Clarification of these Studies

There was a question, or a point, that was brought up last time that had to do with what are really talking about here as we talk about and use the terminology “church.” What is it that we are actually referring to? It’s a good question and one that I want to make sure that we are clear on, because I sense that we haven’t been clear and have, perhaps, even been somewhat misleading in using this general terminology.

We’ve been talking about the history of the church, and we’ve been just using that word “church”, and it is misleading from the standpoint of what are we talking about, because as we have been going along, we have also been talking about some of the things that have happened along the way. And clearly, what had happened along the way (as noted in a number of the discussions that we have had) are things that have really been characterizing the apostasy of the church. And so, what I want for us to do is to really define what we are attempting to do, and we’ll go back a little bit and talk about where we started, and we’ll talk about where we’re going to go, so that we are clear on what we are doing, we’re clear on the terminology, and so on. It certainly would not be a good thing for us to be misleading in this matter for you who are here on a regular basis and certainly for anyone who might be visiting with us. And we certainly wouldn’t want to leave the impression with anyone that, when we are talking about some of these activities—the rise of the papacy and that kind of thing—that we are talking about the Lord’s church.

[John had a handout titled, “History of the Church,” showing the establishment of the Lord’s church in AD 33, and then showing the “Path to Apostasy.” Listed below are points that appeared on that handout:

1. The Beginning
1. AD 33
1. The Lord’s church established
2. Key Scriptures:
1. Matthew 16:18
2. Acts 2
2. The Path to Apostasy:
1. AD 150
1. Changes in the government of the Lord’s church
2. AD 325
1. Creeds began (example: The Nicene Creed)
3. AD 606
1. The first pope
4. AD 1054
   1. The great schism: The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern / Greek Orthodox Church
5. Key Scriptures:
1. Matthew 7:15
2. Acts 20:28-30
3. Galatians 1:6-7
4. 1 Timothy 4:1-3
5. 2 Timothy 4:3-4
3. The Reformation Period:
   1. Denominations from the Roman Catholic Church
   1. AD 1530
   1. Lutheran
   2. AD 1536
   1. Presbyterian
   3. AD 1611
   1. Baptist
   4. AD 1552
   1. Church of England
   2. Denominating from the Church of England
   1. AD 1739
   1. Methodist
   2. AD 1789
   1. Episcopal
4. The Restoration Period:
1. AD 1809
1. The Restoration Period begins

John will refer to this information from time to time in this Lesson and in future Lessons.]