An Outline of Baptist History

om Gx became one of the greatest instruments for corruption. Men and women are not educated into the kingdom of God but born into it. Once they had exper- ienced the new birth they should of course be instructed in the truth. Noone should ever be led to believe that instruction in Bible doctrine is a substitute for a personal experience with Jesus Christ. (2)Communion. This was called the Eucharist, from the second century on. The early church fathers give evidence of believing in the doctrine of consubstantiation. The ordinance became surrounded with a cloud of ritual and finally developed into the mass. Here we see the early church attributing a mystical meaning to the Lord's Supper. It is interesting to note that as men turned from a direct approach to God, they devised forms and ceremonies which might help them to reach God. Burroughs points out two things here which we should always remember: (1) The natural heart protests the supremacy and competency of Jesus; and (2) It shrinks from accepting the competency of a human soul. (3) The development of sacerdotalism. In the New Testament we have nothing but the priesthoed of believers, but by the end of the 3rd century it was generally accepted that the clergy formed a sacerdotal order. This was a priestly caste separate from the laity. Early in the 2nd century, bishops and presbyters be- came two offices. They were no longer the same, but the bishops were given a position over the presbyters. Newman points out that "the chairman of the elders gradually became the monarchial bishop.'' "The church in Rome had from early times wielded a wide influence. It grew in wealth and power so that in due time its bishop was made the pope (papa, father)."' Vedder, p.53. (4) Growth of Asceticism. It is easy to trace this teaching to the doctrine of sal- vation by works. Manicheanism, founded by Mani or Manichaeus (216-2% AD) made a combination of Christianity and Zoroastrianism which was a dualistic philosophy, set out to state that there were two opposing and eternal princi- ples, ''Man's soul linked him with the kingdom of light, and his body brought him into bondage to the kingdom of darkness. They loeked upon sex as evil and emphasized the superiority of unmarried state.'' Augustine was a disciple of Manicheanism for 12 years. We can easily see how this philosophy fit into the plan of salvation by works, for if the body were evil something must be done against it in order to make atonement before God. Sin in the body was only overcome by fasting. This system did three things: (1) It opened the way for celibacy of the clergy; (2) It laid a foundation for the exaltation of Mary; and (3) It gave aid to the doctrines of penance and later to the confessional. Vedder has summarized this period by saying, ''The rapidity with which the doctrine, ritual and polity of the early church degenerated, was directly pro- portional to its growth in wealth and worldly prosperity....So long as the church was feeble, persecuted and poor....it was comparatively pure in both doctrine and life." p.39. (See Prov. 30:8) There were certain influences which led to the degeneracy of the early church: (1) The instincts of the natural heart; (2) the perverted teachings of Judaism; (3) the prevailing Greek philosophies.