Peril of Seeking Respectability

The Departure of Organized Christianity from its Roots, Second through Sixth Centuries CE

Ian Johnson December 25, 2020 1 Comment

This is an outline of the second part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by showing the origins and entrance of specific errors before Muhammad which profoundly affected subsequent history. Links will be added as future posts are written.

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Authority Contests, Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Compulsory Christianity, Discipline or Correction, Disputes about words, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Free will, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, God's Voice, Greed, Heresy, Historical Background, Index, Injustice and Lawsuits, Jesus the Son, Leaving Our First Love, Male and female, Marriage, Marriage and Reproduction, Merit, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Prophecy, Purpose of the Church, Quarrels, Regeneration, Religious violence and persecution, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Salvation, Sin, Sins versus sin, Site Index Page, Social control and statecraft, Son of Man, The Bible, Through the church, To be in his image, Trinity, Unity, Wars as consequences, What is God's Word, What is sin?

Christian Divisions, Fifth Century Christianity, Fourth Century Christianity, Hellenistic Phiolosophy, heresy, Heresy hunting, Index, Just War Theory, Monotheism, Roman Law, Roman Law and Jurisprudence, Roman Religion, Rome, Second Century Christianity, Sixth Century Christianity, Syncretism, Third Century Christianity

Truths of the Earliest Christianity that Mutated Leading to Formation of Later Divisions

Ian Johnson December 24, 2020 3 Comments

This is an outline of the first part of my attempt to link early errors of organized Christianity to the state of the modern world–specifically, in this part, by explaining some of the foundations of the earliest Christianity from which later errors diverged. Links will be added as future posts are written.

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Background Information, Church History, Islamic History and Secular History Interaction, Complex unity, Eternity Present, Free will, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's sovereignty, His Children, His Friends, Historical Background, In the Church, Index, Meaning of Unity, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Prophecy, Purpose of the Church, Reconciliation, Regeneration, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Show us the Way of Truth, Sin, Sins versus sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The universal Church and local churches, Through others, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, Topic Index, Trinity, What is God's Word, What is sin?

Christian Teachings, doctrine, Earliest Christianity, evangelism, Holy Spirit, Index, Jesus, Monotheism, pacifism, social order, war

Divisions and Factions in 1 Corinthians 11

Ian Johnson August 3, 2020 3 Comments

Factions, “hereseis,” as used in 1 Corinthians 11:19, clearly does not refer to divisions caused by false teachers. Instead, in that context, it refers to divisions caused by neglect and humiliation of poor believers and by the formation of personality cults.

Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, Greed, Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Personality cults, To live in unity

1 Corinthians 1, 1 Corinthians 11, Disrespect for poor believers, Divisions, Divisions in the Church, Heresies, personalities, personality cult, schismata, schisms, Segregation of the poor

From Early Christianity to Islam and Back–2. Negative Developments in Christianity Before Muhammad

Ian Johnson July 14, 2020 7 Comments

Between the end of the First Century CE and the end of the Sixth Century, Christianity grew but also deteriorated in a number of ways. The deterioration arose mainly from the infiltration of Greek philosophy, a change in emphasis to mass evangelism and the politicization of Christianity, followed by the questionable conversion of Constantine. These changes set up many of the specific parts of Christianity that Islam either adopted, or reacted strongly against. They also set up mucj of later European history.

A God who Speaks, Church purpose versus church growth, Compulsory Christianity, God Acts by Speaking, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Voice, Heresy, Historical Background, Injustice and Lawsuits, Islam and Christianity, Jesus the Son, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Religious violence and persecution, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Social control and statecraft, Son of Man, The Bible, Through the church, Trinity, Unity, Wars as consequences, What Islam borrowed from Christianity

Arab Christians, Arabs, Arian, Atanasian, Christianity and politics, Church, church and state, Church History, Church of the East, Church unity, Constantine, Council of Chalcedon, false unity, Fist Council of Nicaea, Goths, heresy, heretic, heretical movements, mass evangelism, moralism, morality, Nestorian, Persia, subjugation of women, Theodosius, women

About Racism

Ian Johnson June 15, 2020 4 Comments

The ultimate solution to our national racisms lies in the Church, in who we are in Christ. We are not called to uncritically support the current social order, no matter how unjust. We are called to show how social divisions are overcome by the Holy Spirit among us.

An abuse of God's image, Christianity and Social Evils, Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Compulsory Christianity, Divisions in the Church, Emotions, God's sovereignty, Human Rationality, Injustice and Lawsuits, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Racism, Rejecting God, Replacing Relationship with Morality, Restoration of God's Image, Show us the Way of Truth, Social control and statecraft, The Bible, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, To live in unity, Uncategorized, What is sin?

#AllLivesMatter, #BlackLivesMatter, change, Christ, Christianity, Dallas Willard, divisive language, equality, favoritism, God, heart change, Holy Spirit, human heart, Jacques Ellul, Jesus, peace, Racism, repent, repentance, Unity

Are We Mistaken in Practice about the Real Purpose of the Church?

Ian Johnson June 13, 2020 3 Comments

The early church were mostly outcasts, who understood the cost of discipleship and shunned fame, power and wealth as measures of their success. But we have embraced all of those things, and lost our witness and the core of our life in Christ as a result.

Church purpose versus church growth, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability

Christianity, conformity, cost, cost of discipleship, crowds, gospel, Jacques Ellul, mass movement, numbers, popular, popularity, power, safety, seduction, self-denial, success, wealth

Unity in Diversity as an Attribute of God

Ian Johnson June 1, 2020 6 Comments

God is a complex unity–Three in One by nature–and is also one with us who believe, by adoption. He is not an absolutely simple unity, as is often taught. This false teaching comes from early efforts to make the Gospel more acceptable to the upper classes of Roman society by introducing Neoplatonist philosophy into it. But it instead destroys the Gospel by making God incapable of having any real unity with his children.

Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Social control and statecraft, To be in his image, Trinity, Unity

Christian theology, Christianity, complex unity, complexity, Divine Simplicity, God, gospel, mindful consciousness, Neoplatonism, Nous, Platonism, Three in One, Trinity, Unity

What We Lose If Jesus is Not Human as shown by Jesus’ Preparation for his Ministry

Ian Johnson May 17, 2020 3 Comments

If Jesus is not human, like us, we also lose the promise of the Holy Spirit, the invitation to live by the direction and power of the Spirit like Jesus did while he was here, and everything that flows from that. Fully discussing this topic will require several posts. While Jesus lived among us bodily, he did not rely on…
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God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, In prayer, Jesus the Son, Leaving Our First Love, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Son of Man, Trinity

baptism, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, crucifixion, God the Father, growth in grace, Holy Spirit, human nature, humanity, humility, Jesus, Jesus Christ, manipulation, meaning of Christmas, Nativity, personal growth, power, prayer, Spirit, temptation, unselfishness

Why Jesus’ Full Humanity is Important 1: Our Freedom, Truth, Victory, New Birth and Adoption in Christ

Ian Johnson May 11, 2020 7 Comments

Jesus is fully human. When he was born as a man, that man was in every way like us, except that he was without sin… The fact of Jesus’ full humanity is important because without it we have NOTHING–no life, no forgiveness, no peace with God, no promise of God’s kindness or guidance, no power, no resurrection, no hope.

Adoption, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, Heresy, His Children, Jesus the Son, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Reconciliation, Regeneration, Salvation, Show us the Way of Truth, Son of Man, Trinity, Victory

adoption, antichrist, believing God for, deceiver, deceiy, disguises, faith, father of lies, frredom, God the Son, Holy Spirit, human, humanity, humanity of Christ, idol, Jacques Ellul, Jesus, Jesus Christ, lies, lying, new birth, regeneration, Son of God, Son of Man, spirit of error, spirit of truth, spirits, Truth, victory

The Departure of Organized Christianity from its Roots, Second through Sixth Centuries CE

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Divisions and Factions in 1 Corinthians 11

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From Early Christianity to Islam and Back–2. Negative Developments in Christianity Before Muhammad

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Are We Mistaken in Practice about the Real Purpose of the Church?

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Unity in Diversity as an Attribute of God

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What We Lose If Jesus is Not Human as shown by Jesus’ Preparation for his Ministry

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Why Jesus’ Full Humanity is Important 1: Our Freedom, Truth, Victory, New Birth and Adoption in Christ

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Peril of Seeking Respectability

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