Can world events change a revelation about God’s character? In this series of articles I’m briefly examining history and how the American Revolution restored the gospel of grace to the world.
Quelling the Masses
Riots, revolts, and rebellions are the tools to liberation. However, they are also the nightmares of every ruler. Keeping people pacified has been the top priority for every nobleman throughout history. Some were better at it than others.
One of the means to appeasing the hearts of the minions was found in their devotion to their gods. As long as you permitted people to worship their god in the manner their customs dictated, the people were more supple in how you could repress them.
When the governing body adhered to a particular religious devotion, the State claimed divine authority in all its actions. States then began to incorporate themselves into the rituals of devotees to secure their dominion over the people while professing their allegiance to a supreme deity.
From church to The Church
During the Roman Empire, all the people of the conquered lands were allowed to worship their own god so long as they recognized the divine nature of the emperor. In the land of Judea where the Hebrew people worshipped YAWEH there arose the man Jesus of Nazareth who spoke of another kingdom – a kingdom of Heaven, the kingdom of his Father.
On a particular journey into the countryside around Caesarea Philippi with his disciples, Jesus asked them who they thought he was. When Simon said that he was, ”…the Christ, the son of the living God.” Jesus declared,
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (18) And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Mat 16:17-18)
The writer of this gospel has Jesus using the Greek word “ekklesia” for “church.” This word roughly translated means “the called-out ones.” Its origin within Greek society had to do with the nobles and freemen of the individual Greek states who were called out to administrate the civil rules of the land. According to Jesus his “called-out ones,” the freemen and nobles of his kingdom who had received a direct revelation from the Father about who Jesus truly is, would be responsible for administrating the civil laws of the land.
Sidebar: The “gates of hell” in this passage is literal. There is in this area of Caesarea Philippi a cave dedicated as a Roman temple to the god Pan. This temple was founded by a Roman decree against the wishes of the Hebrew people. The inhabitants of the area called it The Gates of Hell. It was believed by the Romans who traveled the road alongside the temple that Pan would during the daytime enter the cave and descend to the underworld and come out during the night and spread havoc throughout the land. People would come and present offerings at the cave to subdue Pan’s lust as he made his exit and thereby diminish his reign of terror in the night.
During his ministry on earth, Jesus proclaimed the goodness of his kingdom to multitudes of people, Jews and Gentiles alike. Those who heard it directly from him took this to their homes and relayed with enthusiasm the message of hope and grace to all who would listen. After his crucifixion, the disciples carried the message far and wide. However, it was a message which came into conflict with the Romans.
Since the followers of the message could not be recognized as an official religion by the Roman authorities, the believers of Jesus’s church had to hide their worship from the occupiers as well as the Jewish religious system. Yet, the church grew across the Roman Empire, even into the capital of Rome where the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter would be imprisoned and executed.
Over the next 400 years, the believers of Jesus’s church were persecuted greatly. It wasn’t until the Roman emperor Constantine converted to the new Christian faith that the torment stopped. Almost overnight it seemed that the church of Jesus became The Church, official religious institution of an evolving empire. The Church gained status, prestige and wealth enough to be seen as a kingdom itself, one that could make or break the power structures of dynasties. Some men of learning within The Church would study the holy writings of their faith and pass on the message they discovered to the humble people they were surrounded by as a means to encourage them in their daily plight.
Revolution Refines a Revelation – Introduction
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