Who are we?
How did we get here?
Who are we as Apostolic Christians and
how do we fit into Christianity at large?
Edmund Reinhardt
Toronto – May 2004
Growing up


Childhood – world revolves around self
Adolescence – become aware of others.
Need to define self concept.



Some end up following others blindly to their
own destruction
Others withdraw and isolate themselves
Maturity is knowing who you are and being
comfortable with yourself so that you can
relate confidently with others.
Goal of Forum

Our church was fairly isolated in the past





Firmly established patterns of separation
Uniformity of doctrine
Persecution
But with today’s urban, affluent, educated generation in
the midst of the information age, we cannot avoid being
very aware that we are not alone.
So who are we?



How do we relate to all these other branches of faith?
What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses?
Can we and should we avoid being assimilated in the New
Evangelical Movement?
Disclaimer




We will be looking at history and at other
faiths
Goal is not to judge the sincerity or
eternal destiny of any individual
Respect for sincere efforts of others to
further God’s work taught in Mark 9:38-40
However need to discern the spirits both
within and without the church. (1 John
4:1)
Agenda



Part 1: Overview of mega-trends in
Christian History
Part 2: Historical roots to doctrinal error
Part 3: What about us?
Newton’s Law of Theology


In Physics “for every action there is an equal
and opposite reaction”
In theology “for every heretic that moves away
from true doctrine in one direction, there is a
well-meaning person who tries to defend
orthodoxy by going to an equal and opposite
extreme” [1]
Orthodoxy
Error
‘Defender of the Faith’
Part 1: Historical Overview
Crucifixion &
Resurrection
Catholicism: Merge
of Church & State by
Constantine
33
313-325
Persecution by Jews,
And Roman Empire
Catholicism


Constantine conquers Rome in the sign of the cross but loses the
way of the cross
World wanted to be friends with church and church reciprocates.





Begin to use the world’s methods to silence heretics.



Issues edict of Milan stopping persecution of Christians.
Pays salaries for bishops to enable them to focus on work, promoted
Christians
Become socially advantageous to be a Christians
Many pagans joined without the same level of commitment (10% of
Roman Empire Christian in 313AD but other 90% within 100 years).
(Christians in Egypt suffered so much from official Christianity that they
saw the Muslim invasion in 639 as liberation.)
Notice the shift from operating from a position of weakness and
sacrifice, to a position of privilege and power.
Catholics taught that the church could introduce new teaching that
was on the same level of authority as the Bible.

Over time many teachings came in:

-
Worship of Mary and other saints
Purgatory
Etc.
Augustine of Hippo



Reacting to Pelagius – British monk who taught
that man could be sinless if he really wanted to
Unbaptized infants are damned
“absolute double predestination”



As result of the fall man is totally depraved and
unable to do anything good, not even believe on God
Therefore can only have faith in God if by grace God
first gives them faith, no free will involved.
God’s decision to save one and damn another is
totally arbitrary, cannot be influenced by man.
Donatus vs. Augustine




Priority is the
holiness of the
visible church
All members and
priests need to be
holy
Separation church &
state
Sacrament invalid if
priest not holy




Priority is the unity
of the visible church
Pragmatic – impossible
to separate pure &
impure
War can be holy
God works through
sacrament
independent of
holiness of priest
Historical Overview
Crucifixion &
Resurrection
Catholicism: Merge
of Church & State by
Constantine
33
313-325
Persecution by Jews,
And Roman Empire
Reformation: Lutheran,
Calvin, Anabaptist
1517
Reformation: Luther






Took a stand against the errors of Catholicism
Sola Scripture – Scripture the only authority
Wanted the protection of the German Dukes
against the Roman backlash.
Formed state church.
Based his teachings on 4th century Augustine
Encouraged the use of force, infant baptism etc.
Radical Reformation: Anabaptists





Return to early Christian principles of taking up
the cross
Non-resistance
Lived what they believed, Sermon on the Mount
If someone did not swear and was honest and
good-hearted, they might be “suspected” of
being an Anabaptist and singled out for
persecution.
Sense of community and care for each other
Anabaptist Community
“We teach and practice this mercy, love and community, and we have
taught and practiced it for seventeen years. God be thanked
forever that although our property has to a great extent been taken
away from us and is still daily taken, and many a righteous father
and mother are put to the sword or fire, and although we are not
allowed the free enjoyment of our homes as is manifest … Yet none
of those who have joined us nor any of their orphaned children have
been forced to beg. If this is not Christian practice, then we might
as well abandon the whole Gospel of our Lord.
Is it not sad and intolerable hypocrisy that these poor people [the
Lutherans] boast of having the Word of God, of being the true
Christian church, never remembering that they have entirely lost
their sign of true Christianity? Although many of them have plenty
of everything, go about in silk and velvet, gold and silver, and in all
manner of pomp and splendor, … they allow many of their own poor
and afflicted members to ask for alms. [They force] the poor, the
hungry, the suffering, the elderly, the lame, the blind, and the sick
to beg for bread at their doors.
Oh preachers, dear preachers, where is the power of the Gospel you
preach? … Where are the fruits of the Spirit you have received?”
Menno Simons “Reply to False Accusations”
Anabaptist Vision


“They demanded an outward expression
of the inner experience. Repentance must
be “evidenced” by newness of behaviour.”
“The true test of the Christian, they held ,
is discipleship. The great word of the
Anabaptists was not faith as it was for
the reformers, but following”.
Historical Overview
Crucifixion &
Resurrection
Catholicism: Merge
of Church & State by
Constantine
Reformation: Lutheran,
Calvin, Anabaptist
1737
33
313-325
Persecution by Jews,
And Roman Empire
.
1517
Moravians
first missionaries
to West Indies
Historical Overview
Crucifixion &
Resurrection
Catholicism: Merge
of Church & State by
Constantine
33
313-325
Persecution by Jews,
And Roman Empire
Reformation: Lutheran,
Calvin, Anabaptist
Higher criticism,
Bible not inspired,
modernist liberal
theology,
Rationalism
1737
1517
1827
Moravians
first missionaries
to West Indies
Age of Enlightenment (1700-1900)



Belief in human reason breaking the shackles of
traditions propagated by self-interested authorities.
(Rejection of external authority – foundations of
current relativism).
Use of unaided reason – rejection of any other source
of truth (i.e. revelation)
To these men the Enlightenment was an emergence of mankind from a period of
immaturity marked by a dependence upon external authorities such as the Bible and the
church. No more would mortals need to be bound by the rigors of fixed dogmas. Now
men could engage in “free thought.” unfettered by outdated theological concepts. The
“miraculous” must be judged in the light of human reason, they said. No longer could one
be credulous and accept biblical accounts as authentic. One must think for himself apart
from that which claimed to be divine revelation. No more should men view the Bible as
authoritative. Scholarly pens were echoing the utterance of the prince of liars, “Yea, hath
God said …?”
Theological Liberalism - Modernism






Bible is not inspired
Human experience > revealed truth
Rejection of supernatural – even about
Christ
Man is basically good
Man came through evolution not creation
Social gospel => sin = social problems
therefore salvation = fixing society
Historical Overview
Crucifixion &
Resurrection
Catholicism: Merge
of Church & State by
Constantine
33
313-325
Reformation: Lutheran,
Calvin, Anabaptist
Higher criticism,
Bible not inspired,
modernist liberal
theology,
Rationalism
1909
1737
1517
1827
Fundamentalism
Persecution by Jews,
And Roman Empire
Moravians
first missionaries
to West Indies
Fundamentalism


In reaction to liberalism
" the affirmation of religious authority as
holistic and absolute, admitting of neither
criticism nor reduction; it is expressed
through the collective demand that
specific creedal and ethical dictates
derived from scripture be publicly
recognized and legally enforced ."
Historical Overview
Crucifixion &
Resurrection
Catholicism: Merge
of Church & State by
Constantine
33
313-325
New
Reformation: Lutheran,
Evangelicalism
Calvin, Anabaptist
Higher criticism,
Bible not inspired,
modernist liberal
theology,
Rationalism
1909
1620
1517
1827
1942
Fundamentalism
Persecution by Jews,
And Roman Empire
Pilgrims land
at Plymouth
Rock
New Evangelicalism




By 1940’s Fundamentalism had seemed
reactionary and out of touch to increasingly
sophisticated American population.
In reaction a new brand of Christianity was
formed called “New Evangelicalism”
Open-minded, intellectual, acceptable to
modern, highly-educated people and compatible
with popular individualistic lifestyles
I.e. rather than resist the culture, let’s become
like the people we are trying to win.
Tolerance of Doctrinal Variance

“As long as I am associated with the
Coalition for Revival, I will not quarrel with
other CFR associates over the following
issues:… baptism and communion,
Calvinism, Arminianism …, Christian
freedom, differences such as smoking,
dancing, etc.; tongues and other activity;
modes of worship and methods of
evangelism.”—Coalition For Revival
Rapid Growth

Through effective use of mass media.




61 million Americans receive impacted by TV
evangelists
In 1986, > 3,500 Christian bookstores, > $1.2 billion
sales, videos, radio
Lots of money of money to be made in this growth
industry, can affect motives
National Association of Evangelicals = 43,000
congregations, 77 denomination + 100’s of
independent churches, 43,000 parachurch
ministries, benefit 27 million people.
Pragmatism – Mega Churches





“Whatever means result in salvation of souls are
acceptable.”
“The nagging question arises: Is our reliance on
church growth techniques or on the surprising
work of the Holy Spirit.”
Leaning on the arm of flesh
“Evangelicals are simply playing musical
churches, moving around to more exciting,
larger churches.”
Meeting wants rather than needs
God is like the king of fun
"MALIBU - ... it was a week in which Christianity came with top-notch
food served by waiters, bikini-clad girls, water skiing, immaculate
facilities, games galore, rock music, new friends, affection and some
of the most glorious scenery in Creation.
"One hundred miles north of Vancouver ... the Malibu Club brings in
about 4,000 teenagers each summer.
"Malibu teaches the teens that Christianity can be a blast.
"`It's just they make God, like, really fun,' said Crystal Primrose, 15,
from North Vancouver.
"A casually dressed club director, John McNichol, led the final night's
session in which he asked kids to make a commitment to Jesus. He
told the teens they have doubts about whether they'd still have fun
if they became Christian and about what their friends might think if
they converted. `But don't worry. God is like the king of fun,' said
McNichol, who earlier in the day dressed up as James Bond for a
comedy skit" (Report on YOUNG LIFE'S Malibu, The Spectator,
Hamilton, Ontario, Sat., Oct. 1, 1994).
Just be positive

No room for talk of sin or negative vibes.



“We should avoid making them feel guilty but
rather make them feel good about
themselves.”
Need to be broad minded and positive
Focus is on me

“People today hunger not for personal
salvation … but for the feeling, the
momentary illusion of personal well-being,
health, and psychic security.”
Part 2: Historical Roots to Current
Doctrinal Positions



Eternal Security
Role of Church – influence through power
or through purity
Does the church have authority?
Community of faith vs. individual
Salvation
Works vs. Grace
Pelagius (360-420)
Roman Catholic
Works Theology
Augustine (354-430s)
“Protestantism”
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Fundamentalism
Evangelicalism
Salvation Implications

Shallow Concept of Conversion


No teaching of repentance, changed life,
confession of sin
Casual Attitudes toward Sin



“The church is a mixed society. It is not a
community of saints and dedicated persons,
but a society of sinners at every variety of
spiritual development.”
Overcoming sin no longer expected
Eternal security
What is the role of the church
Change society to
become Christian
Call people out of a sin-sick society
to a community of holy brethren
Early Church
Constantine/Augustine
Donatists
Catholicism
Anabaptists
Luther
Liberals
Fundamentalists
Fundamentalist Politicians
Evangelicalism
Russian and Chinese
Underground Churches
Way
of
the
Cross
Social Activism

"The mission of the Christian Coalition is
simple. It is to mobilize Christians -- one
precinct at a time, one community at a
time -- until once again we are the head
and not the tail, and at the top rather than
the bottom of our political system. The
Christian Coalition will be the most
powerful political force in America by the
end of the decade." -- Pat Robertson,
President, Christian Coalition
Authority of Visible Church
Authority usurped
by Humans
Fear of God
Autonomous
Individuals
Early Church
Augustine
Catholicism
Maintain unity
Donatists
European Corrupt Church
Leadership
Enlightenment – reason > faith
Secular Humanism
Modernists
Evangelicalism
Evangelical view of Visible Church
Quotes from Evangelicals
 “It is an individual-centered faith”
 “Jesus proclaimed a direct personal
relationship with God with no need for the
mediation of a religious hierarchy”
 Leading author/TV speaker urges to free
ourselves from ”ecclesiastical captors”
Church no longer center

Focus on parachurch organizations (nondenominational ministries that do not
answer to anyone)



Youth For Christ, Young Life, Inter-Varsity
Christian Fellowship, Campus Crusade
These have grown to eclipse existing churches
and undermine their authority and outreach
“parachurch corporations eclipsed
ecclesiastical structures” according to their
own writings
Visible Church - Implications

Every man does what is right in his own
eyes



“To argue that the Bible is authoritative, but
to be unable to come to anything like
agreement on what is says (even with those
who share an evangelical commitment ) is
self-defeating”
Lax church discipline
Open Communion
Even Evangelicals see things getting
out of hand.

Francis Schaeffer The Great Evangelical Disaster



Deplores “failure of the evangelical world to stand for
truth as truth”
“the evangelical church has accommodated to the
world spirit of the age”
Early promoter of New Evangelicalism Dr. Harold
Lindsell

“It is clear that evangelicalism is now broader and
shallower, and is becoming more so.
Evangelicalism’s children are in the process of
forsaking the faith of their fathers.”
What about us



Dare we feel smug and superior?
In what ways are we over-reacting?
In what ways are we accommodating the
world spirit of the age?
Apostolic Christian Church
Rationalism
Samuel Froehlich 1830
Persecution by
State Church
Fundamentalism
Persecution for
not bearing arms
1890 -1950s
Relative Prosperity and
security post-war
Fear of God
Dependence on God
ACC no longer immune




Our church is now allowing the Christian culture to
influence us.
Increased education
Increased wealth
Less isolation from society




Occupation
Geographic location
Exposure to media influences
All contribute to



Greater independence of thinking
Self-reliance
Resistance to restraint and authority
Influence of Evangelicalism on ACC
Relative Prosperity and
security post-war
Keeping form while forgetting purpose
Abandonment of outward appearance
Loss of close-knit community
Evangelicalism
Example of evangelism thru compromise
Bad experiences
Abandonment of doctrine
Eternal Security
Taking up arms
Reactivity =
Loss of Vision
Anti-evangelism
Fear of prayermeetings and
Bible studies
Outward vs. Inward Separation


It has been observed that if separation is
in word only and not in deed, … then
assimilation into the surrounding world will
be very hard to resist.
On the other hand if separation is
maintained outwardly but the purpose is
forgotten, … then the move to isolationism
will also be very hard to resist.
(Bro. Mark Igic 2003)
Liberal or Legalistic
Lukewarm
Liberalism
Reactivity
Legalism
John Zeug Eastern Camp 1976
Church = Lifeboat
The purpose of the church is rescue souls from the world
But if we are careless and
bring the water (the world)
into the lifeboat, we will be
in as much danger as those
we are rescuing.
If we keep the lifeboat
safe on the land it will
never serve its purpose!
Back to the Cross!
(1 Cor 1:23-24) But we preach
Christ crucified, unto the Jews
a stumblingblock, and unto the
Greeks foolishness; {24} But
unto them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God, and the wisdom
of God.
Are you willing to pay the price?

Truth & Love





Willing to be accountable
Willing to hold each other accountable
Willing to see those around us as lost and
going to hell
Willing to get personally involved with people
you are not comfortable with to save them
from that fate
Willing to make sacrifices of time, and money
and career
Conclusion
Bibliography






Winds of Doctrine ACCA Elder Body – 1986
Fraternization Revisited Mark Igic – 2003
http://www.apostolicchristianchurch.org/Pages/b
eliefs-main.htm
http://www.apostolicchristianchurch.org/Pages/
History.htm
Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up David W
Bercot – Scroll Publishing
The Tragedy of Compromise Ernest D. Pickering
– BJU Press
Outward, purpose-driven focus


“When revival came to China – 1,000s
went out with fire from the altar
When God moves in the West you want to
stop and build an altar to your
experiences” – Leader of Chinese housechurches
Are you willing to pay the price?

Truth & Love







Willing to be accountable
Willing to hold each other accountable
Willing to have people over
Willing to get personally involved with people
you are not comfortable with
Willing to make financial sacrifices
Willing to make sacrifices of time
Willing to make sacrifices of privacy
Some possibilities



No silver bullet
Fear of God – different way of thinking
Love of brethren




When is the last time you really went out of your way
Stop reacting to other people and the past – forgive –
if your brother have aught against you
Take up your cross and follow Him – be willing
to be inconvenienced and even hurt in the
process of getting involved in other people’s
lives.
Get personally involved meeting needs around
you