The Communal Church
The church establishes a communal lifestyle:
♦
Acts 2:43
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done
by the apostles. 44. And all that believed were together, and had
all things common; 45. And sold their possessions and goods, and
parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46. And they,
continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread
from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness
of heart,
Communal living is an established
church practice:
♦ Acts
4:32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one
heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the
things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things
common.
33.
And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34. Neither
was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors
of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things
that were sold, 35. And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and
distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36.
And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is,
being interpreted, the son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the
country of Cyprus, 37. Having land, sold it, and brought the
money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Communal honesty is a serious matter:
♦ Acts
5:1. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his
wife, sold a possession, 2. And kept back part of the price, his
wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it
at the apostles' feet.
3.
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie
to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4. Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold,
was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in
thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5. And
Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and
great fear came on all them that heard these things. 6. And the
young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
7. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife,
not knowing what was done, came in. 8. And Peter answered unto
her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said,
Yea, for so much. 9. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye
have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the
feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and
shall carry thee out. 10. Then fell she down straightway at his
feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found
her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
Constantine’s Church
Constantine became Emperor of
western Rome after Diocletian abdicated in 305 AD. Under
Diocletian, 284-305 AD, the Christian faith suffered its worst
persecution, but had not been eradicated. Up to this time paganism
played an essential role in life and government and religion was
considered an area within the governments rule. Constantine was
sympathetic to Christianity and tolerant to diversity in religion,
but his conversion to Christianity after his rise to power was not
due to true religious zeal. Christianity was a more effective way
of accomplishing goals his rivals failed to reach under paganism.
It was certainly politically advantageous for him to convert. Soon
he was not only the head of Rome, but also the head of
Christianity. He found that if he portrayed himself as God's
appointed Emperor he could accomplish more than claiming himself to
be God. What he did in government was God's will, and of course by
claiming to be chosen by God, he was a natural as head of the
Church.
After solidifying his position to gain complete control of the
western portion of the empire in 312, he instituted the Edict of
Milan, a "Magna Carta of religious liberty," which eventually
changed the Empire’s religion and put Christianity on an equal
footing with paganism. Almost overnight the position of the Church
was reversed from persecuted to legal and accepted. Constantine
began to rely on the church for support, and it on him for
protection. The Church and the Empire formed an alliance, which
remains to this day. Very rapidly, the laws and policies of the
Empire and the doctrine of the Church became one with Constantine as
the interpreter of both law and policy.
Through a series of Universal Councils, he eliminated dissent
and dissenters, changed holy days, and outlawed the Sabbath. The
greatest effect he had was destroying any book in the accepted
biblical works, (over 80% of the total), he felt did not fit within
his concept of Christianity. He completely altered doctrine without
regard to biblical edict, set up a church hierarchy of his own
design, and established a set of beliefs and practices, which are
the basis for all mainstream Bible-based churches. The separation
of the Protestants and the Roman Church caused a physical split, but
the beliefs and practices established by Constantine remained almost
identical. Very little has changed since the 4th century Councils
changed the face of Christianity.
An Inspired Church?
In light of the realities outlined above some serious
questions need to be asked, and answered.
· Was
Constantine, a Roman emperor who embraced pagan religion for years
after his Christian "conversion", given a mandate from God to
completely change almost every aspect of the church Jesus
established?
· Did
God inspire Constantine to denounce and criminalize doctrine
established in scripture?
· Was
it God's will that the Emperor Constantine should blend Christianity
with a pagan religion, which God had clearly condemned and outlawed?
· Did
God guide a despotic king, with a prime motivation was to firmly
establish the "Divine Right of Kings", to translate the Bible into
an obscure language of the elite that kept it from the common man?
· Is
there any justification that allows the church to ignore clear and
specific biblical doctrines and practices?
· Does
it please God that the church teaches and practices doctrine that is
completely contrary to scripture?
· Is
it acceptable to Jesus that churches teach isolationism and
prejudice, and are concerned more about the design of their
buildings and the size of their Sunday attendance, than the number
of poor and indigent people they serve?
If one can answer any of the above
questions in the affirmative then this book will be more useful as a
paperweight, than a source of knowledge.
If the these questions lead one to
a conclusion that the origins of our modern church are not divinely
inspired but the result of human edict then this question has been
answered:
♦ “And
why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
(Luke 6:46)
The
