{"id":30333,"date":"2017-02-05T17:20:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T23:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=30333"},"modified":"2024-09-01T22:02:31","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T03:02:31","slug":"the-apostles-creed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-apostles-creed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Apostles&#8217; Creed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t\t<meta itemprop=\"url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ApostlesCreed.mp3\" \/><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-30333-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ApostlesCreed.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ApostlesCreed.mp3\">https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ApostlesCreed.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\t<p>by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ApostlesCreed.mp3\" download target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload Audio\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<p>Text: John 17:11-23<\/p>\n<p>&#160;<\/p>\n<p>I.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Every once in a while someone will ask what is our statement of faith.<\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Back when we were home schooling, we were wanting to get involved with a\nlocal group, but they wanted us to sign a statement of faith\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;B.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Another name for a statement of faith is &#8220;creed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A creed is a statement of what one believes.<\/p>\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;2.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Merriam-Webster defines it as:<\/p>\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;a.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A brief authoritative formula of religious belief<\/p>\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;b.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A set of fundamental beliefs or guiding principles<\/p>\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;C.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Creeds exist because of division<\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Two people claim to be Christians, but they don&#8217;t agree. A creed exists to\ndistinguish one group from another.\nII.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;For instance, the Apostles&#8217; Creed was written around AD 140 to refute a false teacher\nnamed Marcion and his followers. \n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Marcion was the son of a bishop in Pontus. He was a mariner and somewhere in\nhis travel he came across Cerdo.\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#8220;Cerdo was one who took his system from the followers of Simon, and\ncame to live at Rome in the time of Hyginus &#8230; He taught that the God\nproclaimed by the law and the prophets was not the Father of our Lord\nJesus Christ. For the former was known, but the latter unknown; while the\none also was righteous, but the other benevolent. Marcion of Pontus\nsucceeded him, and developed his doctrine. In so doing, he advanced the\nmost daring blasphemy against Him who is proclaimed as God by the law\nand the prophets, declaring Him to be the author of evils, to take delight in\nwar, to be infirm of purpose, and even to be contrary to Himself. But Jesus\nbeing derived from that father who is above the God that made the world,\nand coming into Judaea in the times of Pontius Pilate the governor, who\nwas the procurator of Tiberius Caesar, was manifested in the form of a\nman to those who were in Judaea, abolishing the prophets and the law, and\nall the works of that God who made the world, whom also he calls\nCosmocrator.&#8221; [Irenaeus, <i>Against Heresies<\/i>, I.27.1-2].\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;B.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Marcion thought the Old Testament referred to a tyrannical God who created a\nflawed world. He believed that Jesus revealed a good God of love and mercy. In\nother words, Marcion thought there were two Gods. Jesus could not have born in\nthis world, since the world is a part of the lesser God&#8217;s work, so Marcion claimed\nthat Jesus just mysteriously appeared in the temple at the beginning of his\nministry.\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;C.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Therefore, Marcion concluded that the Old Testament was not Scripture. He only\naccepted the Gospel of Luke (leaving out the parts he felt were too Jewish in\nnature or that proved Jesus was born) and some of Paul&#8217;s letters, especially those\nthat Marcion thought were anti-Jewish.\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#8220;Besides this, he mutilates the Gospel which is according to Luke,\nremoving all that is written respecting the generation of the Lord, and\nsetting aside a great deal of the teaching of the Lord, in which the Lord is\nrecorded as most dearly confessing that the Maker of this universe is His\nFather. He likewise persuaded his disciples that he himself was more\nworthy of credit than are those apostles who have handed down the Gospel\nto us, furnishing them not with the Gospel, but merely a fragment of it. In\nlike manner, too, he dismembered the Epistles of Paul, removing all that is\nsaid by the apostle respecting that God who made the world, to the effect\nthat He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also those passages\nfrom the prophetical writings which the apostle quotes, in order to teach us\nthat they announced beforehand the coming of the Lord.&#8221; [Irenaeus,\nI.27.2].\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;D.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Of course Marcion insisted that only followers of his doctrine are saved. <\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;But he went further to say, &#8220;that Cain, and those like him, and the\nSodomites, and the Egyptians, and others like them, and, in fine, all the\nnations who walked in all sorts of abomination, were saved by the Lord,\non His descending into Hades, and on their running unto Him, and that\nthey welcomed Him into their kingdom.&#8221; \n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;2.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;But in regards to those of the Old Testament who followed after the lesser\nGod, &#8220;Marcion declared that Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and those other\nrighteous men who sprang from the patriarch Abraham, with all the\nprophets, and those who were pleasing to God, did not partake in\nsalvation. For since these men, he says, knew that their God was\nconstantly tempting them, so now they suspected that He was tempting\nthem, and did not run to Jesus, or believe His announcement: and for this\nreason he declared that their souls remained in Hades.&#8221; [Irenaeus, <i>Against\nHeresies<\/i>, I.27.3].\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;E.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The Old Roman Creed was developed to counter Marcion&#8217;s followers and was\nintended to be recited at baptism\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It was lightly modified and began being called the Apostles&#8217; Creed around\nAD 390 because a belief developed that the apostles each wrote a line of\nthe creed before leaving Jerusalem.\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;2.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It was lightly modified over the next few centuries to take stances on a few\nother issues. The current version comes from the 8<sup>th<\/sup> century.\nIII.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It isn&#8217;t too difficult to see that Marcion&#8217;s beliefs are false. Any belief that requires\nremoving portions of the Bible to justify clearly has problems.\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham are among the heros of faith listed in Hebrews\n11.\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;B.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Abraham is used frequently in Paul&#8217;s writings as illustrative of faith &#8211; Romans\n4:9-16\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;C.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Jesus, of course, was born into this world &#8211; Galatians 4:4<\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;D.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Denying the prophecies of Christ leaves Marcion&#8217;s followers having a religion\nthat has no proof of validity &#8211; John 5:39\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;E.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The number of passages which state that the Father made the world are large &#8211;\nHebrews 1:1-3\n<p>IV.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The problem with the Apostles&#8217; Creed is that it asserts without proof<\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;There is an objection to what Marcion taught, but it appeals to no higher authority\nthan itself. \n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;B.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The oldest form (The Old Roman Creed) is believed to have been written about\nAD 140. The oldest recording of it says: &#8220;I believe in God the Father Almighty.\nAnd in Jesus Christ His only (begotten) Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy\nGhost and the Virgin Mary; crucified under Pontius Pilate, and buried; the third\nday He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand\nof the Father, from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in\nthe Holy Ghost; the holy Church; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the\nbody; (the life everlasting)&#8221; [Recorded by Marcellus of Ancyra, AD 341]. \n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;C.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The current creed:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;1. I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth:<\/p>\n<p>2. And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord:<\/p>\n<p>3. Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary:<\/p>\n4. Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended\ninto hell:\n<p>5. The third day he rose again from the dead:<\/p>\n<p>6. He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty:<\/p>\n<p>7. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead:<\/p>\n<p>8. I believe in the Holy Ghost:<\/p>\n<p>9. I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints:<\/p>\n<p>10. The forgiveness of sins:<\/p>\n<p>1l. The resurrection of the body:<\/p>\n<p>12. And the life everlasting. Amen.&#8221;<\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;D.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The one line I object to is saying that Jesus descended into hell, though we can put\nthat down to the Old English that didn&#8217;t make a distinction between hades and\nhell &#8211; Acts 2:27\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;E.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;But what makes its teachings any better than anything else? <\/p>\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;If it is right, it is only right because it happens to agree with the Scriptures.<\/p>\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;2.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Its use doesn&#8217;t establish what is right.<\/p>\n<p>V.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Creeds puts men&#8217;s words above the Scripture<\/p>\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Creeds are seen as authoritative and a guide<\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;1.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;The Apostles Creed is used by the Roman Catholics, the Anglicans and\nEpiscopals, the Lutherans, and Methodists during their baptisms\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;2.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;It will also appear in their worship services at times.<\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;B.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Our authority is found only in Christ, who gave his teachings to the apostles &#8211;\nMatthew 28:18-20\n<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;C.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;We are established by the gospel &#8211; Romans 16:25-26<\/p>\n&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;D.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Creeds stand between the people and the truth. If a false teaching needs to be\nrefuted, we need to pull out our Bibles, not insist that people agree to a creed.\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/origins-of-denominations\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOrigins of Denominations\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: John 17:11-23 &#160; I.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Every once in a while someone will ask what is our statement of faith. &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;A.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Back when we were home schooling, we were wanting to get involved with a local group, but they wanted us to sign a statement of faith &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;B.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Another name for a statement&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[78,726,857,1277,300,447,1599],"class_list":["post-30333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-authority","tag-church-history","tag-creeds","tag-denominationalism","tag-denominations","tag-orthodox-church","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44847,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/creeds-and-statements-of-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":30333,"position":0},"title":"Creeds and Statements of Faith","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 17:11-23 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Every once in a while someone will ask what is our statement of faith. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Back when we were home schooling, we were wanting to get involved with a local group, but they wanted us to sign a statement of faith \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Another name\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Audio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7875,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-your-church-have-a-statement-of-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":30333,"position":1},"title":"Does your church have a statement of faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does your church have a 'statement of faith'? Answer: You probably have a copy of our statement of faith in your home; it is usually titled \"The Holy Bible.\" No, I am not joking with you. Christians are made Christians by following the teachings of Christ. All denominations must\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37359,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/we-say-a-creed-at-every-service-is-this-vain-repetition\/","url_meta":{"origin":30333,"position":2},"title":"We say a creed at every service. Is this vain repetition?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, My question to you today is concerning a creed that a church I've been attending quotes during every service, and I would like to know your thoughts on it. I have recently come to terms with my abusive use of alcohol and the demeaning and shameful things I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60200,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-council-of-nicea\/","url_meta":{"origin":30333,"position":3},"title":"The Council of Nicea","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor via\u00a0Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 3, No. 2 The first ecumenical council, that occurred in Nicea, was in 325 AD. It was a gathering of church leaders from across the Roman Empire who came together to discuss certain controversial issues and come to a consensus on the church's \"official\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68698,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-rise-of-denominationalism\/","url_meta":{"origin":30333,"position":4},"title":"The Rise of Denominationalism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor via Unmasking Sophistry, Vol. 4, No. 3, July-September 2024 In the previous article, we discussed the Reformation Movement, which came when the Roman Catholic Church was a religiously and politically dominating force. Over the centuries, it became increasingly\u00a0corrupt until Martin Luther challenged some of the errors and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11001,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-christ-built-only-one-where-did-they-all-come-from\/","url_meta":{"origin":30333,"position":5},"title":"If Christ Built Only One, Where Did They All Come From?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant At the beginning of the gospel age, there was but one church, and now, 2000 years later, according to some reports, there are over 1,200. How did this happen? People wonder where they all came from. Is this division and confusion what Christ intended? Let's examine\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}