The Bible’s prediction on the future of Christianity after the departure of the Apostles was interesting. The Apostle Paul forecast a great apostasy where savage wolves would rise from within the believers themselves and draw people away from the truth. How was this prophecy fulfilled? What were the various false doctrines brought in by this Great Apostasy? And how did they end up impacting Christianity?
Biblical prophecies forecast a "Man of Lawlessness", an Anti-Christ. Many interpret the prophecies and expect him to be a world leader who is to rise in the future. And then there are others who theorize that person as Emperor Nero and conclude that all those prophecies got fulfilled in 70 AD. If either of those theories are true - i.e. the Anti-Christ had a quick reign in 70 AD (or) he is supposed to rise only in the far far future - then that would make the majority of church history (2000-odd years) irrelevant. That doesn't make much sense. Is that what the Bible really says?
If the true Church was always in the wilderness (not mainstream), persecuted by the Papacy throughout the 1260 years of the reign of the Man of Lawlessness (the Anti-Christ), then what about the Reformation Era’s famous Protestant churches? Weren’t they any good? Didn't they protest the Papacy's unbiblical heresies and come out of that system? Does the Bible have any prophecies on that particular time period in church history? If so, how were they fulfilled?
Pentecostalism is a 20th century movement with a main focus on experiencing miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit like speaking in tongues. Today many think the gift of tongues is to speak unintelligible words because that’s what people see in Pentecostal churches. But was that the case when the Early Church got this spiritual gift? First of all, what was the reason God gave such gifts to the believers? And what was the purpose of other miraculous gifts like healing and personal prophecies?
Most young people are disenchanted with today’s Christian churches as they see a widely prevalent ‘holier than thou’ attitude and a judgmental mentality among churchgoers, irrespective of their denominations. Do the teachings of Jesus support such an attitude? Are his true followers supposed to align with him or should they imitate the Pharisees who called Jesus a drunkard because he wined and dined with sinners?
Prosperity preachers proclaim to their flocks - "God wants you to enjoy worldly success, wealth, and health. No sickness! No poverty. That's your reward. Claim it! Now repeat this with me again!" And they usually encourage their captive audience to indulge in verbal chants/repetitions of Old Testament Bible verses with Amens and what not. They also demand one-tenth of people's earnings as a tithe to the church. Is this all biblical? What did Jesus say about seeking wealth and worldly success?
Scriptures, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Scriptures indicated NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
