In my former article, 'Emerging Church: New Name, Old Spirit', I gave a brief summary of the works of the Post-Apostolic Fathers and how they were successful in altering the pure and pristine doctrines and practices of the Apostolic Fathers (the 12 apostles). These men targeted the pure Apostolic Christianity that Jesus taught His disciples, the same truths that they preached and taught in the Book of Acts and the Epistles. Every Christian should remember the things recorded in the book of Acts and the Epistles from the year A.D. 33 (Feast Day of Pentecost) to the death of the last Apostle, John the Revelator, in A.D. 96. This is the scriptural picture of the church that Jesus purchased with his own blood, the church that Apostles of Jesus established and pastored for the 66 years recorded in the scriptures. If we believe the Bible to be the never-changing word of God (and it is), we must believe that these teachings recorded here became the pattern for all churches and all denominations until the return of Christ in the rapture.

One need not read much history to see that shortly after the death of the last Apostle, significant changes were made to the teachings of the Apostles. These changes and alterations would give both a new and different Christianity to our world, one that bore no resemblance to Apostolic Christianity. But rather an Orthodox or Traditional Christianity in which right would become wrong, and wrong would become right. As the Post-Apostolic Fathers blended the Greco-Roman philosophy with Christian teachings, they would introduce into the Christian teachings things that were never recorded in the Old or New Testament.

We must understand that all forms of error are a result of two actions: First, one must walk the path of ignorance (the state of being ignorant, or having no knowledge of the situation). Secondly, one must willingly ignore or disregard , or simply refuse to take notice.

The alterations to scripture by the Post-Apostolic Fathers were not a result of them being unlearned or ignorant, but on the contrary, they were very learned and educated, both in scripture and in secular knowledge. They were very aware of the effects their alterations would have upon Apostolic teachings, which are the teachings of Christ to His church. But in order for their agenda to be successful, changes would have to be made in the teachings of the Apostles. As theologians, they were very aware that the Bible forbids alterations to God's Word as stated in the following scriptures: Deut 4:2, Prov 4:6,and
Rev 22:18-19. Their actions were not the result of ignorance, they adjusted the scriptures while totally ignoring and disregarding the warnings against such actions. The word of God was an enemy to them and their works. Before anyone applauds them as men of God or great church leaders, let us pause and consider 2 John 9:10, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:"
Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 1:8, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."

Our dear Brother Lee Stoneking made a very powerful statement, "Two things come from God: revelation and delusion. An individual has to seek in order to receive either of these."

Sherperd of Hermas said in his third similitude: " These are they that believe in Christ, but while living sinfully lost not their faith". He changed what God's word taught about sinful living and introduced 'eternal security' into the church's teachings. These words cannot be found in the Bible, but Shepherd of Hermas gave Augustine this teaching which 200 years later caused him to proclaim that "the elect (Catholic Church) did nothing to inherit their salvation and could do nothing to lose it, even murder". Augustine taught the church that it could use physical force to bring departed parishioners back to the church. This sometimes involved murder under the umbrella of the Orthodox-Traditional Christianity. This is a Christianity far different from that described in the scriptures. This teaching gave birth to the commissioning of the Dominican and Jesuit orders of the Catholic Church, the violent militant arm of the Catholic Church that history records killed millions of innocent men and women whose only crime was that they were bible readers, holy people, who resisted the corrupt teachings of the Catholic Church.

Consider Martin Luther, who is also clearly an Orthodox-Traditional Christian. Luther went to war with Zwingli, who was also an Orthodox-Traditional Christian. When Zwingli attempted to assist one of his fallen soldiers, one of Martin Luther's soldiers ran him through with a sword. Here we see two Orthodox-Traditional Christians committing murder under the provision of an Orthodox-Traditional teaching which simply says, "unconditional eternal security is when once you have believed, you can do nothing to lose your salvation'. This teaching clearly shows how far men can go away from God, making changes of any kind to the word of God to suit their own purposes.

As I write this article, my heart trembles as I am reminded of the fact that we are called of God to preach, teach and preserve these wonderful Apostolic truths that the Bible clearly declares. We cannot forget that these sacred and cardinal doctrines did not begin in 1900, but rather at Pentecost in A.D. 33. Ephesians 2:20 says, "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;".

In closing, I resound the words of Jude 1:3 "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

And once again, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:"

Reverend W. R. Johnson, Sr.