From time to time there are swings and movements back to what is considered to be the "original" or pure form of something. We can see the trend towards a vegan life - lives that are committed to some strict code of behavior governed and dictated by some belief in natural things that may seem strange to some. One different example is the temple in which rats are worshipped as though they were relatives to humans - reincarnation. The belief is that when a person dies, he continues to live as a rat. People go to the temple, feed and eat with the rats and in their minds, live a pure form of life. Others determine a code of right and wrong and use that to guide their lives.
There is little more fascinating than the development of Christianity. Jesus left His disciples with instructions about what to teach and God chose those men carefully. Jesus stated that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). He also gave authority to His followers to preach and that was backed up by the power to perform miracles. Jesus said the church would be built on the apostles and prophets and He Himself would be the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). However, that church would continue to exist on earth, in the midst of a world that Satan had much control over. Jesus' followers would be tested and refined until they could be trusted with the incredible inheritance God is offering. In the last major prayer that John recorded, Jesus asked that His followers be kept from the evil one (John 17:15-18) and that His followers be sent into the world just as He had been sent. God's people remain on earth and in danger from the dark forces that abound. The church is one body designed to teach (Eph. 4:4,12).
It did not take long in the early church for some people to begin seeing the potential for power and wealth through using the spiritual power God gave. One such example was a man called Simon who offered to buy the power that he saw from the work of the apostles (Acts 8:18,19). Within the church, contentions grew about the use of gifts God gave (I Cor. 3:3). By the time Peter and Paul had come to the end of their service to God, they had already seen many false ministers and members trying to control all that was done (2 Pet. 2:1-3). One of the last original apostles was denied a visit to a church due to the ego, jealousy and lust for power of the elder there (3 John 9,10). It was almost like a curtain descended upon the church that Jesus Christ established and when that curtain was raised two hundred years or so later, the church was no longer recognizable. Now it was becoming a great political power, completely dominating the lives of the people it served. Common people rarely if ever read or studied the Word of God and the dominant church believed it could interpret and change the Scriptures. What was now visible as Christianity was nothing like what Jesus left behind. The first apostles and believers were of the Jews and later the Gentiles took over as the church grew in strength and numbers. The ways of the Torah were largely abandoned under the guise of a God-given right of those in control of the church to dictate right and wrong.
The church that was founded on the disciples and Christ must still exist to this day, because the word and promise of God cannot be broken (John 10:35). But the church would have to flee and go underground because it was still abiding by the laws of God that were written in the Torah and that was not tolerated. Anti-Semitism was powerful and persecution swift and deadly. The church that kept the laws of God would not differ much from the Jews and thus also suffered for their faith as the Jews were persecuted. In the passage of time and during the dark ages, events that were hard to imagine were perpetrated under the name of Christianity. Crusades were sent off to recapture the holy land and some were ruthless. Inquisitions took place with deadly results for those who were being persecuted. Education was forbidden, and people had no access to the truth. In the midst of this turmoil, there always were a few who resisted, were branded heretics and harshly dealt with. The church in control was powerful. The true people of God lived quietly and taught as best they could and the true church, though hidden, could not and did not die. All through the dark ages and times of the terrible plagues like the bubonic plague, that killed about one third of the whole population of Europe, a heavy curtain seemed drawn over the whereabouts of true believers. The Black Death alone which spread throughout Europe and other parts of the world is estimated to have killed 30-60% of Europe's total population. An estimated world population in the 14t h century may have been reduced from an estimated 450 million to 350-375 million. We can only imagine the horrors that ravaged the world. The religious wars of Europe that led to much misery were a series of wars waged from 1524 to 1648. Then came the Protestant reformation and the Bible being made available to most European nations. The Protestant Reformation was the religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe. Protests against the corruption coming from Rome began in Germany when reformation ideals developed in 1517-1521 A.D. when Martin Luther expressed doubts over the legitimacy of indulgences and supremacy of the pope. Bibles were printed in various languages and a variety of somewhat different faith groups developed. Around 1600 A.D. King James of England supported the reading of Scripture more openly. Much more freedom was attained, but the freedom did not change many doctrines. It was more a rejection of the power and control of the Catholic church that was challenged. Doctrines like indulgences and marriage laws were challenged, but the observance of Sunday and many dictates of the Catholic church did not change.
The church that Jesus Christ founded has existed in the midst of all the turmoil that continued for the last almost 2000 years. Jesus said it would be a little flock (Luke 12:32) and that it would be persecuted (Acts 20:28-30). There were attempts to promote religious freedom during the reformation, but although the concept was noble, it did not take root and there were many setbacks. Religious freedom was sought by those who fled to the New World. After 1800A.D. a group with some religious differences had a better chance of living in peace. Many who fled to the New World were fleeing religious persecution and brought with them a hunger for religious freedom. That concept was ensconced into the constitution of the newly formed nations like the United States of America.
The true church that Jesus founded lived by the dictates of Scripture. Sin is defined by the Bible as breaking the laws God had given. Laws such as observing the seventh day Sabbath and the Holy Days of God along with shunning idolatry was the teaching of God's true church. Living by God's definition of honesty and loving your neighbor are the constant teachings of the true church. The precious gift of salvation through Jesus Christ that came with repentance and baptism was the first lesson the apostles taught (Acts 2:38-40). That still is the teaching of the church Christ founded today. The true church required a belief in Christ and the salvation He offers and a careful examination of the self to see if we are obedient to His Word - the Holy Bible. There is one true church - Jesus said so.