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SeedSowers and Gene Edwards want to trick you into ignoring what the Holy Apostles have taught in the New Testament. But the apostle John, the beloved best friend of the Lord on earth, warned us, “We [i.e., John and the other eleven apostles] are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us.” (1 John 4:6). And in another place, John warns that those who do not abide by the teachings of the apostles are, in essence, antichrists (1 John 2:18-19). He says:
They [the antichrists] went out from us [the Twelve apostles], but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. – 1 John 2:19
Gene Edwards and SeedSowers want you to believe that the mind of God has been almost completely lost to men for the last 1800 years. They want you to believe that, until the glorious advent of Gene Edwards upon the American evangelical scene -- as the only apostle of our day of the stature of the apostle Paul -- God has been unable to make His Word known to the followers of Christ. More than anything, Gene Edwards wants you to believe that apostles of the stature of Paul are absolutely indispensable to authentic church life, and that there are precious few such men in the world today and he is one of them. He wants you to believe that he is a man who can speak with the same infallible authority as Paul and the Twelve. And SeedSowers wants you to believe that it is the only “radical” or “alternative” Christian publishing company – the only Christian publishing company, really – who can provide you with reliable literature to help you live a “deeper” Christian life, and find a true “first century” church.
Another reason Gene Edwards and SeedSowers do not understand the New Testament is, in part, due to the fact that they do not believe the New Testament. If Gene Edwards believed the New Testament, he would not feel a need to write a deconstructed version of it, or to attempt to foist his bastardized “New Testament” on others. If SeedSowers believed the New Testament, they would not publish Gene Edwards’ perverted revisions of it, either.
Paul’s letters are not in the order he wrote them. The first letter Paul wrote was Galatians. His second letter was not written until a year later. What happened during that year? (Even Bible scholars do not know.) Then came I & II Thesalonians [sic]. Five years passed before Paul wrote another letter. What happened during those five years? (Bible scholars have no idea.) Discover the answer and you will get a whole new New Testament.This drivel would be laughable if it were not for the fact that it actually does ensnare many dear brethren, especially in the house churches. This, then, is what “the story” is to Gene Edwards and SeedSowers. It is not the Second Person of the Trinity becoming incarnate, His ministry as a man, His death and resurrection, and His return in Glory to rule over the nations. It is Paul – what he did and wrote, including stuff not recorded anywhere in the Scriptures. Specifically, it is what Gene Edwards imagines and insists is the story of Paul, based upon his private opinions of first century archeology, historic evidence, and what the meaning of Scripture is.Without knowing the story you can never really know and understand the first century, the New Testament or the church! The church… as she ought to be.
For the first time… ever… here is the entire story, from Pentecost to Patmos. Read The First-Century Diaries and receive a whole new revolutionary understanding of the Scripture.
To understand the importance of knowing “the story” consider our American history. How much would you understand if your history book started chapter one with the Viet Nam [sic] War, then chapter two was on World War I and chapter three was on the Civil War? With the story of America in that chaotic order, plus no explanation about what happened between those wars, you would be one confused American!
The fact is, no one can know what Paul was doing during those periods of silence between his letters. We might surmise some general notions, such as that he was teaching and evangelizing, but even Bible scholars know that much. One thing is certain: If Bible scholars have no idea, then neither does Gene Edwards. If he does, he needs to provide verifiable proof that what he says happened is true; but Edwards rarely provides documentation for the things he writes. No New Testament scholar has ever given a thumbs up to any of Gene Edwards’ books, nor has any reputable church historian or Bible lands archeologist.
Even the chronological order for Paul’s letters that Edwards insists upon as the true order in which they were written is disputed among scholars. Indeed, I know of no reputable scholar who agrees precisely with Edwards’ chronology of Paul’s epistles. As the letters were not dated, and as the originals have long since been lost to us, it is impossible to identify with absolute certainty the precise chronology of Paul’s epistles (although internal New Testament evidence and some external post-apostolic witnesses can suggest possible, or perhaps probable chronologies).
Later on, these memos may even be collected into a book containing the philosophy and mission statement of the CEO, as well as rules and principles of operations; a kind of employee handbook. Some of these memos might easily be entered into the collection in an entirely different place within it than they would if a strictly chronological order were followed. If any of this happens, few will be very interested in how the philosophy and guidelines were developed or what the chronological order of the various chapters actually should be. Nor will anyone ever object that the company handbook cannot be understood apart from such information.
Now, either Scripture is profitable “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17) or Paul is mistaken and we must insist that Scripture plus something else is profitable for this purpose. But the only other things that is necessary is what every man reading or hearing that passage already has and something that not even Gene Edwards cannot give them: 1. An ability to understand words and sentences; 2. The illumination of the Holy Spirit.
By the way: It is not at all uncommon that an author would intentionally write middle chapters of a book (even in writing a novel) before the first chapter, and perhaps, even, write the last chapter before the first! Just read any good book on the subject of how to write a book, and you will quickly discover that this is not only done, it is also sometimes advised. Also, when an author writes a book one chapter at a time, beginning with the first chapter and completing each succeeding chapter only after he has finished the one that preceded it, he may be surprised to find that his publisher moves one or more chapters to entirely different positions than he intended. This probably does not change one iota what the author intended to say, only the way in which he thought it best to arrange the presentation of his message.
But sometimes an author will write a complete work, whether a novel or non-fiction, each chapter being written in succession of the intended previous chapter; but, after having written it all just as he had intended, he himself realizes that certain chapters would be better suited to be placed in entirely different positions than those in which they were written. Indeed, because an author often has a better idea of what conclusions he wants his audience to come to, he will sometimes begin his writing of a book with the final chapter, writing each previous chapter in succession, until he arrives at what he feels is a good chapter to choose as the start of his book. Normally the introductory materials of a book (e.g., dedication, preface, forward, introduction) are written after everything else in the book has been completed.
At the Tacoma conference, in 1998, Gene Edwards said that it was the German Reformer, Martin Luther, who gave us our New Testaments in its present “chaotic” order, back in the 16th century. This is complete rubbish. The fact is, the New Testament has been known in its present order (certainly the letters of Paul have been) since at least A.D. 367! Athenasius himself lists Paul’s epistles, at this date, precisely as we find them in our New Testaments. I believe this is the oldest complete list of the New Testament Canon extant. Thus Paul’s letters, in their current order, seem to have been permitted by our omniscient God for far longer than Gene Edwards has imagined. To this date, there are no scholarly translations of the Bible that have departed from this order.
Edwards, America’s most beloved Christian storyteller, has spent a life-time of research and travel in order to write these diaries.Hmm. And here I thought America’s most beloved storyteller was from the other side of the Pond. Surely C.S. Lewis’ allegorical books, The Screwtape Letters and The Narnia Chronicles, among others, have earned him that title. Even if Lewis were not, it is clear that, at the time of this writing (and the time of SeedSowers’ advertisement) that Tim LaHaye is America’s most popular Christian storyteller, and thus very likely the country’s most beloved Christian storyteller. Ten years ago it was Frank Perretti. In sheer quantity of novels sold, Janet Oke may exceed them both and Gene Edwards put together. And though his theology is incredibly screwy, what about George MacDonald? Surely he exceeds Gene Edwards as one of America’s most beloved storytellers. I hope that Edwards and SeedSowers don’t think that, just because they are unrelenting in pushing Gene Edwards’ novels many years after he has written them, and that just because people continue to by them (a few hundred of each novel a year), that this makes him America’s favorite Christian storyteller. Most Christians have no idea who Gene Edwards is, even.
Regardless, it is always puzzling to me, how a supposed teacher of the truth of God would receive such accolades – even if they had any semblance of truth to them. It is especially disconcerting that someone who professes to be “beyond radical” would accept such honors; a man who thinks of himself as Christian publishing’s “alternative” author. I mean, I sort of understand the carnal appetite that would allow Christian authors to allow people to call them “Doctor” and “Reverend,” and to accept accolades for their leadership in some church or seminary or other Christian institution, but one sort of expects someone who is supposedly radical to be… well… RADICAL!
Here it is, folks. Jesus spoke very condemningly of the Pharisees for receiving honor from men, and contrasted Himself with them as one who did not receive honor from men (John 5:41 & 44). Now, even though he has clearly departed from the teachings of Christ and the apostles, I’m not saying Gene Edwards is a Pharisee; so don’t get me wrong. Let me make it as clear as possible: Gene Edwards is NOT a Pharisee. He’s a man who speaks against the Scriptures, and who has proven that he was never one with the Twelve -- even in spirit -- but he is not a Pharisee.
Here is the most accurate account of the first century ever chronicled. Powerful, dramatic, spellbinding, it is an edge-of-your-seat story from beginning to end. You have never read anything like The First Century Diaries. No one ever has! The author of The First Century Diaries has taken the term “historical novel” to its highest level. These books are jam-packed with adventure, intrigue and action and [sic] it is all based on first-century archeology, historic evidence, and Scripture.Wow, that’s quite a bit of braggadocio! I’m sure it sells books, but the disappointment literate readers certainly experience must surely make Gene Edwards America’s most annoying Christian storyteller. Anyone who has ever read Ben Hurr will realize that SeedSowers has overstated the quality of Gene Edwards’ novels. For SeedSowers is either being dishonest in order to boost its sales, or they have no idea what the highest level of a historical novel really is; but when you compare the quality of Gene Edwards’ novels with, say, someone like Janet Oke, you realize that Gene Edwards’ capabilities as a novelist are actually quite parochial. And I kind of doubt that Janet Oke’s historical novels are at the highest level, even. Read the historical novels of Alexander Dumas (e.g., The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask) and you will see truly powerful, dramatic, and spellbinding stories that are edge-of-your-seat from beginning to end. Or read All the President’s Men, even. Read even one of these books, and then read any of Gene Edwards’ novels in The First Century Diaries, and you will see that SeedSowers has grossly overstated itself, here.
“The most accurate account of the first century ever chronicled”? Again, no church historian – no historian of the first century – would ever agree with that boast! For one thing, by its very nature, a historical novel (because it is essentially fiction) cannot be as accurate an account of the time period in which its story transpires as, say, a history book on the same time period. For another thing, these are not historical accounts of the first century; they are novels that are set in the first century; they are fictionalized accounts of individuals and events that took place in the first century, at best. Where did Gene Edwards get his information, anyway? Did he find his information engraved on golden tablets he discovered buried in the woods, somewhere?
Again, SeedSowers is simply attempting to draw your attention away from that which should be your concern (viz., What do the Scriptures say?) to something that is simply doesn’t matter all that much (viz., what were the first century churches really like). You see, it is Gene Edwards’ hope to establish first century churches, not churches after the New Testament model; but he wants you to think that the two are synonymous when it isn’t necessarily so (Diotriphes was first century, but he was not the New Testament model). When you realize that Gene Edwards is preeminent in all the churches he establishes – even though he is rarely present in most of them – you might begin to understand why he prefers to promote first century style churches rather than churches after the tradition of the apostles (1 Cor. 11:2; 2 Thess 2:13-15). Remember, one who opposes the Twelve apostles opposes Christ Himself (Luke 10:16; John 13:20 & 15:20).
Of course, I’ve yet to meet a Gene Edwards fan who would claim to completely believe everything that Gene Edwards teaches or says. But, to a tee, they all will jump on anyone, such as myself, who has the courage to point out Gene Edwards’ theological faults. When asked, Gene Edwards’ disciples and fans are never able to come up with anything that Gene Edwards says that they disagree with, either. It’s as if they know they should not give wholesale allegiance to Gene Edwards’ teachings, but cannot bring themselves to do otherwise.
“The author of The First Century Diaries has taken the term ‘historical novel’ to its highest level.” Perhaps the closest thing to the truth in this entire advertisement is: 1. The acknowledgement that Gene Edwards, a 20th century man, is the actual author of The First Century Diaries, not Silas, Titus, Timothy, Pricilla, or Gaius. 2. That The First Century Diaries aren’t really diaries at all, but novels! The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says that a novel is “an invented prose narrative…” In other words, fiction. In other words, a novel is a story that is not true, but which is not necessarily (although it may be) intended to deceive one about the truth.
The description, “based on . . . historic evidence, and Scripture” indicates that The First Century Diaries are neither history nor Scripture. A story based on actual events is not a narrative of the actual events, but is simply based on them. In other words, a story that is based on actual events takes actual events as its starting point, or as its staging area, so to speak, but does not necessarily seek to be faithful to every relevant aspect of those actual events. When an author writes a novel based on actual events (as one might in the case of a novel about Bible people), he takes evidences regarding the actual events and makes decisions about what aspects of that evidence he feels are relevant to the story he wants to tell. What is relevant to the novelist’s story is not necessarily what is relevant to the actual events, but what will help the author bring his readers to the mental and/or philosophical destination the he has chosen for them.
An author may base every last word he writes on actual evidence regarding a story, but leave his readers believing a lie. News Journalism shows have been exposed as having done just this. How many times has some 60 minute long television program, purporting to bring you actual facts, led you to a conclusion that some other 60 minute long show later exposed to be a false conclusion. Oh, the conclusion may have been true to the evidence presented; but, as the second show subsequently demonstrated, you had not been presented with all of the relevant evidence in the matter. Thus your conclusions, though faithful to the facts at hand, were completely spurious.
Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue...However, Gene Edwards and SeedSowers seem to be suggesting that in the New Testament we do not have all the data we need to understand what God inspired the apostle Paul to write. In fact, they seem to be indicating that, until The First Century Diaries [novels] the church has not had “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” anywhere! They don’t seem to believe that the church of the saints has always had “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” At the same time, SeedSowers seems to be suggesting that in reading Gene Edwards’ First Century novels you will finally have sufficient data to understand what Paul meant -- that is, that you will finally have all things that pertain unto life and godliness that the church has lacked for 1800 years -- yet without an accurate record of the actual words the apostle Paul wrote.-- 2 Peter 1:2-3
The First Century Diaries [novels, remember] lead you through the events of the early church as they happened… in chronological order. Never before has anyone written the full story of the early church!So, you see, Gene Edwards evidently does have a destination at which he hopes you will arrive in reading his novels, for SeedSowers says his invented prose will “lead you.” If these novels will lead you, they must, therefore, lead you to a destination of some sort. Will they lead you to the kind of church experience and out-living of the life of Christ that Paul envisioned? Probably not. If that’s where it would lead, then SeedSowers’ boast, “Never before has anyone written the full story,” would be bereft of meaning, since hundreds of excellent books have been written on Paul’s letters and missionary journeys; since, indeed, the true story – the relevant portions of the true story – are contained in the New Testament.Why is that important to you?
Because now you can gain an accurate, life-changing view of the church and the out living [sic] of the Christian life.
Will the view you obtain of the New Testament in reading these novels be accurate? How accurate were the views you gained of current events from those 60 minute long news journalism stories that you believed until additional evidence came along to change your mind about them? Hmm? And SeedSowers isn’t selling Journalistic Exposes, here; they’re novels! How accurate is a novel? If it isn’t a presentation of all of the relevant data regarding the actual events, then it is only based on the actual events. If it is only based on the actual events, then it is not the actual events themselves. If it is not the actual events, then it is not accurate.
Many a saint has read Watchtower and Awake, and have had their lives dramatically changed by so doing. Is that a good thing? Clearly not. Am I wrong for comparing Gene Edwards to the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses, or SeedSowers to the Watchtower Publication Society? I suppose, in a society where few saints any longer are willing to die for the truth, no matter what the truth is, it is an awful sin to suggest that the lies of someone generally accepted within the realm of the Christian faith are not significantly different than the lies of those who are clearly outside the realm of the Christian faith. But the fact is, Gene Edwards and SeedSowers are out to keep you from submitting to the lordship of Christ as revealed in the New Testament. Their desire is to make you believe that true submission to Christ means submission to Gene Edwards, while, at the same time, convincing you that Gene Edwards doesn’t rule over anyone, and, certainly, does not rule over the assemblies of his house church denomination.
Dear Christian, reading The First Century Diaries [which are invented prose written by 20th century author, Gene Edwards] is an easy and yet revolutionary way to gain utterly new insights into your New Testament.I’ll say it is! Gaining insights into your New Testament by reading the invented prose of a carnal novelist! The only thing more revolutionary would be to gain insights into the New Testament by reading the novels of Truman Capote. Wow! What a concept. Gaining insight into the truth by reading fiction. Gaining insight into actual events by reading prose based on those same actual events and other actual events that the Holy Spirit didn’t think to include in the original documents of the New Testament. Cool. Not!
As you read, let yourself be immersed into first-century culture and life, meanwhile understanding the entire context in which Paul wrote each and every letter.Not just each letter, not just every letter, but each and every letter. Wow, what a concept. Okay, facetiousness aside, you can’t immerse yourself into first-century culture and life by reading a novel; you can only do it by experiencing it. Everything else is a mind game, and, in reading Gene Edwards’ novels, you will only be able to immerse yourself into Gene Edwards’ opinions about first century life. Now some of those opinions may be very close to the reality of the first century milieu, others, perhaps most, will be grossly distorted. Remember, these are novels, and Edwards isn’t obliged to prove anything he says. He doesn’t even have to prove the words he places in the apostle Paul’s mouth. When SeedSowers asks you to “let yourself be immersed into first-century culture and life,” what they are asking you to do is to give your mind over to the spell Gene Edwards has cast; they want you to allow yourself to be seduced by the magic dust of his questionable data and opinions concerning first century life, much of which is completely irrelevant to knowing Christ or to experiencing the kind of assembly life the Lord would have for his people. Gene Edwards wants to drown you with meaningless information about sandals, togas, bug-infested sleeping quarters, imagined conversations, and house churches supposedly bereft of even a modicum of literacy. He wants you to become confident of the existence of Blastinious Rockdrokmar, a fictitious man whom the New Testament never mentions!
We guarantee that after reading The First Century Diaries, your New Testament will not be the same. Paul’s letters will make sense when they are read with a new awareness of the full historical context… and not just read by verse and chapter, as it is in their present jumbled order.Okay, first of all, while your view of the New Testament may change by what you read in The First Century novels, the Word of God will still remain the same. Second, if you’ve read the apostle Paul’s letters, the chances are, even without having read Gene Edwards’ bastardization of the life and epistles of Paul, you already understand those letters. Those who don’t understand them are rarely individuals who’ve actually read them, and even more rarely are they individuals who have studied them.
If you want to understand Paul’s letters without studying them for yourself, or at least reading a few commentaries on them, then expect to gain an extremely simplistic and shallow understanding -- one that may very well be contrary to anything Paul ever intended. Your only defense against people who have real knowledge, in that case, will be to call them names and slander what they say as being “doctrinal” or “theological” (as though doctrine and theology were the bane of true faith), as if your own views aren’t doctrinal or theological. Now, if, after reading The First Century novels, your view of the New Testament is not essentially the same as it was before you read them, then it’s because you are foolish and will have been bewitched (Gal. 3:1). You see, I’m not selling anything, so I don’t have to pull punches. I don’t have to say “we” or “us” when I mean YOU. So I’ll repeat it, here: If Gene Edwards’ novels change your view of the New Testament it is because you are foolish and will have been bewitched by the spell he has cast with his “powerful, dramatic, spellbinding ... edge-of-your-seat story.” How can I say this? Because we’re talking about novels, here, not a history book or an archeology journal with evidences to support the author’s conclusions! You will have allowed yourself to be persuaded by a fictionalized account without knowing what the evidence is, or how reliable the evidence is, or what other evidence there might be to the contrary! That’s foolishness, which can only be taken advantage of by one who is able to bewitch others with his powerful spellbinding.
What about capitalization? The original New Testament documents also lacked such distinctions. Names and sentence beginnings were of all the same kind of letters, none being distinctive for use at the start of a name or sentence. And, frankly, sometimes capitalization can lead to confusion, too; such as when a translator must decide whether or not to capitalize the word “spirit.” But Gene Edwards does not seem to complain about this innovation in our New Testaments! Indeed, Gene Edwards’ books, as with all SeedSowers’ publications, make extensive use of capitalization. And what of certain letters that, in Greek, were different when they came at the end of a sentence? Does Gene Edwards attempt to maintain this idiosyncrasy of Greek writing in The New Testament Diaries? Please, dear reader, do not be distracted by Gene Edwards’ pathetically ridiculous obsession with the chapter and verse divisions of the New Testament; as with proper punctuation and capitalization, they exist only for the convenience of the reader, and as with all of these things, sometimes Bible translators make mistakes.
Discover the church! (Not a building, but the people. Many of whom you will meet in the diaries.)The fact that church in the New Testament is not a building is old news; even the most ancient of church denominations, the Roman Catholic churches, has admitted this much for centuries. This is not pioneering material, here. As for the church being people, that’s not new, either. But meeting the people of Paul’s churches… Well, if these are real people, not just invented characters in Gene Edwards’ invented prose, then the only truth that can be known of them you may discover in the New Testament. Any embellishments on their lives, their personalities, habits, likes, dislikes, dreams, aspirations, attitudes, emotions, etc., are just fiction and thus cannot be a guide to discovering the church.
Meet a man going from city to city, in terrible traveling conditions, yet pressing forward, agonizing over the holy ones whom he loves yet all the while knowing there is a man who will soon come after him, seeking to destroy the young churches which Paul has just raised up. Know the story, and you will discover who this man is, and why he is seeking to destroy Paul’s churches.Of course, if you simply read your New Testaments, you may never even realize that such a man exists. Yet, many, when they read Gene Edwards’ novels, never stop to ask themselves why they had never realized his existence before; they simply take it as truth that he did. But, while it may be that such a man did exist, the reason it does not occur to most of us is because he may not have existed, after all. Most theologians are convinced that what Gene Edwards speaks of as a man is actually a principle of evil or perhaps an evil spirit. Since the New Testament never identifies this destroyer, it is not possible to discover his or its identity by reading a novel.
Watch a people led by the Holy Spirit… not a man. Observe how the itinerant worker handles their problems, not by giving them rules, but by giving them Christ.Hmm. A people led by the Holy Spirit who have problems that an itinerant worker, not the Holy Spirit, must handle for them. Hmm. A people not led by a man, but who must nevertheless have their problems handled by the man who is not leading them. Hmm, an itinerant worker. I wonder who that could have been? Could it be the itinerant worker who wrote the following words to the Thessalonians:
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.Is this the same itinerant worker that gave the Corinthians all those rules, in chapters 11 and 14 of his first letter to them, about how to have a church meeting? Is this the same itinerant worker who commanded the brethren with a rule that says to withdraw from people like Gene Edwards? You know the one:-- Second Thessalonians 3:7-9
-- Second Thessalonians 3:6A careful study of the New Testament will easily demonstrate that Paul gave all sorts of rules to the churches, to the brethren. They’re not called rules, though; they’re called commandments, principles, and traditions. Thus, any novel that has some itinerant worker who doesn’t make rules, but only gives them some gooey, lovey-dovey Christ, is a novel that is attempting to supplant with counterfeits both the New Testament and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Such a novel is, at best, a forgery; and forgery’s, as you know, are full of deceit and entirely lacking in real authority.
If you desire a restoring of the things of God, you need to understand the story of the early church. Otherwise how can we restore that which we know not?This is like saying, if you want to restore a Model T Ford, you need to understand the story of the early years of the automobile industry. As the story of the early years of the automobile industry would include much about other automobile manufacturers, it would obviously not be all that relevant to a restoration of the Model T automobile. So it is with the things of God and the early church. Sure, the early church belonged to God, just as the present church belongs to Him; but the early church has no more to do with a restoration of the things of God than the story of Henry Ford’s competitors has to do with the Model T. In fact, the story of the early church has as much to do with restoring the things of God as the story of the Medieval church has to do with it.
What we really need, is a restoration of the principles of the New Testament
for the governance of the churches that already exist! For this we need
to know only what the New Testament says. It would be like restoring Congress
to the way it was at the end of the 18th century. The story of Congress’
early years would be irrelevant to that process. All we would need to do
is to follow the Constitution of the United States. One thing is clear,
a novel may be able to help us restore some truth and reality, but only to
the extent that it is not a novel. Whatever is merely invented prose, that
causes change, causes deceit and error. This is the spirit of antichrist.
For 1800 years we have been denied “the story.”Yes, for 1800 years the Holy Spirit has been too pathetic and feable to preserve within the Scriptures, in clear language, the “facts” of the story as contained in Gene Edwards’ novels to be incorporated into our New Testaments, or else He has not permitted them to be understood until now. For 1800 years the Holy Spirit has been frustrated in seeking to illuminate the assembly of Christ to these “facts,” or else He has sought to keep us blind to the. For almost 200 years we have been kept in bondage to the inadequacy of that which the Holy Spirit inspired to be written in the New Testament. Oh, poor us.
If calling Gene Edwards’ First Century Diaries novels was the most honest thing SeedSowers has said about them in this advertisement, putting “the story” in quote marks, here, is possibly the second most honest thing they’ve said; because “the story” is not inspired of God. I don’t know what or who inspired it, but it was not inspired of God.
For 1800 years we have been denied our birthright to function as the body of Christ!Well, this is true and false. The church systems, by and large, have attempted to deny us our birthright, but, just as a man’s wife may attempt to deny him his headship, he is still her head. The body of Christ has never ceased to be the body of Christ. Just because my wife might refuse to submit to my headship does not mean I must forfeit functioning as her head. Likewise, just because the church systems have traditionally sought to do away with the function of the members of Christ’s body does not mean the members must submit to the church systems and fail to perform as Christ wills they should. We have not exactly been denied. We let it happen; we went along with it. And we were not always even in the dark on the matter; it was simply the easiest thing to do in many instances.
But the problem, here, with our having been “denied,” has nothing to do with the adequacy of the New Testament, in its “present chaotic order,” as SeedSowers so deems it, but with the men reading the New Testament, and with saints who have not been reading it. If a believer does not understand something in the New Testament, there is probably a good reason for that. After all, the prophets did not understand many of the things that God inspired them to write; so why should we think it is going to be a walk in the park for us to understand the New Testament?
If we don’t understand the New Testament, it is most likely because, in some sense, we are reading with fleshly eyes. Perhaps we are harboring sin in our hearts as we read. Perhaps we are reading with a view to proving something the Scriptures don’t teach. Perhaps we are not trusting God to teach us. Perhaps we have not asked for wisdom. Perhaps we have too easily accepted false interpretations of too many other passages, and some of these interpretations cloud the text we are currently seeking to understand.
Many realize that the church today does not look nor [sic] act like the first-century church.This is irrelevant. What’s really important is the fact that the church today doesn’t look or act like the church that the apostle Paul envisioned. Who cares whether the modern church today looks like the first-century church? What we need to care about is getting back to the New Testament, and getting our churches ordered according to the traditions of the apostles. You see, the assembly of Christ, immediately after Pentecost, devoted themselves to the teaching or doctrine of the apostles (Acts 2:42). But, the modern church has all too often neglected the doctrine of the apostles.
The First Century Diaries [novels] will give you additional understanding of your New Testament which you need, as you discover just how exciting life in the early church was and the “how to” of church life [sic].So far, the only thing that SeedSowers has suggested as making The First Century Diaries [novels] necessary for any believer to read, is that they are more exciting than the New Testament documents, have been rearranged in their supposedly “correct” chronological order, and are based on first century archeology, historical evidence, and Scripture. Now the idea of my nerves and emotions being more stimulated than they would reading the New Testament, and the thought of new archeological evidence complementing the picture, are both very enticing. Even still, it is clear to any competent thinker that anything based on Scripture must be inferior to Scripture. Further, how are we to know that the historical evidence and first century archeology are trustworthy, much less that Gene Edwards has made sound interpretations of the archeological and historical evidences? Like C.S. Lewis, Gene Edwards is a storyteller, not a theologian.
What about this “additional understanding of your New Testament”? Additional to what?! Additional to that which the Holy Spirit guides the believer as he reads the New Testament? I’m sorry to keep repeating this, but SeedSowers’ repetition of inane ideas in this advertisement demands that I do. The First Century Diaries are novels! You can’t get additional understanding of truth from fiction. That’s like a constitutional expert getting additional information about the Constitution from reading a novel about the signers of the Constitution.
If you wanted to become an expert on the start of the United States involvement in World War II, you might enjoy watching the movie Pearl Harbor, but you wouldn’t view the movie as able provide you with an accurate understanding of the actual events. Certainly, a movie such as that will contain a degree of truth, accurate information, and reality. Surely it will be much more exciting than sound means of obtaining the truth about the matter. Nevertheless, you could not become confident of the truth concerning how the U.S. got into World War II, or about anything else you saw in the movie, except by comparing the movie with reputable source matterial from which the story was taken. Likewise, Gene Edwards’ books may be fun and interesting, but you really shouldn’t allow them (or any novel about biblical people and events) to cause conclusions about the Bible to develop in your mind.
For instance, note the deep messages of Colossians and Ephesians. The people who received those letters understood what Paul was talking about… without anyone having to explain those letters to them.Now how does SeedSowers know this? You and I receive letters from family member that we often have to discuss, just to figure out what the sender meant. Usually the letters we receive from relatives are crystal clear, but not always. The apostle Peter admitted that even he found some things in Paul’s letters difficult to understand (2 Pet. 3:15-16); is it, then, that difficult to imagine that, if an apostle who was of the three men closest to the Lord in His earthly ministry might find Paul difficult to understand, that common readers and hearers in Paul’s churches might have difficulty in understanding him?
If you recognize that the messages of Colossians and Ephesians are deep, you must realize that you probably have a fair understanding of what these epistles teach. Otherwise, how would you know their messages are deep? If you have no clue what they mean, then you have no idea whether their messages are actually deep or simply meaningless twaddle. Now SeedSowers and Gene Edwards, as with all who wish to dominate the minds and lives of others, craves for you to believe that you are too ignorant to understand the New Testament; they want you to forget that we've been given the Comforter to guide and teach us all things.
When you read the story, you will also be able to understand those letters without anyone explaining them to you.In other words, after Gene Edwards explains Paul’s letters to you, in his storytelling way, you won’t need anyone else to explain them to you. Because you will so love the way Gene Edwards has tickled your ears with his novel explanation of Paul's letters, you won't want to hear the truth. The truth, as you probably know, isn't always quite so pleasant. The flesh tends to flee from the truth the way darkness flees from light (John 1:5).
However, you may find that "the story" gets a bit boring in the mean time, even if your fleshly desires find Gene Edwards' theories especially appealing. I don’t know about you, but I find that a straightforward explanation goes a lot further toward my understanding than an explanation disguised as a story. Parables of the truth, and other illustrations of meaning, are always useful; but a lengthy explanation that basically just pretends to be a story gets old and boring very quickly.
Do you see what this means, though? After you read “the story,” and find others to meet with who’ve also been duped by “the story,” you will never have to worry about 1st Corinthians 1:10. If reading “the story” means you will be able understand Paul’s letters, you will, then, already be of the same mind as everyone else who has read “the story.” All you’ll have to worry about, then, will be how to get those who disagree with you to read “the story,” too. There will be no more concerns about agreeing together on a matter; you’ll only need to persuade people to read “the story.” After that, whenever a problem comes up, Gene Edwards, or one of his junior apostles in training, will solve all your problems for you -- and then leave.
It’s too bad, though, that the story wasn’t available 2000 years ago; the apostle Peter would have seen how simple, really, the apostle Paul’s letters actually are. Go figure.
Do you desire to experience body life? Do you know how? The story tells you!Okay, three things, here. First, what SeedSowers is not telling you, in this advertisement, is that Gene Edwards’ novels will leave you feeling somewhat despairing about ever seeing this “body life” or your ever being able to “function” in your meetings. Gene Edwards’ basic premise is that you need him to come to your neck of the woods and start a church there for these things to happen. Oh, yes, there are now four or five other guys who might be able to do it, too, after he’s done training them to do it his way; but who knows how many years that will take.Do you desire to function in your meetings? Do you know how? The First Century Diaries tell you.
Second, the story doesn’t really tell you how to experience body life. It tells you how to experience only a semblance of life – “life” in a Gene Edwards denominational house church. It gives you a counterfeit life, empty of reality, barely more than a foil wrapped chocolate that traces the outlines of body life. It doesn’t tell you how to function, either. Well, it does. But it doesn’t tell you how Christ wants you to function. In fact, if you’re ever in the Gene Edwards denomination, you’ll find that Gene Edwards has some strange ideas about functioning that are to be found nowhere in the epistles of the apostle Paul. But that’s okay, because Gene Edwards is an apostle, too, and he can make new traditions, just the way the apostle of the Catholic denomination can.
Third, have you noticed how all of a sudden what Gene Edwards calls “the
story” SeedSowers here identifies as one and the same with The First Century
Diaries? In other words, “the story” is what Gene Edwards says it is. It
is not the untold story of history, from which the storyteller picks and chooses
from archeology, historical evidence, and the Scriptures that which he wants
you to see; it is precisely no more and no less than what Gene Edwards has
written in his novels, The First Century Diaries.
Do you know a man, an itinerant worker, who can come to your town… preach the deep things of Christ… then give you some practical advice… and then leave! The story will help you understand the pivotal need of such men.But, in the New Testament, these pivotal men were called apostles. Gene Edwards doesn’t have the pluck to call himself an apostle, and his followers will point be quick to tell you he had never called himself one, either. Of course, even though they point out that he has never called himself an apostle, Gene Edwards’ disciples generally don’t have the guts to declare he is not one, either! Yet Gene Edwards goes around doing the work which supposedly only an apostle should do, and without having the courage Paul had to admit that he was an apostle of Jesus Christ.
You see, here, how this itinerant worker is supposedly “pivotal”? With less than half a dozen such men in the world who meet Gene Edwards’ approval for this work, how much chance do you think you will have of getting the kind of church life Gene Edwards dreams of? Better read your New Testament and strive for the kind of body life it describes.
But the fact is, an apostle visiting the churches in our day is not pivotal. There are two things pivotal for the church today: 1. The Holy Spirit; 2. The teaching of the apostles as found in 27 books of the New Testament. We have no idea how the church at Rome began; Paul wrote to them, but this only shows that apostles may address assemblies about issues in the churches that concern them. I invite Gene Edwards to either write to my assembly, or to come and speak to it, if he feels led to do so. But he should not be seeking to divide the assembly of Christ in any city, by setting up his own brand of house churches in them.
Discover the church-planting pattern the story tells you and the resulting church life which follows.What was the pattern of planting assemblies throughout Israel? The Jerusalem assembly was established by Christ Himself, starting with 120 men. Twelve of the 120 were so-called “itinerant” preachers, so-called “church-planters,1” who did not leave town or start any churches for at least another 15 years, or so. Long before most of these men so-called “itinerant,” these so-called “church-planters” left town, an elder in their assembly seems to have come to have greater preeminence than themselves (Acts 15:13-22).
What about the rest of the assemblies of Israel? They were established by ordinary believers as they fled Jerusalem and settled in the towns and villages of the land (Acts 8:4-ff). Most were not “planted” by itinerant church-planters. The apostles certainly did not plant them, for the apostles stayed at home in Jerusalem while they were being planted (Acts 8:1). There is no reason to believe that the men who started these churches had any intention of leaving any time soon afterward. The only itinerant worker known to have been involved in starting churches in Israel is Phillip, who the New Testament identifies not as an apostle, but as an evangelist.
You can’t discover anything real by reading novels. You can only discover it through authoritative literature and/or by experience. Until then, all you’re discovering are theories, fiction, and potential truth; theories, in this case, that the vast majority of Gene Edwards followers eventually discard for either a better way of doing church, the old fleshly way they came out of, or for a totally carnal, fallen walk in the ways of sinners. There are many other books that can give you what you long to know about the New Testament’s way of doing church in short order; you don’t have to purchase five, somewhat over-priced, boring novels to learn it, either. In fact, while I do not agree with their view of the Gospel, the best book I’ve read on the subject of assembly life (next to Paul’s epistles) is Toward a House Church Theology. This book is free from http://www.ntrf.org/publications.html (although I highly recommend a $5.00 donation). You can download the book, or order it from them.
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