Category Archives: Early Church
Adoptionism Part 2
Adoptionism was the basis of Christianity, it appears, near the end of the the first century and for centuries was the principal doctrine for all the middle eastern and north African Christianity. The Adoptionists believed that Jesus was a creation of God and was begotten of God at his baptism. They took the concept of the ‘son of God’ in a metaphysical way, like a son that has been adopted and not literally. Continue reading
Adoptionism Part 1
Arius’ Christology was a mixture of adoptionism and logos theology. His basic notion was that the Son came into being through the will of the Father — the Son, therefore, had a beginning. Although the Son was before all eternity, he was NOT eternal, and Father and Son were NOT of the same essence. In Jesus, who suffered pain and wept, the logos became human.
Arius mixed the early Christian belief in Adoptionism and the Greek theology of the Logos. According to him, the Son had a beginning and came into being by the will of the Father. He existed with the Father before eternity, though he was not eternal as the Father and was not of the same essence as the Father. Jesus, the logos, became human having experienced life as a human. Continue reading
Which is the Real Truth?
I have heard people comment that Christianity today is so completely different than what Jesus taught in his day — and that is using a comparison from their own bibles. More and more people are becoming disillusioned with Christianity today and are either just not going to church or are looking for some alternative. Continue reading
Myths About the Bible
The bible has many mistranslations, forgeries, contradictions and inconsistencies — largely because of modifications it suffered. It is not considered by many to be historically reliable. However, there is still much Truth that survived. Continue reading
What the Early Christians Really Believed
The early first century Christians were radically different than what we are taught about them. They had their own gospel and rejected any alterations of the truth and even the letters of Paul. These Jewish Christians held teachings about Jesus and God that were much, much different than those of modern Christianity. The only difference between Jewish Christians and the traditional Jews was that they believed in and practiced the teachings of Jesus… only. Continue reading
Earliest Jewish Believers — Ebionites Part 2
They used only the Gospel of the Hebrews written by Matthew. (The Ebionites repudiated Paul) and used only the Gospel according to the Hebrews, making but slight account of the others. (Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. iii.27.4.) Continue reading
Earliest Jewish Believers: Ebionites Part 1
The very first believers in Jesus were not Christians. Christianity was not in existence yet — Christianity was a creation of St Paul. There were many names for these believers, but as Epiphanius writes: “Ebionite was at first… a common name for all Christians” (Epiphanius Adv. Haer., xxix. 1). Continue reading