Sin

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

Mutual Submission is the Key

Ian Johnson November 8, 2020 2 Comments

Unity in the church arises, not from submission to a power structure, but from mutual submission to each other, seeking each other’s good above our own, in submission to Christ.

A God who Speaks, Desire to have our own way, God Speaks to Us, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Reconciliation, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Through others, Through the church, To live in unity

Body, Body of Christ, counting each other more important than ourselves, Equal, equality, equality of members, humility, Love, mutual benefit, mutual submission, power, submission, submit

The Bad Example of Korah

Ian Johnson September 20, 2020 3 Comments

Korah’s rebellion was to insist on half the truth–that all in the congregation of Israel were holy, set apart to God, because the Lord was among them–but to reject the other half–that only the Lord had the right to assign each their functions. They denied this half of the truth to rebelliously assert their own authority, as false teachers today also do.

Authority Contests, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Events and Signs, God Speaks to Us, God's Voice, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Power, Sin, What is sin?

Abiram, Authotity, Dathan, Function, Korah, Moses, Parts of the Body, Power Struggle, Roles

The Bad Example of Cain

Ian Johnson September 16, 2020 5 Comments

Cain’s underlying sin was his arrogant insistence that he could come to God on his own terms. This is the “way of Cain” of which Jude speaks—self-sufficiency, insisting on coming to God on one’s own terms, murderous jealousy of those who truly seek God and are accepted by him, and “repentance” only of the consequences of these sins and not of the sins themselves. It all starts with an attitude of self-sufficiency.

Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, God Never Stopped Speaking, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Rejecting God, Sin, What is sin?

anger, arrogance, Cain, dead works, faith, false repentance, jealousy, murder, murderer, pleasing God, pride, rejecting God, self-sufficiency, trusting in myself

False Believers and Divisive Persons in Jude

Ian Johnson August 23, 2020 3 Comments

Jude’s description of divisive persons in the church points to false believers who try to look like us but have infiltrated the church for their own advantage, to serve their own greed and lusts. They are dead trees, and dead trees bear no fruit. In dealing with them, we need to contend for the truth and resist contending against them personally.

Authority Contests, Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, Disrespecting poor believers, Divisions in the Church, Greed, Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Peril of Seeking Power, Rejecting God, To live in unity

“Heresies” as a “work” of the flesh in Galatians 5

Ian Johnson August 4, 2020 3 Comments

In Galatians 5:17-23, “heresies” are one of the works of the flesh–something we do, not something we believe. These works are opposed by the fruit of the Spirit.

Church purpose versus church growth, Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Heresy, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Religious violence and persecution, Sin, What is sin?

anger, Church unity, division, enmity, factions, Fruit of the Spirit, Heresies, Holy Spirit, pride, strife

Heresy is Division in the Church

Ian Johnson August 1, 2020 4 Comments

Heresy is properly defined as divisiveness, not merely believing a false doctrine. Heretics are divisive people. Those who state doctrines with which I disagree, but do so without insisting on division because of my belief, are not heretics. Thus calls for mutual understanding and patience.

Church purpose versus church growth, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Greed, Heresy, His Friends, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Sins versus sin, Social control and statecraft, To live in unity

Church History, Church unity, definition of heresy, division, divisive people, divisiveness, doctrinal disagreements, doctrine, heresy, heretic, heretical, Our Oneness in Christ, Unity

From Early Christianity to Islam and Back — 1. The Earliest Christianity

Ian Johnson July 13, 2020 6 Comments

This post is the first in a series of six outlining a broad view of how things in the Church and the world got to be as they are now, including contributions early Christianity and Islam made to each other. This post attempts to outline the basic positions of early Christianity. Comments are invited!

A God who Speaks, Adoption, Background Information, Church purpose versus church growth, Complex unity, Conversation with God, Desire to have our own way, Emotions, Eternity Present, Free will, God Acts by Speaking, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God was never our enemy, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, God's sovereignty, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, Historical Background, Human Rationality, Is forgiveness of sins the focus of salvation?, Jesus the Son, Knowing good and evil, Language and Speech, Logical thinking, Male and female, Other Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Prophecy, Reconciliation, Regeneration, Rejecting God, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Sin, Sins versus sin, Son of Man, The Bible, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, Through the church, To be his ambassadors, To be in his image, To live in unity, Trinity, Unity, What is God's Word, What is sin?

Christian history, Christianity, Christianity and Islam, doctrine, Early Christianity, History of Christianity, New Testament, New Testament Christianity

The Underlying Cause of Division

Ian Johnson July 9, 2020 2 Comments

The underlying cause of all of the divisions in the Church is “sin:” our determination to ignore God and the needs of others to have our own way. This leads to greed, anger, envy, jealousy, gossip, slander, strife, unforgiveness, bitterness and even war–all of which perpetuate division.

Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Greed, Our Oneness in Christ book revision, Sin, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?

ambition, arguments, bitterness, Church unity, desires, Diotrephes, division, envy, fighting, gossip, having our own way, jealousy, root of bitterness, selfishness, sin, slander, strife, unforgiving servant, wrath

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

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Mutual Submission is the Key

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The Bad Example of Korah

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The Bad Example of Cain

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False Believers and Divisive Persons in Jude

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“Heresies” as a “work” of the flesh in Galatians 5

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Heresy is Division in the Church

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From Early Christianity to Islam and Back — 1. The Earliest Christianity

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The Underlying Cause of Division

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