The Road to Mainstream

Jesus Christ told His disciples that He would build His Church and the gates of death would not prevail against it. If we are to believe Him—and we at Tomorrow’s World do—that Church must be in existence somewhere on earth today. But where? We can sympathize with people who throw up their hands in bewilderment, considering the multitude of denominations with contradicting doctrines and practices. How can they all come from the same source?

This issue of Tomorrow’s World highlights two different roads that Christianity took in the early centuries following Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Seventeen hundred years ago, the Council of Nicaea met to standardize certain doctrines and ended up defining the road deemed mainstream, though travelers on that road today are hardly in harmony. Those taking a different road are likewise divergent in beliefs and practices, but any failing to fall in line with the mainstream have been considered heretics and often suffered great persecution.

The Council of Nicaea, as explained in Wallace Smith’s article, was a watershed event that took place in the city of Nicaea in northwestern Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Six other significant “ecumenical councils” followed over the centuries to likewise identify which doctrines would define mainstream. My article in this issue, “The Church Behind Tomorrow’s World,” describes one of the small, persecuted groups of believers that trod the less popular path—but any student of the Bible should know that the popular path is rarely, if ever, the one that ends well (Matthew 7:13–14, 21–23).

The Foundation of the Church: The Rock is Christ

The Church that Jesus built is not, as many have been taught to believe, built on the Apostle Peter—rather, it was founded upon Christ Himself. Note what Jesus said: “I also say to you that you are Peter [from the Greek petros, a piece of rock or a small rock], and on this rock [from petra, a massive rock, referring to Himself] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Jesus would build His Church “on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20). Yes, Jesus—not Peter or Paul—is the Rock of our salvation (Psalm 95:1). He is the Stone the builders rejected (Matthew 21:42). And He is a Rock of offense to those who do not believe (1 Peter 2:8).

The Council of Nicaea was called by Roman emperor Constantine to resolve disputes that had arisen over the previous centuries. Its goal was to standardize Christian practice—but its goal of bringing practices and doctrines into harmony failed miserably. Unity is hardly a term one could use to describe the Babylon of confusion found in professing Christianity. Nicaea and the councils that followed came to define mainstream—but what exactly does that mean? And is that even the question we should be asking?

Should mainstream, without regard to clear biblical backing, be our guide? Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox believers look to tradition, extra-biblical writings, pagan philosophers, and church councils as guides to truth, while Protestant reformers claim sola scriptura. But have those protesters truly lived up to their claim that the Bible alone was to be their guide? The truth is that even Protestants continued to follow many non-biblical traditional doctrines and practices handed down as mainstream by bishops and popes they supposedly rejected.

Family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and cultural traditions are powerful influencers. More often than not, they overwhelm fact and truth. It is remarkable how few Christians are willing to walk in the footsteps of their professed Master. They instead substitute non-biblical traditions handed down from generation to generation. This is nothing new. When the Pharisees confronted Jesus and His disciples for not washing their hands according to humanly devised traditions, you can feel the frustration in His response:

He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:6–9).

Few people are willing to examine their upbringing and honestly question whether they are following truly biblical practices, or are, in fact, observing heathen customs. The human mind is more interested in pleasing others and pridefully defending the self than in seeking truth.

Who Are True Followers of Christ?

The Council of Nicaea, as important as it was, did not create the fork in the road. The split came much earlier. Jesus warned that many would use His name, even admitting that He is the prophesied Messiah, but would take followers down a different path than the one He walked (Matthew 24:4–5). The Apostle Paul warned the elders at Ephesus that there would be vicious deceivers from inside, as well as from without. “I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears” (Acts 20:29–31).

Wallace Smith’s article on the Council of Nicaea and my article on the Church behind Tomorrow’s World both show how, in virtually all its forms, today’s Christianity is a radical departure from that of the first century. Paul summarized how easily the brethren at Corinth were deceived on three major points: “I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it” (2 Corinthians 11:3–4).

Jude, half-brother of Jesus, refutes the heretical idea that biblical truth and practice would evolve to a higher form over time. “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3).

The drift from original Christianity continued after the death of the Apostles with the writings of those that are looked upon today as early “church fathers.” One who had a profound influence on the later Nicaean discussions was Origen. He looked to explain biblical doctrines from a background steeped in heathen philosophy. “Greek Christian theology continued to be concerned with the problem which Origen tackled—the relationship of philosophy and the Christian tradition” (Eerdmans’ Handbook to the History of Christianity, 1977, p. 104). Origen was a “Christian Platonist” whose ideas about spirits and the material world were formed through the lens of Plato and other human philosophers.

This year marks a milestone anniversary for one of the most important events in the history of mainstream Christianity. I hope you will check out Wallace Smith’s exposé on the Council of Nicaea, and I hope you will find my article on the Church behind Tomorrow’s World enlightening as well.