Early Church History

Introduction

The whole purpose of the Christian church, with all of its Holy Spirit filled denominations, right on down to all the local congregations, is to bring together in a group setting born-again Christians who have and are being filled--daily and weekly--with the power and indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The reason for bringing these Christians together in a group setting is for their mutual and individual spiritual edification and growth. Ephesians 4:11-16 basically states this, when talking about the purpose of why God has called some to be apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers within the body of Christ--for the spiritual edification and growth of its members. Be sure to look up those verses and read them.

You can be a part of or join a church that has all its doctrinal beliefs correct and in place--all filed into neat categories--but if this group of people meeting as a church or denomination doesn’t have and experience the constant and repeated in-filling of the Holy Spirit in its members, it is a dead church. Here is a useful analogy. All the electronic devices-- TVs, microwaves, radios, cell-phones, electric stoves, motors, everything that uses electricity--would be worthless pieces of junk without the electricity to run them. Without the Holy Spirit, well, you get the point. But the Holy Spirit is not some sort of spiritual electricity, instead it is the Provider of the spiritual power of God that enables our Christian walk and growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. It also provides spiritual understanding (cf. John 14 & 16). Romans 8:9,16-17 basically defines a Christian as one who has the indwelling Holy Spirit residing in and guiding him or her.

The first part of this series is composed of an article I
researched, based on many early church history books, authors and research
papers (I tried to give credit to as many of the sources as I could).  This
article on early church history is fascinating, and may upset current views
and paradigms on early church history.  But it will help us understand two major and related branches of the body of Christ, the Sabbatarians (long misunderstood) and the Messianic Jews, both groups having suffered being misunderstood by many mainstream Christians.

The third part of this series is an article written by me and is titled “Choosing a Church”. For the new-believer this article may prove helpful in making a wise choice, but clearly shows that the choice is yours to make. So read it and choose wisely.

Pete Benson,  Editor UNITYINCHRIST.COM

 Early Church History Site Map

Early History
https://unityinchrist.com/history2/index3.htm

chapter 1:
https://unityinchrist.com/history2/earlychurch1.htm

chapter 2:
https://unityinchrist.com/history2/earlychurch2.htm

chapter 3:
https://unityinchrist.com/history2/earlychurch3.htm

chapter 4:
https://unityinchrist.com/history2/earlychurch4.htm

Church’s Birth
https://unityinchrist.com/history2/index4.htm 

Choosing A Church
https://unityinchrist.com/history2/choosingachurch.htm

Legacy of Love

https://www.unityinchrist.com/LegacyOfLove.htm