The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to Church History by Bill Leonard

Author:Bill Leonard
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-5064-0575-9
Publisher: Fortress Press
Published: 2017-06-20T04:00:00+00:00

Simple/Complex Faith

Once the Christians realized that their witness was global, things got considerably more complicated. Proclaiming the possibility of salvation in this world and the next is truly “good news,” but telling people how to be saved in ways both theologically consistent and pragmatically coherent is another thing altogether. In fact, one of the church’s greatest challenges, then and now, is to explain how the objective idea that “God so loved the world” finds its way into the lives and hearts of specific individuals. Clearly, the earliest Christians believed that they had encountered the risen Christ and that the kingdom of God was at hand.

To believe in Jesus was to be “reconciled to God,” receive forgiveness of sins, and gain entrance into a new community, the church. Those who accepted the Jesus Way were energized by gospel ideas and action, even when martyrdom loomed large. Soon, however, Christian communities were compelled to develop processes or procedures for presenting persons the faith, instructing them, and, when necessary, disciplining them for inappropriate behavior and belief. Then, as now, some people sustained the faith, while others relinquished, betrayed, or reinterpreted it considerably. Very quickly, Christian churches were forced to define (and divide over) the process of believing, the standards for entry into the church, and the boundaries defining appropriate faith and action.

Note to self: Sermon series titled “Simplex Faith.”

Becoming a Christian was at once simple and complex. Second-century theologian Justin the Martyr said plainly: “As many as are persuaded and believe that the things are true which are taught by us and said to be true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their past sins.” Then, Justin says, they are taken “where there is water, and are born again.”[2] Yet Tertullian, his contemporary, was quick to warn that such faith required separation from worldly ideas. He demanded to know, “What is there in common between Athens and Jerusalem?” And concluded: “After Christ Jesus we desire no subtle theories, no acute enquiries after the gospel.”[3] Getting into the church was relatively simple; staying in was another matter altogether.

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