*Intro to: "The Shepherds Way"

St. Eric W. King & St. Irenaeus Refute Modern Heretics in 2019

This is a fun yet at the same time very serious paper. Here E.W.King tries to show that before the Roman Catholic Church, the Greek Orthodox schism etc. the early saints (True Christians) understood that the Gospel that they had received was in fact complete. If God’s word is complete why do humans think that it is not? You will enjoy some of the thoughts presented in this paper. Please read and share with your friends. This paper is of course theologically in agreement with what we teach here at “The Shepherds Way” & “Nugget of Truth”.

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St. Irenaeus is certainly one of my favored Christians (saints) of the early church. We must remember that the “catholic” (with a small ‘c’) or “universal church” was not distinctly Roman or Greek but included all from every nation, tribe and tongue. The early saints were true Christians before all the denominational confusion which started with the Roman Catholics and Constantine.

The early True Christians believed in Sola Scriptura, which means that they believed that all the correct doctrines of the Christian Church were handed down by the original apostles and that we find these true teachings in the Scriptures themselves and NOT from any other person, thing, or source.

St. Irenaeus in his “Against Heretics” vol.3 gives us a very nice and simple statement of faith which we here at “The Shepherds Way” use as a summation statement of true faith. He wrote us the following:

“These (the original Apostles) have all declared to us that there is one God, Creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets; and one Christ the Son of God. If anyone does not agree to these truths, he despises the companions of the Lord; nay more, he despises Christ Himself the Lord; yea, he despises the Father also, and stands self-condemned, resisting and opposing his own salvation, as is the case with all heretics.” ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

And just what are “heretics”? All those who add to or subtract from the original Apostolic Faith “once delivered” and handed down to us in the canonized and INSPIRED 66 books of our Christian Bibles are in fact heretics. Of course this includes all schisms from the original church also. Pagans, agnostics and atheists are also heretics because they trust mans word more than God’s.

The early church defined “Formal” heresy as a person who cannot let go of an erroneous teaching while they defined “Material” heresy to the person who has accepted heresy unknowingly. Of course both were lost.

St. Tertullian identifies heresy as one who places some philosophical idea above Scripture. What most Christians do not realize is that the Greek word hairesis simply means “choice” and it was used and applied in the philosophical schools of that time. Apostle Paul began to use the term in a negative sense because of what the philosophers were doing to Scripture (1^st Cor. 11:19; Gal. 5:20).

We must understand that the fight for the Truth back in the days of the apostles was intense. Their faith is our example. We must be “always ready to give an answer” for our faith (1^st Peter 3:15-16).

Do you know why there were more martyrs in the first two centuries of the Christian Church? Because they spent time protecting the original teachings for you and me. Today there are not that many true defenders of the faith…but that is going to change. We here at “The Shepherds Way” & “Nugget of Truth” are educating today’s Christians to begin to stand up to the tremendous heretical junk being propagated today under the name of “Christianity”.

“WE have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith.” ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

Here we see that St. Irenaeus understood that the Gospel was complete…no Ellen White, no Joseph Smith, no new Spirit Channeler, no “New Age” metaphysical crud…no extra Biblical junk…just the powerful unchanging message…the “faith once delivered.” (Jude 3). No, the Gospel handed down has indeed been protected. Today (year 2019) people are looking everywhere but the Scriptures to find Truth and they show that they do not really trust their own Creator by stating that they are “Christians” while they continue looking into Scientology, Oprah, Hooky Bocky and the list goes on. Dear Humans, do ye not know that ye are the “created” and not the Creator?

We rebuke the Roman Papacy for their heretical teachings. We are NOT Roman Catholic…we are Christians. We were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26)

“When, however, they are confuted from the Scriptures, they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by those who are ignorant of tradition. For [they allege] that the truth was not delivered by means of written documents, but via voice: wherefore also Paul declared, "But we speak wisdom among those that are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world." ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

And where did Apostle Paul record the wisdom that he spoke? In Scripture! No, the early saints were not Roman Catholic! Roman Catholics use this argument of “tradition” even placing their traditions above Sola Scriptura. As a matter of fact their traditions contradict the Scriptures.

When St. Irenaeus refers to “tradition” he means that the elders (presbyters) handed down the USE OF SCRIPTURE as the TRADTION. It is to the Scriptures (Holy Bible) that we must look for the answers to our faith.

“But, again, when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles (the written Scriptures), [and] which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters (elders) in the Churches, they object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but even than the apostles, because they have “discovered” the unadulterated truth. For [they maintain] that the apostles intermingled the things of the law with the words of the Saviour; and that not the apostles alone, but even the Lord Himself, spoke as at one time from the Demiurge, at another from the intermediate place, and yet again from the Pleroma, but that they themselves, indubitably, unsulliedly, and purely, have knowledge of the “hidden mystery” (Gnosticism): this is, indeed, to blaspheme their Creator after a most impudent manner! It comes to this, therefore, that these men do now consent neither to Scripture nor to tradition (that the elders handed down the written Scriptures).” ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

The modern heretics think themselves also to be smarter than our Creator by teaching reincarnation, metaphysical chaos, and many are followers of mere men called “gurus” who wear sheets and get stoned. This is their idea of “true enlightenment”.

Many will spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars doing this. They pay cults and New Age movements and “Self Help” programs to tell them just how to survive.

Most religious people and non-religious people (this includes almost everybody) practice what they might call “positive action” or “the power of positive thinking”. In other words they say; “I am basically a good person. I try to do what is right when I can. I think positive thoughts. I am a positive person.” So this is the main mind channel of most educated people.

In contrast to what most refer to as “positive thinking” there is what they recognize as “negative” or “pessimistic” thinking. We hear people say things like; “Don’t be so pessimistic.” Or, “Don’t be so negative.” People who follow this thought process also usually accuse Christians of thinking too much in the realm of “black and white” yet they, by differentiating between “positive” and “negative”, have fallen into the same trap.

Christianity offers a third option, the right option. First let us define “positive action” and show why it is incomplete. First we must realize that what people call “positive” and “negative” action is actually not ACTION at all but instead it is a REACTION which is programmed in the reaction mind. This means most all human actions are programmed REACTIONS based on similar experiences which involve pain and emotion. These are simply stimulus responses to the reactions of others.

Positive Reaction: Positive reaction could be seen as fallen man trying to do his best with what he has. Not all ‘positive’ reactions are truly correct because they contain some sort of distortion [Proverbs 16:25 Proverbs 16:2]. Man can do “good” but this does not make man perfect or without sin. Both Sinful & Positive reactions can be effected or enhanced through culture, environment and or upbringing. What are called “good works” [positive reaction] of man cannot get you into the Kingdom of God. [Ephesians 2:8]

For instance; a friend comes back from the store and reports that he ran into Shelly who was having a bad night. She needed money for cigarettes to calm down. She was hysterical. So your friend states that he bought her some smokes to help her. Replace the cigarettes with dope or alcohol and you can begin to understand this distorted so called “positive” action more completely.

A recovered alcoholic would not buy a friend a “drink” to help him or her calm down. This is because the recovered alcoholic understands the distorted and aberrant thoughts alcohol produces in people. Even people who are not alcoholics.

A smoker who stopped smoking and survived throat cancer would not buy a friend a pack of smokes to “help him calm down”. You begin to understand the importance of having true and real EXPERIENCE with the reality of the static moral law before truly appreciating it.

The ‘good actions’ of fallen men are sinful from defect. They lack the principle which can make them right in the sight of God. If the person does not have the Holy Spirit even a seemingly “good act” cannot be truly correct in the sight of God. “They that are in the flesh cannot please God.” [Romans 8:8] No good act can get you into the Kingdom of God. Understand that even the virtues of a person who has not the Holy Spirit are corrupt.

So instead of “positive” and “negative” let us speak and act on the Truth as it is in Jesus the Christ. Amen

Yet there are those who still refute the Truth…..

“Such are the adversaries with whom we have to deal, my very dear friend, endeavouring like slippery serpents to escape at all points. Where- fore they must be opposed at all points, if per- chance, by cutting off their retreat, we may succeed in turning them back to the truth. For, though it is not an easy thing for a soul under the influence of error to repent, yet, on the other hand, it is not altogether impossible to escape from error when the truth is brought alongside it.” ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

As Christians living with computers and the internet it is much easier for the heretics to spue out lies and error. We must not give up and we must continue to fight the good fight. Yes, it takes work on our part…it takes dealing with false accusations against us, it means we will be despised and even hated by members of our own household sometimes. Each person is responsible for their own salvation in the sense that nobody can choose Jesus Christ for them and nobody can tell anybody what the Truth is without knowing the Word of God or through the sacrament of baptism.

The modern day judiazers such as the sect of “Seventh-Day Adventists” (who have added to Scripture with their false prophetess, Ellen White) and the “Worldwide Church of God” who stress day-keeping for salvation are still here yelling out lies and heresies. All of these heresies have already been dealt with in Scripture itself by Apostle Paul. The early saints warned about these heresies and even today they are still being exposed by the remaining original Antiochene believers, “The Shepherds Way”.

The true mysteries of the Gospel are not “hidden” in the sense that they cannot be found. If one goes to a healthy church there are the mysteries right before their very eyes. So the Bible does teach mysteries but not in the sense of the Gnostic mysteries. The mysteries are revealed in Scripture, by Scripture. They are there to see but you do have to “seek” to find. Open the Word and begin to look inside. What we expose are the so called “mysteries” of the initiates, those in the mystery schools. They place their so called pagan mysteries above the Revealed Word of God.

“It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the succession of these men to our own times; those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden (Gnostic) mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to "the perfect" apart and privily from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. For they were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon [to the Church], but if they should fall away, the direst calamity.” ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

Jesus Himself confirms this: “I said nothing in secret.” (John 18:20) Jesus gave the Truth to those who were truly seeking it. He did not have one set of rules for the Apostles and another for the followers.

St. Irenaeus talks about the great universal church at Rome not because it was Roman Catholic but because it was founded and bishoped by Apostle Paul & Peter…this was way before what today is known as the “Roman Catholic Church” even existed. Again, the Roman Church takes St. Irenaeus out of context to support their false Church and so called “pope”.

There were Christians living in Rome before Apostle Peter or Paul arrived there. These groups were originally started by the seventy sent out by Jesus Christ Himself. As a matter of fact it was Apostle Paul who wrote to the churches [Christians meeting in homes] of Rome before he went there first, then Peter joined him as they set up proper elders and bishops there. Ultimately Apostle Paul and Peter were both martyred in Rome.-

So it is true that the organized Christian Church in Rome was founded by Apostle Paul and Peter.

The early Christians took heresy seriously in so much so that they stayed far away from false teachers and known heretics. Today people put up with almost any false doctrines and we have a basket full of Christians only in name but empty inside. Look how the Apostle John avoided heretics:

“There are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, "Dost thou know me?" "I do know thee, the first-born of Satan." Such was the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth; as Paul also says, "A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself." ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

So though as Christians we are to show compassion for the lost, at the same time we are not to be seen in any way supporting heresy. To have a few pagan friends is one thing but to agree with them and fight with them into stupidity is useless. We should always try and pray for them.

“Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the Church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to the Scrip-rural proof furnished by those apostles who did also write the Gospel, in which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, and that no lie is in Him.” ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

Amen and Amen

By St. E.W. King & St. Irenaeus (December 11^th 2019)

Greek Orthodox Christian Byzantine Music in AgSofia Kabarnos βυζαντινή μουσική

Εξέδυσαν με. Οι "ανθρωποι" βάζουν στον πλάστη τους και Θεό στέφανον εξ ακανθών, του δίνουν να πιεί όξος, τον ραπίζουν, εμπτύζουν, τον καρφώνουν και στο τέλος τον τρυπούν με την λόγχη. Μ. Παρασκευή. Ψάλλει ο Πρωτοψάλτης Καβαρνός Kabarnos Νικόδημος .Βυζαντινή μουσική First concert in Ag Sofia Η πρώτη Συναυλία στην Αγ.Σοφία Κων/πόλεως με την βοήθεια της τεχνολογίας.Holy Hymns Kabarnos Καβαρνός Μ.Εβδομάδα 2008. Ύμνους Μ. Εβδομάδας.Easter.

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1 comment:

Nugget of TruthDecember 13, 2019 at 10:01 AM
“Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the Church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to the Scrip-rural proof furnished by those apostles who did also write the Gospel, in which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth, and that no lie is in Him.” ~ St. Irenaeus (Against Heretics -3)

Friday, December 13, 2019

Refute Modern Heretics in 2019

Greek Orthodox Christian Byzantine Music in AgSofia Kabarnos βυζαντινή μουσική

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