Why won't most of today's christians admit their faith is radically different from that of early christians?

Question

The early christians were a bunch of different sects that each had differing beliefs to each other.

Many of them were gnostics.

These included Paul, the earliest known author of the new testament (see attached article)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/8676/files/paulgno.htm

Weren't these different sects brought together for political rather than theological reasons?

When christianity's earliest author was a gnostic, and wrote his letters from that perspective, why has the gnostic element of christianity all but disappeared?

Do modern day christians actually believe that early christians believed the same as they do?

Why do so many christians say "the truth of christianity hasn't changed in 2000 years" when the evidence suggests that what it presents as truth has?

New Catholic ....I think you need to study history a bit more dude.

Granny Annie......You forgot option D: Jesus never existed.

Answer 1

the devil invaded the church a few centuaries ago and his teachings are mostly on par with christs teachings, but if you take christianity then and now ,you can actualy see that christianity today is mostly devil worshipping under the name of christianity. the real satanists that offer babies to the devil is the devils way to show the people that his church is so holy. the devil dont offer babies ,he is just fighting for survival. goto http://www.pacinst.com/efh/chapter2/satan.html to see how it work

Answer 2

A) Paul was many things, but a gnostic? Nope. Paul NEVER taught, wrote or preached the two primary Gnostic beliefs, ie, that salvation is something you have to earn through knowledge of secret things and that Jesus is NOT truly God.

B) The basics of Christianity have not changed. They are entirely found in the Creeds: the Athanasian, the Apostles' and the Nicene. Everything else is cultural and subject to change.

C) The earliest Christians were NOT "many different sects". There were certainly sects, but calling themselves Christian didn't make them Christian anymore than calling a skunk cabbage a rose would give the skunk cabbage a pleasing odor. The primary reason for the early councils was to wrangle out just what constituted orthodoxy and what was heresy. As they, and Catholics today believe, Christ gave them that commission when He gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven and of earth into the keeping of Peter and then told His disciples to preach the gospel (Good News) to all the world, promising them that the "gates of hell", ie, error and lies, would NOT prevail against them.

D) It always comes down to this.
1. Jesus was a liar. He perpetrated the biggest con game of all time. If you believe this, then go be an atheist.
OR:
2. Jesus was a megalomaniac. A nutcase. Fit fodder for the funny farm. If you believe this, then go be a non-Christian believer in some other concept of deity.
OR:
3. Jesus is who He said He is, and what He says goes. If you believe this, then follow Him!

Answer 3

"Before anything was created, he existed...."
This verse alone should dispel any pretensions that gnostics might have of claiming Paul as one of their own. He existed before anything was created, therefore he cannot be a created being. According to gnostic teaching, an evil demiurge created the material world; according to Paul, it was Jesus (and note that Jews, like Paul was, applied the term "Creator" only to Yahweh).

"Weren't these different sects brought together for political rather than theological reasons?"
At the time, the two weren't necessarily neat distinctions: loyalty to the state meant loyalty to the gods (or god) of the state.

"When christianity's earliest author was a gnostic, and wrote his letters from that perspective, why has the gnostic element of christianity all but disappeared?"
Paul's alleged "gnosticism" is a fanciful invention having nothing to do with reality.

Answer 4

Not ALL early Christians were gnostic just like they were not all of the Roman catholic variety. There were many different sects in the early church who fought bitterly in the defense of what they believed, as they still do today. But the major rifts with regards to Jesus himself were ended after the council of Nicaea when the final canonized version of the new testament was established. After that time the last of the "HERETIC" stories were removed and the official text was implemented. In other words before that time there were as much as 4 times the books of Jesus being read as there are today. Think about that for a moment. If you only had 1/4 of a textbook on chemistry would you do more harm than good by attempting to produce fertilizer?

Answer 5

I am sort of a 'Free Agent' in Christianity. I am not Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Mormon, Jehovah's Witness, Presbyterian, etc.

Sometimes I call myself a Protestant.

But after reading Foxe's Book of Martyrs combined with what I have been taught about the Bible, I am liking the description of 'Reformed'.

That is: Reformed from the church of old. I do lean on Paul's writing more and James hardly at all. I note the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 and discover that there was a split in the church between those that had it right ( Peter for example in Acts 15), and those who had it wrong at the time (James and those who supported what James said in Acts 15) .

The split as I see it was between those that supported Legalism, and those that had it right.

Peter was the one who had it right in Acts 15. And Paul folded almost every single time James was around. ( Acts 15, and 21; but not in Galatians 2, and compare that to
Romans 3) .

So yes, I think that I am close to the way the Christians were in the beginning days, at least those who were Pauline in the ways. The hopeful product of the Galatians after the letter went out to them; not trying to live by the Law of Moses but keeping my focus on Jesus.

Not saying I am of Paul, or anyone else like the Corinthian church did, not building myself up with ceremonies and Holy Days, etc. But in the faith of Jesus Christ.

So at least I hope that I am.

The one thing I will note about the church councils, especially those valued by my Roman Catholic brethren: They had a tendency to complicate things, they screwed things up a lot. I mean, look at them. Idolatrous if there ever was, praying to much other than God Himself, praying in repetition, using many carnal things to express spirituality ( candles, rosaries, idols, priest with special clothes, holy rings, etc, etc.)

So I can see that none of those things were a part of the earliest church, and yet they argue! And how they argue!

Answer 6

Oh I think a lot of things have been screwed up along the way. We are only human and 2000 years or so is a long time to not have an error. If it was all the same, we wouldn't have different denominations and differing opinions on things. Why do we go on Sunday? Where did Jesus say, "Change days."?

Answer 7

The early Christians where very different to most Christians to day.
The beginning of change was when the Romans decided the best way to control Christians was to form a christian church by mixing their pagan beliefs with christian teachings hence the roman catholic church . The start of false christian religion

Answer 8

I do believe it is because they don't bother to do much reading, even of the Bible. I have a couple near by that always leave their Bibles in their car. Much less read history books on what has happened over the 2000 years.
The Catholic church also has written up false books claiming that history is what they changed it to; not what really happened. So they are not aloud to know the truth.

Answer 9

Well, I'll admit it is different. I won't concede Paul was Gnostic.
The Truth that Jesus is God and died for the salvation of the world and rose again is the core belief that hasn't changed-if you accept the Bible and teachings of the greater church and writers.

If you don't then nothing will convince you...

Answer 10

Many so-called Christ-ians are Jesus-ians and X-ians.
The Athiests are taking care of these divisional people.
"Christ is the end of the law": Rom 10:4; Not more law.
Another law notably makes ppl feel "wretched": Rom 7.
800,000 PTSD soldiers: prime eg of feeling wretched.
AD-->only goes one way, unto the end already written:

The GRACE(ONLY) of our Lord J-->C with you-->all. Amen.