Churchianity 1

No—Christianity was never meant to be a world religion. The Greek word translated “church” in Christian Scripture is ekklesia and means “that which is called out.” Christians were intended to be an extreme minority called out of the world from every nation and people. In Jesus’ words, his church was to be a “little flock.” Christianity was not to conquer to world.

But life for the Christian minority in the second century was brutally cruel. Pagan religious leaders and civil rulers demanded allegiance to their multiple gods. By the third century many Christian leaders felt a need to compromise doctrine to make Christians more acceptable to the rulers of the Roman Empire. The clergy embraced Plato’s “immortality of the soul.” To fill a popular need for multiple gods, the “trinity” became a hallmark of Christian doctrine.

Then Christians succeeded beyond their most extravagant hopes when, in the fourth century, Emperor Constantine declared Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire! It did not matter that it was for his own political reasons, but Christians became a lot more comfortable in the world. Thus, the Christian church (that which is “called out”) was diverted from its basic definition. In no way could the church of the Empire be called a “little flock.”
When still a “little flock,” early Christians never claimed to be the guardians of eternal salvation for the world. But in the centuries following, the church’s glorious reign over the nations was written in blood. Historians call them the “Dark Ages” (although some recent revisionism in history texts refer to those centuries in politically correct language as the “Middle Ages”).

The world church persecuted any and all who rejected its claims—whether Christian “heretics” or Jews. Millions who were consigned to eternal damnation were then supposedly justifiably tortured in this life.

The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century helped religious freedom very little. Soon the Protestant churches found it expedient to retain much of the “Dark Age” dogmas—especially the trinity and eternal damnation for all who rejected their gospel.

Bible Students Emerge

So entrenched were the creeds of the Protestant denominations that the Age of Enlightenment did not impact their seminaries until the mid 1800s. Then the dam broke. A tidal wave of infidelity swept over the Christian world in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Modernist theology was born. The only response permitted within the precincts of conservatism was to blindly defend old creeds of the “Dark Ages.” Something had to be done.

Pastor Russell Founded the Bible Students

A return to Bible study without the creeds emerged as the only solution. In 1870 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a class for systematic Bible study was formed. Charles Taze Russell was selected as its Pastor. Gradually other earnest Christians were forming independent Bible classes and Pastor Russell became the leader of thought and activity among these congregations also. In 1879 Zion’s Watch Tower was formed— later known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. (This organization is not to be mistaken for the Jehovah’s Witnesses who organized in 1931.)

Pastor Russell never claimed to originate Bible truths, but rather to recover the truths held by the first century church. Wearied with the Dark Age theories of Christendom, he inspired hope and faith in the hearts of the masses. A prolific writer, his major accomplishment was a six-volume series of systematic theology, Studies in the Scriptures. By 1909 this series was one of the world’s three most widely circulated works surpassed only by the Bible itself and The Chinese Almanac. “In American literature, Mr. Russell stands first.”

To thousands of congregations around the world, he was a beloved Pastor. Tens of thousands of individuals were encouraged by hearing his hope-inspiring lectures. Hundreds of thousands were greeted by his smiling face as they weekly opened their local newspapers to read his faith-inspiring sermons. Pastor Russell was soon highly esteemed by Jewish leaders across the United States.
On October 31, 1916, newspaper headlines across the country shocked the nation. Pastor Russell died on a transcontinental speaking tour. Pastor Russell was dead.

An era of excellence in the communication of Christian faith and hope had come to an end. But clearly now, Christianity was no longer defined as the Churchianity of the centuries.