Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    How the Churches Got It Wrong: Christianity Revealed
    How the Churches Got It Wrong: Christianity Revealed
    How the Churches Got It Wrong: Christianity Revealed
    Ebook172 pages2 hours

    How the Churches Got It Wrong: Christianity Revealed

    By J. Craig Woods

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    When the founders of the early Christian Church created the Christian religion, were they able to capture the truth as found in the actual words of Jesus Christ? In looking at the history of our Christian institutions, it becomes evident that His message of love and compassion has been completely overlooked by the Christian leaders who have defined Jesus Christ. This book will be our spiritual journey to find the truth in the message of Jesus Christ. And the true message of Jesus Christ is about peace, hope and love. Sadly, His message has been ignored and distorted by our Christian institutions. The Christ message of love was given to all humanity, and we all possess the capacity to learn this message. His Gospel of love was never intended to be a collection of creeds and doctrines created by a select group of self-appointed clerical middle-men. Their creation of creeds, doctrines and dogma has resulted in division, disputation and bloodshed.

    This book is my effort to reveal the truth in the message of Christ, as expressed in His actual words. Because of social, political and psychological factors motivating the early Church leaders, they were unable to give us a Christian theology that reflects the real meaning of the unconditional love found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are to experience the truth of Jesus Christ, we must re-visit the actual words of Jesus Christ to apprehend His message of love. By eliminating the erroneous interpretations made by clerical middle-men, we can formulate our own thoughts based on the actual message of Jesus Christ. It is my sincere hope that we will make this search as though we are spiritual archeologists, digging for the truth that has remained buried under two-thousand years of obfuscation.

    With our new understanding of what Christ was teaching us, it will be our time to know the true meaning of Christianity. We will investigate the message of Christ by utilizing the canonical gospels to explore the words of Jesus Christ. We will also refer to other Christian Gospels that were very popular amongst the early Christians, but, due to the politics of power, these Christian Gospels were excluded from the New Testament Bible Canon. In addition to these sources, we will further explore other ancient texts that were influential within the early Christian communities such as the books found in the Corpus Hermeticum. Our journey will take us to unexpected and exciting insights. We will discover why our Christian institutions are failing. The truth, as expressed in the message of Christ, is to be found in the actual words of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, His truth has been lost in the creation of abstruse creeds and complicated doctrines by Church leaders. In creating their Christian theology, the early orthodox Church leaders were mainly interested in establishing and projecting their authority over all other Christian sects and political institutions.

    True Christianity is not about judgment and condemnation. Jesus Christ taught us that God is a loving Father and, as such, we have no reasons to fear our Father. It is our responsibility, as individuals, to discover the new reality of Christian love, and it will be our task to practice what we learn. True Christianity is universal kinship. The words of Jesus Christ, as recorded in both canonical and non-canonical sources, will be used as our spiritual road map. In the early years, after the death of Jesus Christ, men created the Christian religion, and their creation has resulted in our modern Christian institutions. Unfortunately, we have inherited churchianity. And true Christianity has yet to be discovered.

    How the Churches Got It Wrong: Christianity Revealed will be our spiritual journey to find the lost Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our journey back home to our spiritual Garden of Eden. It will be our journey to discover the truth about unconditional love, as expressed by Jesus Christ, and He

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateJun 28, 2012
    ISBN9781475931365
    How the Churches Got It Wrong: Christianity Revealed
    Author

    J. Craig Woods

    J. Craig Woods served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of California majoring in psychology and philosophy. He is an ordained minister and the author of A New Age of Vision. He has worked as a Unix System Engineer for the last twenty years. Throughout his life, he has had an abiding interest is the spiritual development of the human being.

    Related to How the Churches Got It Wrong

    Related ebooks

    Personal Growth For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      How Should We Respond To Celebrities Coming To Christ?

      Dec 30, 2019

      If you’ve been following the news lately, you will have noticed a significant wave of celebrities who are turning to Christ. In what is referred to as a massive spiritual movement, the sinful city of Hollywood is turning more and more stars away from

      5 min read

    • Article

      Stumbling Blocks That Delay Church Transformation Part 5

      May 20, 2022

      In my previous writings I have pointed out that institutionalised Christianity is fading away. Organised religious systems are sucking the life of Christ out of believers. In many cases, believers are busy with the church programme, but not with God.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Jul 30, 2021

      Dear readers, we love to hear your thoughts on the stories that we publish, what is going on around the world, and what the Lord has placed on your heart! Email your letter through to editor@joymag.co.za for a chance to be featured – please try to ke

      7 min read

    • Article

      Stumbling Blocks That Delay Church Transformation

      Dec 31, 2021

      I believe that the Church has received a prophetic mandate from God that every generation of believers must fulfil. We must, at all costs, protect the evolution of the mission of the Church and ensure no one will stop it. One important element of our

      2 min read

    • Article

      Audrey Hardy

      Feb 10, 2020

      We read a lot these days about ‘fake news’ – but I wonder if such a thing as a ‘fake gospel’ also exists, and how to define it? Does one consider anything that does not bring the believer to maturity, as mentioned in Colossians 1:28, a fake gospel? D

      1 min read

    • Article

      THE WAR FOR OUR YOUTH Why creation still matters

      Dec 30, 2019

      We’re being told by public education systems, universities, media, some parents, and unfortunately many church leaders, that parts of the Bible are not relevant anymore and that we need to reinvent God’s word. So, with this situation, in order to und

      3 min read

    • Article

      WHO’S In The NEWS?

      Jul 22, 2022

      We need the moving and operation of the Holy Spirit in our lives and churches like never before. It is critical for the harvest of souls to come in. Johan Brits – Gospel singer and member of worship duo, Frank and I – and his wife, Elzaan, are expec

      2 min read

    • Article

      Discernmentof Faith

      Oct 6, 2020

      Discernmentof Faith
      3 min read

    • Article

      Time For The Church To Embark On A Navel-gazing Exercise

      Mar 31, 2024

      FOR any political structure that fails in the absence of moral direction, it would seem natural for it to turn to organised religion for leadership. Unfortunately, the direction of most modern institutional religion is decidedly secular. The institu

      5 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Dec 30, 2019

      Letters To The Editor
      6 min read

    • Article

      A New Day Of Pentecost

      Aug 25, 2023

      In my column last month, we studied Acts 2:42 and the apostle’s doctrine. We looked at how the scripture is divided into four quadrants: the apostle’s doctrine, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. In this article, I will focus my attention

      2 min read

    • Article

      Evangelism Dispelling The Pharisee Spirit

      Feb 9, 2024

      During the transition from the Old into the New Testament, there were various internal challenges that the early Church faced. Acts 15:1-22 highlights how false brethren sought to operate and impose mixed doctrines onto the Gentiles – believing that

      2 min read

    • Article

      Fake News, Fake Gospels!

      Dec 31, 2021

      Fake News, Fake Gospels!
      5 min read

    • Article

      Truth For All People, Everywhere

      Mar 16, 2020

      In 2019, the Barna Research Group published a report, Reviving Evangelism, drawn from a study that looked at the experiences and expectations of Christians and non-Christians in America. What was perhaps most pertinent was the finding that “Christian

      1 min read

    • Article

      Becoming Imitators Of Christ

      Nov 27, 2020

      Every church-going Christian has heard this scripture before: “We should all be imitators of Christ, becoming more like Him daily” (1 Pet 2:21, Rom 8:29). This encapsulates the goal of every sincere Christ-follower. I have recently started asking som

      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for How the Churches Got It Wrong

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      How the Churches Got It Wrong - J. Craig Woods

       Nabook_preview_excerpt.html[ے6>z#[{|Q(4RO҄^=nHT$Adj?)='b4Y.@"/'O&ϻmͻWo~՛T~w[~}lWޅ W{oMmń*^W!~kݽ탽(n*}qn~yztcP {[ڏ}xf(>pDHzxcv->~K^u!*3P-txW4Xll1{z_%~*=5mXMwEak[rO [kz~"+8";]˻v ZwE86 {?CEgƅdöMv֒q lȶ8Am6rP X,QW0i+Hv!\V>%ZIP1C[uRv0f.tf'Og=o=F~o|p8\1tU6/V+^~C@ǧͷ}miFU3U^[Ӹh0ۛv}k qăvjB תUįO~7s}T9EB2ع8b~Djmwp [_/S#*%3nN2R}BZ7pʅ6 >ՄDj֮z] ΕWA{W)Jiy]7Ġa,:G@G$qSq-+YYtg}OIU(>zn)hD[o  C@c]3A<~20䪨`>z@49޾ Wp'kvuԽ/t&G|_Wx'& Bӛד`Liz kDQmk-o5`71ڞCzk#q\J Gh;]l[ONgl#aڝWI7a/K;μIGpz VD/ sNK-y(ΛuM#-f4#GR8V+{+2cƶU[$;?g$Ik7pMvށ# Cs@]>$Zjz`\F E+c֒%DmT˫OJLL;@T%-h;:_~l@od֭- e薻SgBS`$ΒEiH1ZL)sUDo]&@=օj$x[]ӁTcIG{rggNM7S֞+`k(?m*ת[C7v[mM.LѼtPehs;a.eK4Ua2F4 4;35XKDWD$ 2"\QI#ޅ CJ԰f5/0al ]o#j7*uca\躒!<02ÃO¸xaW@WEM͋3< G+MV5ڠ!L=xOrbqQ.i?rhϭ:u}{A@XBϠnhP@T%tcB I}wTsQ]Pj] sjMP[O׃aU]/:u4"ltB38'h2ؼ>yj؇؃*r-|lp;,{{y8{atIIɄ 0C3i}m DMKvlpS9V,M9^W r&9-`IT~l*~cG4Z06g/B/Zm/WY%~r\( hl1 TL9 p;=C\wd Vk?gvTPdcaL G9>Ǿx= s"ļGq S9@9k',\k90Ti:HngŴ=$ug'&-#jɔHc*CH5Kܹ` pȜ陨#hs"O҂4R嫢x6yZ ?d!!U#E[ XqKb'#7ӂLO12# C|0+X;G;{;}eX&E=_|!gL.CL#B$ɓd~FcRT_eMр$K›[N%A:+j?#I5lCXkO /MY '5 oA s/A9ʙJڭ8  *L `!{Uh]K]j'փ6G9r#u]bۆIe쥄=WD J{9Ob E~/۳\cCf(#q[*b0˽Fu~h iA6C0$ReP5ޏP;W^0D ! δ(4ѷ&2phi+g hSA[D KMy$l" tIl jLpQ\oM׺csnyb\)Pf#9]rpGal`v0{I) zTɹ\3Pi !h% *~bq!AZQ(y[u#&BɶV^,wltCm壾6{q 1_%-@T I%|26׏H`%x"E5SJ  s_.&bHn,{Ճ!1q^Z0fXeIڔ}/I$c)d 2=Pqnӱa~L/2] 6n'֘ciJ ) $5"}b>xVTWz A,> l8^)b8G Sݺ/<M2t* ω ɎEz6" HFZ@%ϋ .!& {kVB}Suu_l`mgD.QsSf~s#՗u}p TL ԓcw45knd;d9f̏mQ}FZbbxYdCVi+S qCʵՄMە2Kr4́+G7 ,e>h =W"!Ixz1ׅevQi֨`gȱDSD)j!`YssFv()Hv^MYhL]L)؏.ζ;OK9?oTNa%1|a_N{b1Iy`@*'LA4)0;a= kw l%YbL!Ɇe}a2Mc\[ULU-LqdKQhg@\SML(ެXߪLYlkFDfM^ѹsr̀4n`(!I9^p\y~ γFziH}ځ27nRL20ICkK0ܐfZ]ԏ4ELE$̫`njaDp֥ܫNLC@o`%:#<#xǻU,PE-9ֽ9[LP@;zNV:H,ut".T]LetB`7 ; {WM6t׫=Qج6oV,XgVZ {J;)Ԧ+U$7XEF,(_d~t;]{BP)5Ryk1WrJ DЇh4^ \tS^5\7^`2.jcv֠@~tE+oʔw$*ֲTPpLBTBa~w}q7bVdD`YCaXRXB;A)W]/hnHilz`!#$!/d>S~Gl6P7v9-ofms&>;zXޖtvF6Dd:|&)vu|';wSrwwYl)7:j†eE,=F8<6 zk7pTql[辒C^hs-) 7]#j#GƳM9;e]Փ[Y 6X QNG_@"i\cK"b挕 Ճl3+c F`@#;{1Ě2syH,W48N0aW.yK*\{%m{[wN[q=f˥oDgEfNwvxYMv :? '^k=5,Ռ-o\,Cүΰ6W҅}S/,ז4FNQ암w}X S`.t)Mlxy e*1BurPPL{ƿn%5r3fv%A4ĀI5o]ƈgN]q8ъg`8ٌΚ Vc0!|rҺh\rv}*rhk}Mڤ V\QDxУ'1H5[yfv˞K7{dt%-Wu)x+O\~NSzK`u an~Vݞ70Fn/gCሎ/hz+v Ӂ7>7zEf]]ML:ZpzzE@_} FuN'kЧg۩?Lkiec-QqEX )6.4C%qFb[hINOn H+6y3|-h;ZgZzpRz|#3zR@|̹}<-tn"4^Wd|}a;E!7؏#89忛LJupquG(# =o V,q[>+X1#ceνU$HShH3ġe-'
      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1