Religious Cults & False Prophets~ Discussions and DebatesModalism: Heresy Or Catholic Persecution of Truth?
As a Oneness Apostolic I have frequently been labelled a "Modalist" as if that is some evil dirty word. And by some investigation of what that term means I've discovered that indeed the term "Modalism" and its other "ism's" describe Oneness theology perfectly. And what I also discovered in my investigation is that the term "Modalism" with all its other "ism's" were coined by the Catholics against the Oneness believers of the time. Therefore, what this shows is that the true believers stood up against and resisted the false teachings that the Catholics started to bring into the Church not unlike Martin Luther did during the Reformation. This then is the real issue: Is Modalism really the heresy here or is it Catholic persecution of the Truth? As the doctrine of the trinity slowly displaced the monotheism of the Apostles, many errors and traditions of men began to creep into the Church. The process was slow and frequently accompanied by strife and on occasion, bloodshed. A look at some of the errors which spoiled the Church will give some understanding of how error leads to more error. For instance, the Greek word used for baptism in the New Testament means to dip, to immerse, and to sink. But after the fourth century, immersion had begun to be replaced by pouring water on the head, while the person being baptized stood in the water. However, sprinkling was slow to be accepted as the common mode of baptism. It is not until the thirteenth century that sprinkling became the rule and immersion the exception. It is during this perod of transition of baptism modes that the emphasis of baptism shifted from its New Testament significance to an outward sign, and thus baptism lost its spiritual importance (see my posts: "Critical Identity of Baptism" and "Few Were Saved By Water" in this forum) More and more, salvation became an outward element with no inward significance. It is during this transition period apparently that more and more Christians began to accept the trinitarian formula as the mode of baptism. However, it should be remembered that to the average Christian in this period, it was not greatly important what formula was used as much as the fact that one was actually baptized. However, many congregations continued to baptize in the name of Jesus by immersion and these were also no doubt Oneness as well. Tertullian and the well known heretic Origen testifed that the majority of Christians in their time thought "monarchianically". Tertullian further admits (indirectly) that the majority of the believers in his day continued to baptize in Jesus' name when he writes: When the Roman emperor, Constantine, embraced Catholicism, the trinitarians, for the fist time, aquired full power to stamp out organized resistance to their teachings and thus the full might of Papal persecution came on the true believers. What followed is a history of false teachings and 1200 years of the dark ages until the restoration of the Church began with Martin Luther. And step by step - line upon line - precept upon precept - the Church has been restored to its original form as it is presented in the Book of Acts. Here is a sample of the error leading to more error: 1. Prayers for the dead, 300AD 2. Making the sign of the cross, 300AD 3.Trinity doctrine and trinity mode of baptism, Council of Nicea, 325AD 4.Veneration of angels and dead saints, 375AD 5. Use of images in worship, 375AD 6. The Mass as a daily celebration, 394AD 7.Beginning of the exaltation of Mary; the term, "Mother of God", Council of Ephesus, 431AD And the list goes on and on. The "trinity" is the common thread that ties modern Christianity with the harlot mother of Christianity and must be severed in order for believers to realize their glorious heritage in Jesus Christ and His name. All of denominational Christianity is only about 496 years old as of this year. The Baptist Church is only 395 years old as of this year. But the Oneness Apostolic Church is 1,971 years old. If "Oneness" is a heresy then all of Prostestant Christianity is heresy also. History proves that the majority of Christianity was Oneness until it was choked out by Catholic heresy. But thank God the Church is back and the gates of hell have not and cannot prevail against it. Please see my posts: Jesus Is His Name, a five part series, in this forum |
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