Declaration

Note: This declaration appeared on the first issue of The Apostolic Faith.

The Apostolic Faith is compiled from all

1. the Teaching of, "the faith which was once for all time delivered to the saints…." (Jude 3-DT),
2. the Practice, "as you have received from us, how you ought to walk and please God" (1 Thess. 4:1-DT)
3. and the Mentality, "according to the tradition which you received from us" (2 Thess. 3:6-DT)

of the Apostolic Church.

Today, twenty centuries later almost 130,000 Christian denominations claim for themselves that they hold the Apostolic Faith, Practice and Mentality… Indeed, Christianity has been divided into chaos having nothing in common with the early Apostolic Church which was, "One body and one Spirit" and believed in "One Lord, one faith, and one baptism…" (Eph.4:4-5). "Nevertheless, when the Son of man arrive, shall he find the faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).

On the one hand we have the traditional R.Catholic, Eastern and pre-Chalcedonian (Copts, Armenian, Nestorian) communities. Although they are the "historic continuation" of the Ancient first Church when they united with and submitted to the secular powers during the 5th century they added many human and sometimes anti-Biblical traditions. These traditions and many false-teachings of the apostates and their successors today claim to be a continuation of the Apostolic Faith, daring even to say that are equal to it!

On the other hand we have Protestantism which was born in the 15th century and although it condemned the former mentioned deviation from the early faith, it transformed every Bible student to a "pope of himself" stating that the Scriptures are very clear and very easy for everyone to understand. However, "The hopeless and apparently insoluble division called in to question the basic Protestant affirmation that Scripture was clear and self-evident and that men of good will could readily agree on its meaning..." Hillebrad Hans, Christendom Divided (N.Y.: Coprus Books, 1971), p. 290.

The sad story of endless Protestant division, fighting each other in the name of truth, is well known. These countless personal interpretations, from people with no knowledge of the Greek text and no respect of the early Church's testimony, were baptized as "revelations" but the Spirit of God does not confirm this chaos for He knows only One Faith (Eph.4:5). The Morabian bishop J.A.Comenius (+1670), in 1665 wrote: "The great number of teachers, is the reason for the multitude of sects -in Protestantism- for which we shall soon have no names left. Each church reckons itself as the true one, or at least as the purest while among themselves they persecute each other with the bitterness hatred ...From the Bible they build up their different dogmas, and these become their fortresses and bulwarks behind which they cover themselves and resist all attacks..." One Thing Needful

Who is then, the only safe guide for the restoration of the first Apostolic Faith, Practice, Understanding and Power?

Of course, the original Greek text of the New Testament, which was compiled by the "foundation stones of the world, the Apostles" (Ignatius, To the Philadelphians). However, we must interpret and understand the New Testament no differently from the successors of the Apostles and their successors. Why? Because they were the guardians of whom Paul write to Timothy, "And the things that you heard from me… the same you commit to faithful men, who in turn, shall be able to teach others" (II Tim. 2:2-DT). Although they formed the New Testament list of books (the Canon), there does not exist a verse in the New Testament that speaks of the twenty seven books. These are the product of a long and painful development within the early Church. If then, the Early Church fathers had the Spirit of God in order to compile the Canon then why are not able to interpret it?

Thus, whether we want it or not, "The fathers of the first three centuries of Christianity are and should always be the first and primarily interpretators of the understanding and the feeling of the Early Church..." according to K. Bonis, Professor of Patrology and the Interpretation of the Fathers in the University of Athens.

Thus, the fathers of the faith and Church's teachers before the 4th century's when prevailed the foretold first "apostasy" (1 Tim.4:1-2), are the apostles and prophets, after the prophets and apostles. While the Apostles are the Teachers of our faith (Doctores), the Apostolic and post-Apostolic Fathers are the interprenters of our faith (Expositores). "The faith, teaching and tradition of the first Universal church, the Lord gave, the Apostles preached and the fathers kept..." Athanasius of Alexandia, First Epistle to Serapion, c. A.D. 330.

The primary aim of the Early Church fathers is the salva tion, i.e. the entrance, if possible, of all people in paradise. They thought, spoke and acted having in mind eternity. Their pillar was the Bible, for the fathers spoke FROM THE BIBLE AND FOR THE BIBLE. They condemned ignorance of the Scriptures and used elements from their own Godly experience, the facts, logic (1 Pet.2:2) and the human nature. In their writings they engulfed the most authentic interpretation of the Old and New Testament "not encouraged from themselves, but enlightened by God..."

The rejection of Early Church's testimony because of egoism and personal interpretations, which many baptized as divine revelation, was and is the source of all falseteachings and heresy. While false-teachings put in danger the spiritual life of true be- lievers, heresy put in danger their own salvation. Already since the 4th century, St. Basil of Caesarea stated: "We do not accept the faith written by some modern authors, neither do we dare to deliver our own thoughts, in order not to make human the doctrines of our piety, but those which were tought by the holy fathers, these we these we answer to them who ask us…" (Πιστιν δε ημεις ουτε παρ' αλλων γραφομενην ημιν νεωτεραν παραδεχομεθα, ουτε αυτοι τα της ημετερας διανοιας γεννηματα παραδιδοναι τολμωμεν, ινα μη ανθρωπινα ποιησωμεν τα της ευσεβειας ρηματα, αλλ' απερ παρα των αγιων πατερων δεδιδαγμεθα, τουτα τοις ερωτωσι ημας διαγγελομεν). Epist. 140

The above statements however, must not drive us into a slavish imitation of the Father's works for many fathers have different opinions on secondary matters. The Church Fathers are not without faults but they have no mistakes. Thus, their interpretation and opinions are the safest hand of help to every serious Bible student.

After the 4th to 5th century when apostasy prevailed, no more Church Fathers exist. The apostates characteristically stop using the common language (Alexandrine) and used the high Attic Greek dialect. In parallel they adopted Greek philosophy (Col. 2:8), being graduates of rhetoric schools under heathen principals. Thus, the majority of them evolved into a kind of "beautified specialists" in the midst of uneducated Christian masses. In theology the method of studying also changed from that of "fisher's like" (i.e., according to the fishermen-apostles) to that of Aristotelian.

For this, after the ancient excellences we have to make an austere selection in order to separate the apostate theologian and church writers from the testimony of the saints and the spiritual men. The virgin Church has a different story from the whore church. Thus, the spiritual men and saints after the 5th century, either from the Western (Mystical) tradition, or of the Orthodox (Hesychast), or the Lutheran (Pietist), or Anglican (Holiness) & the pioneers of our Last Rain, are the voice of the Virgin Church. All these saintly people, although they grew and were nurtured in different times and within different traditions openly clashed with the apostates and "they speak the same language for they come out from the same country" St.Martin (1743-1803). They not only did not check the continuation of the Apostolic Faith but instead they helped in the better understanding and deeper meaning of it.

The purpose of the circulation of "The Apostolic Faith", is the publication with analysis and comments of the works of the church Fathers, of the saints who separated themselves and clashed with the apostates and of the pioneers of our Last Rain.

So, we start with the Epistle to the Corinthians of Clement of Rome, compiled in 96 A.D. In parallel from the archives of the Last Rain, we start with F. Bartleman's Chronicle. He as an eyewitness of the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Azusa Street, Los Angeles, CA. which started in April 9, 1906 and lasted for three years.

We are thankful to God through Jesus Christ, for without great human help and without big personal cost, God has given to us the grace to be beneficial to the church of the Last Days.

THE PUBLISHERS