Review of Post-Biblical History (5)

This is part 5 of chapter 8 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

So who came after these well-known Christian leaders mentioned in the Bible? While James, the brother of Jesus, served as church leader in Jerusalem, and while Paul was preaching and founding Christian churches throughout Gentile regions, it is thought, though questioned by many, that Peter made his way to Rome. Now Paul had provided Timothy with a plan to follow regarding Church hierarchy, and Peter acknowledged Paul’s writings as authoritative, part of God-breathed Holy Scripture; so we know a group of elders led each physical church. Peter may have been considered the prominent elder, or bishop, of the church in Rome (see 1 Peter 5:1). A new elder moved into Peter’s position upon his death.

In 67, Linus (see 2 Timothy 4:21) became perhaps the chief elder in Rome, and in 79, Anacletus (see Titus 1:7) succeeded Linus. Clement (see Philippians 4:3), known as a prominent and knowledgeable leader, followed Anacletus in 91. We can follow these successors, as given in both Christian and secular history accounts, to see not only some of the changes made within the church at Rome, both good and bad, but also the lineage of Roman Catholic popes. In time the elders of Rome looked to one prominent elder, who became bishop of Rome. These early bishops are regarded by Catholics as the first popes; in reality, the first man to be declared pope was Leo I, at least the forty-fifth bishop of Rome. He was declared pope by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

While it is nice to know who followed who within the Christian church at Rome, we must keep in mind that the Church had spread throughout Europe and the Middle East at this time. In fact, it would continue to spread into Asia, India, and Africa as well. Rome was not yet considered any more worthy of power than, say, Ephesus, Antioch, or Alexandria, among other prominent churches at the time. There were Church leaders everywhere; authority over all of the Christian churches, which rightly belongs to Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit that guides us while He is not physically present, was not assumed by Rome until Byzantine Emperor Justinian declared Rome over all other churches in 533 A.D.

As mentioned earlier, the Council of Jamnia in 90 A.D. validated the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament as authoritative. The four main Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) compiled with Paul’s letters were bound as one book in the late first century. By this time, all of the apostles had died, and their successors led the Church as it continued spreading the Good News around the world. Christianity was no longer deemed to be a sect of Judaism; the two were considered separate faiths.

The first seventy years of the second century are the most obscure in all of Church history. During this time, Christianity continued to spread throughout the world, even though second century leaders began to separate from each other in their teachings. These leaders included disciples of the apostles, such as Clement of Rome (successor of Anacletus), Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, Justin Martyr, Hermas (see Romans 16:14), Barnabas of Cyprus, and Clement of Alexandria. These men, from throughout Europe and the Middle East, wrote extensively in their day, but their writings were imperfect, falling short of the credentials of canonical Scripture.

It seemed even these men, remembered as faithful saints, were disregarding the apostle Paul’s warnings against unsound doctrine (see 1 Timothy 1:10, 6:3; 2 Timothy 4:3; Titus 1:9, 2:1). They were attempting to add their own ideas, rather than simply “preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Doctrinal issues and other concerns began to arise as the Church struggled to maintain unity during heavy periods of fierce persecution.
Writings that contradicted the views of the apostles became regarded as worthy of study, taken so far by some as to declare them authoritative, equal to Holy Scripture. (If you are genuinely interested in the writings of these and other post-Biblical Church leaders, many of their works are available to peruse online through the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at www.ccel.org.)

Latin Christianity was founded by Tertullian of Carthage, who lived from 155–220. Other profound thinkers accompanied him, not the bishops of Rome later known as popes, in guiding the Church, albeit further from Scripture and into mere philosophy on some occasions, throughout the third and fourth centuries. These leaders included such men as Origen of Alexandria, Apollonius of Ephesus, Hippolytus of Rome, Dionysius of Corinth, Julius Africanus of Emmaus, Theophilus of Antioch, Archelaus of Athens, and Eusebius of Caesarea. Also during this time, Anthony of Egypt, the founder of monasticism, led some Christians to separate themselves from normal life, retreating to peace, serenity, and safety from persecution. They lived as pious hermits and monks. The Church continued to spread despite both internal corruption and external persecution. In 250, as persecution continued to intensify, martyrs for the Christian faith became revered as saints. The Bible says that all believers, not just those martyred or canonized as such, are saints!

In the late third century, Marcellinus, the twenty-ninth bishop of Rome (considered by Catholics the twenty-ninth pope), offered pagan sacrifices to appease Roman Emperor Diocletian. Around the year 300, prayers were first offered for dead people. In 375, veneration of saints and angels became common practice among many so-called Christians. In 394, the formal Mass became the standard format for worship. In 431, worship of Mary, the mother of Jesus, became the norm as well. These are just a few of the practices that became traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, signs of the stray from Scripture the Church experienced early on.

As I mentioned in chapter one, the Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire in 324, forcing pagans to adopt common Christian practices. This decision, while aiding the spread of true Christianity, contaminated the Church, because the pagan majority mixed their pagan traditional rituals with Christian principles. Constantine made Sunday the official Sabbath day; some scholars point to his former worship of the sun (sun-day) as a reason for making this change.

The Council of Nicea in 325 provided a creed of orthodoxy within the Church. It restored Scriptural teaching that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine while He was physically on the earth. In 330, Church headquarters was moved to Constantinople, as a split was near between Greek and Roman church branches. The Council of Athanasius in 367, gathered by Athanasius of Alexandria to combat a group known as Arians on doctrinal issues, and the Council of Carthage in 397, gathered by Cyprian of Carthage, recognized the twenty-seven books in our New Testament today as inspired. The New Testament canon, meeting the three guidelines of historical accuracy, literary style evenness, and theological consistency with Jesus’ message, was made official.

Christianity continued to spread and flourish despite much persecution during the lifetime of a well-known theologian, Augustine of Hippo (354–430). Augustine, credited with determining much of the early doctrine and formal Christian theology in leading the Church back to the authority of Scripture, supported the doctrine of original sin and helped to thwart Pelagianism, the heresy stating that man’s free will was responsible for salvation over God’s grace. Pelagianism, the precursor to modern day Arminianism, was condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431. Also during this time, Jerome translated the Bible into Latin, and Patrick went from Britain to Ireland to preach the Gospel, converting many Irishmen to Christianity.

Both the Holy Spirit’s amazing conviction and sin’s corruption within the Church continued to spread. In time, the preaching of Scriptural sermons waned, and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ became less-emphasized within the stumbling Church. These key apostolic institutions were replaced by the formal Mass, which reverted to the role of priests as in Old Testament days.

Shortly after the time Leo I was officially named as the first pope, Rome had established authority as the governing body in the Church, even a formidable world power. Popes began authorizing kings and rulers of nations, especially in Europe. Around the year 500, the pope was called Vicar of Christ. Priests began wearing different clothes than laymen; the crucifix became a religious icon. In 527, church leader Dionysius drew up his version of the calendar to include The Year of Our Lord, or Anno Domini (A.D.), which was retroactive to the approximate birth of Jesus Christ. In 590, with the inauguration of Pope Gregory I, the Church made its way from the early period of its history into the medieval period. In 593, contrary to Scripture, the doctrine of purgatory was established.

In 709, kissing the pope’s feet became a common practice of all who approached him; in 786, worship of images and statues of the saints was added to Church tradition. When the Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne, and some say under the pope as well, grew strong, the true power and dictatorship of the papacy was seen. Forged documents were circulated claiming that the power-hungry papacy had political authority from its beginning. Disorder lasted for centuries; the Catholic Church did not recover quickly, because it did not realize there was a problem. Apostasy dominated the papacy over the next 700 years, from 800–1500; these years included many rival popes, even anti-popes, and much sin.

In time the Church became a melting pot of different cultures, values, and ideals. The preaching of Christ crucified had nearly disappeared; at least, it had been mangled and distorted beyond recognition. Regarding the early Church, Charles Spurgeon said:

It appears that the one subject upon which men preached in the apostolic age was
Jesus Christ. The tendency of man, if left alone, is continually to go further
and further from God, and the Church of God itself is no exception to the
general rule. For the first few years, during and after the apostolic era,
Christ Jesus was preached, but gradually the Church departed from the central
point and began rather to preach ceremonials and church offices rather than the
Person of their Lord. … The more Christ is preached, the more will the Church
prove and exhibit and assert and maintain her unity. But the less Christ is
preached … the more of strife and division and the less of true Christian
fellowship.

In 1054, a great schism split the Church and it divided into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. In 1079, priest celibacy became mandatory. Just before the Crusades began, Popes Gregory VII and Boniface VIII declared that no one could be saved without acknowledging them as their ruler. As this version of Christianity clashed with Islam during the Crusades over nearly 200 years (1095–1291), the Holy Land, which had been taken by Muslims in the seventh century, was recaptured by Christians.
Christianity receives much condemnation for the Crusades, and we must acknowledge that no Christians are perfect. The heinous acts committed during the Crusades can in no way be justified by Christianity. Perhaps true Christians were not behind or involved in the Crusades. God has always maintained a living remnant of His chosen people on this earth, and in these end times, that remnant is growing increasingly larger. However, in the early second millennium A.D., there may have been few true believers.

I make the claim that Christians with sound doctrine would not have committed the brutal acts executed during the Crusades. Doctrine was not only greatly confused, but also nearly impossible to learn due to the lack of Bible study and preaching Christ crucified. I have a suspicion that few participants in the Crusades had an adequate understanding of Christ, especially given the time period. Remember, just because someone claims to be a believer does not make them one. Only possession of Christ through His Holy Spirit and by His grace makes someone a true believer. Jesus said:

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on
that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive
out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never
knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers’ (Matthew 7:21-23)!

After 200 years of senseless religion-based warfare, the eight major Crusades came to and end. (Remember true Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship with Christ!) The battles did continue, although on a lesser scale, for another 100–200 years. Islam had persisted; Christianity had survived; hatred had endured; Middle East turmoil remained.

Moving on to the thirteenth century, the Catholic rosary was invented in 1206 by Dominic. Thomas Aquinas, a famous theologian and scholar, lived from 1225–1274; he used reason to give five proofs for the existence of God (see Summa Theologica). Around 1228, the Bible was divided into chapters by Stephen Langton. In 1229, the Church, fearing its people would find out it was not following Biblical teaching, forbade laymen to read the Bible.

By the fourteenth century, the papacy had become so disrespected that it had to move from Rome to Avignon, France, for safety. Moving into the fifteenth century, there were two or three popes ruling at one time, all with different beliefs and motives. To keep with the 1229 decree prohibiting laymen from reading the Bible, the Council of Oxford banned Bible translations into the language of the common folk.

In a pre-Reformation movement, the former Catholic priest, John Wycliffe, left the Catholic Church because of its great apostasies, and he translated the first English Bible around 1388. Another man, John Hus, criticized the sins of the Catholic priests; he was burned at the stake for his comments. As the Renaissance erupted in Europe, a new importance was placed on learning. Scholars learned to read and study the Bible; they began questioning the practices of the Catholic Church. Around 1448, the Old Testament was divided into verses by Rabbi Nathan, and in 1452, the printing press began publishing the Bible in volume.

As the final lingering battles of the era of Crusades concluded, the inquisition, which began in 1231 as declared by Pope Gregory IX, increased in intensity, especially in both Spain and Spanish colonies under Pope Sixtus IV starting in 1478. During the inquisition, the popes justified the forced fasting, imprisonment, and in many cases, the slaughter of anyone denying the authority of the Catholic Church. The inquisition was not completely suppressed in Spain until the early nineteenth century! Of course, not all popes were bad; some strived to restore the Church to Biblical authority, but those men were few and far between.

Battling throughout the Dark Ages against heresies internally and persecution externally, the Church followed its majority into traditional Roman Catholicism. But God has never used the majority; He has always kept a remnant of true believers to be His light to the world. His minority is expected to share the Gospel of Christ crucified with the world in Spirit, truth, and love.

In 1517, a young Catholic priest, Martin Luther, began the Protestant Reformation by posting his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Among many issues, Luther denied the apocrypha as being part of the Bible used by the Catholic Church. His primary concern was the sale of indulgences within the Catholic Church. The papacy was offering forgiveness of sins, indulgences, in return for generous donations, which went to pay for the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Church in Rome. Forgiveness of greater sins required larger payments. Luther criticized “papal policy and stressed the spiritual, inward character of the Christian faith.”

The Reformation came in the sixteenth century, as Biblical scholars began to realize that the Church, the Catholic Church, had strayed from Biblical teaching. When John Calvin’s theology became popular among Reformation theologians during the 1500s, Protestant denominations, such as the Lutheran Church in 1521, formed within Christianity over a period of many years led by the return to Scriptural authority and the preaching of Christ crucified. In fact, the United States was first inhabited (after Native Americans) by Protestants escaping England due to religious discrimination. As we mentioned earlier, the United States had its foundation built on the truth that One God reigns, and He is the God of the Bible.

The Catholic Church held its counter-reformation at the Council of Trent (1546–1564) to establish an official stance. One had not been established prior, lending proof to the claims of apostasy which arguably still plague the Catholic Church today. Catholic leaders determined in 1545 that Church traditions were equal in authority with the Bible. In 1546, Bible printing was banned altogether by the Catholic Church. Again, Catholic leaders did not want its laymen to learn what the Bible had to say on their own; instead they wanted the people to rely on what the popes and bishops had to say!

At the Council of Trent the pope said, among other things, that the Mass was a true sacrifice offered to God; he denied that faith in Christ was sufficient as a means of justification; he officially added the apocrypha to the canon of Scripture; he affirmed the doctrine of transubstantiation, which says that the bread and wine actually become the Body and Blood of Christ. These claims are un-Scriptural, but Catholic laymen would have had no way to know that, seeing as they were forbidden to read Scripture!

Review of Post-Biblical History (4)

This is part 4 of chapter 8 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

During the Dark Ages, Genghis Khan dominated Persia and the Orient with his Mongolian Empire. He fought the Chinese, who, having mastered gunpowder, began using rockets in battle. Khan’s grandson would later establish the largest empire the world had even seen. Marco Polo also traveled from Europe to China and back in the thirteenth century, and when the Holy Roman Empire collapsed, the Hapsburg Dynasty began its 640-year reign in Austria.

The fourteenth century, still feeling lingering effects of the Crusades, was dominated by battles all around the globe. The Bubonic Plague fell upon Europe, killing perhaps over one-third of the continent’s entire population in just a six-year span. While Christianity and Islam were at the center of attention, Hinduism and Buddhism continued to quietly spread throughout the east with little influence from the other faiths. Judaism, the oldest faith in the world, still survived as a minority, maintaining its stance that the Old Testament’s promised Messiah had yet to come.

The fifteenth century saw an end to many of the wars that had been ongoing for years. The Inca Empire in South America began its dynasty, and in 1436, Johannes Guttenberg invented the printing press. As mentioned earlier, the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks, whose dominance was just getting underway. As the War of the Roses, a civil war, concluded in England, Ivan the Great unified Russian provinces, and the age of exploration began alongside the Renaissance to lead into the sixteenth century.
While art and exploration dominated the thoughts of Western Europe, the Middle East remained plagued by wars between the various Arab tribes and nations. England broke from the Roman Catholic Church with Henry VIII’s excommunication over his various marriages and divorces. The Protestant Reformation had begun with Martin Luther and John Calvin leading the way back to Biblical authority from, as some would say, the apostate Roman Catholic Church. We will examine the Reformation in more detail in the next section of this chapter.

The seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries are more familiar to us than previous times, so I do not want to occupy a great deal of space with generally understood or at least accepted information. To vaguely summarize, as exploration continued, the entire world was precisely and accurately mapped; science continued disproving old truths, which in actuality, were never true to begin with. Take for example, Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo observing that the sun, not the earth as previously thought, was the center of our galaxy. Technological breakthroughs continued as world population grew; an increase in obtained knowledge on various subjects led to specialization in academic fields.

As the twentieth century rolled around, technological capabilities began to separate first-, second-, and third-world nations. As tyrannical dictators gained political control in some of these first-world nations, they began looking to exploit anything and everything from lesser nations. Regard for humanity decreased as Biblical values were left in the dust. Guided by manmade philosophies such as evolution, leaders such as Hitler and Stalin pillaged, plundered, and purged innocent people groups, which were thought to be of an inferior race due to their less-evolved state.

Nations still standing firm on Biblical values, such as the United States in the early and mid-twentieth century, were able to stop “that hideous strength” from doing further damage. The world and its current nations, still ever-changing, are nevertheless continuing to fall further away from Biblical ideals; God is continuing to lower His “hedge of protection” (see Job 1:10; Isaiah 5:5) around all the nations of the world, even those nations claiming to look to Him for guidance. We will learn what can be expected to happen next in the following chapters.

How did Christianity spread?

Having reviewed almost 2000 years of world history in a matter of paragraphs, we now want to see how Christianity spread throughout the world during that time.

As mentioned earlier, a great testimony to the truth of the Gospel lies in the martyrdom of those eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. With the exception of John, all of the apostles and countless other Christian martyrs suffered horribly on account of their faith. As eyewitnesses to Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, they knew firsthand that Jesus is God, and they were willing to endure extreme pain—even death—while fulfilling His command to preach His message to all the nations. The apostles died by the following means:

- Simon Peter was crucified upside down at the hands of Roman Emperor Nero in 67.
- James, son of Zebedee, was beheaded in 44 at the orders of Herod Agrippa I.
- John, son of Zebedee and brother of James, the only non-martyr, was exiled to the island of Patmos and presumably died an old man in seclusion.
- Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, was crucified in 74. It has been said that Andrew preached while hanging from the cross for two days before giving up his life.
- Philip was scourged, imprisoned, and crucified in present day Turkey in the early to mid-50s.
- Bartholomew, or Nathanael, was either skinned alive, crucified, or beheaded in the early-50s.
- Matthew was either beaten and crucified or killed by the sword in 60.
- Thomas was assassinated, perhaps thrust through with a spear in India, in 52.
- James, son of Alphaeus, was stoned to death in 60.
- Thaddaeus (Jude or Judas) was crucified in 72.
- Simon the Zealot was either crucified in Britain or sawed into pieces in Mesopotamia in 74.
- Paul, writer of much of the New Testament, was beheaded in Rome by Nero in 66 or 67.

(Recall that Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ and committed suicide; Paul was also an apostle, though not one of the original twelve.) With the apostles’ deaths, other leaders stepped up. Most of these leaders also died martyr’s deaths.

For example, James, the brother of Jesus and author of the Book of James in the Bible, was stoned to death in the mid-60s; Jude, also the brother of Jesus, was executed with a battle-axe in the early-70s; Barnabas was stoned to death in 73; Mark, the Gospel writer, was dragged and burned to death in 74; Luke, the Gospel writer, was hanged on an olive tree in Greece in 73; Timothy was beaten to death in 73; Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death in the early-to-mid-30s. These men, most of whom were eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus Christ, likewise suffered and died while standing firm in the faith.

With all of these martyr deaths, how did the Church survive? The Church actually survived and spread because of these martyr deaths. Because many people knew eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, these events were quite familiar in those days. Martyrdom became admirable to these people; as mentioned earlier, they knew that no one suffers and dies willingly for what they know to be a lie. The strong conviction of these early leaders led to greater numbers of Christians. Christianity spread by suffering, just as Christ Himself suffered.

Review of Post-Biblical History (3)

This is part 3 of chapter 8 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

Islam was invented by Ubu’l Kassim, who was born in 570 in Arabia. He proclaimed that visions from an angel told him to change his name to Muhammad, which means “highly praised.” He orally passed on his visions, because he could not read or write. As opposed to Christianity, which was spread by suffering, the faith of Muhammad was spread by the sword, as Muslims violently raided neighboring regions.

The city of Mecca thought Muhammad was foolish, so they sent him away in 622; he went to Medina, where his message was eventually accepted. Mecca later surrendered under the sword of Muhammad and his raiders in 630. Muhammad died in Mecca in 632, where he is still entombed today!

Abu Bakr succeeded Muhammad, uniting several unruly Arab tribes under Muhammad’s teachings. Ruling for only two years, Bakr was succeeded by Omar, which means “the sword of God.” Omar led these barbaric Arab tribes to conquer Syria, Persia, some of the Byzantine Empire, Egypt, and present day Palestine, including Jerusalem in 638. Omar was assassinated in Medina and succeeded by Othman of the Omayyad clan.

Twelve years later, Othman was assassinated and succeeded by Muhammad’s son-in-law and nephew, Ali. Muhammad’s widow protested this succession, because it left the Omayyad clan out of the loop. Ali defeated the protesters at the Battle of the Camels, but then he was assassinated just five years later.

Ali’s successor was Muawiya, who reigned for eighteen years, but failed in his bid to conquer Constantinople. At his death in 680, Muawiya was succeeded by his son, Yazid, but many people protested this succession as well. They wanted Ali’s son, al-Husain, to succeed Muawiya. There was a battle at the present day Iraqi city of Karbala, and al-Husain was killed. The split between Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims developed in part over these succession issues.

In 685, Malik led the Arab tribes again to unity, putting an end to the internal strife. Approximately seventy years and several generations after Muhammad’s death, his sayings were recorded as the Koran, and Islam was founded. The Muslim faith continued to spread by the sword all the way to India in the east and Spain in the west, until it was halted in France at Tours in 732 by Charles Martel. In 749, the Omayyad clan was practically wiped out by the great-grandson of Muhammad’s uncle, a member of the Abbasid clan.

The Muslim Caliphate, similar to the Roman Catholic Papacy, reached the height of its power in the ninth century, when Baghdad was the cultural center of the kingdom. Islam had gained much territory and influence over that territory’s inhabitants by forcing neighboring nations and tribes to convert; it was well positioned to survive the Crusades, which occurred over a period of 200 years.

The Crusades, an effort to free Christians who were living in persecution under Muslim rule, were a series of at least eight military campaigns carried out by so-called Christians from 1095–1291 primarily against Muslim occupied territory in the Middle East and especially directed at Egypt and the region known as Palestine. We will look at the implications of the Crusades, which occupied much of the Dark Ages of Europe and the Middle East, in the next section of this chapter.

Review of Post Biblical History (2)

This is part 2 of chapter 8 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

What happened after the apostles died?

What happened to Rome? From 14–68 A.D., Caesars Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero ruled the Roman Empire. There was a great fire in Rome in 64 A.D., and Nero blamed it on Christians, thus intensifying already harsh persecution against Christianity. As the Jews revolted against the Romans from 66–70 A.D., Emperor Titus, who succeeded Nero, destroyed Jerusalem, including the precious Jewish Temple in 70 A.D., fulfilling Biblical prophecy. In 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii; the Colosseum in Rome was inaugurated the next year.

During a three-year Jewish uprising from 132–135 A.D., Judea was eliminated from maps and the term Palestine, although originally coined by Herodotus in the late fifth century B.C., was first used by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to describe the region. The Roman Empire reached its peak around 160 A.D. If you have seen the movie, Gladiator, with Russell Crowe, then you may recall Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. They were real people ruling the Roman Empire from 161–192. The next 200 years of Roman history were dominated by civil war and political assassinations.

Christian persecution was extremely harsh from the time of Caligula until 253, when it was officially, but temporarily, ended by Gallienus. The Roman Empire was slowly declining, but Diocletian, infamous for severe and ruthless persecution of the rapidly growing Christian faith, led Rome in a revival from 284–305. Emperor Constantine ruled Rome from 312–337, and as mentioned in chapter one, he forced Christianity upon the entire empire in 324. His capital, along with the Christian Church headquarters, was moved from Rome to Constantinople in 330. Upon his death, the Roman Empire found itself with an east and a west, although the separation was not recognized until Rome was invaded by the Goths in 390. (The formal split into east and west came in 395.) In 361, Emperor Julian reinstated paganism as the official religion, and Rome continued its demise.

The Roman Empire lost control over Britain in 407 and faced several barbarian invasions over the next 70 years, including one by Attila the Hun. The Western Roman Empire, with its capital at Rome, fell in 476, and the Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital at Constantinople, became the dominant world power under the moniker of the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire flourished early under Justinian, then suffered declines and enjoyed revivals for nearly a millennium. The Byzantine Empire experienced its golden age under the Macedonian dynasty from 868–1025, and it fell in 1453 to the Ottoman Turks.

During this thousand-year period of time, China was developing under its myriad dynasties in relative seclusion, uniting with the help of Buddhism in 581 and eventually surviving persecution under Taoist regimes because of its Buddhist foundation. India had its golden age under the Gupta dynasty. The ancient city of Teotihuacán in Mexico was flourishing in the shadow of the Pyramid of the Sun, the third largest pyramid in the world. A nation-state was established in Sweden, from where the Beowulf tale comes. Persia maintained its existence from Biblical Old Testament times and would remain stable until being captured by Arab Muslims.

Many violent tribal states vied for significance by attacking each other and other larger nations throughout all of Europe and Asia. Charlemagne ruled the Germanic region in the late eight and early ninth centuries, keeping close ties with the pope to ensure blessings on his leadership. Japan was rising up as well, late into the first millennium A.D. Vikings founded Russia in the mid-ninth century. William the Conqueror became king of England in 1057 and built the Tower of London, which still stands today, in 1066.

That was just a quick overview of the world in motion during the first millennium A.D. All of the information shows that ever since the incident at the Tower of Babel people continued to spread out and form unique civilizations, cultures, and societies with different rules and regulations and traditions. In a vast majority of cases, the people altered or abandoned Biblical foundations and rebuilt on manmade ideas, thus adding to the turmoil that engulfed the world during that time.

Before moving on to the second millennium A.D., we need to examine the rise of Islam, which battled so-called Christianity during the Crusades. It is important here to note that while Arabs founded Islam, all Arabs are not Muslims, and all Muslims are not Arabs.

The Together for the Gospel Statement

Here it is. What do you think?

The Together for the Gospel Statement

Mark Dever, Ligon Duncan, C.J. Mahaney, Albert Mohler

We are brothers in Christ united in one great cause - to stand together for the Gospel. We are convinced that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been misrepresented, misunderstood, and marginalized in many churches and among many who claim the name of Christ. Compromise of the Gospel has led to the preaching of false gospels, the seduction of many minds and movements, and the weakening of the church's Gospel witness.

As in previous moments of theological and spiritual crisis in the church, we believe that the answer to this confusion and compromise lies in a comprehensive recovery and reaffirmation of the Gospel - and in Christians banding together in Gospel churches that display God's glory in this fallen world.

We are also brothers united in deep concern for the church and the Gospel. This concern is specifically addressed to certain trends within the church today. We are concerned about the tendency of so many churches to substitute technique for truth, therapy for theology, and management for ministry.

We are also concerned that God's glorious purpose for Christ's church is often eclipsed in concern by so many other issues, programs, technologies, and priorities. Furthermore, confusion over crucial questions concerning the authority of the Bible, the meaning of the Gospel, and the nature of truth itself have gravely weakened the church in terms of its witness, its work, and its identity.

We stand together for the Gospel - and for a full and gladdening recovery of the Gospel in the church. We are convinced that such a recovery will be evident in the form of faithful Gospel churches, each bearing faithful witness to the glory of God and the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Article I

We affirm that the sole authority for the Church is the Bible, verbally inspired, inerrant, infallible, and totally sufficient and trustworthy.

We deny that the Bible is a mere witness to the divine revelation, or that any portion of Scripture is marked by error, incompleteness, or the effects of human sinfulness.

Article II

We affirm that the authority and sufficiency of Scripture extends to the entire Bible, and therefore that the Bible is our final authority for all doctrine and practice.

We deny that any portion of the Bible is to be used in an effort to deny the truthfulness or trustworthiness of any other portion. We further deny any effort to identify a canon within the canon or, for example, to set the words of Jesus against the writings of Paul.

Article III

We affirm that the truth ever remains a central issue for the Church, and that the church must resist the allure of pragmatism and postmodern conceptions of truth as substitutes for obedience to the comprehensive truth claims of Scripture.

We deny that truth is merely a product of social construction or that the truth of the Gospel can be expressed or grounded in anything less than total confidence in the veracity of the Bible, the historicity of biblical events, and the ability of language to convey understandable truth in sentence form. We further deny that the church can establish in its ministry on a foundation of pragmatism, current marketing techniques, or contemporary cultural fashions.

Article IV

We affirm the centrality of expository preaching in the church and the urgent need for a recovery of biblical exposition and the public reading of Scripture in worship.

We deny that God-honoring worship can marginalize or neglect the ministry of the Word as manifested through the exposition and public reading. We further deny that a church devoid of true biblical preaching can survive as a Gospel church.

Article V

We affirm that the Bible reveals God to be infinite in all his perfections, and thus truly omniscient, omnipotent, timeless, and self-existent. We further affirm that God possesses perfect knowledge of all things, past, present, and future, including human thoughts, acts, and decisions.

We deny that the God of the Bible is in any way limited in terms of knowledge or power or any other perfection or attribute, or that God has in any way limited his own perfections.

Article VI

We affirm that the doctrine of the Trinity is a Christian essential, bearing witness to the ontological reality of the one true God in three divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each of the same substance and perfections.
We deny the claim that the Trinity is not an essential doctrine, or that the Trinity can be understood in merely economic or functional categories.

Article VII

We affirm that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, in perfect, undiluted, and unconfused union throughout his incarnation and now eternally. We also affirm that Christ died on the cross as a substitute for sinners, as a sacrifice for sin, and as a propitiation of the wrath of God toward sin. We affirm the death, burial, and bodily resurrection of Christ as essential to the Gospel. We further affirm that Jesus Christ is Lord over His church, and that Christ will reign over the entire cosmos in fulfillment of the Father's gracious purpose.

We deny that the substitutionary character of Christ's atonement for sin can be compromised or denied without serious injury, or even repudiation, of the Gospel. We further deny that Jesus Christ is visible only in weakness, rather than in power, Lordship, or royal reign, or, conversely, that Christ is visible only in power, and never in weakness.

Article VIII

We affirm that salvation is all of grace, and that the Gospel is revealed to us in doctrines that most faithfully exalt God's sovereign purpose to save sinners and in His determination to save his redeemed people by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to His glory alone.

We deny any teaching, theological system, or means of presenting the Gospel that denies the centrality of God's grace as His gift of unmerited favor to sinners in Christ can be considered true doctrine.

Article IX

We affirm that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is God's means of bringing salvation to His people, that sinners are commanded to believe the Gospel, and that the church is commissioned to preach and teach the Gospel to all nations.

We deny that evangelism can be reduced to any program, technique, or marketing approach. We further deny that salvation can be separated from repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Article X

We affirm that salvation comes to those who truly believe and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

We deny that there is salvation in any other name, or that saving faith can take any form other than conscious belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving acts.

Article XI

We affirm the continuity of God's saving purpose and the Christological unity of the covenants. we further affirm a basic distinction between law and grace, and that the true Gospel exalts Christ's atoning work as the consummate and perfect fulfillment of the law.

We deny that the Bible presents any other means of salvation than God's gracious acceptance of sinners in Christ.

Article XII

We affirm that sinners are justified only through faith in Christ, and that justification by faith alone is essential and central to the Gospel.

We deny that any teaching that minimizes, denies, or confuses justification by faith alone can be considered true to the Gospel. We further deny that any teaching that separates regeneration and faith is a true rendering of the Gospel.

Article XIII

We affirm that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers by God's decree alone, and that this righteousness, imputed to the believer through faith alone, is the only righteousness that saves.

We deny that such righteousness is earned or deserved in any manner, is infused within the believer to any degree, or is realized in the believer through anything other than faith alone.

Article XIV

We affirm that the shape of Christian discipleship is congregational, and that God's purpose is evident in faithful Gospel congregations, each displaying God's glory in the marks of authentic ecclesiology.

We deny that any Christian can truly be a faithful disciple apart from the teaching, discipline, fellowship, and accountability of a congregation of fellow disciples, organized as a Gospel church. We further deny that the Lord's Supper can faithfully be administered apart from the right practice of church discipline.

Article XV

We affirm that evangelical congregations are to work together in humble and voluntary cooperation and that the spiritual fellowship of Gospel congregations bears witness to the unity of the Church and the glory of God.

We deny that loyalty to any denomination or fellowship of churches can take precedence over the claims of truth and faithfulness to the Gospel.

Article XVI

We affirm that the Scripture reveals a pattern of complementary order between men and women, and that this order is itself a testimony to the Gospel, even as it is the gift of our Creator and Redeemer. We also affirm that all Christians are called to service within the body of Christ, and that God has given to both men and women important and strategic roles within the home, the church, and the society. We further affirm that the teaching office of the church is assigned only to those men who are called of God in fulfillment of the biblical teachings and that men are to lead in their homes as husbands and fathers who fear and love God.

We deny that the distinction of roles between men and women revealed in the Bible is evidence of mere cultural conditioning or a manifestation of male oppression or prejudice against women. We also deny that this biblical distinction of roles excludes women from meaningful ministry in Christ's kingdom. We further deny that any church can confuse these issues without damaging its witness to the Gospel.

Article XVII

We affirm that God calls his people to display his glory in the reconciliation of the nations within the Church, and that God's pleasure in this reconciliation is evident in the gathering of believers from every tongue and tribe and people and nation. We acknowledge that the staggering magnitude of injustice against African-Americans in the name of the Gospel presents a special opportunity for displaying the repentance, forgiveness, and restoration promised in the Gospel. We further affirm that evangelical Christianity in America bears a unique responsibility to demonstrate this reconciliation with our African-American brothers and sisters.

We deny that any church can accept racial prejudice, discrimination, or division without betraying the Gospel.

Article XVIII

We affirm that our only sure and confident hope is in the sure and certain promises of God. Thus, our hope is an eschatological hope, grounded in our confidence that God will bring all things to consummation in a manner that will bring greatest glory to his own name, greatest preeminence to his Son, and greatest joy for his redeemed people.

We deny that we are to find ultimate fulfillment or happiness in this world, or that God's ultimate purpose is for us to find merely a more meaningful and fulfilling life in this fallen world. We further deny that any teaching that offers health and wealth as God's assured promises in this life can be considered a true gospel.

"Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you - unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures...." - I Corinthians 15:1-4

"Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water." - Revelation 14:6-7

Signed: J. Ligon Duncan III, Mark E. Dever, C.J. Mahaney, R. Albert Mohler, Jr.