The transformation of the original Christianity
The transformation of the original Christianity
Writer: Evangelos D. Kepenes (2018, 8 October)
The philosophical currents of the 2nd century
The secular philosophical currents of the 2nd century, looting the spiritual wealth of the genuine biblical Christianity, transformed it into a new state religion of types and expectations.
For the "Christian" philosopher Clement of the Alexandrian philosophical school, and for many others of the same period, Christianity was the supreme philosophy that the Mosaic Law and Greek philosophy prepared. This view was cultivated by the Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo who lived in Alexandria in Egypt (15 BC-45 AD), a fanatical defender of the Platonic thought, and was spread by the proponents of human wisdom.
The side effect of this view was that it presented Christianity as accepting Greek thought, a view contrary to what Jesus and the apostles supported.
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” (Col. 2:8-9)
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.” (Mat. 5:17)
“For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.” (1 Cor. 1:21 NET)
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes
The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple had brought national, cultural and religious judgment upon the fleshly Israel. Biblical Judaism, having fulfilled its purpose, had given its place to biblical Christianity whose adversaries were the unbelieving Jews. Without a temple and priests, the representation of the latter was taken over by the rabbis who convened the Council of Iamnia in Palestine around 100 AD to finalize the biblical canon of the Old Testament as it was defined in the Talmud. This action established Rabbinic Judaism as the ideological continuation of Pharisaic Judaism based on the occult Jewish literature.
The period of the representation of Christianity by servants of apostolic caliber had passed. The philosophical apologists, defenders of the "Christian philosophy" as they considered it, helped by the social and political circumstances, achieved the combination of Hellenism - Christianity, gradually creating the label of "Christian Hellenism."
Through intense controversies between the representatives of that period's philosophical trends and the prevailing of those who had the most powerful political support, a new state religion of Roman interests was finally formed in the 3rd - 4th century AD, "Patristic Platonic Christianity."
The contradictory Ancient Philosophy and the Patristic - type soteriology have since become the spiritual deposit of the Greek heritage.
This Christianity, being a variant of national polytheism, prevailed with the power of the Roman weapons and brought spiritual darkness preserved to date by the so-called Christian rival national religions.
Platonism as a theory of ideas had supporters mainly among the Greek religious men, and the Eastern Orthodox "Christian" Church was clothed with it. Aristotelism, as a theory of pragmatism - if something is imperceptible it is also non-existent - had supporters among the Jewish religious men and among the Arabs who read Aristotle's works translated into Arabic. After the schism between the Eastern and Western Church in 1054, the Catholic Western Church under the powerful influence of the Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), priest of the Roman Catholic Church and supporter of Aristotelism, incorporated the Aristotelian philosophy into its theology. Thus, "Aristotelian Christianity" was born, which also influenced the materialistic Western civilization.
Epilogue
Today's representatives and followers of the imposed and schismatic "Patristic Platonic Christianity" and the modern Protestant homologies that are connected with it (see charters of Protestant churches) refuse to accept the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law and the prophets through Jesus that took place 20 centuries ago, as well as the ensuing spiritual blessings. By paying attention to myths, they preserve the religious formalism of the Old Testament.
Those who expect, without any biblical support, the reconstruction of a third earthly temple in Jerusalem by "modern Jews" who cannot prove their generational continuity from Abraham fantasize about the repetition of the biblical history, thus blaming God as a transgressor.
"For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” (Gal. 2:18)
May the Lord Jesus bless you. Obedience to the truth of God brings his blessings into our lives.
Jesus reigns!