[They] attacked one another with great fury, and great loss of life was occasioned. The churchyard was filled with gore, and the well in the yard overflowed with blood, which ran into the adjacent portico, and from there into the very street. (The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus II:38)
If you've read How to Make a Church Fail, please review it.
What happened to the churches the apostles started? How did they go from this ...
Among us you will find uneducated persons, craftsmen, and old women, who—even if they are unable in words to prove the benefit of our doctrine—nonetheless, by their deeds, they exhibit the benefit arising from their persuasion of its truth. They do not rehearse speeches; they exhibit good works. When struck, they do not strike again. (Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians 11)
... to beating each other to death in the church yard?
It wasn't easy.
It was work.
And someone was doing the work.
You will learn exactly what happened, straight from the mouths of early disciples ...
(Devil speaking) ...
Have you ever listened to the sudden quiet after a great noise? The silence is deafening. It cries out loudly.
In A.D. 245, an enemy disciple fought hopelessly against this tactic of mine. Listen ... to his acknowledgment of my success!
The arranged time comes to our people; there is peace in the world. At the same time, ruin is weighing us down from the enticement of the world, of the reckless people whom you have torn into schism. [from The Instructions of Commodianus]
It is a well-known fact that "those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it."
Think about it, what would make peace-loving Christians kill each other?
In A.D. 200, Tertullion could boast ...
Tested older men preside over us. They obtain this honor by established character, not by purchase. There is no buying and selling of any sort in the things of God. (Tertullian, Apology 39)
But less than two centuries later, a dispute over the office of bishop in Rome resulted in a deacon named Ursicinus attempting to be ordained in place of the rightful bishop. Several bishops of surrounding communities helped him succeed.
The result?
Afterwards, frequent conflicts arose, with the results that many lives were sacrificed in this disagreement. (The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus IV:29, emphasis added)
Again, how did this happen?
That is the question How To Make a Church Fail answers, based squarely on history and referenced.
We don't need this, right? We would never beat each other to death in the streets. We would never sacrifice lives in disagreements over the Bible and over church leaders.
Would we?
If we're honest with ourselves, we will acknowledge that the only reason Christians aren't violent is because we live in a society that abhors religious violence.
Where religious violence is acceptable to the government, we modern Christians could write the same sort of history that Socrates Scholasticus recorded..
During the Reformation Protestant armies fought Catholic armies. To this day, Catholic vs. Protestant violence continues in Ireland.
Oliver Comwell is a famous Protestant who fought his way to power. John Calvin is famed for having Michael Servetus put to death, and Philip Melancthon, Martin Luther's friend and disciple, had this to say about converting Anabaptists:
With this one [an unnamed weak Anabaptist prisoner] I beg you not to hasten punishment. For I hope that when his master Heinz Kraut, who lies in Jena, and a few other stubborn ones are executed, he will let himself be instructed. On the obstinate ones it is necessary to inflict serious punishment. (Mennonite Encyclopedia)
If we don't understand how Christians went from being persecuted to being persecutors, we will never learn how to return.
Wouldn't you love, once again, to be able to say of Christians in general ...
Philosophers ... have great eloquence, but they speak against vices they themselves live in. We, on the other hand—who do not carry our wisdom in our clothes, but in our minds—don't speak great things, we live them. We boast that we have found what they have sought for with the utmost eagerness but have not been able to find.(The Octavius)
Knowing what happened is the first step towards fixing what happened.
How to Make a Church Fail shows you the process that took the apostles' peace-loving, Christ-obeying churches and made them hotbeds of politics and violence.
As such, it does not promote a solution. By making the problem clear, it allows you and your church to face the problem squarely yourself.
But you can't face it if you don't know about it.
Only $5.00
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Intriguing matter.
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This book would be a comedy if it wasn't so truthful.The devil seems to be very honest with his presentation.
It makes for interesting reading ...
Good for what it was intended to be
Not rated yet
I purchased this out of a deep respect for the author and have enjoyed immensely the christian-history.org website. Honesty and impartial judgment is definitely ...
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How to Make a Church Fail.In the 2nd century, Christians willingly and bravely gave up their lives for the Gospel. In the 4th century, they beat each other to death in the streets. How did this appalling state of events come to be?
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