05 II. The Great Apostasy

II. The Great Apostasy II. THE GREAT APOSTASY (Sermon Delivered over WAPO, April 21, 1940)

Having brought to your attention some of the main characteristics of New Testament Christianity, we are to progress one step further in learning what happened after the death of the last apostle. However, it is needful that we keep constantly in mind the New Testament as pattern for all Christian Work and practice. The apostles feared greatly that men would later desire to leave the simple and beautiful teaching s of the New Testament and, therefore, their writings abound in words of warning to the Christians of that early age to watch and beware of false prophets who would lead the faithful astray if followed. Paul in speaking to the elders of the church of Ephesus at Miletus warned them against corrupting God’s order in these words, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you oversee rs, 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, speakin g perverse things , to draw away disciples after them . Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears"(Acts 20:28-31). Likewise in writing to the Thessalonian church he stated, "Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie: that they might all be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12) In giving his final exhortation to his son in the gospel, Timothy, the great apostle Paul urges him to preach the word in season and out of season, for, says he, "The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap unto themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

However, Paul was not the only New Testament writer who feared a departure from the faith. Peter likewise foresaw the certain disaster that would overtake Christianity if false teachers were allowed to pervert the gospel of Christ and substitute for the teachings of Jesus the doctrines of men. "But there were false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." (2 Peter 2:1-2) Time would fail us to bring to your attention all of the warnings to faithfulness in the N.T. but these will suffice to impress upon our minds the fear that the apostles all possessed of the danger of departure from the faith. The great apostasy from the New Testament did not occur overnight, but was rather the result of a long process of gradual development and modification of the truth. The apostasy manifested itself in several ways the chief of which we shall list:

I. The deve lopment of a visible religious hierarchy patterned upon the political hierarchy of the
empire.

2. The gradual modification of New Testament doctrines.

3. The introduction of Jewish and pagan ceremonials and customs into the worship and practice
of the church.

4. The formulation and enforcement of church decrees made by councils.

5. The creation and development of a human priesthood claiming the right to forgive sins and
dominate affairs religious.

6. The assumption of both temporal and spiritual power by ecclesiastical authorities.

These are the main points of departure from the apostles’ teachings as given in the Scriptures. In spite of our Lord’s declaration regarding the fact that His kingdom would not have lords like the kingdoms of the Gentiles there crept into the church during the period following the apostolic age the idea that there should be a distinct and separate class known as clergy who only should have power to administer in affairs religious. Such distinction is not to be found in the Scriptures, nor the term clergy used therein. Borrowing from pagan and Jewish practices, the priestly class took charge of the church matters, even though the New Testament declares that all Christians are priests.(1 Peter 2:9) The heavy hand of persecution served to draw the believers closer together, and exhortations began to be made by the leaders that the members of the flocks should follow implicitly the orders of the clergy. While in the apostolic age a plurality of elders or bishops (the terms are used interchangeably) were to superintend and direct the affairs of the local congregation, during the sub-apostolic period the idea developed that only one man should act as bishop and others were to be subordinate to him. The chief churches with their bishops soon began to exercise jurisdiction over the smaller churches until the next step which we find historically is that the bishop in the church in the chief city possessed complete authority over all the churches in the given area around that city. However, the great metropolitan centers of the Roman empire (Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople) possessed political and cultural advantages over the smaller areas, so that the next step of development toward a complete religious hierarchy was the distinction between the metropolitan bishops and the bishops in lesser areas. The four greatest centers came to have the highest rank and were later known as patriarchs or archbishops, or higher bishops. Thus we have the Patriarch of Alexandria in Egypt, the Patiarch of Antioch in Syria, the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Rome. As late as the time of Gregory the Great, however, in the latter part of the 6th century there was no bishop with the title of universal bishop or supreme head of the church . In fact, it was Gregory who denounced in scathing terms John the Faster, Patriarch of Constantinople for assuming such a title. However, in the year 606 Boniface III was crowned by Phocas, the emperor, as the universal head of the church, the first Pope of all the church at Rome. Thus the religious hierarchy of the apostate church was completed. The office of cardinal was later introduced as a means of assisting the Pope in administering the affairs of the apostate church and also electing the Pope . The New Testament pattern was left far behind, where individual congregations under several elders carried on their affairs according to God’s will and now lorded it over God’s heritage. A hierarchy had been developed through these centuries above the level of the common members, consisting first of local priests, then the bishops, then the metropolitans and archbishops, and finally the Pope as the supreme head of the Apostate church. Thia development took nearly six hundred years to complete. These are the facts of history that cannot be successfully denied.

Let us not forget that our Master was the found e r and is the foundation of the church of the New Testament, and is described therein as the head of the church; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22-23. Likewise it was this same Jesus who exhorted men to call no man father on earth, for one is our father even God. In the same place he exhorted his disciples to decline the title of Master, "for one is your master," said Jesus, "and ye are all servants."(Matthew 23:8-11) Certainly there was not the slightest hint of such arrogation of power as is represented in this great apostasy ever given in the teachings of Jesus . The very apostles, among them Peter himself, were exhorted to flee these things, and be greatest by being the best servant, for we have one Master, Christ, and one Father, God.

Another manifestation of this great apostasy was in the many modifications of doctrine that crept in, as well as the use of pagan and Jewish ceremonials in worship. Increasing formality and ritualism was evident in the worship of this sub-apostolic period. Instead of the simple meeting of Christians to break bread and worship Christ according to the commands of the New Testament, (Acts 20:7) there developed certain rituals regarding the worship. Forms were introduced borrowed from pagan and Jewish practices, and officials appointed to perform cer!ain parts of the services that came to be regarded as essential. Certain prayers became essential and bodily postures were carefully regulated in the worship. Liturgies were written and followed scrupulously as the necessary order of worship . That they were not of divine origin is plainly evidenced by their late appearance, and their lack of agreement.

Following the Nicaean Council in 325 A.D., there developed the idea of sacrifice in connection with the Lord’s Supper which had alwaysb een a spiritual feast, in memory of the sufferings and death of Christ. Along with the development of a human priesthood must always go the idea of offering the oblations and sacrifices of the people unto God. Thus the Lord’s Supper came to be regarded as a sacrifice for sins, even though the Bible tells us that Christ made the one offering for our sins forever (Hebrews 7:26-27). Masses came to be said for various things, as for the benefit of the souls of the dead, and for protection and safety from dangers and evils. These things are certainly innovations since even the writers of that period did not agree among themselves as to the efficacy of the sacrifice of the mass. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper as a memorial pointing backward to the cross of Christ, and forward to the time when He will come again and receive the faithful unto himself.

Likewise there developed certain sacred seasons which were regarded as more holy than other times of the year. These holidays and sacred times were partly borrowed from the pagan festivals, and partly were the incorporation of the old Jewish feast periods. Probably the most important of these feasts which developed in the fourth century was Easter. It came in the spring, although there was at that time no universal date for it’s observance. It grew up as a successor to the Jewish passover and heathen festivals of the vernal equinox. It was celebrated as the tim of Jesus’ resurrection, and came to be preceded by a time of fasting, in some places observed for as long as eight weeks. There also arose the celebration of Epiphany, or the time of Christ’s circumcision, and Christmas, the time of Christ’s birth. However, the Bible says nothing either about when Jesus was born or circumcised, and no man living can tell the exact date of Jesus’ birth. So the 25th of December has been arbitrarily fixed as the date of the birth of Jesus and has existed until the present. More and more religious holidays came to be celebrated in spite of the fact that the New Testament gives no set of holidays, but commands that every day be filled with good works and no day be regarded as above another. To observe days and seasons is contrary to the spirit of the New Testament, for therein we are commanded to live every day in God’s service.

Likewise there arose the practice of worshipping the earlier heroes of faith and the apostles, venerating them as saints. When paganism was abolished many still felt that it was needful to approach God through various influential heroes of the past, and thus arose the invocation of the saints to intercede in behalf of the worshippers. One saint was approached for one thing and another for another, and thus became objects of prayer and devotion. While the apostles and martyrs were greatly reverenced, the Virgin Mary came to be the chief saint, even worshipped above our Lord himself. Virginity had been greatly enhanced by the growth of asceticism in the East and the particular relation of Christ and his fleshly mother led many to feel that she was closer to Him than any other saint. Thus the idea of hierarchy came to be applied to heaven itself. The Virgin Mary was greatly venerated and prayers and masses were said to her. Churches were dedicated to her and later such worship led to the erection of images which, by the way, the Eastern Church, never accepted, as smacking too much of idolatry. Instead of being able to approach God through Christ and Him alone, as taught in the New Testament (Colossians 3:17) it came to be thought in the Post-Nicaean period that Christ could not be approached except through one of the saints who would then intercede for the worshippers with Christ and Christ with God. However, the New Testament plainly teaches us that he is a high priest that can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities and understands our problems because he was tempted in all points as we are. (Hebrews 4:15) In the apostolic age members of the church were called saints, Romans 1:7. No special group of holier men were set apart and regarded as the only saints, for all those consecrated and devoted to Christ were called by that name. The first great church council was held in the year 325 A.D. to condemn Arianism, which was a system of doctrines contrary to the divinity of our Lord. The bishops composing that council legislated for the church and thus we have the beginning in religious history of church councils and the decrees of these councils being bound upon the church as the law of God . It is interesting to note that for the first 325 years no such group met to legislate for the whole church in matters religious. The multiplicity of church decrees and councils brought about the downfall of New Testament Christianity then as it will do today. No man or group of men ever has had the right to make laws either for the government or the teaching of the church built by the Lord upon the rock. He is its head, its founder, the king over the kingdom, with the sole right to make the laws and He has already done that in his finished revealed will, the New Testament. Many wer e the discussions along the course of church history in later centuries as to which was the more binding, the decrees of church councils or those of the Popes. These often conflicted and sharp controversy arose several times on this important point. In the middle of the third century after Christ there developed a movement of asceticism, or mortification of the flesh in order to enhance the spirit in the "Christian" church. Led by Anthony in Egypt individuals withdrew themselves from the association with others and lived apart in the deserts where they might think and meditate and thus, as they thought, overcome temptation and save their souls. Forsaking marriage and the establishment of homes, they became hermits, and after some years they formed themselves into communities of monks living together following certain rules of order. The beginning of formal monasticism was in the hermits of the deserts, and these monasteries and nunneries played a large part in the later development of Catholicism. While it is true that Christians are to practice self-control, nothing so extreme as this ascetic movement was ever required of early Christians in order to be saved. The Christians lived in the world, yet they did not partake of the worldiness and sins of the world.

During this period after the apostles’ death we have the first case of pouring for baptism on record. Novatian in 251 had water poured on him as he lay in bed very ill, until his bed was thoroughly soaked. When later he came up to be selected as bishop in Rome they refused him because many claimed his baptism not valid. Every Bible student knows that New Testament baptism was immersion in water, for the remission of sins. Not until two hundred and fifty years afterward was there ever a case of pouring and much later before such practice was ever justified by decrees of a church council.

These departures are matters of record. Any individual carefully studying the New Covenant cannot find one word about these later practices. If we are to follow the Scriptures, speaking where they speak and being silent where they are silent, we should know these things and understand the difference between the departures and the things God has ordained. Not all departures have been outlined in this brief study, but the chief points have been emphasized that you may note the origin of many religious practices that are today relics of the apostasy. Let us know the truth that the truth may make us free.