Apostolic
the early church

"Apostolic" in the original sense does not refer to teachings of the Oneness Pentecostal, Jesus Only, or Jesus Name movements. Apostolic refers to the teachings of the Disciples of Christ, Apostle Paul, the New Testament, and sometimes to the first and second century Christians not mentioned in scripture.

Apostolic Teachings are summed up in the Apostle's Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
Amen.

Note: The word "Catholic" in this creed does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, but the Christian Church as a whole.

Arguably, the Apostolic Church ceased when Constantine oversaw the union of the Roman Empire with the Christian Churches. The thing is, it was a political move and not a spiritual one. To cover over his intentions, Constantine used an age old tactic. He united the people by focusing them on a common enemy. His name was Arius, a man who taught that Jesus was not God incarnate. The results of Constantine's endeavour was The Nicene Creed, a more unified Roman Empire, and the full support of Christian bishops. He essentially peacably conquered the Christians. Folks, Constantine was not a saint.

Interestingly, all Christian denominations claim to be directly rooted to or have returned to the teachings of the New Testament teachings and practices.

Jeremy Brown 2004

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