a valid argument are true, then its conclusion must also be true.
and
It is impossible for the conclusion of a valid argument to be false while its premises are true.
A. In the first millennium, there was but one Christian Faith.
B. The apostles lived in the first millennium.
C. Therefore the faith of the first millennium, was the faith of the apostles
(and therefore that of the Holy Bible).
The Faith of the 1st millennium was the Catholic or Universal Faith (Catholic or Katholikos in Greek) Faith. All Bible Believing Christians should "Test” premise A as the Holy Bible commands:
“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
Test premise A. If one cannot find any of the Protestant theologies predating the renaissance era, nor even the 10th century, why would one erroneously assume the Apostles taught these ideas in the 1st century? No Protestant idea was taught in the first 1000+ years of Christianity. No Protestant idea was taught before the renaissance era. For the invention of Protestantism and the Protestant belief system was born in the middle if not the latter half of the second millennium. 1000+ years after the Apostles wrote the Holy Bible. One cannot find a single Christian who taught Protestant ideas or embraced the Protestant belief system in any shape or form. Please test this the following logic as the Holy Bible commands.
If the premises of a valid argument are true, then its conclusion must also be true.
and
It is impossible for the conclusion of a valid argument to be false while its premises are true.
A. Distinctive Protestant beliefs do not predate the renaissance era.
B. The teachings of the Apostles predate the renaissance era by 1000+ years.
C Therefore logic and historical timelines tell us, that the Apostles taught no distinctive Protestant beliefs.
(And subsequently written into the NT Bible).
The fact of the matter, is that in the case of modern Protestantism, or the Baptist or nondenominational churches (which enjoy more or less the same theology), their distinctive ideas were not even embraced by their own first Protestants, much less the Apostles.
(Click here: Three questions your pastor will not answer concerning his theology. http://www.angelfire.com/home/protestantchallenges/formypastor.html)
Again, please "test" premise A. Reject what logic tells you is impossible for the Apostles to have taught. It is of utmost importance to reconcile this logical truth. If we ignore this argument or rationalize it without disproving premise A, we are free to believe anything and everything under the Sun, and it really doesn't matter if the Apostles taught it or not. We are free to call "anything" Biblical, just as the Mormons and the JW's do.
This is all predicated on one wanting to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's early Church, no matter where it leads him and no matter what it costs him. If this is not your desire, all bets are off and you are free to believe anything and everything whether the Apostles taught it or not. But if this is not the case, then test premise A and find just one Christian in the first millennium who taught outside of the Faith of the Catholic/Universal Church. If you find not a single Christian soul, then accept premise A and conclusion C.
C. Therefore logic and historical timelines tell us, that the Apostles taught no distinctive Protestant beliefs.
Logic tells us that this faith, the faith of the Catholic/Universal Church was the faith of the Apostles for there was no other faith. And the same logic tells us that the Apostles taught no distinctive Protestant ideas for not one predates the renaissance era.
The crux of this revelation is what one will do with this knowledge. It all depends on why one attends church in the first place.
All Christians should desire to believe as the Apostles taught Christ's early Church, no matter where it leads them and no matter what it costs them.
Do you feel this way? For that is what Our Lord demands of us.
``If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.'' (Matt. 16:24).
"and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." (Matt 10:38).
Is this what you desire? As it is often stated: "Catholic theology comprises the verses not yet underlined in your personal Bible." It's a big book and one cannot take a single verse and make an entire theology/religion out of it. One must always look at what ELSE Christ taught or what ELSE the Apostle Paul taught. Context is the key. The Holy Scriptures must be read and interpreted in the same spirit in which they were written. Do you agree with this?
The following contains many verses from the Holy Scriptures not used at your church that might change your view of what the Apostles actually taught. Below are 3 powerful Biblical reasons why you should reject the theology of your current church. Please don't take this letter as an attack on your church but instead a letter in accordance with the Holy Scriptures which state:
“Now I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all say the same thing, and that there be no dissension among you, but that you be perfectly united in one mind and in one judgment.” (1 Cor 1:10)
It is God's intent that Christians be "united in one mind and judgment" on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you reject Christ's historical Church, (the only Christian Faith that dates back to 33AD), if you reject this Church as the "Pillar and Foundation of Truth" (1 Tim 3:15), what Biblical command or what Biblical basis are you using to justify this? Or is this rejection Unbiblical, and you are simply embracing a "tradition of man" from the Renaissance era. The Renaissance era philosopher chose to reject Christ's Church to justify his new theology (ies). The unbiblical theology being that the Bible is the SOLE or ONLY infallible rule of faith all by itself, and the Authority that Christ gave his Church as illustrated in the Holy Bible itself does not exist! I.e., the Renaissance era doctrine of "Sola Scriptura" or the "Bible Alone." This idea frees the Protestant to believe *anything he wants* about the Gospel of Christ for there is no one to stop him, hence the 1000s and 1000s of Protestant denominations and NON-denominations present today. Look up the word "church" in your yellow pages for an illustration. Search the Holy Bible, and find just One verse that teaches the “Sola” or the “Bible ONLY” idea, which mandates a rejection of the authority of Christ's Church. A rejection of the one "Bride of Christ." Click here: Is Sola Scriptura or the "Bible Only theory" even Biblical? Where does the Bible teach the "SOLA" in Sola Scriptura? In 1000 AD there was ONE Belief system for all of Christianity, one Christian Church, just as there was in 500 AD and 100 AD and in 33 AD., One Faith, the Universal (Catholic in Greek) Church. The Church Christ started in Matt 16:16-19. Christ's Church, the one "Bride of Christ."
St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch and direct student of St. John the Apostles wrote in 110 AD.
"Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church" (Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2 [A.D. 110]).
For more quotes on what "Catholic" means and how the Church was called Catholic since the 1st century
From: What "Catholic" Means appendix b http://www.catholic.com/library/What_Catholic_Means.asp
What else is there, what else has Christ's Infallibly Authority? The Holy Bible tells us that before the NT Bible was even written, there was: "The church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" 1 Tim 3:15.
Christ's Church AND the Bible is the Authority you seek, just as the Holy Bible tells us over and over. For this Church is the institution that actually wrote and preserved the Bible. You may have been taught the opposite for many years, but just because one has believed something for years on end, doesn't mean it's true. I hope you agree. It's what the Bible tells us and what Christianity has taught for 2000 years.
"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us." 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Jesus Christ does not change and neither does his Gospel. That is the reason for his ONE Church, to spread his ONE Gospel. Yet, instead of embracing the teachings of the Apostles as written in the Holy Bible and even embraced by his own Protestant reformers, the modern Protestant will cling to the Unbiblical and Anti-Biblical idea of "many faiths" or the "body of believers" and justify his present church's theology as somehow echoing the true teachings of the Apostles. When the fact is, many of his pastor's “strange teachings” Hebrews 13:8-9 were not even embraced by his own first Protestants in the 16th century. This is the quintessential example of non-Catholics believing what their pastor tells them is "just the Bible" rather than believing what the Apostles taught to include the whole of orthodox Christianity to include the first Protestant reformers. Only when Bible Believing Protestants accept the Bible's example and the teachings of Christ's Church and embrace the Authority he bestowed on it, -- only then will Protestants reject the illogical, unhistorical, unbiblical and even anti-biblical idea of "Bible Alone" and a rejection of Christ's Church for their complete knowledge of Christ's Gospel. Only then will they embrace:
The church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" 1 Tim 3:15
Only then will they come to the fullness of Christ's Gospel. Christ does not change, so how did his Gospel change for your pastor, or the pastor down the street teaching yet another gospel or the pastor across the street from him?
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings." Hebrews 13:8-9