WordPress.com



Apostasy Timeline42-100 Death of the Apostles100-200 The Apostolic Fathers: These individuals are the link between the Apostles and the early Church writers and leaders who followed after them. Notable figures are Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna. Their writings stressed the fact that the apostasy was happening in their midst.148 – The Shepherd of Hermas, a popular early church document, describes the Church as old and failing.130-251 - The ApologistsPurpose: To refute pagan criticisms and to convince leaders in the Roman Empire that Christianity is philosophically sound. The Apologists took Greek Philosophy and welded it to Christian doctrine.110 -Ignatius on the flesh and blood of Christ- “They do not admit of eucharists and oblations, because they do not believe the eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, who suffered for our sins.” 1 148-155 -Justin Martyr on transmutation- his first apology to Emperor Antoninus Pius150- The Didache, an instruction for early Christian communities, had the following problems: 1. It altered the baptism ordinance & 2. It changed the sacrament prayers.150- God becomes the “One” of the Greek philosophers. Athenagoras (d.177) stated, “We acknowledge one God, uncreated, eternal, invisible, impassable, incomprehensible, illimitable, who is apprehended by the understanding only and the reason…” 2 155- The Martyrdom of Polycarp- 86 year old apostolic father and bishop (trained by John) who warned against the Church of Docetism.170- The Montanist Controversy- The Church loses the gifts of the Spirit. 3170 & beyond- Councils instead of revelation are used to settle doctrinal disputations. 4185-251 Origen denies that the anthropomorphic view of Diety was ever taught in the Church. 5 253 -Novatus sprinkled on his deathbed, is the first recorded baptism via sprinkling in the history of Christianity. 6 Early 300’s- The doctrine of Subordinationism becomes the orthodox position of the Church. This left the church in a position where it had to decide who God was. Was God the “One” of the philosophers or was the Son subordinate to the Father? The “One” of the philosophers won out as the Arian Controversy unfolded bringing about the famous Nicene Creed.319- The Arian Controversy- Alexander v. Arius argue over the nature of God.325- The Nicene Creed 7367- Athanasius begins his quest to define orthodoxy by destroying “heretical” books and seeks to establish the canon which will become our Bible.384- Siricius on the supremacy of the bishop of Rome, was the first to use the term “Pope”. 8400- Augustine on infant baptism 9401- Innocent 1 on Roman supremacy412 – Augustine v. Pelagius – They argue over how Adam’s Fall affects humanity440-461- Leo I “Spokesman for Peter”529- The Council of Orange- Augustine’s views are upheld- man is tainted with “original sin”905-956- Popes Sergius, John X, John XI, John XII, Theodora & Marozia1054- The Great Schism: The Church splits east and west1095- Pope Urban II & Indulgences1096-1204- The Crusades – Pope Urban II “God wills it!”1208- The Crusade against the heretics1377- John Wycliffe, Morningstar of the Reformation, is condemned (he dies of natural causes in 1384).1380- The first English translation of the Bible is completed by John Wycliff and his followers.1378-1417- The Catholic Church has 3 popes (another great schism)- this division within Roman Catholicism put rival popes in Rome & Avignon and reduced the influence and prestige of the office of pope. 101415- Jan Hus burned at the stake for heresy 111428- Wycliffe’s remains are exhumed, burned, and his ashes thrown in the River Swift.1456- Johann Gutenberg completes an invention that will radically change Europe and the rest of the world. The printing press comes online (indulgences are the first item printed). This is the catalyst for the Reformation, which will lay the foundation for the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.1513-1517- Martin Luther disagrees with Pope Leo over the sale of indulgences. 121525- Tyndale smuggles Bibles into England – the first Greek text is translated into English.1534- Henry VIII Makes the king, not the pope, the head of the Church of England.1536- William Tyndale is executed in Belgium as a Protestant heretic.1538- John Calvin on Original Sin1649- The Act of Toleration passed in America. This law made restricting the religious rights of Christians a crime; it was the first law guaranteeing religious freedom in America.1681- Charter is granted to William Penn to establish a Quaker colony in America.1776- America, the seedbed of the Restoration, is born. 1805- Joseph Smith is born.1820- The First Vision opens the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.1830- Publication of the Book of Mormon, The Church of Jesus Christ is restored to the earth.“Mormonism has no claim to be a viable religion in the present unless it has been a viable religion in the past.”- Truman G. Madsen 13NotesEpistles of Ignatius to the Smyrneans.Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols, Buffalo: The Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1885-1896, 2:133. The Montanist Controversy forced the early Church into an untenable position. By condemning the Montanists, they had to state that the gifts were gone, that there was no more revelation. As Bishop Wand states, “The best defense set up by the Church was to close the canon of scripture, and by so doing to deny any authority to the Montanist prophecies.” In this way, “the possibility of new revelation was excluded.” John W. Wand, A History of the Early Church to 500 A.D., London: Methuen & Co., 1937, p. 59.The Catholic Church took to solving doctrinal matters through councils of bishops, but conditions were such that it took decades and sometimes centuries to decide even the most basic questions. For instance, it took fourteen ecumenical councils between 325 and 381 A.D. to settle the controversy of the doctrine of the Trinity. Wand, A History of the Early Church to 500 A.D., p. 279-280. Edwin Hatch stated, “The theory (upon which ecumenical councils were based) assumes that God never speaks to men except through the voice of a majority. It is a large assumption.” Edwin Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages Upon the Christian Church, London: Williams and Norgate, 1914, p.331.Origen said,“After this Celsus relates at length opinions which he ascribes to us, but which we do not hold, regarding the Divine Being, to the effect that “he is corporeal in his nature, and possesses a body like a man.” As he undertakes to refute opinions which are none of ours, it would be needless to give either the opinions themselves or their refutation. Indeed, if we did hold those views of God which he ascribes to us, and which he opposes, we would be bound to quote his words, to adduce our own arguments, and to refute his. But if he brings forward opinions which he has either heard from no one, or if it be assumed that he has heard them, it must have been from those who are very simple and ignorant of the meaning of Scripture, then we need not undertake so superfluous a task as that of refuting them.” Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, 10 vols, Buffalo: The Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1885-1896, 4:621, see also Against Celsus 7:27. For an analysis of the early Christian view of an embodied, glorified, anthropormorphic God, see: David L. Paulsen, “Early Christian Belief in a Corporeal Deity: Origen and Augustine as Reluctant Witnesses,” Harvard Theological Review, vol. 83, no. 2 (1990): 105–16; David L. Paulsen, “The Doctrine of Divine Embodiment: Restoration, Judeo-Christian, and Philosophical Perspectives,” BYU Studies, vol. 35, no. 4 (1996): 7–94; James L. Kugel, The God of Old: Inside the Lost World of the Bible (2003), xi–xii, 5–6, 104–6, 134–35; Clark Pinnock, Most Moved Mover: A Theology of God’s Openness (2001), 33–34.Alexander Campbell, Christian Baptism, with its antecedents and consequences, 1851, chapter 13. See also: Eusebius Pamphilus, The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, Bishop of Caesarea, in Palestine, 6.43. The Didache (circa 120-150 AD) is the first extant Christian document allowing for a variance in the baptismal ordinance. It stated, “And concerning baptism, baptize this way: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living [flowing] water. But if you have no living water, baptize into other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither, pour out water three times upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.” Didache, 7.Elder Holland stated: “In the year A.D. 325 the Roman emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea to address—among other things—the growing issue of God’s alleged “trinity in unity.” What emerged from the heated contentions of churchmen, philosophers, and ecclesiastical dignitaries came to be known (after another 125 years and three more major councils) as the Nicene Creed, with later reformulations such as the Athanasian Creed. These various evolutions and iterations of creeds—and others to come over the centuries—declared the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to be abstract, absolute, transcendent, immanent, consubstantial, coeternal, and unknowable, without body, parts, or passions and dwelling outside space and time. In such creeds all three members are separate persons, but they are a single being, the oft-noted “mystery of the trinity.” They are three distinct persons, yet not three Gods but one. All three persons are incomprehensible, yet it is one God who is incomprehensible. We agree with our critics on at least that point—that such a formulation for divinity is truly incomprehensible. With such a confusing definition of God being imposed upon the church, little wonder that a fourth-century monk cried out, ‘Woe is me! They have taken my God away from me, … and I know not whom to adore or to address.’” Jeffrey R. Holland, The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent, Ensign, October 2007, emphasis added. Elder McConkie stated that by the drafting of the Nicene Creed, the Apostasy was total and complete. He said, “Well, it was so obviously complete at that time (325 AD) that there was no question about it. But really, it was completed a long time before that. It was completed by the time that the Apostles quit ministering among men, coupled with the period that would have succeeded that while there (were) still some legal administrators who had been authorized to do something. It was complete when the keys went, because once the keys went, there was nobody on earth left to authorize somebody to confer the priesthood on someone else. And it always takes two things- it takes priesthood and it takes keys. And so any additional supposed ordinations to the priesthood would not have been valid. (Bruce R. McConkie, as quoted in The Inevitable Apostasy and the Promised Restoration, Tad R. Callister, Deseret Book, 2006, p. 51)Henry Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 90.By Augustine’s day, infant baptism was so common that he used it as proof that infants were born with the contagion of “original guilt.” See Barry Bickmore, Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity, FARMS, 1999, p. 185-186. Augustine stated, “The practice of infant baptism tells us that the infant soul, not merely its flesh, stands in need of cleansing.” Robert O’Connell, The Origin of the Soul in St. Augustine’s Later Works, New York, Fordham University Press, 233. Augustine also said, “Inasmuch as infants are not held bound by any sins of their own actual life, it is the guilt of original sin which is healed in them by the grace of Him who saves them by the laver (baptism) of regeneration.” Augustine, A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, 1:24, in Philip Schaf, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, 14 vols. New York: The Christian Literature Publishing Company, 186-1890, 5:24.Arnold K. Garr, A Great and Marvelous Work Part One: 1350-1805- Preparing for the Restoration, Ensign, June 1999, p. 34-45.Ibid, p.36.Burt Horsely, Lutheranism, Ensign, October 1971.Truman G. Madsen, ed., Reflections on Mormonism: Judaeo-Christian Parallels (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1978), xvi. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download