The history of Christianity, as an account of the course of Christianity on earth, tells us about its development on earth for the last two thousand years and its condition today before the whole world. We need to have the knowledge of such a history so that we may understand the condition of Christianity. We also need to receive revelation from the Word of God to see what the church is that God desires.
What is the church? What is the content of the church? Probably many Christians have difficulty answering these questions. Some say that the church is the enlargement of the principle of Christ. Then what is the principle of Christ? The principle of Christ is that God is added into man. Hence, the church is the sum total of God in all those who have God.
The church has one unique characteristic-simplicity. Such a characteristic cannot be found in any worldly society or organization. In the beginning the church was brought forth in a simple way without human hands. Today, related to time, the church has been on the earth for two thousand years; related to space, the church has spread over the whole globe. In the process, however, the church has also become deformed through human hands.
In the course of two thousand years, the church, which has spread across the Eastern and Western Hemispheres and has now come into our midst, is no longer in her original form. Just consider if an object were to pass through my hands and your hands and then through another two hundred hands, what would become of it? Would its shape not be altered? We must believe in Christ and in the Bible, but we must not believe in Christianity in its present form. Christ is unchangeable. Throughout the centuries many have tried to change Christ, yet Christ remains unchanged. Before World War I there was a strong wind in Europe attempting to alter Christ. This wind quickly blew over to America, and after World War I this wind also blew into China. Nevertheless, ultimately Christ could not be altered. Similarly, the Bible is also unchangeable. However, so-called Christianity has been altered so drastically that it is beyond recognition.
We must have absolute faith in Christ and in the Scripture. We must put a question mark, however, on every item and every aspect of Christianity. For example, when we see a chapel, we have to ask, Did the original church have such a thing? When we hear the clanging of church bells, we must ask, Did the original church have such an item? When we see the cross, we also have to ask, Did the original church have such a thing? When we see the clergy, all the more we must ask, Was there such a thing in the early church? Concerning everything related to the present condition of Christianity, we should earnestly question if these things indeed existed in the beginning. There are so many items in Christianity that are not according to the Bible. In the genuine church, however, everything should be according to the Bible.
I was saved when I was still in school. For a year before I was saved, I was a so-called church member. After I was saved, I began to diligently read the Bible. Gradually I found out that in the church where I was there were many practices which could not be found in the Bible. Therefore, I had many questions within me about those matters. Whenever I had the opportunity, I would go to see the pastor or some other leading ones in the church to discuss those matters. However, the more I talked with them, the more I felt that something was wrong. They did not have many of the things that are found in the Bible, yet they had so many other things that are not found in the Bible. They had altered almost everything except the fundamental truths such as Jesus being our Savior and Jesus being the true God. This is why we must put a question mark on today’s Christianity.
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