A Chronology of Leaven (2006/06/17)
by Patrick Collins
Introduction
The Lord Jesus warned us in Matt 13.33 that “the kingdom of heaven is like
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all
leavened”. The parables of wheat and tares and of the mustard seed in the same
chapter give us a similar warning that the enemy of our souls would perform a
corrupting work within the sphere of God’s activities. He was not slow in doing
so, as Paul’s writings show. In 2 Thess 2.7 he warned that “the mystery of
iniquity is already at work” and in Acts 20.29-30 said that “after my departure
savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and
from among your own selves men will arise speaking perverse things, to draw away
the disciples after them”. John too alerted the church to the fact that “many
antichrists have arisen” (1 Jn 2.18).
What this paper presents is a historical, chronological record of the
introduction of leaven into the sphere of God’s activity, so we can see that
what started as a pure and powerful church was corrupted into dead religion. We
will identify, as far as possible, three things, namely the what, who and when -
who introduced what error and when. What we shall see is that Satan, as we
should expect, used craft and guile, moving carefully one small step at a time.
He introduced nothing rapidly, for then the saints would have been alerted.
Instead he introduced small degrees of error that eventually led to large
deviations as people grew colder towards God. Step by step the church paid less
attention to Scripture, listened less to the Holy Spirit, and instead turned to
men, until what God established at Pentecost became barely recognisable. But
there were usually some who spoke against the errors so that we have a record
that we can trace. There are those who like to see the Reformation as the
beginning of the recovery process and some who see it as the end of the process
but both these ideas are grossly in error. Attempts to speak against the errors
were made long before then, and that event in itself was only one small part of
the correction needed - it went nowhere near far enough, as we shall see, for it
left the saints still trapped by so many Babylonian devices.
It is interesting to note the simplicity of the early believers’ meetings. A
pagan testimony from AD 110 has been preserved and it clearly shows how close to
the original pattern they still were then. “they are accustomed on a certain day
to meet before daylight and to sing among themselves a hymn to Christ as a god;
and to bind themselves by an oath not to commit any wickedness; not to be guilty
of theft or robbery or adultery; never to falsify their word nor to deny a
pledge committed to them when called upon to return it. When these things were
performed it was their custom to separate and then come together again to a
harmless meal, of which they partook in common without any disorder”. This
speaks of an experience far removed from the modern “church service”. As we
proceed with our analysis we shall see how we were sidetracked step by step,
away from reality into religion.
One note of caution needs to be sounded before we begin our historical report
and that concerns our Bible translations. Since they were all made by churchmen
they are made by people wearing tinted glasses: the prejudice of their position
shows through. It is therefore necessary in some instances to go back to the
Greek of the New Testament to understand what was really written and how it
should really be translated, for leaven was at work in the translators too, as
we shall see.
Sources of Leaven
When we look at the historical records we see that deception came from several
sources, and it is worth mentioning these before we start our analysis. We
should also be aware that some errors flow from more than one source, but each
source is a poisoned well that corrupts the simple truth of the Gospel.
Judaism
We see this source combated in the New Testament as the apostles contended for a
faith that was weaned from its Jewish roots. See in Galatians how Paul resisted
the observance of circumcision and the law, how in Colossians he rejected holy
days and fasting, and see how Hebrews explains that Christianity is far superior
to the obsolete Old Covenant. Nevertheless, down through the years there have
been numerous groups of people who to a greater or lesser extent have failed to
see the newness of the New Covenant. This accounts for such errors as priests,
clerical robes, tithes, holy days, buildings, abstinence from certain foods, and
such like.
Paganism
Sadly, Christendom drew much from paganism as its deceived leaders thought that
the way to get people into church was to meet them halfway. From this source
came “church” buildings, infant baptism, Christmas and Easter festivals, Mary
worship and other evil practices. Although there is an abundance of evidence,
few realise that all these practices were copied from the pagans as their gods
and rituals were accepted by unthinking (or uncaring) churchmen. At this point
we must also add the influence of politics, for as church leaders grew more
powerful they took political decisions instead of righteous ones. It still
happens much today.
Renaissance
This period of history saw a great focus on learning, which is no bad thing, for
it beats ignorance. The problem, however, was that learning was seen as a
qualification for ministry. Furthermore, the church adopted current university
practice of exposition of the classics, so from this source we collected learned
preachers with their expository sermons.
Business
The influence of modern business practices can be seen wherever the church has
been infected by western consumerism. Here we see groups motivated by growth
targets, promoted by advertising and run by businessmen as businesses, where the
bottom line profit is the guide to the measure of success. This recent leaven is
a practice assimilated from American charismatic churches who have modelled
their methods on prosperity teaching and the business school strategies of
corporate management.
AD 107 - Leaders
The first trace we can find of someone setting himself up in a position above
his brothers was Ignatius, one of that group known to church history as the
apostolic fathers but known to the apostles as “fellow labourers“ (Phil 4.3).
These men were successors to the apostles, having known them and learned from
them, but they did not hold fast to all that was taught, as we shall see.
There is no such thing as the “apostolic succession” taught by Rome, for it is
clear from Scripture that the apostles appointed no successors. They did appoint
a plurality of elders (presbyters or bishops) in every city (Titus 1.5) but that
was all. The leader of the church(es) was to be the Holy Spirit, with all
believers on a common level as brothers. We are a family, not a corporation. But
the church soon left its first love, whereby it remained sensitive to the
heavenly voice within, and turned instead to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,
which the Lord hates (Rev 2.4-6; 2.15). That word translates as “rulers of the
laity”. Ignatius, who had been an elder in Antioch for forty years, said, “let
us take heed that we set not ourselves against the bishop, that we may be
subject to God. It is therefore evident that we ought to look upon the bishop
even as we do upon the Lord himself‘”. In another letter he wrote, “your bishops
presiding in the place of God”. No apostle ever wrote anything like that. From
this point on, right down to today, the church stopped listening to the Holy
Spirit and started following men. No wonder god hates such a system, for it
seeks to separate us from God and make us deaf to his voice.
Here we have clear testimony of the first move of Satan to introduce a
Babylonian hierarchy into church life. This was the source of papal power and
the Reformation never removed it, simply replacing the pretender of Rome with a
multitude of local pretenders, ever seeking to stand as a block between God and
his people. This is the spirit of antichrist (for “anti” in Greek means, “in
place of”). Every church hierarchy, whether Roman or Charismatic, flows from
this evil source.
We must also consider here the leaven of the translators, for every “church
leader” will tell you that the New Testament speaks of leaders in the church.
Yes, it does - in English. This is because of the mistranslation of Greek
participles into nouns. The only place in the Greek New Testament where the noun
“leader” appears is when the Lord speaks of the Pharisees as “blind leaders of
the blind” (Matt 15.14). In Heb 13.17, a favourite with supporters of
hierarchical systems, we do not have a noun but a participle. What is that? “The
participle is in form a noun but one partaking at the same time of the nature of
the verb” (Driver). “It describes an action” (Hudson, but my underlining). Thus
any translation of a participle, and there are thousands of them in both
Testaments, must reflect not the state of a thing but the action involved.
Therefore, Heb 13.17 should not read, “obey your leaders” but, “have confidence
in those who guide you” - a sure reference to the elders but not one that gives
them a position of eminence. You will note that “obey” is also a mistranslation,
for that verb is not in the active voice but the middle, which in Greek gives it
a much softer, more indirect meaning.
Growing out of this error of leaders having a position of eminence came the
divide between clergy and laity, that separation of a special professional
ministry that is perpetuated by every group, even those who claim to believe in
the priesthood of all believers. The difference should be clear. The New
Testament proclaims God the Father, Jesus Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit
the executive director. All church systems negate this by exalting man to a
position of authority, following Satan’s perversion of the truth. This was the
first introduction of leaven, the removal of the authority of God expressed
through the church (Matt 18.17; Acts 15.28) and replacing it with human
authority.
AD 180 - Baptismal Errors
The exact time of the entry of this error is unclear, but the first reference to
it is found in the writings of Irenaeus, “Bishop” of Lyons, who died in AD 200,
so we can safely shift the time back a while before his death. There are two
matters to consider here and they go together - the mode of baptism and the
candidate. This man wrote, “Christ came to save all persons by Himself, all, I
mean, who by Him are regenerated - baptised - unto God: infants and little ones,
children and youths, and elder persons”. Tertullian, who died in AD 240, stated
that infants were baptised in his day although he did not approve. Origen (AD
240) said, “infants are baptised for the forgiveness of sins”. Cyprian, “Bishop”
of Carthage followed what he called “the rule of circumcision”, that none should
be baptised before the age of eight days.
Here we see a mix of Judaism and paganism. Paganism is evident in the belief in
the baptismal regeneration of children, for the rites of Isis, Mithra and Odin
all required a baptism of new-born children to take their sin away. Without
baptism no pagan baby could enter paradise, the Elysian fields. As we know too
well, conversion does not automatically root out all past beliefs and as a
result, many of those early Christians brought their pagan fears about their
babies into the church. The leaven of Judaism is seen in the link to
circumcision, a link still preserved by the Dutch Reformed Church, who teach
that baptism, like circumcision, provides a child with membership of God’s
covenant people. This is of course flying in the face of Scripture, which
teaches that the inheritance is by faith, and that he who relies on his
circumcision has been separated from Christ (Gal 5.2-5).
There is no suggestion in Scripture that baptism removes sin; rather that we are
saved by faith in Christ’s finished work. Baptism in water follows that as our
step of obedience and testimony, the outward washing testifying to a clean
conscience (Heb 10.22). Since faith is required to receive Christ, baptism
cannot be administered to those too young to confess Christ.
The issue of the mode of baptism is hardly worth a mention, since even those who
do not baptise by immersion admit with one voice that immersion was the practice
of the early church. Since we have so sure a testimony by the paedobaptists that
they themselves are in error, we need comment no further other than to point out
that the Greek word “baptise” should not be transliterated, as our translators
have done, but translated, so that Mk 16.16 would read, “He who believes and is
submerged shall be saved”. See also Mk 1.9, which has been wrongly translated,
since it should read, “into the Jordan”, not “in the Jordan”.
AD 200 - Gnosticism
This date does not reflect the beginning of this problem but rather its full
flowering into a major threat. Its teachings are clearly attacked in the New
Testament, especially in Colossians, but through men such as Valentinus and
Cerinthus it found powerful spokesmen. These men were treated as heretics, but
not many years later, about 240, Origen presented many similar teachings yet he
is honoured as one of the “church fathers”, which shows how much decline in
standards there had been. Some evil heresies successfully opposed at this time
were the denial of Trinity and the denial of Christ‘s deity (heresies promoted
today by certain sects) but other heresies crept in unnoticed and remain in much
current teaching. These influences came from paganism - the Greek philosophy of
Platonism - and many have been deceived. Despite claims to the contrary, there
is no similarity between Christ’s message and Plato’s. The underlying philosophy
of the Bible is rooted in a Hebrew world view that sees no dichotomy between
spirit and matter, and certainly does not see matter as evil, as do the
Gnostics.
One error is the concept of gnosis (knowledge). This metaphysical notion
proclaims that the way to salvation is through increased knowledge, that some
can get closer to the divine by increased “spiritual” experiences. It is very
popular among certain branches of the church, especially Charismatics. There are
those who think that by fasting, intercessions, attendance at meetings and the
subjugation of the flesh that they can rise to a spiritual plane higher than
their brothers. It is nothing less than pride. Its error is refuted by Paul in
Col 1.28, where Paul says that every man is complete in Christ. There are not
two classes of believer, for we can all walk in the Spirit.
A second aspect of Gnosticism that has caused huge damage is the concept of a
“spiritual” understanding of Scripture. This error, rooted in a belief in the
evil of matter, ignores the plain teaching of Scripture and looks instead for an
underlying spiritual, esoteric meaning. The result of this is a denial of the
predictions of the Old Testament (denying a future for Israel and instead
interpreting those prophetic passages as referring to the church), denying a
literal Millennium by claiming that Rev 20 must be interpreted allegorically,
and denying the erotic love poetry of the Song of Solomon, trying instead to
read it as an allegory of Christ and the Church. This philosophy paved the way
for monasticism as men tried to flee the world and the flesh in their search for
God. This was deception, for the New Testament teaches us that our bodies are
his temple (1 Cor 6.19). We are to avoid sin, not the world, but this monastic
spirit still infects many, even though they do not see themselves as monks, for
they do their best to stay away from anything “worldly“, preferring to live in a
spiritual “ghetto“, a circle where the only contacts they have are with other
believers.
AD 220 - Buildings
How interesting that the first ecclesiastical building should have been in Rome.
Until Prince Alexander gave the Christians a plot of land in that city on which
they could erect a building they had met in homes or out in the open. This was
something the heathen could never understand, for to them gods required temples
in which to dwell. They were correct, but what they did not understand, as
obviously the Christians did not either, is that the believer is the temple
where Christ is worshipped. This pagan attitude that still deceives many
believers, the demand for a divine residence, is the first source of this
pollution.
The second source is Judaism with its influence of the synagogue system. Do not
underestimate this influence, for while it is written in the Gospels that Christ
and the apostles went to synagogue, few pay attention to the facts written in
Acts. The church did not stay in those Jewish confines but soon escaped, for new
wine cannot function in old wineskins. The synagogues were not God’s idea; the
Jews invented them when in captivity in Babylon. In the Old Testament (under the
Law) God had first a tabernacle then a temple. Now, in the New, he has the
believers as his temple and tabernacle and their homes as meeting places.
Added to these two sources was the worldliness of the believers, who had become
accepted in society, had forgotten their heavenly calling, and wanted a holy
place just like all the other religions. This desire for the possession of
property is still very strong and still leading many to invest vast sums in real
estate instead of in the Gospel. Thus the three sources of holy places are
paganism, Judaism, and worldliness. Since there is no mention of such a
requirement in the New Testament, such things are clearly leaven.
AD 250 - Prosperity
The prosperity “gospel” of the modern televangelists is not their invention, but
in fact goes back a long way, to when believers first took their eyes off their
heavenly calling. Cyprian, “Bishop” of Carthage said “a divine judgement was
sent to re-establish our fallen, slumbering faith. Forgetting what believers did
in the times of the apostles, and what they should always be doing, Christians
laboured with an insatiable desire to increase their earthly possessions. Many
of the bishops who, by precept and example, should have guided others, neglected
their divine calling to engage in the management of worldly concerns”. The
church had forgotten the Lord’s warning that where your treasure is, there will
be your heart also (Matt 6.19-21). Those who are truly Abraham’s children look
for a heavenly city, confessing that they are strangers and pilgrims on earth
(Heb 11.13-16). We cannot be effective for God once Satan has entangled us with
the cares of this life (2 Tim 2.3-4).
By the middle ages, the Roman church was as financially powerful as many
European kingdoms, hence the uneasy attitude some rulers had towards the church.
The church of England, on breaking away from Rome, kept the share of this wealth
that was in England, and it too remains a wealthy, powerful, landowning business
enterprise. Nearly all have followed this deceptive path, forgetting that God is
not interested in real estate (he owns the whole world already, and does not
have to buy parcels using mortgage schemes). Every church group that has
invested in stocks, shares or real estate has wandered down a demonic bypath.
AD 250 - Salaried Clergy
It is surely not a coincidence that this problem should arise at the same time
as the last. Once our eyes are off Christ and on this world and its rewards, we
want to ensure our full compensation. Also, since the church had long since
introduced leaders they thought it only right that the managers be paid. Thus it
was that clergy were forbidden to follow “worldly” employment and became paid
officials of an organisation. ”This change began towards the end of the second
century; and it is certain that at this period we find the first complaints of
the incipient corruption of the clergy” (Waddington). It was at this time that
bishops in the city began to exalt themselves over those in smaller towns,
leading to the establishment of dioceses and metropolitans (church districts and
their superintendents). These men started to claim personal dignity and expect
honours. Later, they received place at royal courts. This greed of men who had
supposedly forsaken the world for Christ led to tithing (and more recently) the
grasping perversion called terumah.
AD 250 - Sabbath Observance
This one is difficult to date, for in AD 230 Tertullian wrote of believers thus:
“We who are strangers to Sabbaths, and new moons, and festivals once acceptable
to God.”. We shall look at the rest of this quotation later, as it relates to
another type of leaven, but what we note here is that he knew of a distinct
difference between the Old Covenant and the New. “Sabbath” observance later
became a big issue in ecclesiastical circles once the distinctions between the
two covenants became blurred. Worth noting here is that other Judaistic
practices have also been retained by sections of the church - priests, robes,
tithes, first fruits and the like. All stem from a failure to see in Acts how
the early church broke away from Judaism, having recognised that the Old
Covenant had been fulfilled.
AD 280 - Monks
Antony, born in Upper Egypt, is considered the father of monasticism. “Antony
was evidently sincere and honest, though utterly mistaken and misled by the
craft and power of Satan. In place of acting upon the Saviour’s commission to go
into all the world and preach the Gospel, he thought to attain a more elevated
spirituality by withdrawing from mankind” (Miller). This attitude can clearly be
seen as a fruit of Gnostic teaching, for the attitude of withdrawal and celibacy
is typical of the neo-platonic view of the flesh as evil. Miller’s comment sets
in stark contrast the challenge of the Gospel and the deception of Satan, and we
should mark it well, for there are Christian groups today who once again are
advocating monasticism and celibacy, for the same reasons that diverted Antony
from the truth. They claim that their self-control and denial will be a witness
against the excesses of the world. Whether it is or is not is irrelevant -
Christ did not command or even advise such a step. He did say that some are
called to be eunuchs for the Kingdom, but that is not the same thing at all.
That is giving one’s life for the Gospel, the other is a feeble attempt to
overcome the flesh, contrary to the advice of Paul in Col 2.20-23. See also 1
Tim 4.1-3.
If we want to know where the idea of monasticism came from, we do not need to
look far. Buddhists have monks and they have existed in every pagan system since
Babylon. Antony was not inspired by the Holy Spirit, nor did he have a brilliant
brainwave - being deceived by Satan he copied from Babylon, the mother of
harlots. We should not think that this deception is dry and dusty history, for I
have recently (March 2006) come across a magazine produced by a Charismatic
group that praises monasticism and advocates it as a suitable lifestyle in
today’s hedonistic world.
AD 300? - Priests
The Church of England teaches that the distinction between clergy and laity is
derived from the Old Testament, claiming that the early church patterned itself
on the Jewish system of priests. There is no biblical evidence for the latter
part of this statement, rather the contrary, but it clearly shows us one of the
polluting streams, namely the failure of men to notice that the Old Covenant
with its ritual had become obsolete. Old Testament priests went where common
people could not - into the holy place, but all that is done away with now that
the veil has been torn asunder. We all have access now, so there is no need for
any mediator between God and man except the Lord Jesus Christ.
The other source of this pollution is paganism, for every heathen temple had its
priest standing between its god and the worshippers. When so many unregenerate
pagans came into the “church” in the fourth century they wanted priests to
approach their god for them, so the pagan practice was continued. It is still
continued in many places today, even where the staff are not called priests, for
they function as such. Either they, their congregants, or both, believe that
they have a better access to God than the laity.
A function of priests, pagan or Jewish, was the offering of sacrifices, and this
function continues in the Roman Catholic Church. That is why their buildings
have an altar. They do not hold the memorial meal Christ instituted, but Mass,
which is not the same thing at all. It is a sacrifice, for they blasphemously
claim every time to sacrifice Christ anew. This evil teaching crept in in the
fourth century, having been adopted from pagan practices, as is evidenced by
their insistence on a circular, unbroken wafer, as was used in the ancient
Egyptian idolatry.
AD 312 - Spiritual Adultery
Rev 17.1-2 speaks of “the great harlot with whom the kings of the earth
committed adultery” and Rev 2.22 speaks of an adulterous church. These things
happened at this time, when Constantine became emperor of Rome. Up to this time
the church consisted of groups of people with no official recognition but
Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. As a
spur to “conversion”, Constantine even offered gifts and honours to those who
would become Christians! What a horror that faith in Christ should be regarded
as a religion, and what a poor state the church was in to be officially
recognised as inoffensive to fallen man. How awful that those who called
themselves leaders made no protest at this harlotry. The church that had lost
its first love now prostituted itself to gain the favour of temporal power and
all kinds of evil followed in the wake of this unfaithful deed. Bishops were
accepted at the royal court and the emperor ruled on dissentions within the
church and even took upon himself the power to excommunicate. Here is the origin
of papal power.(eagerly copied by many Charismatic ministers who hold themselves
accountable to no one and claim the right to act as they like).
We must remember that at this time the Roman emperor was also pontifex maximus,
the head of paganism, so that now the pagan leader became head of the church,
thus uniting Christianity with paganism under one ruler. Note that the title
pontifex (pontiff) is still used by popes today, for they are the successors to
the ancient pagan throne.
With church and state united, and with no more threat of persecution, there came
a flood of pagans into church assemblies, so that the distinction between saint
and sinner was obscured. Faith in Christ was no longer the distinguishing mark.
It had been replaced by baby sprinkling and obedience to the pontiff. The church
was no longer seen in the Biblical meaning of the word, but as a group of people
who met in a particular building, or even the building itself. Further, Church
and State were no longer separate, a confusion that still leads many astray
today, as they press legislatures to pass statutes agreeable to Christians.
“Intellectual and philosophical questions took the place of the truth of the
gospel” (Miller). Hence we find that many of the church fathers of the time
wrote volumes of theology as they tried to reduce the Christian walk to an ethic
for life’s every situation. Creeds replaced reality as the books of men replaced
the leading of the Holy Spirit. This situation is unchanged, as a visit to any
“Christian” bookshop will testify.
AD 312 - Clerical Robes
There is no indication in the New Testament that the Lord Jesus or the apostles
wore clothing different to anyone else. Yet ecclesiastics have been dressing up
for centuries to distinguish themselves from the masses, whether it is the Roman
cardinal in red, the Reformed doctor in his university gown or the Pentecostal
preacher in his Sunday suit. It all dates back to the days of Constantine when
bishops were accepted at the royal court and dressed according to their
new-found upper class status.
AD 320 - Relics and Holy Places
This date is approximate. What we do know is that Helena, the mother of
Constantine claimed to have discovered the wood of the true cross. She also had
excavated the supposed site of the holy sepulchre and had a building erected
thereupon. The superstitious passion for pilgrimages to “holy” sites and the
search for (and treasuring of) supposedly sacred relics started with this
deceived woman. This stupid chase after holy grails still deceives many, besides
providing prosperous material for modern novelists. There are no holy places in
Christianity nor any holy relics. We are a pilgrim people, yes, but not on our
way to Mecca or earthly Jerusalem.
AD 325 - Mary Worship
The Nicene council was called to denounce the Arian heresy, which denied
Christ’s divinity, but other things also happened there that were not so
commendable. It confirmed the date of Easter and at that council the Egyptian
church claimed that the three persons of the trinity were the Father the virgin
Mary and Messiah their Son. (Note the absence of the Holy Spirit, who, since
leaders were introduced, has become the forgotten member of the Godhead.) This
is the first record we have found of anyone elevating Mary to the exalted
position claimed by Rome. A century later, Nestorius was excommunicated for
denying Mary the title, “God bearer”. He and his friend Athanasius were
objecting to Mary being exalted as “the mother of God” and they suffered much
rebuke from the church authorities for their stand against this leaven. The
pronouncements of this council show how careful we should be not to accept
without question the things they approved (e.g. their decisions on the canon or
on any doctrinal matter).
AD 325 - Easter
As mentioned above, the date was fixed at the council of Nicea, but the festival
itself had been held for some time before, though exactly when is hard to say.
What we should observe here are two sources of pollution. The first is Judaism.
The early church (sometime after apostolic days) started celebrating Passover.
The problem here is that that was an Old Covenant ritual that had been fulfilled
in Christ. There is no New Testament injunction to continue it; the celebration
of Christ’s sacrifice for our deliverance is in the communion meal. This
polluted source was later replaced by the even more polluted source of paganism
as Passover was replaced by Easter. Its name evidences its pagan origin, for it
was a festival of Astarte, but we also have other evidence, in the preceding
forty days of Lent. Churchmen claim that this is in honour of Christ’s forty
days in the wilderness, but that is a convenient excuse. We are not commanded in
Scripture to imitate that event. Forget the excuse, the forty day period of
abstinence was an old pagan practice that was introduced into the church.
Cassianus, writing in the fifth century, admits that, “the observance of the
forty days had no existence so long as the primitive church remained inviolate”.
It is interesting to note that Islam incorporated exactly the same fast into
their religion, for there is abundant evidence that Ramadan was celebrated by
the pagans of Arabia long before Islam started. It was just one of several pagan
devices the Moslems took on board
AD 350 - Fathers
We saw earlier how bishops took authority over their brothers but this evil
trend developed yet further by the hand of a monk named Pachomius. He
established a rule in his monastery that everyone there had to give absolute
obedience to the abbot. That word, derived from the Aramaic aboth simply means
“father”, as does papa, the Italian word for pope. Although the Reformation
brought about a release from popery, the concept of men in authority was never
rooted out of the church, so that it remains in various forms today. Possibly
the most pernicious are the offshoots of the Charismatic movement where various
preachers have set themselves up as did Pachomius, describing themselves as
fathers and expecting filial obedience from their followers. It is evil because
it contradicts Scripture (Matt 23.8-10) and interposes a man between God and his
saints.
AD 370 - Christmas
Chrysostom, writing in Antioch in 380 AD said, “it is not yet ten years since
this day was made known to us”. The day was of course well known to pagans as
one of their festivals and it was introduced into the church to encourage pagans
to come to the meetings - exactly the same excuse that is used today. Not only
its date, but also its trappings, the ivy, mistletoe, trees with presents
underneath, the yule log, the goose and the boar’s head, and the excess of
drinking were all well known pagan practices accompanying the festival.
AD 400 - Purgatory
Augustine, “Bishop” of Hippo was the first churchman to postulate this doctrine,
although it only became a formal doctrine of Rome in AD 600 under Gregory. But
this teaching was nothing new, for the pagans had long believed that the souls
of the dead lingered in some sort of limbo and that they could be helped towards
paradise by the prayers and sacrifices of the living. You will look in vain for
any Scripture to support this pagan belief.
AD 400 - Church music
It would appear that the musical forms of the church became more elaborate
around AD 400 and continued to develop after that. Read again in the
introduction the description of an early Christian meeting and read Matt 26.30
and you will see simplicity. Read the Epistles and Acts and you will struggle to
even find a reference to music. But as time went on and the reality of Christ
was sidelined, people wanted elaborate services to entertain them and to
encourage outsiders to attend. By 1700 we meet the phenomenon of Bach writing a
new piece of music for every Sunday’s meeting and soon after we read of the hymn
writing of Wesley and Watts in England. These things progressed to the rock
concerts and music extravaganza of the modern Charismatics. What is the origin
of this phenomenon? It is the spirit of the world blended with a little Old
Testament theology. The latter part is easy to understand, for music was part of
the Old Testament worship - for a time. But the temple ritual has not been
carried forward into the New Testament church, any more than any other Old
Covenant requirement. The worldly spirit is seen in the copying of business
practices. People want entertainment, so a deluded church gives them what they
want - not what they need. Today, "Christian" music is a huge industry,
supporting multiple bands, equivalent tours, awards ceremonies and so on.
AD 1150 - Pulpiteering or Sermonising
Our first task in this section is to clarify our understanding of that biblical
word “preach” so that our minds are no longer clouded by traditional practices.
Three Greek words are translated as “preach”. The first is euangello, which
means “tell the good news”. The second is rather similar (katangello) which
means “announce, proclaim”. The third is kerusso, meaning “trumpet as a herald”.
Possibly more important is the context in which these words are used, for they
are never used of church meetings - they are words describing the proclamation
of the gospel to the unsaved. The New Testament church did not have sermons
delivered from pulpits; indeed, they did not have pulpits. The important thing
to remember is that no one person had the pre-eminence for the Holy Spirit might
use anyone to bring something edifying. Anyone could contribute to the meeting;
all were expected to (1 Cor 14.26).
Where then did the pulpit sermon come from? The answer is the scholastic
renaissance of the middle of the-twelfth century, from the universities.
Scholars would present their studies of classical writings from a lectern,
giving their students or audiences a reasoned discourse or exposition of
whatever writing he was examining. When the Reformation broke the ignorance of
popery, the reformers looked for a good idea on how to teach the masses and they
copied university practice. It seemed sound - indeed it did banish a lot of
ignorance in some quarters - but it was not biblical for it left people
dependent on a leader and many abdicated their responsibility of searching the
Scriptures for themselves under the Holy Spirit’s direction. It did not deliver
people from the leaven of leaders but kept them enslaved to the professional
preacher.
A second strain of pulpiteering arose in the eighteenth century in the USA as
dry exposition was found to be ineffective in the half wild, semi-literate
settler communities. Exposition and biblical content was replaced by
emotionalism, the source of much Pentecostal and Charismatic preaching today,
where content is secondary to what is erroneously called “anointing”. Once again
this remedy cured nothing, for it left the leaven untouched. You still had the
clergy/laity divide, the leader in the pulpit and the followers in the pews.
Furthermore, both models still left the mass of people undeveloped in their walk
with God. Man’s good ideas simply do not have the right effect.
Bibliography
Miller, A. - Church History
Hislop, A. - The Two Babylons
Hudson, D.F - New Testament Greek.
Driver, S.R - Treatise on the use of Tenses in Hebrew
Collins, P - An Entrée to Christianity
Pearse, M. and Matthews, C - We must stop meeting like this
NB: This work may be freely copied and reproduced on condition that no part of the text is changed. The work should be cited as: Collins, P, A Chronology of Leaven, www.emeth.co.za/pcleaven.html