What if our beliefs were just the beliefs that prevailed in the early church?

[jas84173]

Something has been unsettling to me, as I have been doing my thesis for my masters regarding the early church heresies. Something that has been bothering me to the point it is unfortunately challenging my faith is that a lot of these " heresies" were stomped out by what we view as orthodox beliefs. However what if our beliefs just happened to be the one which prevailed? Many early church fathers who were respected at one point lost their respect because they sided with some of these early heresies. For example, Arianism, Docetism, and Marcionosm, which is one I read a lot about, Marcion was a very respected early Church Father until he took on these unorthodox beliefs. So can someone without being hostile explain to me how we know the early heresies were totally wrong, and that the Church we have now wasn’t just the one which "prevailed " in the end?

 

[1SeekingChrist]

We either believe the Holy Spirit guides the Church or He doesn’t. Either the church is guarded from teaching error or she isn’t. If we don’t believe the church is protected, then we might as well be protestants.

 

[sudy]

Trust in what Jesus tells us. Matthew 16:18 Jesus says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. In John 16:13 Jesus says he will send the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.

 

[Beryllos]

In its earliest years, the Church had the benefit of eyewitnesses like the Apostles and others. Who better could recall and record the teachings of Jesus and the events that took place? That’s a very good reason to believe “the beliefs that prevailed in the early church.”

 

[boomerang]

Early church beliefs prevailed by mainly universal consensus. If someone comes out of left field with a novelty that few would agree with, then that novelty is rightly condemned. Heresies will stand out as being heresies and the Early Church Fathers knew them when they confronted them. If it opposed the traditional Apostolic teachings, they were disregarded.

 

[TK421]

I don’t have a precise answer for this question, but if there is no such thing as a tangible Magisterium for us to rely on, and we honestly are left with a compiled cluster of ancient Jewish texts, 4 short gospels, and some letters written by a fanatical, murdering Pharisee convert, and it’s all open to interpretation and/or popular vote, then either way, I could never have faith in Christianity again. I was raised protestant and I respect protestants, even to the point that I believe Catholics could learn some things from them, but that particular perspective of Christianity for me is gone forever. If, God forbid, I should ever lose my Catholic faith, I know it won’t mean becoming protestant. In retrospect, I’m amazed I was ever able to be one even up to the age of 17. It is entirely untenable.

I think the 2000-year-long history speaks for itself though. After all of those endless trials and challenges, and the huge testimony of saints and mystics and miracle-workers and apparitions, and the consistency of doctrine, I know I’m in the right place. Everything fits into place neatly. Moreover, if those dissenting opinions were the right opinions and the Church just managed to drown them out, then that means God permitted those views to be conquered among his own faithful. I don’t believe that either.

Of course, it’s not all about the intellect. It’s about humility and love and especially sacrifice. But, I think the intellectual aspect is sufficiently satisfying.

 

[psalm90]

Yeah, that’s a pretty good question, how did we happen to end up with a relatively stable set of beliefs?

without any specific set of facts to refer to, I think the context of the old debates provides a clue to the eventual outcome, but I cannot prove that in any instance.

One thing that impresses me is that the early church Fathers were very smart and they were very committed to the faith. It is astonishing to me how seriously they took up the task of wading through the alternative ideas that were prevalent, and they had to fight back furiously against widespread heresies like arianism.

The reference you might want to consult is the five-volume magnum opus of Professor Jaroslav Pelikan which is entitled The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. I am a non-academic person who waded through the approximately 1500 pages of his exposition. Now, Pelikan is a historian, familiar with theology and doctrine, so that history of development is his main target.

So, you may be looking for some terse zinger for your master’s thesis, but you might be criticized for overlooking this well-respected source of information on the very subject you are interested in. It’s been several years since I undertook that study – you may have to adjust yourself to his style of writing. I can’t say what makes me say that, but I recall having to adjust to his style of writing. His work is very well-researched and has an extensive bibliography. He received some 40 honorary doctorates for his contribution to this aspect of history. I think he was raised Lutheran but converted to Orthodoxy towards the end of his life, and the prejudices of that transformation sometimes pop out in his appraisal of various doctrines.

Although Volume 1 covers “the emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600)” the other volumes cover doctrines that were developed in later periods.

The short answer to your question seems to have a logical answer, that the predominant views of the early church were those of the apostles and their successors – anything else being regarded as foreign or novelty to be disregarded. St. Paul is so expressive about false teaching and he provides the historical background that such existed, even in his day.

 

[PluniaZ]

The Apostles Peter and Paul were both martyred at Rome. After Jesus, the New Testament focuses overwhelmingly on the ministry of these two apostles. They are mentioned almost 400 times. The next nearest is John at only 29 times.

We can’t go wrong following the tradition of the successors of the Apostles Peter and Paul in the Church of Rome. The Church of Rome rebutted every heresy and has maintained the same consistent orthodox teaching for 2000 years.