Catholic origins

[good samaritan]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

I'm begging you, learning what the UPC believes about history is like trying to learn nuclear fission from the "My Little Red Story Book First Reader."

Your arsenal of knowledge is the word of God. Period.

History takes a lot of time, and much study through reading quite a bit of primary sources. Even when you are done with all of that, history is still debatable. The United Pentecostal Church has some interesting views on church history. Like the early church became apostate devolving into the Catholic church. Then the Church was reborn at Azusa Street. Not too far off from what the Adventists believed, as well as the Jay Dubs, and the Mormons .

I agree that history is debatable, but I still think it is good to know at least a basic overview of church history. I have noticed that many Protestants believe that Catholics are heretics, but at the same time don’t recognize how many things their denomination has adopted from Catholicism. Early church history also gives possible context to scripture. Overall, I have been enjoying the studying. AFF has been a good place for me in the past to get a spectrum of ideas and I like thinking outside of the box sometimes.

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by good samaritan

I agree that history is debatable, but I still think it is good to know at least a basic overview of church history. I have noticed that many Protestants believe that Catholics are heretics, but at the same time don’t recognize how many things their denomination has adopted from Catholicism. Early church history also gives possible context to scripture. Overall, I have been enjoying the studying. AFF has been a good place for me in the past to get a spectrum of ideas and I like thinking outside of the box sometimes.

You want to study the ecclesiastical history of the world? Then steer clear of books written by denominations and their leadership. You get a skewed view of the history. It's like this, if I want the history of Apostolic Pentecostals I don't go to John MacArthur.

[Amanah]

This book was recommended to me by Bro Esaias.

https://www.ffbruce.com/new-testament-history/

New Testament History
Its Religious, Political, and Philosophical Context
This highly acclaimed book provides a wealth of fascinating information on the Roman and Jewish background of the New Testament, the life of Jesus, and the history of the early church. Kirkus Reviews summarizes: “Professor Bruce begins . . . discussing the political, social, intellectual and religious situation of the Hebrew nation as the background to Christ and Christianity. The life of Jesus is treated as a single phase of this era, with major emphasis reserved for the diffusion of Pauline Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. The book closes with . . . the position of Christianity in the Empire at the end of the New Testament period.” “An outstanding resource” (LibraryThing website). “The book on Church History for which we have been waiting.” (Christian Graduate)
Print edition, published by Galilee / Doubleday
462 pages, paperback