Post by Watchman on Jul 15, 2006 12:49:27 GMT -5
Respected historian Will Durant wrote, "Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual; the Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Other pagan cultures contributed to the syncretist result. From Egypt came the ideas of a divine trinity... and a personal immortality of reward and punishment; from Egypt the adoration of the Mother and Child, and the mystic theosophy that made Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and obscured the Christian creed…" (The Story of Civilization, Vol. 5, Durant, pp. 595, 599).
For hundreds of years during the Dark Ages, the genuine Christianity of Christ and the apostles was indeed "obscured." Men wrongly taught, in Jesus’ name, a totally different way of life and approach to God. False teachers replaced the original Holy Days—commanded by God, and observed by Christ and the apostles—with pagan days and worldly concepts.
As historian Jesse Lyman Hurlbut wrote: "The forms and ceremonies of paganism gradually crept into the worship. Some of the old heathen feasts became church festivals with change of name and of worship. About 405AD images of saints and martyrs began to appear in the churches, at first as memorials, then in succession revered, adored, and worshipped" (The Story of the Christian Church, p. 73).
At that time, false Christians gradually introduced "heathen feasts" such as Christmas, Easter and All Saints Day into the professing Christian church. But what about the fourth commandment of Almighty Yahweh? What about the commanded weekly day of rest and worship? "As long as the church was mainly Jewish, the Hebrew sabbath was kept; but as it became increasingly Gentile the first day gradually took the place of the seventh day" (ibid., p. 45).
Was this God’s idea? Did God gradually change His divine law so His worshipers could honor the "day of the sun"—Sunday—as the pagans had done for centuries?
No way!
As scores of authorities acknowledge, the true Christians—Gentiles and Jews alike—all worshiped on the seventh day Sabbath. Historians agree that this continued for at least a generation or two after the deaths of the Twelve Apostles! God did not change His law. The Apostle Paul instructed Christians:
Be ye followers of me, even as I also [am] of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
The Apostle John instructs:
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 1 John 2:6
These two apostles, like all the others, knew that Jesus Christ came to show the perfect example, and that Christians ought to follow His example, strengthened by the Holy Spirit. This was the commonplace understanding in the Apostle Paul’s day, as Christianity spread across the Roman Empire. Historians acknowledge this fact, as the following meaningful quotation reminds us:
"Everywhere, especially in the East of the Roman Empire, there would be Jewish Christians whose outward way of life would not be markedly different from that of the Jews. They took for granted that the gospel was continuous with [the religion of Moses]; for them the New Covenant, which Jesus had set up at the Last Supper with His disciples… did not mean that the covenant made between God and Israel was no longer in force. They still observed the feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles… the weekly Sabbath and the Mosaic regulations concerning food. According to some scholars, they must have been so strong that right up to the fall of Jerusalem in AD70 they were the dominant element in the Christian movement (Judeo-christianisme, "Paul and Jewish Christianity," Davies, 1972, p. 72, quoted in Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, p. 151).
So, for about the first 40 years of Christianity, guided by the Holy Spirit, the dominant element in the Church of God was still following Christ’s example of keeping the weekly and annual Sabbaths commanded by God. Christians were still following the example set by the Jerusalem Church of God!
Who dared to change all of that?
For hundreds of years during the Dark Ages, the genuine Christianity of Christ and the apostles was indeed "obscured." Men wrongly taught, in Jesus’ name, a totally different way of life and approach to God. False teachers replaced the original Holy Days—commanded by God, and observed by Christ and the apostles—with pagan days and worldly concepts.
As historian Jesse Lyman Hurlbut wrote: "The forms and ceremonies of paganism gradually crept into the worship. Some of the old heathen feasts became church festivals with change of name and of worship. About 405AD images of saints and martyrs began to appear in the churches, at first as memorials, then in succession revered, adored, and worshipped" (The Story of the Christian Church, p. 73).
At that time, false Christians gradually introduced "heathen feasts" such as Christmas, Easter and All Saints Day into the professing Christian church. But what about the fourth commandment of Almighty Yahweh? What about the commanded weekly day of rest and worship? "As long as the church was mainly Jewish, the Hebrew sabbath was kept; but as it became increasingly Gentile the first day gradually took the place of the seventh day" (ibid., p. 45).
Was this God’s idea? Did God gradually change His divine law so His worshipers could honor the "day of the sun"—Sunday—as the pagans had done for centuries?
No way!
As scores of authorities acknowledge, the true Christians—Gentiles and Jews alike—all worshiped on the seventh day Sabbath. Historians agree that this continued for at least a generation or two after the deaths of the Twelve Apostles! God did not change His law. The Apostle Paul instructed Christians:
Be ye followers of me, even as I also [am] of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
The Apostle John instructs:
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 1 John 2:6
These two apostles, like all the others, knew that Jesus Christ came to show the perfect example, and that Christians ought to follow His example, strengthened by the Holy Spirit. This was the commonplace understanding in the Apostle Paul’s day, as Christianity spread across the Roman Empire. Historians acknowledge this fact, as the following meaningful quotation reminds us:
"Everywhere, especially in the East of the Roman Empire, there would be Jewish Christians whose outward way of life would not be markedly different from that of the Jews. They took for granted that the gospel was continuous with [the religion of Moses]; for them the New Covenant, which Jesus had set up at the Last Supper with His disciples… did not mean that the covenant made between God and Israel was no longer in force. They still observed the feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles… the weekly Sabbath and the Mosaic regulations concerning food. According to some scholars, they must have been so strong that right up to the fall of Jerusalem in AD70 they were the dominant element in the Christian movement (Judeo-christianisme, "Paul and Jewish Christianity," Davies, 1972, p. 72, quoted in Bacchiocchi, From Sabbath to Sunday, p. 151).
So, for about the first 40 years of Christianity, guided by the Holy Spirit, the dominant element in the Church of God was still following Christ’s example of keeping the weekly and annual Sabbaths commanded by God. Christians were still following the example set by the Jerusalem Church of God!
Who dared to change all of that?