- 2 days ago
Should you expect that real Christians will be called all kinds of bad names? Did Jesus prophesy that? Was the early Christian church referred to negatively as a cult or sect according to Acts 28:22? Have any Roman Catholic leaders taught that ignoring what is called 'Jewish Christianity' leads to a "false picture of Christian history"? Do Protestant scholars recognize that those who held to the original Christian faith have been persecuted by those who held to a changed (heretical) form of Christianity? Did Roman Emperor Constantine set forth an 'Edict Against Heretics' which included faithful Christians? Did Emperor Theodosius refer to those who would not accept his changed version of the Godhead as "foolish madmen"? Did he also decree the death penalty against those who kept Passover on the same date that Jesus did? Did Jesus warn that His followers would be persecuted? Have faithful Christians been called a variety of names throughout the church age? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these matters with scriptures and historical evidence. A written article of related interest is available titled 'Real Christians have been called names for striving to be faithful' URL: https://www.cogwriter.com/news/church-history/real-christians-have-been-called-names-for-striving-to-be-faithful/
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00:03Greetings, friends. This is Steve Dupuy for the Bible News Prophecy Program with Dr. Bob Thiel,
00:09bringing you news and analysis of world events and life of Bible prophecy.
00:14Dr. Thiel, can true Christians expect to be called names for being faithful to Jesus Christ?
00:20Yes, that's what Jesus taught. In Matthew 10.25, he said,
00:25if they call the master of the house Beelzebub, the devil, how much more will he call those of his
00:31household? So basically, Jesus said that they were going to call us all kinds of names. Look,
00:36Satan doesn't want any of us to be part of the true Christian faith. And so name calling is one
00:43of his tactics. And I've known people who've been pushed away from the truth because of that very
00:48satanic tactic. And history shows various ones didn't look kindly toward Christians. For
00:57example, in Acts 28.22, they tell Paul, we desire to hear from you what you think. For concerning
01:05this sect, we know it's spoken against everywhere. That's interesting. After the formation of God's
01:12church, the continuation of that church was spoken against everywhere?
01:18Yeah, but a lot of people can't handle all that kind of stuff happening. And that's one reason
01:23Satan's inspired a lot of name calling. Also, church history has been mistaught. And many people
01:30don't know what real Christianity is. You know, in the late 20th century, the Roman Catholic Cardinal
01:36Jean Danilou confirmed that church history is mistaught in many aspects of what he called
01:41Jewish Christianity. He wrote, this has led to a false picture of Christian history.
01:47What false picture was the Cardinal referring to?
01:51He understood that true Christianity was actually more Jewish than most people accept.
01:57Other Roman Catholics reported that the official church systematically ignored the Judeo-Christians.
02:05In other words, their church ignored them even though they knew they were out there and what
02:09happened. And because of that, people have been called names throughout history. Now, in Acts 24,
02:15I'm going to start with verse 2. This is from the New Living Translation. Paul was charged of being
02:22leader of a cult. He was called, Trutalus presented the charge against Paul to the governor.
02:30We found this man to be a troublemaker. So that's one name.
02:34And he's a ringleader of a cult known as the Nazarenes. So they've got three names here.
02:39Tollbaker, cult, Nazarene. Paul said he wants to give his defense. So in verse 14, he says,
02:46but I admit that I follow the way which they call a cult. I worship the God of our ancestors,
02:52and I firmly believe the Jewish law and everything written in the prophets.
02:57That's amazing. The New Testament Paul actually believed the Jewish law and everything written
03:04in the prophets and was labeled as part of a cult?
03:09Yes. Now, by the way, some translations use the term sect to set a cult, but it's still
03:14name-calling. Now, Christians with, quote, Nazarene practices have long been accused of being
03:20part of a cult by persecutors of different types. So Jesus gave a warning in Matthew 5.
03:50So God's true prophets, according to Jesus, have been subject to insults and false statements,
03:54as will be the true followers of Jesus. And that's happened.
03:59You know, in 2 Timothy 3.21, Paul wrote,
04:02all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
04:09Do any Protestant scholars realize that true Christians have been persecuted by others
04:14who call themselves Christians?
04:16Oh, yeah. I want to read something from a Protestant minister named Ken Howard,
04:22titled Excommunicating the Faithful, Jewish Christianity Early Church.
04:27It says,
04:28Jewish Christian sect, whose theology stood within the acceptable boundaries of orthodoxy,
04:36this existed through at least the 5th century, at which point it was declared heretical.
04:40The archaeological data provides support of assertions that the Jewish Christians were there,
04:50that they left Jerusalem at Tepella, and that demonstrates that they were more prevalent
04:58over a longer period of time than a lot of people now think.
05:03And then he wrote,
05:04it's clear that the church's attitude, he means the Greco-Roman Catholic Protestant churches,
05:09attitude towards Jewish Christianity changed significantly over the first four centuries.
05:16The first century apostles were generally tolerant of Jewish Christianity,
05:21finding it to be acceptable, if not normative.
05:25Well, I'll add, it was normative.
05:26The second century was a time of transformation, which had started to become archaic.
05:34By the 3rd and 4th century, people started to consider the original faith heretical.
05:41Then he writes,
05:42it's clear that at its beginning, the church was a Jewish Christian phenomenon.
05:48And Paul's attitude toward Judaism, Jewish Christianity,
05:53was more open than it is popular believed.
05:57In none of the Paul's letters does he describe himself as a convert from Judaism.
06:02Rather, he believed that faith in Christ
06:04to be the true successor of the faith of Abraham.
06:07Then he says the Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem maintained
06:10relatively undisputed authority among Christians
06:14until in Palestine, until at least 135.
06:17Then it changed.
06:19He didn't give all the reasons why it changed,
06:21but basically because of Jewish revolts,
06:24Emperor Hadrian said you couldn't keep the Sabbath
06:27or keep Passover on the right day, whatever.
06:30So they put a Latin person in charge over there
06:35and they changed it.
06:37He said that the Christians there kept Passover on the 14th,
06:42the same day as the Jews,
06:43but when the Gentile leadership took over,
06:46they switched to Sunday.
06:48Then he says the Council of Nicaea of 325,
06:51they declared that Passover,
06:54which is later called Easter,
06:56would be on Sunday, not on the 14th.
06:59This was due to strong anti-Jewish attitudes.
07:03He wrote Constantine repeatedly arguing
07:06that the church should have nothing to do with the Jews,
07:10whom he accused of being sinful,
07:13another term, criminal, blind, detestable, and wicked.
07:18Then he says that it didn't stop various ones
07:22from keeping Passover on the 14th,
07:23which, by the way, we do in the Continuing Church of God.
07:27Then he wrote, he finished with,
07:30that the Council of Nicaea signed the death warrant
07:34for Jewish Christianity.
07:35Then a guy named Epiphanius was the executioner.
07:40The Nazarenes were perhaps the last Orthodox Jewish sect
07:43in existence.
07:46There's a lot to digest there, Dr. Thiel.
07:49Did the true, original faith survive
07:52the onslaught of the Gentile-controlled Council of Nicaea?
07:57Yes.
07:58And the name-calling continued afterwards,
08:00all this stuff.
08:01There was an emperor called Theodosius,
08:03and he wanted people to accept
08:06a different version of the Godhead
08:07than the original Christians kept,
08:10because the original Christians were benetarian.
08:11And he says, do you agree with his position?
08:14He says, for those, our judgment is,
08:17they are foolish madmen.
08:18We decree that they shall be branded
08:20with the ignominious name of heretics, end quote.
08:29So those who held to the original faith
08:32of believing in the benetarian God
08:34were called foolish madmen.
08:37What other knowledge of the original faith
08:39came under attack?
08:41Well, what they finally started to do,
08:43the same guy,
08:44he decided to order the death penalty
08:47if he had the audacity to keep
08:50Passover the same day Jesus did.
08:53And here's the reality,
08:55according to ancient historians.
08:59There were 15 bishops who were Jews
09:03in Jerusalem.
09:05And people were all in one accord
09:08in one celebration of the festival.
09:11And they had unity in the churches.
09:14And that's the way it was for a long time.
09:18Okay, so that's from Epiphanius.
09:22And so people knew this
09:24and others know this as well.
09:27But instead, again, they decided
09:30that no, they were going to call people names
09:33who held to the original Christian faith.
09:35I mentioned Theodosius.
09:37And here's a report about him.
09:39To the reign of Theodosius
09:41belonged the glory or infamy
09:43of establishing inquisitors of faith
09:47who seemed to have been
09:48especially enjoined to look after
09:50the crime of keeping Passover
09:52on the 14th,
09:54which is what Jesus did.
09:58Being called a heretic
09:59for keeping the Passover on the 14th
10:02seems like a trial many could bear.
10:07Well, they did.
10:08And, you know,
10:10but, you know,
10:10the fact that they were persecuting him,
10:12I mean, who would be killing people
10:13keeping the original faith?
10:14Wouldn't that be more like
10:15supporters of anti-Christ
10:16as opposed to the original faith?
10:19But that's what happened.
10:22And then later,
10:25the doctor,
10:27Greco-Roman Catholic Saint Jerome,
10:29called those who had
10:30the original Nazarene practices
10:32a most pestilential heresy.
10:36It's a more name calling.
10:38But here's something from a scholar
10:40who's since deceased,
10:41Roman Catholic priest
10:42by the name of Bellamino Brigatti.
10:44It says,
10:45in conclusion,
10:46regarding the Nazarenes,
10:48both Saint Epiphanius
10:50and Saint Jerome
10:51have nothing to condemn them for
10:53except
10:55for the observance of customs
10:57forbidden by the councils.
10:58So in other words,
11:00he said,
11:00they didn't do anything wrong,
11:02just the councils decided
11:03that you had to believe this,
11:04you had to believe that.
11:05And they said no.
11:07They were still going to hold on
11:08to the original faith.
11:11Okay.
11:12You know,
11:13it's not unexpected
11:15for this to happen.
11:17You know,
11:18Jesus said that
11:20blessed are you
11:21if they revile
11:22and persecute you
11:22and say all kinds of evil things
11:24against you
11:25for my sake.
11:27And in the book of Hebrews,
11:29we read,
11:30Hebrews chapter 10,
11:32starting in verse 32,
11:34Paul writes,
11:35but recall the former days
11:37in which after you were
11:39illuminated,
11:40you endured great struggle
11:42with sufferings.
11:44Partly,
11:45while you were made
11:46a spectacle,
11:47both by reproaches,
11:49like name calling,
11:51and tribulations,
11:52and partly
11:52while you became
11:54companions of those
11:55who were so treated.
11:57And it wasn't just
11:58Jesus and Paul
11:59who told us
12:00about these things.
12:02Peter,
12:031 Peter 4,
12:04verse 4,
12:05says,
12:06they think it's strange
12:07that you don't run
12:08with them
12:08in the same flood
12:09of dispensation
12:11speaking evil of you.
12:13The fact that people
12:14name call against
12:15true Christians
12:16have occurred
12:17throughout the church age.
12:18Now,
12:18I want to hold up
12:19a free e-book
12:20that we have.
12:21John Rady won't see
12:22the cover,
12:23but that's okay.
12:24This book is available
12:25at ccog.org.
12:27It's free.
12:28Go into Books and Booklets.
12:29We don't ask for
12:30your email address.
12:31We don't ask for money.
12:32It's called
12:33Belize of the Original
12:34Catholic Church.
12:36If, by the way,
12:37you're a Greco-Roman Catholic,
12:38you might be surprised
12:39by that,
12:40how much your church changed.
12:41Well,
12:42in this book,
12:42we have a list
12:44of names
12:45that true Christians
12:46were called
12:47by different groups.
12:49For example,
12:51in the Bible,
12:52we see them called
12:54Nazarenes
12:55or a sect
12:55or a cult.
12:57The Jews,
12:58by the way,
12:59called them
13:00Minim.
13:01That's what they called
13:01the faithful Christians.
13:03All right?
13:05Later,
13:06they were called,
13:07and they didn't call
13:07themselves this.
13:08They were called
13:10Paulians,
13:11Judaizers,
13:12Ebionites,
13:13Foolish Madmen,
13:15Bogomils,
13:16Cathars.
13:16Now,
13:17if you know a lot
13:18about church history,
13:18you say,
13:18wait,
13:19but some of the Bogomils
13:20were bad
13:21and Cathars were bad.
13:22Well,
13:22they just lumped us in,
13:23just like they lump us in
13:24right now with Protestants.
13:25We're not Protestants.
13:27And this is,
13:28one of the other
13:29more common
13:30names that we
13:30we hear throughout
13:32history,
13:33for example,
13:34is Armstrong
13:34or something
13:35along that line.
13:37For the reality is,
13:38we hold to the
13:40original Christian faith.
13:42And those who
13:43hold our beliefs
13:43were specifically
13:45condemned by
13:46the sun god
13:47worshiping
13:48Emperor
13:48Constantine,
13:50the
13:52obelisk
13:53supporting
13:54Emperor
13:55Theodosius.
13:55He brought some
13:56sun god
13:57obelisks out
13:58because he was all
13:59into that kind of stuff.
14:01And the reality is,
14:04the most common
14:05name
14:05for people
14:06who hold
14:06the original faith,
14:08what do they call us?
14:09They call us a cult.
14:11But we believe
14:12what the Bible
14:13teaches.
14:15Thank you,
14:15Dr. T.R.
14:16For more interviews
14:17with Dr. Tiller,
14:18in addition to written,
14:19as well as audio articles,
14:20visit our website
14:21at
14:22BibleNewsProphecy.net.
14:23This is Steve Dupuis
14:25for the
14:25Bible News Prophecy
14:26program.
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