Tag: Rome

Chapter 1: Introduction

Part 1: From Apostles to Apostates

  • ( Apostles) Persons who are commissioned by the Authority of Jesus Christ to preach the gospel to the World and administer the Affairs of his Church here on Earth.
  • * ( Apostate) Persons who have intentionally abandoned their former believe system and those who follow them

As long as Jesus Christ was alive, the Jewish Authorities hounded him without let up. Inciting, heckling, and disrupting him during his public teachings, the shouting and accusations soon escalated to physical violence and in the end, his death. His fellow Jews threatened civil unrest if Christ did not cease and desist. The local Roman authorities had already reached their limits of tolerance with these almost ungovernable, religious fanatical Jews.

Yet what they feared even more were reprisals from Rome if they took no action at all to squash this latest rebellion.

 Pilot had already been threatened with retribution because of his mishandling of Roman/Jewish affairs in Jerusalem. He was more that eager to collaborate with the Jewish Sanhedrin to bring about a quick and final solution which culminated in the execution of Christ. There on a cross, among thieves at Golgotha, the place of the skull, he died like a common criminal. 

This deed, accomplished in a very ordinary, unspectacular location, was intended to end the rise of this troublesome teacher. Instead it was his launching pad, literally when he rose from the dead three days later.

There was nothing ordinary about the life of Christ. Not the way he was born, not the way he lived and not the way he died. Certainly no one had risen from the dead before. Every effort was made then, and ever since, to make it appear that none of the supernatural events recorded ever happened. His death and the disappearance of his body from the tomb was explained away. The Roman guards were bribed to falsely report his friends came by night and stole the body. Unarmed rebel-rousers overpowering the experienced, battle hardened Roman soldiers? I hardly think so. The penalty for such dereliction of duty was death. Where were the dead bodies of at least some of the rabble the guards had managed to kill before submitting? Where were the dead bodies of the soldiers who had been overwhelmed? Surely, they would have fought to their death. Where was the evidence to suggest such a scenario? The shoddy attempt at a cover up was obvious. The Jews do admit Jesus was a good and wise teacher. In the end, they could eliminate the teacher, but they could not eliminate his teachings.

In the short three years Jesus taught, his teachings were filled with wisdom and life-changing concepts for those who believed Him. He turned the skeptic’s conception of heir God from one of oppression and punishment to one of Love, Compassion and Forgiveness. He redirected their hopelessness into service for others and hope for an eternal life for all. He organized a Church with Apostles, Pastors, Priests and Prophets. He commanded them to go into the world to preach His word to every nation, tongue and people.

After his appearance following his crucifixion they, being filled with the Holy Ghost, went forward to do this missionary work as they had been commanded. With the exception of John, each sealed his testimony with the shedding of their own blood.

In one of Christ’s last acts of encouragement, He stood outside Jerusalem reassuring these disciples of His love and promised he would return. Then He suddenly ascended in a light into the Heavens. He was gone. They were on their own. What great courage and conviction it must have taken for them to pull their hoods over their heads, wrap their cloaks tightly over their shoulders and walk into the winds of adversity and death. In a few short years, they too, would lay lifeless, having sacrificed their all to the cause.

The message of Christ, his atonement and his resurrection were immediately subjected to a deliberate conspiracy to falsify and distort. This conspiracy reached its pinnacle of madness in the third and fourth centuries, A.D. Roman and Greek scholars and philosophers reconstructed the teachings of Christ in a manner more acceptable to their limited logic and understanding. Had Christ’s ministry been an exercise of futility? Had He failed? Ask the millions of followers who have embraced his gospel since. Ask yourself the same question. 

This written testimony is a brief summary of that period of history. It hopes to catch both the miraculous as well as the malicious events that occurred to the orphaned child, the Church of Jesus Christ.

Abandoned almost at birth in a wild and scheming world, the Church grew into an almost totally unrecognizable adulthood. The simple yet profound gospel, taught with so much hope by Jesus of Nazareth, became a sophisticated lady of the night. Powerful and unprincipled, she reigned with blood and horror. Miraculously, an ember of its former self still burned in her calloused heart. This ember is what fed the hopes of millions down through the dark centuries that followed.

I will be satisfied if even one soul, my own perhaps, will have been improved from better knowing the history of those colossal events and the persons that shaped the western Church for the next 1600 years. After all, it was this same Church that spawned the New Testament , the Bible. It became the only witness of Christ available to countless Christian Martyrs for over 1800 years. And it was that same Bible that sent a searching young boy into the woods, to his knees in prayer in 1820 after reading these words in James 1: 5.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him. “

The long dark night of spiritual ignorance, and famine of hearing the word of God would have to wait almost two millennium before that event.

Chapter 2: Loss of Authority and Revelation

Part 1: Apostles to Apostates

Peter, James and John were called as the first presidency of Christ’s church in the meridian of time. Evidence of them receiving the keys for such is recorded in Matt 16: 19. Following this event, we have several accounts of these same brethren accompanying Christ on His various special moments and miraculous events (Mark 5: 37-42, Matt 26: 37–39, John 20: 1-10). How did it happen that within a few short centuries the Church of Jesus Christ, laid with a foundation of Apostles, 70’s , Bishops, Elders, Teachers and Priests, had all but disappeared? While persecution from without was a ever deadly and constant danger, it was not the determining factor. The real threat was discord and contention and came from within.

As the center core of priesthood leaders began their solemn mandate to bring Christ’s message to the world, they immediately drew the attention of the political authorities, both Jewish and Roman. 

The Romans generally were tolerant of diverse religions, but Palestinian Jews were in constant rebellion. Nero is rumored to have been responsible for the burning of Rome. He found it was convenient for his own future to blame the Christians. This started a new round of serious Christian persecution. The brutal attacks on these newly converted Jews brought imprisonment and execution of some of their leaders. James, brother of John, (both sons of Zebedee), was slain by the sword of Herod. Peter was imprisoned and later disappeared under the decree of Nero. He is believed to have been crucified in Rome, nailed to the cross, upside down. The first James was replaced by James the Brother of Jesus. It is his book (Epistle of James) we have in the New Testament. This James was brought up on the walls of the City by the Jews and commanded to deny Christ in front of the congregation. Instead he bore his testimony of Christ’s Messiahship. He was cast down off the walls and stoned to death. John the Beloved (the same John also known as the son of Zebedee) was promised to remain on Earth until the second coming of Christ, but we lose track of him for almost half a century. In his later years, John was banished to the Isle of Patmos where he received a vision which now forms the basis of the Book of Revelation. Meanwhile he wrote three other letters that we are aware of (1st, 2nd and 3rd John), then disappeared after 98 A.D. By that time, tradition records the deaths of the other Apostles as follows:

Judas Iscariot, Suicide 33. A D 
Jude (Judas, brother of James), Martyred in Egypt
Simon the Zealot, Killed by sword in Persia
Thomas, Speared in India
Matthew, Martyred in Ethiopia
Bartholomew, Flayed and beheaded in Arabia for refusing to honour Pagan God
Phillip, Died in Phrygia by a Roman Proconsul
Andrew, Crucified in Greece
Paul, Beheaded by Nero in Rome

With no Prophets or Apostles to guide them,the Church lost its Priesthood channel to Christ, the source of revelation. The most senior Priesthood authority was that of a Bishop. But which one should lead and by what authority? There had been many called and set apart through-out the Middle East. However, it was not in the mandate of any Bishop to receive revelation and speak for the entire Church.

When Paul (formerly Saul) was converted and commenced his major missionary efforts,they extended far beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem, Syria or Palestine. His success resulted in a sudden wave of untrained members, most without any in-depth knowledge of their newly found religion. Many spoke foreign languages. Even more still clung to old beliefs and practices. As fast as they established branches and appointed local Bishops, the Jewish, the Gnostics, the Pagans and the Romans pressured the new converts to abandon their faith. Paul spent most of his time and energies correcting and decrying the false doctrines of the rebellious and floundering factions within the Church. Paul’s warnings were numerous, but in general they were ineffective as the swarms of opponents overwhelm the capabilities and resources of the new members. Paul specifically warns of the impending disintegration:

Acts 20:28 -29
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own Blood. For I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.”

Paul’s words to Timothy were accurate and ominous:
2 Timothy 4: 3
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts shall they heap themselves teachers having itching ears.”

After the death of Paul, his influence all but ceased and the hearts of the disbelievers and total membership began to shrivel. The Old Testament Prophet, Amos had cautioned this would happen.

Amos 8: 11-12
“Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor of the thirst for water, but of hearing the word of God. And they shall wander from sea to sea and from the North even to the East they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it”. 

Among the Bishops who wrote letters of concern were, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna. These men however recognized they did not have the authority to receive revelation regarding the affairs of the overall Church as did the Apostles or Paul. They recorded their concerns regarding the apostate affairs of the various branches but could not do anything more to change them. 

It was a period of extreme confusion of which we have the least amount of documentation in all of church history. Charismatic and popular members in some branches were appointed as Bishops, while other already appointed were dismissed. Where no authority existed, members contested for Priesthood positions. This led to competitions within branches for authority over other branches whose geographical boundaries and membership was smaller. Writings from other concerned Bishops indicate the level of chaos that existed from the early second to the early fourth centuries A.D. 

Author, Location, Date, Concerns 

Herman: Rome 150 AD
– Stresses righteousness in the face of apostasy.
– Emphasizes baptism for living and dead.

Justin Martyr: Rome 150 AD
– Presents Christ as second to God. It was He(Christ) who revealed early Christian doctrines and worship.

Irenaeus: Lyons 200 AD
– Against heresies.
– Opposes Gnostic views and the Rationalization of the teachings of Christ.

Clement: Alexandria 190- 215 AD
– Opposes paganism but is personally influenced Greek philosophers.

Tertullian: Carthage 195-220 AD
– Left Church to support a growing movement away from floundering Saints to the primitive purity thought only to exist in the breakaway sects in the Dessert

Origen: Alexandria 203-253 AD
– Most influential theologian of his day.
– Author of first systematic attempt in Christian theology.
– Heavily influenced by Greek philosophers

Cyprian: Carthage 249 AD
– Wrote 65 letters regarding doctrinal and administrative concerns.
– Insisted on his Bishopric being independent of Rome.
– Held strict views regarding lapsing Christians.

Eusebius: Caesarea 325 AD
– Attempted to show apostolic continuity, thereby  preserving valuable quotations from early writings from the Pre-Nicene Christian beliefs.

As the Church spiraled downward, none of them could have imagined that they and their entire squabbling, disorganized, Church would be saved by a brutal, savage Warlord. He had already had his wife and son executed .His bloodied hands held the only power strong enough to force the contentious Church leaders together. He was to become the longest ruling Emperor of Rome. His titles would include, Augustus Constantine, Emperor Constantine, Constantine the Great and finally, Saint Constantine. All titles, he bestowed upon himself because there was no other that he, with power to do so.

The Head of the Church moves from being “Christ Directed” to “Roman Emperor Directed”

This is the defining moment in time when the Church, established by Christ Himself, lost all recognition and pretense of being “From God”. The Head of the Church, while clothed in the Bishop’s religious finery and augmented by scriptures, now was no more than a puppet, a tool under the of control of the firm hand of the most powerful, undisputed ruler of the Western Empire. 

After securing this grip and bringing a brief, rare degree of stability to the Roman Empire, Constantine focused on halting the practice of persecuting Christians and the almost impossible task of bringing peace and order among the Bishops. Until then, these two problems had been the major threats both to the Church and to the Emperor.

Through the Edict of Milan, Constantine dealt with the first threat from the outside. Under the leadership of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the fiercest persecution ever launched against the Christians was resulting in the deaths of thousands. Constantine ordered that Christianity be legalized, their scriptures deemed sacrosanct and that their property returned. In 305 A.D. Constantine was victorious. Christianity was proclaimed as the State Religion.

The second threat was much more difficult. Not only was there major geographic, political and language differences between the Bishops, but the misunderstandings and the quarreling had now threatened to split the West and Eastern Empires. Their reasoning and differences, which had formerly been somewhat modified by the influence of the Holy Ghost, had produced a degree of moderation and cooperation. But with the power of the Holy Ghost long departed, everything of a spiritual nature was now resolved by theologians or philosophers over whom the Emperor exercised total and complete control. In contrast to the former Bishops and other spiritually minded Church leaders who still possessed a degree of conviction of the Gospel truths. Now in control of the Church were educators, philosophers, who required only that they were adequately and formally educated in he traditional schools of Rhetorical principles, available in Troy and Alexandria

Constantine’s main concern was to quell the religious dissent and turmoil that threatened the unity of his Empire. He already had total control of his subjects while they were alive. What more could he ask for than to gain complete power over men’s lives even after they were dead? Was not the Church, with its promise to grant men their salvation, just the means whereby he could achieve such a goal? 

Constantine’s resolve to save the Church and grant himself the supreme and ultimate power that it alone held, could do just that. He did just that. Such a bold move gave him what previous Emperors could not even have dreamed of. He succeeded but the price to the Church of Jesus Christ was the total spiritual bankruptcy of Christianity. The Church was now effectively hijacked by the State through a merger of the two most powerful bodies in the Empire., the Church and the State.

In a first attempt to consolidate, Constantine convened a conference to be held in Nicaea in 325.A.D. Between 250 to 318 Bishops from all of the Christian world attended. Constantine presided over the council. His presence, while certainly intimidating, did not necessarily influence the outcome of the theological conclusions reached. But with the specific goals which he was determined to have resolved, he was resolute. 

Here are some of the goals and topics on the agenda:

1/ To establish a common uniform doctrine and creed, acceptable to everyone and which would become compulsory for all citizens.

2/ To agree upon which books would be included as cannon (accepted scriptures and writings.)

3/ No council had been held since the one in Jerusalem (which had convened to set conditions so Gentiles could join the Church). This Council was to be recognize as the precedent for all future councils.

4/ The Council would resolve disagreements regarding the understanding of the nature of God, his Son and the Holy Ghost.

5/ To establish when holy celebrations, such as Easter and Christmas, would be held. 

6/ To establish a system whereby consensus would be reached on issues, now and in the future.

7/ To find a solution to the Arian Controversy. (Arius led a group, deemed to be heretical, that believed the nature of Christ was different from that accepted by the other Bishops).

8/ To establish procedure to ordain future clergy.

9/ To agree upon a system for the construction of Church buildings.

10/ To establishing norms for public repentance and punishments.

11/ To agree upon how to admit repentant heretics.

12/ Find clarification for the role of Deacons.

Two of these agreements drastically reduced the authority previously held by the Church:

1/ The Bishop’s role became inferior to the Emperor’s and in some cases, no power existent beyond the Bishop’s own parish. 

2/ It opened the door wide for the academics, (appointed by Rome), to tinker, revise, replace or otherwise transform the basic core doctrines of the Church as they pleased

Upon the death of Constantine in 337 A.D. the civilized Christian Church of the world waited to see how all that Constantine had wrought would work out. Waiting in the wings was the perfect candidate to take advantage of this transformation. His name was Aurelius Augustine.

St. Augustine.

Augustine was born 354 A D in Tagaste, North Africa. Not for better, but for worse, he took the lead to further complicate what Constantine had started.

He is a window to everything that was wrong with the Greek society of his day. Having spent his early youth in a wild orgy of living, Augustine reasoned that man had not the power by himself to change his own behavior from sinful to righteous. His father was a pagan and his mother a Christian. She deterred him from being baptized until, as she put it, “The irregularities and excesses of youth were passed”. Augustine expressed his attitude in his own words: “Give me chastity, but give it not yet.” 

He rejected the religion of his mother (Christian) because he thought the Bible was “barbarous and incomprehensible”. He practiced the Manichean lifestyle, a Persian religion popular in his day that proposed that there were two opposing powers in the world: good and evil. Unfortunately, they were out of balance and nothing but living an ascetic lifestyle of complete self-discipline and denial would bring the two into a balanced position again. All these experiences and influences early in his life reflected themselves in Augustine’s prolific writings later. Naturally, these strong-held personal beliefs surfaced thereafter as the foundational principles of the dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. 

The victory of the philosophical conclusions of the purpose of man’s existence over the recorded scriptures of Christ and the inspired Apostolic teachings, was completed by the hand and mind of Augustine. Tutored in the sciences, rhetoric, mathematics and philosophy, the antithesis of the simple soul-teachings of Christ, he was perfectly positioned to become the greatest influence on the thinking and doctrine of the Catholic Church since Paul. 

Chapter 3: Effects of Greek Philosophy: Augustine

  Part 1: From Apostles to Apostates

While the Nicene Council’s intent was to put an end to the speculation and descent within the Church, it in fact served to do just the opposite. The church in the fourth Century had long ago dispensed with the theological teachings of the Biblical religion of Christ. Arguments based on erroneous conclusions only produced more philosophic speculation. Those who opposed these speculations, such as Arius who was a member of the council of Elders, were excommunicated. This however did not mean the end of the Arian movement or a wholesale unification of understanding. It simply broke the Church into smaller factions. These ranged from near-alignment to the Nicene model to all the way to radicalism. Fortunately Arius suddenly died in 336 A.D., and thereafter the movement slowly was absorbed into what was rapidly and systematically becoming the “Classic Theism” or “Acceptable Thinking”, as seen by the senior Bishop ( Augustine). This all-encompassing orthodoxy about the nature of the God Head is still embraced by the majority of Catholic and Protestant churches alike in the world today. 

Two of the major figures in this philosophical quarrel at that time, were Pelagius and Augustine. Their opposing views mirrored their contrasting life experiences. If an understanding of how the early Greek philosophers came to this collection of nonsense called collective reasoning, then it is very important to first understand the thinking and background of the men who more than any others, brought it about. It is after all, this reasoning that influenced what the world wide Christian Church would believe for the next 1,500 years.

Starting first with the works of Augustine, these are some of the issues about which he wrote.

1/ The depravity of human man.

The two major influences regarding this point of view were his early immoral life style and the guilt of it that he felt for the rest of his life. Secondly was his 9 years as a Manichean. The latter’s views about man were that his nature was essentially evil and that he by himself could never become righteous. Righteousness was attained by suppressing everything to do with the physical body and its needs while devoting all one’s energies and thoughts to the perfecting of the spirit.

2/ The idea of Saving Grace 
This concept came about as a result of his conversion to Christianity which he relates as follows.
Augustine had listened to the lectures of Ambrose because he was fascinated by his eloquence. This led him later to read the epistles of Paul which in turn caused him to feel he should give up his immoral habits. Being imbued with the teachings of the Manicheans that “man is evil and could not overcome evil”, he pleaded, “Give me chastity, but not yet!” The spirit was willing but the body was too, too out of balance to give up all that sin so soon. While in the midst of a battle between his beliefs and his guilt, he prayed to God and asked for help to end his life of immorality. Suddenly he heard the voice of a child singing from a house, “Take up and read. Take up and read.” He immediately got up and found a Book of scriptures. He read the first verse he had opened to. It was the story of a young man who asked Christ what he should do to be saved. Christ replied “Go and sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven, and come follow me.” (Luke 18: 22) He returned to read again from the volume of the Apostles and there read, “Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provisions for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof.” (Romans 13: 12-14) That was sufficient for Augustine, he felt he had received direct revelation. Because of this experience, he concluded that evil-man could turn to God only if and when God wanted the change to take place. This gift of grace, he concluded, affected the will of man and was given free by God — not by any works or merit of man himself. 

3/ Organizing of Monastic orders 
Following his conversion and baptism, Augustine sold his property, gave up his chair in Milan, and with his friends, went to Africa where he set up a form of a Monastic community.

4/ The concept of an material GOD was incomprehensible. 
Having struggled with his physical desires, he could not believe that such evil passions could have any place in the nature of a pure God.

5/ Attempting to harmonize the” Trinity” with the teachings of the Bible. 
Because of his misunderstanding of the nature of God in the first place, he nor anyone else could come up with a logical relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

6/ The purpose of Evil. 
Without the understanding of the purpose of this life and the plan of Man’s salvation, there is no logical answer for evil in this world. It is in the understanding of choice and opposites provided in this world by Satan, that we appreciate the need for evil.

7/ Original or “Inherited” sin. 
The struggle of choosing good or evil portrayed in the garden drama resulting in the ultimate fall from grace of Adam and Eve, was understood to be the penalty of a displeased God imposed upon his disobedient Children. This conclusion demonstrates the complete ignorance on the part of the Church leaders in the 4th century of the purpose for man’s existence. 

8/ The “Elect”. 
The philosophers clearly thought of themselves as being the “elect” because of their superior education. Still there seemed to be no common reasoning as to the “ways of the Lord” and why he would favour or “respect” certain people over others.

9/ God alone is responsible for man’s salvation. 
God selects only a few, the rest he abandons. There is nothing man can do on his own to change this arbitrary selection of God. This is a natural conclusion following the misunderstanding of the Nature of God as shown in item 8.

10/ All must be baptized to enter the Kingdom of God. 
Another logical conclusion from an incorrect assumption and understanding of John 3: 3-5. Christ demonstrated by his own baptism and his gathering of little Children around himself what the qualifications were. Easily observable in little children, these qualities we must also have before our entry into the kingdom. Notice also the difference of qualifications in verse 3. Except a man be born again he cannot “see” the kingdom of Heaven or even conceive of the Kingdom of heaven, as opposed to verse 5 which states, “Except a man be born of water and the spirit” (in other words baptized and given the gift of the Holy Spirit), he cannot “enter” the Kingdom of God. The exception is the little children, who, before the years of accountability,“cannot sin for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children until they begin to become accountable unto me,” (D & C 29: 46-47) or age 8 years.
Another logical conclusion from an incorrect assumption and understanding of John 3: 3-5. Christ demonstrated by his own baptism and his gathering of little Children around himself what the qualifications were. Easily observable in little children, these qualities we must also have before our entry into the kingdom.
Notice also the difference of qualifications in verse 3. Except a man be born again he cannot “see” the kingdom of Heaven or even conceive of the Kingdom of heaven, as opposed to verse 5 which states, “Except a man be born of water and the spirit” (in other words baptized and given the gift of the Holy Spirit), he cannot “enter” the Kingdom of God. The exception is the little children, who, before the years of accountability,“cannot sin for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children until they begin to become accountable unto me,” (D&C 29: 46-47) or age 8 years.

Starting on the foundation of earlier false assumptions, all these thoughts were original and a result of Augustine’s creative thinking. He used scriptures out of context that supported his theories but ignored others that contradicted them. He relied upon Greek philosophy and personal experiences to arrive at his conclusions. Catholic and Protestant Churches of our day quote Augustine as their authority. He is the great Saint Augustine, and yet there has not ever been a greater contaminating influence than his personal religious philosophy was upon Christianity.

At first Augustine was tolerant of different religious ideas, but this was never the view of Roman Emperors. They had been the Supreme God of the Pagan religions in Rome prior to Christianity. They had tried to unify the Empire around Pagan worship. Constantine had made the Christian Church subject to Emperor’s will in the absence of any recognized christian church leader. Upon his death, this relationship did not change. Those who replaced Augustine continued to enforce Christian doctrine by political decree. They appointed Bishops, decided what was orthodox and what was not, and determined what punishment would be inflicted if disobeyed.

For the next 5 centuries, Augustine’s philosophies were deemed to be correct. Therefore, they were imposed by Imperial edict. Heresy was put on the same level as murder or treason, punishable by death. The Church had become the co-conspirator in the hands of the State to control opposition and heresy. The struggle for dominance between State and Church was inevitable. It was only a matter of time and opportunity until their roles would reverse.

Chapter 4: Effects of Greek Philosophers: Pelagius

 Part 1: From Apostles to Apostates

The only other intellectual person of a caliber capable of challenging Augustine on a philosophical level, was Pelagius. He was an educated Monk from Britain whose temperament, lifestyle and personal experience was very different from that of Augustine.

His chief concern was the immorality of the Roman Empire. Augustine’s conclusions, as far as he was concerned, would have a very damaging effect on the faith of the people. More specifically, he concluded, it killed the incentive of those who might be inclined to think of themselves as elect or already saved. How could they repent? Why would they feel it necessary when there was nothing they could do, good or bad, which could alter their God given status. And what about those who were not elect? Would this not have a detrimental effect if they were doomed to rot in hell regardless of what good they might do? What incentive would they have to improve their lot both here and in the here-after? The idea of such an arrangement most appealed to those who wanted salvation but were not interested in living the gospel to acquire it. 

Pelagius rejected the concepts of:
1/ Infant baptism.
2/ Inherited sin. (We inherited Sin of Adam and Eve’s partaking of the fruit of the tree.)
3/ Adam having been born mortal.
4/ Grace being for only select individuals.

His own Doctrine included:
1/ Confession of faults and responsibility for choices.
2/ 10 commandments were an obligation to personal, moral cleanliness.
3/ Free agency or the ability of man to choose salvation or reject it for himself.
4/ Salvation obtained through obedience to God’s commandments.
5/ Saving power of Good Works contributes to Salvation.
6/ Baptism and Redeeming Blood of Christ (atonement) was essential.
7/ Man was not inherently evil, but by his own volition, he could overcome evil by doing good without recourse to Grace.
8/ No original sin resulted from the fall of man.
9/ Man responsible for his own sins.
10/ God does not pre-destine man to Heaven or Hell. Man makes this choice though his own behaviour.

Pelagius began his teaching in Rome where he met no opposition. However, when he went to Africa the reaction to his teaching was violent. There he was brought before a council in Carthage and his teachings condemned. In Palestine he was attacked by Jerome, even though Pelagius had the support of Bishop John of Jerusalem. The source of his main opposition came from the influence of Augustine. In the Western world, Augustine’s word on things theological was considered to be the ultimate authority.

Pope Innocence I of Rome condemned Pelagius and his teachings. When he refused to acquiesce, Pelagius was excommunicated and banned from Rome. This effectively silenced him as he no longer had credentials or access to an audience. 

Their differences however divided the Church. The timing was not in his favour. At the first opportunity, Pelagius would be labelled a heretic. With Augustine’s new powers, he achieved far more from connections than corrections. Pelagius was eliminated. We do not know if he was executed but history lost contact with him about 422.A.D. We cannot help but wonder how much better off the fledgling church might have been had this power struggle ended differently.


Chapter 5: Councils

 Part 1: From Apostles to Apostates

Over the centuries many councils in many locations were called. Some were considered to be without authority or legitimacy and others were of an insufficient nature so as not to affect the entire Christian World. Only the first 8 conferences have been accepted generally as they established orthodoxy.

The views express in these councils, instead of bringing unity of thought and purpose, caused a war that festered and never, ever healed. Dethroning, anathematizing, beatings and killings could not impose one side’s doctrine on the other. Nor could they ever come to a common solution acceptable to both deeply entrenched sides. Their bitterness and rivalry are exposed in raw reality through the minutes of the Councils.

After personally reading a summary of the minutes of those councils beginning in 325 AD, at the Council of Nicaea that stretched over 1,500 years to the First General Council of the Vatican 1870, I can only express a feeling of sadness, loss and betrayal by those who had been entrusted with the stewardship of the Church of Jesus Christ following the death of the Apostles and the loss to the church of the Apostles’ inspired leadership. 

The following is a list of the first of those councils:

1st Nicea (325 AD)
– Resolve Christ’s divinity and Status
– Establish Common Creed, Settle Arien Controversy

1st Constantinople (381 AD)
– Refine Nicene creed
– Abolish Arianism
– Clarify Trinity (Three in One God Head)
– Define role of Holy Ghost

1st Ephesus (431 AD)
– Character and Nature of Christ
– Condemn Nestorians

2nd Ephesus (449 AD)
– Solve divisions over the 1 or 2 possible natures of Christ
– Flavian, supporter of two natures, was beaten and died.
-Pope Leo was anathematized along with most Eastern Bishops.
This entire Council was rejected and declared a “Robber Synod.”

Chalcedon (451 AD)
– To reverse the results of the 2nd Council of Ephesus
– Two natures of Christ accepted

2nd Constantinople (553 AD)
– Monophysite (One Nature of Christ) movement continued to split the Empire. Council condemned controversial writings which only resulted in a deeper split.

3rd Constantinople (680 AD)
– To settle arguments of Doctrine, ( I.E the nature of Christ.)

The Great Schism
– In 800 AD, Pope Leo 3rd is crowned Charlemagne, King of the Franks, as Emperor of Rome. This act cemented loyalty between Rome and the Franks, instead of the Byzantines. This split the Empire into two: the Roman Church (Franks) and the Church of Constantinople (Byzantines).  
– The schism became formal by 1054 AD under Pope Leo 4th.
– Byzantine and Roman Church Popes excommunicate each other. Each declared the other heretics.

Now we have two Churches, Roman Catholic in Rome and Eastern Orthodox in Africa.

During the seventh century, the Byzantine Empire split violently over the argument of the natures of Christ. Both East and West were severely weakened by constant external wars and violent internal religious strife. Both sides deemed their stand as absolute and non-negotiable. These religious wars did as much, if not more, to destroy the Roman Empire than any other major threat it faced. The worst and the best minds of its academics, the dim witted as well as the most devious of leaders, all tried but could not provide the solution.  

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. 
All the Kings horses and all the King’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.