Part Two: The Decaying Church

The history of Christianity does not begin with spurious conjectures and myths. The history of Christianity begins with an event. More specifically, or better put, with the advent of a person. This man was and is extremely special because he, unlike any other man, was and is the embodiment of God. He is a man who was also God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:1, 14). He was God in the flesh. "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature" (Colossians 1:15). The man, of whom we speak, Jesus Christ, believed it necessary to begin his ministry by surrounding himself with men who could carry on his work. It is important to note that the church is the essential representative of Jesus in the world. As a result, we need to understand the origin of the church. For the purpose of this book, it is important for us to ascertain what Christianity looked like in the beginning so that we know how to proceed throughout the rest of this book. To begin, we must note what scripture states about the church: focusing mainly on Acts and the Epistles of Paul. Second, we must look at what occurred that may have been similar or different, specifically in the 1st, 2nd, and 4th centuries, the most significant for Christian history. In and through this analysis, we will discover the beginning, and the corruption, of the church to the present day. For early church history, we mainly use the New Testament. This is the text that gives us the best account of what God was up to in his church. As far as the other centuries, we use church historians to recount what we believe happened.

In the following chapters we will explore: "Resurrection and the Kingdom of God" that deals with the explosion of the Kingdom of God into the world; "The Early Church (Built on Rock): Church of God" that examines the shape, structure, practices of the early church; and "The Pre-Modern Church (Built on Sand): Church of Man" that looks at subtopics such as: Deception and Apostolic Succession, The Church of Constantine, Protestant Reformation, and The Enlightenment.

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