The Real Truth About Church History: Why Should You Be Deceived? Embrace the Truth! Vol. 1

By James Sharp

The Real Truth About Church History answers the following questions: Why is Christianity the way that it is today? And how did we go from one church to over 34,000 Christian denominations worldwide? This is a huge problem because the world has acknowledged this fact. And the fact is this: A church divided is no church at all. So in order to end the division in Christianity, we must all go back to the Bible and the past. It is time for all Christians to speak the same things that were spoken by Christ, the apostles, and the saints of old after the Apostolic Age.
This book educates you on the hidden facts about primitive Christianity by covering the first 5 centuries of the history of the church. The things that the average Christian have not been taught have been brought out more clearly in this book. Also, this book shoots documented facts that cannot be refuted. Now, more than ever, there must be complete and utter unity in the body of Christ. We're living in the last days, so it's time for all Christians to speak the same thing by the Word of God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 20, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477252574

James Sharp

Christian historian and scholar James Sharp reveals the real facts about primitive Christianity and the history of the church. Not only has he done the research on church history, he has also read all of the Holy Bible, including the Book of Revelations four times. He is a Bible-believing Christian who has been saved for 71/2 years and counting. The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of his life.

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© 2012 by James Sharp. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Cover Photo Taken by: Violy Vallester

vivisrandomramblings.com

Published by AuthorHouse 08/10/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5258-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5256-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-5257-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012913444

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Author’s Preface

Introduction

Chapter I The 1st Century, Part I

Chapter II The 1st Century, Part II

Chapter III The 2nd Century

Chapter IV The 3rd Century

Chapter V The 4th Century

Chapter VI The 5th Century

Appendix Timeline

Bibliography

This book is dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the God of truth made known in the flesh. Also, I dedicate this book to all of the saints of God who have worked tirelessly to research the truth about church history. Because of your efforts, and God leading me to your works online, this book exists. I’ve acknowledged all of you precious saints throughout this book. I thank all of you great writers, researchers, and church historians that are members of the household of faith. Again, I say, thank you. May our God Jesus bless all of you with favor in the areas of your life where it is needed most. Lastly, this book is dedicated to all of the saints of God worldwide. Since God is one, let us all be one in Christ, even though many of us are far apart. For Christ is all, and in us all.

Author’s Preface

This book is Volume One of a series in church history. The present volume covers the first five centuries of the Church Age. Also, this volume covers important historical events that were happening outside of God’s messianic community. The first two chapters of this book talk about the 1st century. It took two chapters to cover the 1st century because so many things happened during this period. God inspired the New Testament, and He, through His church, accomplished so many things to lay the foundation of Primitive Christian theology. So once you read chapters one and two, you will know what the church is all about.

Chapter three covers what God had accomplished through His church in the 2nd century. It also covers the emergence of the ancient Catholic Church. The remaining chapters talk about what God had accomplished through His church in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries. They also cover very important historical events that influenced Catholicism, brought about the fall of the Roman Empire, and brought about the Dark Ages in Western Europe. In addition, this series consists of four volumes. Each volume will cover five centuries at a time. As of this writing Volume Two, which will cover the 6th to the 10th centuries, is still in the planning and research stage. My goal is to write Volumes Two, Three, and Four. The fourth volume will end with the 21st century.

The purpose of this book is to tell the truth about the New Testament and church history. Just in case you didn’t know, the church history books have lied to us. Now before you jump to conclusions, let me state the facts: I’m telling you the exact same story that all of us have been told in school or college. I did this because what happened in the past actually happened. So in addition to telling you the exact same story, I brought out the facts about God’s primitive church more clearly. The church of the New Testament is 100 years older than the Roman Catholic Church, and my book proves this fact to be true. I’ve got the references to back up my claims, and they can be found in this book’s bibliography. I know that I’m making bold statements, but I’m coming boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! If a church organization is not the original church of the New Testament, then why masquerade as if you are? Now let me make another point.

There’s nothing wrong with the names of today’s Christian denominations. Also, many of us are saved, but we come from different cultural backgrounds. This is God’s doing because He loves diversity. But it’s all about believing, speaking and teaching the same thing. That’s all that I’m saying in this book. And it’s not about who’s right and who’s wrong; it is all about doing things God’s way, which will make you right by default.

Please be advised that this book uses several different versions of the Holy Bible. These versions include the following: The King James Version, New King James Version, New International Version, New American Standard Bible, The New Living Translation, and the JPS Bible. Also, I used the Complete Jewish Bible to help me write this book as well. And all words that are in italics in this book are Non-English words. I have provided you with the meaning of these words throughout this book.

Introduction

I was saved by the Lord Jesus Christ on Monday, December 20, 2004. That was the greatest day of my life because I stopped fearing death itself. There is nothing like being born again of the water and of the Spirit. But after a month of being saved, I noticed something about the Christian world. Why are there so many Christian denominations? And why does each Christian denomination teach a doctrine that is different from another denomination? As a result of this fact, I didn’t know which church I should attend. I say this because I didn’t know much about the Christian world before I got saved. And I thought that all churches preached and taught the same thing.

The church that I got saved at showed me the Scriptures in the Holy Bible that teaches the church how a sinner gets saved. So I knew that my salvation was biblical because I was there when God gave me the Holy Spirit. But I remembered the days when I was attending a Baptist Church in the mid 90s. What that church taught was different from the church where God had saved me. Then I thought about the other Christian denominations that still exist till this day. I had a severe problem with the fact that there are some many differences of opinion in the Christian world. So I didn’t trust any pastor, including the pastor of the church where God had saved me.

Towards the end of January, 2005, I prayed a prayer to the Lord. I asked Him specifically to prove to me through church history that He really had a church, and I needed Him to show me that He sustained it and its doctrine all throughout the centuries. Also, I asked God to show me what the original church taught, and I needed Him to show me that what the original church preached and taught never changed from the 1st century to today. Lastly, I told God that if He does this for me, then I promise to stay in His church till the end. This was the only way that I could be sure that God really has a church and it never changed. I never questioned my salvation, but I needed to understand why the doctrines of the 21st century church world are so different from that of the 1st century church.

I didn’t know it at that time, but faith in God without works is dead. So after I prayed, I humbled myself and went off to research church history. I was blessed because I worked at the Cal State Dominguez Hills University Library throughout my undergraduate years as a Student Assistant. I worked at the Librarian’s Desk, and my job taught me how to research and find books for other students. But I thought that my prayer to God was too big to be done. There’s no way that I can do my research at that library. I thought I had to go to a bigger library or somewhere far off to complete my task. But as I began my research at my job, God showed me that everything that I needed was at the library where I worked.

In A.D. 2005, from January to November, I found and read the best of the best encyclopedias and bible dictionaries. Then I researched and found the best of the best online resources. My research focused on three things: 1) The history of the Roman Catholic Church, 2) the history of the Book of Acts, and 3) the history of the New Testament form of salvation from the 1st century to today. What God showed me was astounding. For example, Catholic Scholar H. Mueller wrote the following in the New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2: The NT defines neither the exact rite of Baptism nor the exact formulas. Mr. Mueller is talking about the New Testament. How in the heck can the Holy Bible be the infallible and inspired Word of God, but it can’t tell me how to be properly baptized? In fact, this same article on Baptism, in its own words, states that the New Testament does not define the exact formula of baptism three more times! This is the Roman Catholic Church, which is supposed to be the oldest Christian denomination in the world! After I read Mr. Mueller’s statement, I knew that there was something extremely wrong with the Catholic Church.

God did something else for me while I was researching church history. He showed me that the New Testament church of the 1st century never changed in the 2nd century, 3rd century, 4th century, and each and every century till the 21st century. In fact, God showed me that the 1st century church is older than the Roman Catholic Church. At first, this was hard to believe. But as I kept on researching, it was impossible to deny the documented fact that the Catholic Church is an independent church that got started in the 2nd century. The New Testament church never turned into the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church was and still is something completely different from the church of the 1st century. In addition, God dealt with me to let me know that He wanted me to attend the church where I had embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I obeyed Him and attended that church. I’m still at my church home till this day.

After I finished my research, everything about church history was clear to me. Now I understand how and why the Catholic Church came on the scene in the 2nd century. I understand why it became so powerful and is so different from the New Testament church. Also, I understand why the Protestant Reformation happened in the first place. And I understand why mainstream Christianity is what it is today. God still has a church. But from the 20th century to the 21st century, the Christian world has gone completely downhill. And there’s much work to be done to fix it.

When I concluded my research, I had over a thousand pages of documented facts about church history. That may not sound like much, but I was able to condense my research because of the internet. I had all this information at my disposal. At first, I thought that God had given this information to me for my benefit alone. Also, I thought that there was no need for me to share it with the world by writing a book or something of the like. Plus, I knew that I wasn’t the only one that knew what I know about church history. But, I knew that there’s only a small percentage of people in this world that are saved and know the truth about church history. And I had become one of them. So I had no intentions of writing a book at all. But in the Spring of 2006, God began to deal with me.

The first thing I did was read the New Testament from start to finish. I finished reading the New Testament in the Summer of 2006. Then, in the next two years, God kept on dealing with me about writing a book about my research. So in 2008, I finally gave in and agreed with God to write this book. But before I could get started, the Lord let me know that He wanted me to read the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus literally gave me a hunger to read the Old Testament. And when I began to read it, I couldn’t put it down. So after many months, I finished reading the Old Testament in the Autumn of 2008.

I have researched and tried the Holy Bible for myself. I know that it is the infallible and inspired Word of God, and I know what it says for myself. I may not be a Christian with a title in the church, but I can say that I’m a bible-believing Christian who has read the entire Bible, including the Book of Revelations four times. Also, I can say with confidence that Jesus Christ is Lord and God. The Lord answered my prayer, and I’m still upholding my end of the bargain by staying in the faith that God had delivered unto me.

My mission is to educate the whole world about Primitive Christianity and church history one person at a time. I’m telling the exact same story of church history that a lot of us have been told. But, the facts that have been hidden have been brought out more clearly by me. These facts have been documented, and they cannot be refuted. And I know that you will enjoy my work, regardless of your Christian denomination. The truth is shining brighter than the noonday sun, and it is time for the lies and deception to end now! So enjoy the ride! And may all of the saints of God come together as one, just like the 1st century church.

Chapter I

The 1st Century, Part I

The year is A.D. 30. Jesus Christ fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies concerning the first coming of the Anointed One by suffering severe torture, dying a brutal death on a cross, and being buried in a tomb. But on the third day of His death, by the power of God the Father, the Messiah Jesus resurrected Himself from the dead. The Lord Jesus did this in order to become the Captain of our salvation, made perfect through shedding His blood, so that He could save the world from our sins. Once our Captain was glorified, He dwelt with His disciples for forty days and showed proof to them that He is alive!

Before Jesus Christ ascended back into Heaven, He commanded His disciples to go to Jerusalem and stay there. Also, Jesus said, For John (the Immerser) truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days from now. After He said these encouraging words to them, Jesus ascended into Heaven. Then the followers of Jesus, after seeing Him go up into Heaven, went to Jerusalem with great joy! They entered into an upper room where they were staying. Altogether, there were about 120 people staying in that upper room. There were only 11 disciples because Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus, hanged himself. While in that upper room, Simon Peter and the other disciples prayed to the Lord Jesus so that the Lord would reveal to them who will take part in the apostolic ministry with the original eleven. After they finished praying, they cast lots between Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. The lot that they cast fell on Matthias; he would become the 12th apostle until God would call and save Saul of Tarsus, a.k.a. Paul.

The Day of Pentecost occurred 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. On this day, the 120 people were all together in one place. And there came suddenly a sound out of Heaven as of a violent blowing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit empowered them to speak. While this was happening, all of the God-fearing Jews from the nations located in ancient Africa, Asia, and Europe were staying in Jerusalem to observe the Feast of Pentecost, which occurs 50 days after the Jewish Passover. By the way, the number 50 means time of great joy or deliverance. Also, this number points to deliverance and rest following on as the result of the perfect consummation of time. The prophet Isaiah said, This is the resting place, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose. The Bible calls the Holy Ghost the rest and the refreshing. So when the proper time had come, God poured out His Spirit just as the prophet John the Baptizer had predicted. Now let’s get back to the story.

The sound of the 120 people speaking in various languages came to the Jews who were staying in Jerusalem near that upper room. A crowd of them went to the upper room, and they saw and heard the disciples of Jesus speaking in their own languages and declaring the wonders of God. These Jews were amazed because the disciples were Galileans who only spoke two languages: Aramaic and Greek. Some of the Jews asked one another, What does this mean? But others made fun of the disciples for speaking in tongues and said that they were drunk from drinking too much wine. Then Peter boldly stood up with the original eleven and explained to the Jews that not only are the disciples not drunk, but they are seeing the fulfillment of the prophet Joel’s prophecy right before their eyes. Peter quoted Joel by saying, In the last days, says God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh.

Peter preached a long sermon to the Jews concerning the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With many words, Peter explained to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah and that they, through wicked men, put Him to death on a cross. But God raised Him from the dead and placed Him at the highest position in Heaven. And through the Lord Jesus the Messiah, God has poured out the Holy Ghost, which the Jews saw and heard. Then Peter reiterated to the Jews that Jesus, the One they crucified, is both Lord and the Messiah. The words of Peter stabbed the Jews in the heart!

The Jews asked the disciples what they should do about their current predicament. Peter gave them the answer by saying, Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter told them to do this because this constitutes the New Birth! After he told the Jews what to do, Peter spoke many words to them and pleaded with them to save themselves. And those who gladly received Peter’s message agreed to be baptized. So the apostles and disciples of Christ, including those Jews, went to a place where there was much water. Then all of them were baptized in the name of Jesus the Messiah.