Do We Follow The Early Church? | Highlight

This is a highlight of our premiere webcast Apologia Radio. In this clip James White talks about the difference between Protestants and Roman Catholics and their views on the Early Church.

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[junkaccount]

What would be the argument against the Orthodox church which holds none of the things Dr. White listed @3:40? The EOC doesn't teach the bodily assumption of Mary, papal infallibility, and rejects the filioque way.

[gc]

Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ established ONE church; and it’s the one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I’ll be praying for Christian unity 🙏🏻

[ryrocks]

Great. You pointed out some RCC inconsistencies. I want to see Jeff Durbin and Jay Dyer have a chat now.

[duriuswulkins]

Satan has been attacking the Word of God since the beginning. I will tell you it is so FREEING to know that all special revelation God ever wanted you to know is contained in Scripture, and He gives us His Spirit freely to understand the Scriptures and guide us.

[azizhasanov]

Thank you, very helpful! Can you make more in-depth analysis of Ortodox (Eastern Ortodox) position ?

[richpeeps]

I've been asking this question for sometime now and the simple answer is a resounding NO the modern day church doesn't follow it closely at all!!

[Potatodude]

deep respect for this highlight as I do find the same things even in books, biases not void of impressing our systems on the past, rather than accepting things for what they were.

[ZachBrown-nt]

When i read the Bible, I never face plant, mainly because I don't conform the Bible's writings into what I want or what the creed wants.

[titianmom]

Just from the title....I would hope we're following Jesus Christ...

[Spurgeon_General]

But what is "frustrating" about the early church fathers, just goes to show the glory of our ascended King, spoken of in Isaiah 42:4. HE will not cease growing His kingdom and building His church, even though the church clearly has been in so many ways still growing into the fullness and maturity toward the stature of Christ.
The church is cumulatively and collectively refining her understanding of His word, and the battles those fathers had to fight, they fought. Gnosticism, Arianism, etc... they fought and won. And that's good enough.

[Unseen_warfare.]

With the passage of time the Church discerned which writings were truly apostolic and which were not. It was a prolonged struggle, taking place over several centuries. As part of the process of discernment, the Church met together several times in council. These various Church councils confronted a variety of issues, among which was the canon of Scripture. It is important to note that the purpose of these councils was to discern and confirm what was already generally accepted within the Church at large. The councils did not legislate the canon so much as set forth what had become self-evident truth and practice within the churches of God. The councils sought to proclaim the common mind of the Church and to reflect the unanimity of faith, practice, and tradition as it already existed in the local churches represented. The councils provide us with specific records in which the Church spoke clearly and in unison as to what constitutes Scripture. Among the many councils that met during the first four centuries, two are particularly important in this context:
(1) The Council of Laodicea met in Asia Minor about A.D. 363. This is the first council which clearly listed the canonical books of the present Old and New Testaments, with the exception of the Apocalypse of Saint John. The Laodicean council stated that only the canonical books it listed should be read in church. Its decisions were widely accepted in the Eastern Church.
(2) The third Council of Carthage met in North Africa about A.D. 397. This council, attended by Augustine, provided a full list of the canonical books of both the Old and New Testaments. The twenty-seven books of the present-day New Testament were accepted as canonical. The council also held that these books should be read in the church as Divine Scripture to the exclusion of all others. This Council was widely accepted as authoritative in the West.

[Choraldiscourse]

Thank you, Dr White. A timely reminder for me.

[danmillar]

James says all the Bishop's at Niceean council werent Catholic in todays sense but gos completely against "one Baptism, for the remissions of their sins"

Which one is it James?? Were they true believer's or not??

Pick n mix protestant!!! Least Roman Catholics try to be consistent

[HJEvan]

The early church didn't have a N.T. canon, or didn't insist on a consensus about the N.T. canon. Even today, the Catholic church still venerates some famous Christian men who didn't believe all books currently in our N.T., are inspired. I have been taught that the Christian east didn't want the last book of the Bible included in the N.T. canon and, to this day, don't bother reading it in Church. Equally, Eusebius, a Christian historian, wrote that many books near the back of our N.T. canon were, 'disputed' even during his time. That is my evidence that the Early Church had no consensus with respect to the N.T. canon and that there ought to be some tolerance between Christians today on this issue.

[robertcoupe]

Brother White,

Isaiah 54:13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
Romans 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
John 6:45It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
Only the elect have ears to hear the Father. Matthew 11:27, Luke 10:22

I am forever praising and believing Jesus is the Christ, and this is pleasing to God.

[seekingtruthgaming]

Could james white or anyone give me sources of what the council believed at that meeting in 325 ad?
Thanks!

[IamMysterium]

Matthew 18:17, it says: “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

[MikejMartin]

Are there any good books on the teachings of the early church and the teaching of the church fatherss theology?

[l.c.]

Can you speak a little about the early first and second century church "fathers" and the notion that they all believed that it was through the waters of baptism that one was saved. This is not the baptism of infants but baptism that was preceded by faith, etc. I get the impression that they were not all in accord on this.