Someone recently shared with me a lengthy sermon on the need for widespread reformation within the local churches, and a return to pastor-centered authority. I have some very strong views surrounding these issues based on my understanding of Christian history, in contrast to what the New Testament actually says.
There have been no legitimate church authorities since Jesus gathered up the elect in 70 AD. The forces holding Christians together into a "church" after the Apostolic Age have been a precarious blend of circumstance and pragmatism.
From 70 AD to Constantine, most Christians didn't have access to the scriptures, so they sought out those who did, or those who had the loudest, boldest voices - hence the elevation of the church fathers.
The Roman empire was making it impossible for Christians to integrate into society, so Christians either had to abandon the faith or stick together. Many of them chose suicide by martyrdom, as it was commonly believed that if they turned themselves in to the Roman authorities for execution, they would receive a one-way ticket to heaven.
From Constantine's legalization of Christianity until around the 1200s, the scriptures were generally only available during liturgical ceremonies, so Christians had no choice but to participate in local gatherings to hear the word.
Around the 1200s, the Catholic Church decided to read the scriptures in Latin only, which commoners no longer understood by that point. As a result, some people sought local readings of scripture in private homes (the Lollard Movement). By this time, Catholicism was becoming more tyrannical, and church attendance was effectively unavoidable.
Finally, in the 1500s, the Protestant Reformation was able to break free from the Catholic Church and made the scriptures more widely available in subsequent decades. The problem was that the Protestant nations were often just as violent and tyrannical as the Catholic nations.
Now we're in a post-Reformation era: People in the West have basic rights and freedom from state religion, cultures have secularized as they no longer have the authoritarian molds to keep them in a theocratic prison cell,....and most importantly, technology has made the Bible and related resources freely available.
We're essentially entering a time where culture is deconditioned from post-apostolic, authoritarian Christianity, and people are slowly beginning to realize that the sermon/ceremony/worship-service models of church are obsolete. The truth is that the Apostolic Church was never about sermons, ceremonies, or worship-services. It was about loving one another within the parameters of the established apostolic doctrine. Since Christians can't even generally agree upon the full gospel, I just don't see love in deed and truth as a scalable model for the Christian masses.
In conclusion, I don't think there will be another Reformation. I think we're witnessing a permanent dissolution of post-apostolic Christianity, and Christians will become a scattered minority in the world again. This will likely happen as 2030-2033 comes and goes without Jesus returning, leaving a large number of Christians disillusioned and frustrated.
There have been no legitimate church authorities since Jesus gathered up the elect in 70 AD. The forces holding Christians together into a "church" after the Apostolic Age have been a precarious blend of circumstance and pragmatism.
From 70 AD to Constantine, most Christians didn't have access to the scriptures, so they sought out those who did, or those who had the loudest, boldest voices - hence the elevation of the church fathers.
The Roman empire was making it impossible for Christians to integrate into society, so Christians either had to abandon the faith or stick together. Many of them chose suicide by martyrdom, as it was commonly believed that if they turned themselves in to the Roman authorities for execution, they would receive a one-way ticket to heaven.
From Constantine's legalization of Christianity until around the 1200s, the scriptures were generally only available during liturgical ceremonies, so Christians had no choice but to participate in local gatherings to hear the word.
Around the 1200s, the Catholic Church decided to read the scriptures in Latin only, which commoners no longer understood by that point. As a result, some people sought local readings of scripture in private homes (the Lollard Movement). By this time, Catholicism was becoming more tyrannical, and church attendance was effectively unavoidable.
Finally, in the 1500s, the Protestant Reformation was able to break free from the Catholic Church and made the scriptures more widely available in subsequent decades. The problem was that the Protestant nations were often just as violent and tyrannical as the Catholic nations.
Now we're in a post-Reformation era: People in the West have basic rights and freedom from state religion, cultures have secularized as they no longer have the authoritarian molds to keep them in a theocratic prison cell,....and most importantly, technology has made the Bible and related resources freely available.
We're essentially entering a time where culture is deconditioned from post-apostolic, authoritarian Christianity, and people are slowly beginning to realize that the sermon/ceremony/worship-service models of church are obsolete. The truth is that the Apostolic Church was never about sermons, ceremonies, or worship-services. It was about loving one another within the parameters of the established apostolic doctrine. Since Christians can't even generally agree upon the full gospel, I just don't see love in deed and truth as a scalable model for the Christian masses.
In conclusion, I don't think there will be another Reformation. I think we're witnessing a permanent dissolution of post-apostolic Christianity, and Christians will become a scattered minority in the world again. This will likely happen as 2030-2033 comes and goes without Jesus returning, leaving a large number of Christians disillusioned and frustrated.
