The Faith Once Delivered: Original Christianity

By Malcolm E. Crawford

This book is a historical examination of the original Christian church founded in the first century and described in the New Testament. It compares its beliefs and conduct with modern churches and traces its historical development and the influences it came under. Its conclusion is a call to action to restore the church’s original teachings and way of life in a modern context.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973660972

Malcolm E. Crawford

Malcolm Crawford has authored several articles for journals and magazines in both the US and Canada, where he has taught at universities and colleges. He holds degrees from Western University and the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Rise of Russia and Opening Revelation, also published with WestBow Press.

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Copyright © 2019 Malcolm E. Crawford.

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KJV: Unless otherwise cited, scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

NKJV: Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-6096-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6098-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-6097-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019904973

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/20/2019

Preface

Many books have been written about early Christianity. The motive behind their publication has, perhaps, been a certain curiosity and historical interest driven by the widespread popularity of many religions claiming to stand in its succession. The motive underlying the writing of this book has been an illumination of the biblical testimony with the aim of correcting mistakes and restoring the original truths, teachings, and way of life original Christians learned and practiced. Therefore, little reference to commentaries or other books about Christianity have been accessed. An exception is made to some credible authors’ histories identifying the corruption of its original doctrines and practices.

True Christianity originally answered the great questions arising in life, either explicitly or implicitly, and set a guide for personal conduct. It still does today and it is this authentic Christianity that my book tries to illuminate. Who was Jesus, what did he teach, and by what principles did he live his human existence, setting an example for us?

The average person resists change. He or she is sometimes offended by individuals who challenge their well-worn assumptions. Some scoff at biblical knowledge arguing it isn’t what you know in Christianity; it’s what you do: in other words, works over and above faith. Others claim that spiritual truths count; that it is what you know from the Bible that determines your actions and lifestyle that follow; that you are justified by faith, not works. Some claim the law of God is still binding while others take the liberal view that the law was completely abolished by Jesus Christ’s crucifixion; that we are saved by grace and not the law. Which view is correct or is it neither?

Some cling to a religion because they realize how fleeting and fragile our human existence is: That beyond the ravages of old age, life is but a fleeting vapor disappearing all too soon—even sooner for those who die from disease, wars, famines, murders, and natural disasters. Therefore, to the religious, it matters a lot as to how they live their lives and if they can ever hope to come back in an afterlife to live forever.

Jesus promised eternal life beyond our physical lives. But there were conditions, he insisted, that had to be met. Those conditions are laid out right from the beginning in the Bible. They were irrevocable conditions that involved far more than mere philosophy, far more than just good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, and far more than merely four noble truths of an eightfold path to solve human suffering: The conditions involved adherence to a code of conduct and a dedication to spiritual growth spurred on through the teachings and examples of himself, his apostles, and the Old Testament prophets.

Jesus promised he would form a church that would teach his right ways and truths to a wholly imperfect group of followers who had repented and required an ongoing repentance. They studied God’s word and grew in grace and knowledge through prayer and fasting. This was the original faith once delivered, the faith we should once again contend for today. It is the story of the original church of God founded on the faith that one man, Jesus of Nazareth, was born as the Son of God and that he was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one could ever come to the Father except through him (John 14:6).

What did Jesus teach his first disciples and what values did he live by? What role did the Old Testament play in the first church and what traditions were carried over or changed? Who was Jesus in terms of his relationship with God? What was the church like that Jesus founded and what changes did it undergo as it grew in numbers? What is the scriptural record of church governance in the first century? How pure did the original church remain and what negative influences did it face? Is mainstream Christianity, with all of its thousands of divisions, the same church Jesus envisioned? How do we know the Bible we have today is the inspired word of God preserved especially for us today? Are there any corruptions in its text that have come down to us today? Have spiritual truths been lost upon the various forms of nominal Christianity in these times?

Jesus Christ declared that we should not live by bread alone but by every word of God. With this in mind, I shall proceed to reveal a religion lost to history, a new religion for our time, original Christianity from the Bible record itself, the faith once delivered.

M. E. Crawford, June, 2018

Contents

Introduction

The Founder

Foundational Knowledge

Telling Signs

The Human Purpose

Beliefs

A Way of Life

Holy Days, the Plan of Salvation

Prophecy and the End of the Age

The Coming Kingdom of God

Concluding Thoughts

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

"Man shall not live by bread alone

but by every word of God." (Luke 4:4)

B y anyone’s opinion, our world is religiously confused. There are eleven major world religions divided into some 4,200 denominations, among which exist more than 54 thousand Christian sects representing about 2.3 billion human beings.

But the confusion is much worse than this. What even passes for a religion is ambiguous. Most think of a religion as requiring a god or gods, while a philosophy requires nothing more than human reasoning for a better way of life and more meaningful existence. Yet there are some religions that don’t require gods but allow them—like Buddhism. Their adherents venerate these optional gods, being careful not to claim they actually worship them. Buddhists have statues of the Buddha they kneel before and pray to but claim not to worship. And so is this the case with Catholicism: Notre Dame Mary, the mother of Jesus, is venerated along with a host of dead saints but avowedly not worshiped—even though all of them are prayerfully invoked for special occasions, emergencies, and requests.

The curious are left to question and challenge the established conventions of religions as truths: What is the real truth, after all? Where do mainstream Christian traditions evolve from? Why is there so much disagreement and inconsistency in those religions claiming descent from Jesus Christ? And do their traditions trace back to Jesus, let alone, have his approval?

Jesus Christ is worshiped as the Son of God and, therefore, God himself. What evidence is there of this? And, in a previous existence, did he bring into being our universe and our earth—and life, for that matter? Is there a natural scientific explanation for our physical universe? Are there any sacred writings that are divinely inspired and elucidate these answers? Why were humans created and, more importantly, what is the purpose of human suffering? Is this life all there is or is there an afterlife? And then there are the common-sense questions that crop up: If people go to heaven when they die, what is the point in believing in a resurrection? And how can flesh-and-blood wicked humans burn forever in a hellfire when cremation plainly shows us this isn’t possible?

Few of us get satisfactory answers to these questions and there is a good reason for this: We are enslaved to our former thoughts, habits, and customs. The mere questioning of our traditions is a taboo many cannot face and sometimes even get riled up about. Nor should we be tempted to think that an open-minded atheist is more open to answers than a narrow-minded believer. Usually, this turns out to be a false hope. Bound up in our human nature is self-esteem and self-preservation; a tendency to think our view of life is the only right one. A truly open-minded person is rare indeed. Whether a cool rationalist or a narrow-minded ideologue, both seem to justify their own position and dismiss other’s.

The Impact of Religion

Yet, enslaved to our beliefs or not, few can deny the historic importance of religion in our world. Political states have been formed, wars have broken out, and millions have been killed for the sake of religion. To this day, religious wars still rage across the planet, wars that classify innocent individuals as either faithful or infidels and, sometimes, determine their ultimate human fate with life or death.

Religion, too, has shaped our cultures and changed our heritage. Business is avoided on certain holidays that are sacred to certain religions. Yearly sales for Christmas are a major factor in the financial buoyancy of many stores and businesses. School exams and tests are carefully avoided on the days of certain religious festivals. Even the Western world’s Gregorian calendar is the product of a Roman Catholic pope in 1582. The days of our week were named after pagan gods—the Roman sun and moon gods, Saturn, a harvest god, and the Norse gods, Tiw, Woden, Thor, and Frigge. Religion has been among the most formidable social forces over the millennia, even though it has remained a divisive one.

Division in Modern Christianity

The name of Christianity is no stranger to our world. Many thousands of sects claim to be Christian. All of them disagree with each other on at least some points, and some disagree on a lot of points. There are minimalists who tend to overlook these differences but, as surely as every denomination can’t be wrong, reason teaches us they can’t all be right either.

You might think, at least, they could all agree on the historical existence of Christianity’s Founder and the historical reality of his resurrection. Sadly, you would be disappointed.

An ordained Anglican priest, and religious columnist, the late Tom Harpur, wrote a book, The Pagan Christ, in 2004, claiming Christ never existed but instead was an invented figure inspired by ancient Egyptian mythology about Horus—this despite more than a dozen ancient, non-biblical, sources confirming Jesus’ historical existence.

Former moderator of the United Church of Canada, Bill Phipps, confessed to an Ottawa newspaper that he didn’t actually believe in Jesus’ resurrection: This, despite Jesus’ own words that the only sign he would leave us proving his messiahship was the sign of the prophet Jonah: three days and three nights in the earth and then his resurrection.¹

From huge denominations to small cults and sects, there is no shortage of believers, enlisting under the banner of Christ (as Edward Gibbon wrote). From wild and fanatical cult leaders (e.g. Jim Jones, David Koresh), to serial murderers (e.g. a one-time Sunday school teacher like the BTK Killer), of such are those who claim Christ’s name. From pedophile Catholic priests to adulterous evangelical ministers, there is no lack of reverends, pastors, fathers, bishops, and cardinals plying their trade and corrupting the name of Christianity.

Yet mainstream Christianity exerts a positive influence in the world, too. Churches all over the world are houses of refuge for the politically and socially persecuted. Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, remarked in a public debate with the late Christopher Hitchens that half of all aid to Africa is faith-based. All of these good works are especially remarkable when we stop to consider that most of these Christian faiths do not actually believe they are justified by works but rather by faith alone. This may be a single case where there is a positive side to hypocrisy!

What did Jesus teach his first disciples and what values did he instill in them? Was it easy to be a Christian originally? What role did the Old Testament play in the first church and what changes came with the New Testament? Who was Jesus in terms of the Godhead? Was he one of a trinity of divine Beings, one of a pair, or a unitarian God? What was the fledgling church like that Jesus founded and how did it adapt to change as it grew in numbers? How was the church governed in the beginning? How pure did it remain and what negative influences did it have to face? Is mainstream Christianity today, with all of its thousands of divisions, the same church Jesus envisioned? And what of the Bible? How do we know the one we have today is still the inspired word of God preserved especially for us? Are there any corruptions in its text that have come down to us today? Have any spiritual truths been lost in nominal Christianity today?

Roots in Old Testament

The Christianity of the New Testament was founded by Jesus Christ and named after him. Before he was martyred, Jesus had promised to form a church. Upon the Apostle Peter correctly identifying him as the Christ and Son of the living God, Jesus vowed, "And I say to you, that you are Peter [Gk. rock] and, upon this rock [of faith], I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18) Just as Jesus’ messiahship was the rock of faith the New Testament church would be built on, it was this same faith that would become a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to them which stumble over the word, being disobedient, to which they were so appointed to do." (1 Peter 2:8)

Opposition from Liberals and Conservatives

From the outset, the body of Christ faced opposition, first from the conservative Jews who doubted his anointing and divine Sonship and then from the gentile unbelievers who saw him merely as a sophist and magician whose death reaped the fruits of his trickery (so Lucian of Samosata claimed). To the Jews that had access to the oracles of God, the motive must have been their unswerving loyalty to their blind traditions because the Old Testament furnished at least 400 prophecies predicting the eventual appearance, works, and fulfillments of Christ.²

The original church of God, itself, was foreseen by the Old Testament scriptures. After all, ancient Israel was called the church in the wilderness by Luke, the physician (Acts 7:39). And the same member of the Godhead was their rock: And [they] all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:4)

We tend to overlook the fact that the Old Testament was the sole Bible of the New Testament church of God. The New Testament canon, the inspired collection of its writings, was not completed upon the founding of the first church on the Day of Pentecost—a process may have begun with Paul at least 17 years later.³

Formation of Old and New Testament Canons

The Apostle Paul, chosen by Jesus after his ascension to heaven, assured the fledgling Roman brethren that to [the Jews] were committed the oracles [inspired words] of God. (Romans 3:2) These oracles included the law, the prophets, and the writings. Christ verified the canon of the Old Testament when he taught his disciples that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms concerning me. (Luke 24:44) Furthermore, Jesus acknowledged their divine inspiration when he declared, the scripture cannot be broken. (John 10:35) The new church, itself, was built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:20)

The mention of the prophets is a crucial link to the Old Testament. Their counterparts, the apostles, were active in New Testament times. The first church members were counseled to be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. (2 Peter 3:2) All but two books of the Old Testament, Esther and Song of Solomon, are cited in the