The Shepherds Way (TSW) ~ Eric W. King: Historical connections to the original Church?

Historical connections to the original Church?

By Eric William King (Founder of TSW & “Nugget of Truth”)

Today in the United States of America there are many churches that call themselves “Christian”. Just about anybody can legally start a church and start teaching things that he or she believes in personally. So let’s look into what this might mean in regards to what some might call “historical Christianity”.

First off, if one reads the Bible he or she will find that Jesus Christ Himself stated: “I will build my church and the gates of Hades (or hell) shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18) So when did Jesus build this church? Notice that this church is “His church”, not mans. So first off, Jesus did not start a “non-profit” organization following some legal standard. Second, nowhere in Scripture do we read that Christ’s church was to be “denominated”, or divided into groups with slightly differing beliefs. So right away we have some issues with all the so called “denominations” around the globe.

We read that after Jesus resurrected He appeared to His disciples and told them to go and wait in an upper room where He would empower them with the “gift of the Holy Spirit” thus charging His church to begin in the “great commission” to call in others from all over the world. The “Book of Acts” records that this event did indeed happen and thus the church began, sometime around 33 AD. (Acts 1:4)

So this means (going clearly by Scripture) that that same church is still here to this day. Jesus said that until He comes for His church it would not be destroyed. The next question becomes, “So where is it amongst all the confusion?” This leads us to look closely at another teaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us that if we remain in His word we will know the truth and this truth would “set us free” - free from sin and error. (John 8:31,32; John 15:7)

Authority of Scripture

This guides us to base our understanding of the Christian Church based on the teachings of His Word, which all churches recognize as the Christian Bible. Now we get into proper interpretation, this is where I truly believe that not only should we begin to understand what I call the “Seven Rules of Interpretation” but we must also delve into the earliest church and the writings of those who actually knew some of the first apostles.

Without here getting into too much detail regarding the Seven Ancient Antiochene Rules of Interpretation I will list the basic outline of what they are:

1-Prayer: Always pray first before any study of God’s word.

2-Consider the Context: Both the “near” & “far” context of any passage.

3-Understanding Words: Learn the meaning of words in question.

4-Understanding Grammar: Simile, metaphor, idiom, allegory, figure of speech, hyperbole.

5-Grasping the Authors Intention: Motivation behind the letter.

6-Studying the Background: Historical environment of the time.

7-Interpreting Scripture by Scripture: Letting the Bible interpret itself.

Two Oldest Churches

The two claimed oldest churches are the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church which of course still exist unto this day. Just because they are old and still exist mustn’t what they both teach still be tested by the Word of God? If we believe Jesus and the first apostles, Yes! (1^st John 4:1; Isaiah 8:20)

How to Test the Churches

Another very important thing to keep in mind is that the apostle Paul himself warned in the epistles that in latter times many calling themselves “Christian” would fall away from the Truth and begin to teach false doctrine (Acts 20:29-31). So how does one test false doctrine? Again, by using the Word itself, comparing what the Scriptures say to what others might say.

One cannot “add” or “subtract” from the Scriptures. (Galatians 1:6-9; Duet. 4:2; Prov. 3:6; Rev. 22:18,19)

Early Writings

So we do have early writings from first Christians who actually knew some of the apostles such as St Justin Martyr, St Papius, St Ignatius and others. Reading the early writings from what is called the Patristic Period of the church is also extremely important. This period starts at 100 AD and ends with the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. It is important to understand how the early church understood Scripture and handled issues.

So called “Apostolic Succession”

The Roman Church bases their authority not on Scripture but on what they call “apostolic succession” which means that they believe they have a list of “popes” which connects them to the Church that Jesus built. First of all, Jesus never appointed “popes” over His church and second of all their so called “apostolic list” of “popes” was made up in 514 AD by a disgruntled pope to try and prove his point.

Apostolic Authority

The Bible does tell us to trust apostolic authority which simply means that we should trust what the original apostles wrote in Scripture. When we look at the life of Apostle Paul we find that he did not have any approval of the church and as a matter of fact before his conversion he was persecuting the church. Jesus Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus and called him to follow. Here we see that to be “called of God” is an individual thing. There doesn’t have to be a direct contact to some church organization or affiliation. (Also see Matt. 3:9)

The true Church is Catholic

The word “catholic” simply means universal and whole. Today people associate this word with “Roman Catholic” but the earliest church (way before the schism and creation of the Roman church) called itself catholic. St. Ignatius used the term to show that the true church of Jesus Christ is not divided, it is whole and that it is universal…not denominated. So the true church is in fact catholic – with a small “c”.

The true church is also “orthodox”. This in its religious sense simply means conforming to the “original” or “fundamental” teachings of true Christianity. The true church is also what we would call “apostolic” which means that it holds to and teaches what the original apostles taught.

The true church is thus not a continuation of the claims of men but is instead the continuation of the TRUE TEACHINGS of Scripture. Also, the Christian Church does not create the Scriptures (Word of God) but instead the Word of God creates the proper Church.

Ending Thoughts

Finally, Jesus built His church on the testimony of Apostle Peter who stated that Jesus was and is the true Messiah. After Peter stated this Jesus confirmed that it was upon this truth (the testimony of Peter and not on Peter himself) that He would build His church and that He did. It is still here today operative on planet earth. On the Rock of Peter’s testimony (not on Peter) that Jesus is in fact the Messiah the Church is built. (Matthew 16:17,18)

The Shepherds Way

Thank you for reading this article and you are invited to continue your studies here at “The Shepherds Way” (TSW). This ministry was started on October 10^th of 2017 and is a continuation of the true teachings of Jesus Christ and the church that He built.

Eric W. King (Founder of TSW & “Nugget of Truth”) – April 2^nd 2020