BIBLICAL BRIEFS 58
After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (June, 33 AD), missions, home churches and territorial groups of faith established the Christian faith around the world for a period, especially through Paul’s writings and ministry. In 49 AD the Jerusalem conference took place (Acts 15: Gal. 2: 1-10), which gave apostolic direction to the establishment of the early formal church. However, there was bitter opposition and prosecution by the Roman Empire, the government of the day . The doctrine proclaimed by the Apostles and their spiritual sons was also regarded as sectarian by the Jews: “the Way which they call a sect” (Acts 24:14), but it was, as a matter of fact, a reformation of the Old Covenant and the establishment of the new covenant (Heb. 8: 8&13). After the destruction of the second temple in 70 AD, the Christian faith was not a unitary movement, until 313 AD when it began to receive recognition in the Roman Empire. The Roman Catholic Church obtained the status of official state religion by Constanine in 380 AD, after he converted to Christianity. Based on Jesus’ words to Peter in Matt. 16: 16-19, Peter was honored as the first Pope. In 1054 AD. there developed a rift and a seperation between the RCC and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. On 31 October 1517, 500 years ago, a German priest, Martin Luther, nailed 95 statements spelling out the first Reformation to the church door at Wittenburg, and so proclaimed the Protestant Reformation. The core aspects of this Reformation are built upon the restoration of the truth of salvation through Jesus alone (based on Eph. 2: 8) and the principle of Sola Scriptura, making the Bible the sole guideline of faith. This year (2017) we celebrate the 500th anniversary of this epoch-making reformation day, which freed the universal church from the slavery of the Roman Catholic systems. This reformation in the church of that day led to a tremendous secular change in the world, which brought us from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance (the enlightenment).
Dr. Tom Gouws
