His choice, Not ours [part 4]

Published in Pasugo, May 2005

The Church After the time of the Apostles
His choice, Not ours (Fourth of six parts)

WHAT TRULY HAPPENED to the first-century Church of Christ?

Finding the answer to this question is crucial for us to understand why, despite the fact that Christ established only one Church, there are so many churches today all claiming to be the Church of Christ.

In our previous issue, we have proven through biblical records that God’s policy of election stands even until the Christian era. And it is through uniting with Christ by becoming members of the one Church He founded that we can have the privilege to be among God’s chosen people and thus have the right to worship Him and receive His promises.

But with the proliferation of various churches at present, not to mention the Catholic Church’s staunch claim to apostolicity (a term that will be explained later in this article), there is a confusion as to which one is the true Church of Christ today. It could not be that all churches are of Christ considering that the Bible attests that the true Church of Christ is but one body having one faith, one hope, and believes in one God (Eph. 4:4-6; Col. 1:18), whereas the many “Christian” churches today are divided especially in matters of doctrine and leadership.

A continuation of the His choice, not ours series which we began three issues ago, this article looks into the events that took place in the Church founded by our Lord Jesus Christ as the end of the apostolic era and beyond.

Apostasy prophesied
Our Lord Jesus Christ established the Church He called His own when He was still on earth fulfilling His ministry. After His death, resurrection, and before His ascension to heaven, Christ entrusted the administration of the Church to the apostles.

Under the care of the apostles, the Church increased greatly in membership. From Jerusalem where it began, the Church spread throughout the Gentile lands despite severe persecutions from its adversaries.

This is so far as the New Testament writers narrate concerning what had happened to the Church. But we should remember that the Bible is not all history; it contains divine prophecy as well. As to what really happened to the Church following the death of the apostles, we have the prophetic words of our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles as bases for finding out the truth.

Preaching to His disciples, our Lord Jesus Christ forewarned of an apostasy or falling away which would be perpetrated by false prophets. “Many will fall away,” said Christ to His disciples, as He exhorted them to “beware” because “many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Matt. 24:10, 4, 11, New Revised Standard Version).

The same concern was echoed by the apostles. Apostle Peter forewarned that destructive and untrue doctrines would be brought in by false prophets who would arise form within the Church itself:

“False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction.” (II Pet. 2:1, Today’s English Version)

On a similar note, Apostle Paul issued these warnings to the early Christians:

“The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.” (Acts. 20:30, Ibid.)

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first …” (II Thess. 2:3, King James Version)

“… For it will not come until after the Great Apostasy. …” (II Thess. 2:3, Twentieth Century New Testament)

From these prophetic warnings, it is clear that there was an impending danger facing the Church during those times. A “great apostasy” would come; false prophets would arise also from within the Church to lead the believers away from the true Christian faith by infusing lies and false teachings in the Church. In fact, the seeds of apostasy had already begun to sprout by then. The only reason that was keeping such departure from the true faith to take full effect was the presence of what Apostle Paul referred to as the “restraining power”:

“Don’t let anyone deceive you by any means whatsoever. That day will not come before there arises a definite rejection of God and the appearance of the lawless man. He is the product of all that leads to death, …

“Evil is already insidiously at work, but its activities are restricted until what I have called the ‘restraining power’ is removed.” (II Thess. 2:3, 7, Philips Modern English Bible)

The “restraining power” refers to the apostles and their removal from being such to their departure or death (Acts 20:29-30; II Tim. 4:6; II Pet. 2:1; 1:4, 15). Hence, it would be after the death of the apostles that the “work of iniquity” or the apostasy would ensue and go unabated. It would be when the administration of the Church fell into the hands of the false teachers who took over after the death of the apostles that the Church would begin to gradually drift away from the true Christian faith.

Christ said that many would fall away; He did not say all. Doesn’t this mean that there would be those who would remain faithful to the true Christian teachings? Yes, there would be, but according to Apostle Paul, “savage wolves” would come and not spare the flock (Acts 20:29), thus confirming what the Lord Jesus Christ Himself forewarned that the disciples would be persecuted and put to death (Matt. 24:9). Thus, even though not all of the disciples were led away from the true faith, the Church that continued to exist after the death of the apostles was no longer the true Church. The disciples who remained faithful were martyred and executed, while the rest had fallen victims to the deceptive teachings of the false prophets who had control over the organization. And so, although the Church did not cease to exist as an organization, what continued, nevertheless, was already an apostate Church.

Apostasy perpetrated
The prophesied apostasy of the early Church did happen as foretold. And this can be proven by examining what the Bible gives as he signs identifying the perpetrators of apostasy as well as the apostate Church.

· Espousing false doctrines
In one of his epistles, Apostle Paul identified two teachings that false prophets would use in leading the believers to depart from the faith – “forbidding to marry” and “commanding to abstain from meats”:

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

“Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” (I Tim. 4:1-3, KJV)

· Immediately succeeding the apostles in time
As we have pointed out earlier, the apostasy would start to be revealed after the death of the apostles, which would signify the removal of the “restraining power” (or the apostles) that held the apostasy in check:

“Evil is already insidiously at work, but its activities are restricted until what I have called the ‘restraining power’ is removed.” (II Thess. 2:7, PMEB)

“I know that after I leave, fierce wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.

“The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.” (Acts 20:29-30, TEV)

“As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life.” (II Tim. 4:6, Ibid.)

· Having a history of torture and murder
This may sound extreme, but based on the pronouncements of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and of Apostle Paul, the false prophets whom they likened to ferocious wolves would persecute and kill:

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” Acts 20:29, NIV)

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matt. 7:15, Ibid.)

“Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, …” (Matt. 24:9, NRSV)

Whichever church is characterized by all these signs – having as its teachings the “doctrines of devils,” immediately succeeding the apostles, and having the history of committing mass murder – is undoubtedly the apostate Church. Is there such a church?

Which church traces its root back to the time of the apostles yet is found upholding what the Bible forewarned as “doctrine of devils”? In his book, The Faith of Our Fathers, James Cardinal Gibbons states that “prohibiting priests to marry” is both a discipline and a law upheld by the Catholic Church (p. 401). In fact, the law of celibacy has been enforced by the Catholic Church on her priests since the beginning of the fourth century.

Another doctrine of the devil is “commanding to abstain from meats.” Is this also found in the Catholic Church? The following is stated in another Catholic book:

“By the law of abstinence the Church forbids us to eat either meat, or soups or gravies made from meat, on all Friday’s in the year.” (A Handbook of the Catholic Faith, p. 424)

Aside from forbidding her priests to marry, the Catholic Church also espouses the teaching concerning abstinence from meats. Moreover, the Catholic Church also claims to immediately succeed the apostles in time:

“When the early Fathers wished to use a most convincing argument to prove the true Church, they always appealed to the fact of its Apostolic origin.” (The Question Box, p. 135)

This is what Catholic authorities refer to as the apostolicity of the Church. By this, they mean that the church that claims to be Christ’s own must be able to prove its legitimate descent from the apostles (The Faith Explained, p. 156)

Indeed, the Catholic Church is the only church that claims to have an unbroken line, tracing her origin to the first century. But does this prove as legitimate her claim as the true Church of Christ? Quite the contrary, by claiming to be chronologically linked with pristine Christianity, the Catholic Church has proven otherwise. For, what followed the death of the apostles was the great apostasy. And the Catholic Church therefore is the result of it.

It comes as no surprise, then, that despite her claim to apostolicity, the Catholic Church is very much different from the true Church of Christ. This, even Catholic writers admit:

“We Catholics acknowledge readily, without any shame, nay with pride, that Catholicism cannot be identified simply and wholly with primitive Christianity, nor even with the Gospel of Christ, in the same way that the great oak cannot be identified with the tiny acorn.” (The Spirit of Catholicism, p. 2)

A further proof that the Catholic Church is indeed the fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the apostate Church is her bloodstained history. In his book, The Truth About the Inquisition, John A. O’Brien, a Jesuit priests reveals:

“’The first law of history’, declared Pope Leo XIII, as we mentioned previously, ‘is to assert nothing false and to have no fear of telling the truth’. In conformity with this wise principle, we frankly acknowledge the responsibility of the popes in the use of torture and in the burning of thousands of heretics at the stake. Their sanctioning of such cruel and brutal measures is unquestionably one of the blackest strains on the record of the Holy Office and will remain to the end of time a cause of obloquy and shame upon the papacy.” (p. 49)

Looking back to the dark period in the Catholic Church’s history, one is reminded of the prophecy of Apostle Paul that fierce wolves who would perpetrate the apostasy would not spare the flock (Acts 20:28-30, Lamsa Translation)

God’s policy of election in retrospect
Understandably, the Catholic Church denounces all these and maintains that no apostasy ever took place The assertion of its defenders is that even after the death of the apostles, the Church had remained pure and undefiled through the centuries. And this church which has survived until this day is said to be none other than the Catholic Church.

But even the past groups of people who were formerly God’s elect also would not admit to having apostatized. The Jews after the age of the prophets, for one, continued to believe that they were the chosen race and that they still had a share in God’s covenant with their forefather Abraham. But as proven by God’s commissioning of Christ and of the apostles, that was not the case.

Reviewing the history of the generations of God’s chosen people, it is noticeable that every time a chosen generation of people turns away from God by transgressing His will, He chooses and sets apart a new group of people in place of the old. With the apostasy of the Church after the demise of the apostles, whom did God elect as His people in the remainder of the Christian era?

Is there truth in the claim of the Protestants that they are the restored true Christians Church after the apostasy? Who are the next chosen people of God since God’s standing policy of election must continue?

Note: summary

· Christ and the apostles forewarned of an apostasy or a falling away from the true faith

“Beware that no one leads you astray…Many will fall away…” (Matt. 24:4, 10 NRSV)

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…” (II Thess. 2:3, KJV)

“…For it will not come until after the Great Apostasy.” (II Thess. 2:3, TCNT)

· The apostasy would take full effect after the departure or death of the apostles

“…After I leave, … some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them.” (Acts 20:29-30, TEV)

“As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life.” (II Tim. 4:6, TEV)

· The apostasy would be perpetrated by false prophets who would arise within the Church

“False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction.” (II Pet. 2:1, TEV)

· False prophets, who would teach lies and evil doctrines

“…In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; …Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain form meats…” (I Tim 4:1, 3, KJV)

· False prophets, who would persecute and kill

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” (Acts 20:29, NIV)

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matt. 7:15, NIV)

“Then they will hand you over to be tortured and will put you to death, …” (Matt. 24:9, NRSV)




References:

Adam, Karl. The Spirit of Catholicism. Revised Edition. Translated by Dom Justin McCann, O.S.B. Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D., Censor Liborum. Imprimatur: Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Archbishop of New York. New York, USA: Image Books, 1954

Conway, Bertrand L., CsP. The Question Box. Second Edition. Manila, Philippines: The Paulist Press, n.d.

Gibbons, James Cardinal. The Faith of Our Fathers. Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlon, Censor Deputatus. Imprimatur: Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Archbishop of New York, USA: The National Headquarters of The Holy Name Society, 1917

O’Brien, John A., Ph.D., LL.D. The Truth About The Inquisition. Nihil Obstat: Thomas E. Dillon, Censor Librorum. Imprimatur: John F. Noll, D.D., Bishop of Fort Wayne. New York, USA: The Paulist Press

Trese, Leo J. The Faith Explained. Revised Edition. Nihil Obstat: Louis J. Putz, C.S.C., University of Notre Dame. Imprimatur: Leo A. Pursley, D.D., Bishop of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Manila, Philippines: Sinag-Tala Publishers, Inc., 1965

Van Doornik, N.G.M., et al. A Handbook of the Catholic Faith (The Triptych of the Kingdom). Translated from the Dutch. Edited by Rev. John Greenwood. Nihil Obstat: Hubertus Richards, S.T.I., L.S.S., Censor deputatus. Imprimatur: E. Morrogh Bernard, Vic. Gen. New York, USA: Image Book, 1956