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lowshiped in the local congregations
of the early Church, after about two
generations, did not endure sound
doctrine because they had not re–
pented and received the Holy Spirit.
They elected teachers who, for the
sake of money, pleased their wishes
by preaching fables- the enticing
fables of mysticism and sun worship
that were engulfing the Roman Em–
pire . Th e letters of Paul were
twisted by them to give another
meaning than intended
( 11
Peter
3:15-16).
But instead of Jeaving the local
congregations and forming their own
sects, as sorne Gentiles did at first,
the false preachers remained within
the congregations and soon began to
expel the true Christians.
1
n the letter of the apostle John to
Gaius, we read:
" 1
wrote unto the
church: but Diotrephes, who loveth
to have the preeminence among
them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if
1 come, 1 will remember his deeds
which he doeth, prating against us
with malicious words: and not con–
tcnt therewith, neither doth he him–
self rcceive the brethren, and forbid–
deth them that would, and casteth
them out of the church" (111 John
9- 1
0).
The true Christians, who alone
comprised the true Church, were be–
ing put out of the visible, organized
congregations. Thcy were the scat–
tered ones of whom John said:
"Therefore the world knoweth us
not"
(1
John 3:1). In the Western
Roman Empire, where Paul died, the
state of Christianity was even more
advanced along the paths of error.
The name "Christian" was being
borne away by leaders who crept into
the fellowship of the Church of God
and who; in the name of Christ, de–
ceivcd the many into following their
false teachings.
The Age of Shadows
Following the destruction of Jerusa–
lem in A.D. 70 and thc deaths of the
apostles, a strange phenomenon is
witnessed. The true Church almost
disappcars from history, a nd false
churchcs arise! Of this period the fa–
mous historian Gibbon says: "The
scanty and suspicious ecclesiastical
history seldom enables us to dispel
The
PLAIN TRUTH September 1979
the dark cloud that hangs over the
first age of the church"
(Decline and
Fa// of the Roman Empire,
chapter
XV).
The truth was obscured by error!
Historian Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
gives us even more details in his book
The Story of the Christian Church,
page 41: "We would 1 ike to read of
the later work of such helpers of St.
Paul as Timothy, Apollos and Titus,
but all these ... drop out of the rec–
ord at his death. For fifty years after
St. Paul's life a curtain hangs over
the church through which we strive
vainly to look; and when at Jast it
rises, about
120
A.D., with the writ–
ings of the earliest church-fathers,
we find a church in many aspects
very different 'from that in the days
of Peter and Paul."
During that "lost century," the
true Church was lost sight of by most
historians. Yet it has continued to
exist from the time of Christ until the
prcsent. But few know where to look
for it. For further facts about the true
Church of God, request our free
booklet
This Is the Worldwide
Church of God.
\VHY \VERE
YOUBORN?
No brute beast ever thought of
questioning the meaning of his own
existence. Man alone needs to un–
derstand his own meaning. Where
are you going in lile? What's it all
about? Why was the human race
placed here on this earth? Does
man have a unique destiny so glo–
rious that it is all but incomprehen–
sible? Find the answers to these
and other questions about the
meaning of lile in the exciting
booklet Why Were You Born? For
your free copy, write to The Plain
Truth office nearest you.
INBRIEF
(Continued from page 29)
Though a general agreement was
reached with the Shah in 1954, this
turnabout of events marked the be–
ginning of the end of British domi–
nance in the Middle East. Other re–
verses were soon to follow.
The importance of Western oil
flow from the Mideast was not lost
on the late Egyptian President Ga–
ma! Abdul Nasser. In his own words,
" Petroleum is the vital nerve of civil–
ization." He boldly nationalized the
Suez Canal in July of 1956, following
the announcement by U.S. Secretary
of State John Foster Dulles that
Washington was withdrawing its of–
fer of a $56 million grant to aid in
constructing a high dam on the Nile
at Aswan. Nasser declared he would
use Suez toll revenues to build the
dam.
The British response was not long in
coming. (Britain was a major stock–
holder in the Suez Canal Company.)
Anthony Eden and Harold MacMii–
Jan were adamant in their desire to use
force to oust Nasser from control.
Prime Minister Eden went ahead with
his invasion plans in spiteofopposition
from President Eisenhower, who had
previously made the U.S. position
clear toSir Anthony.
Washington's reaction was as
promised. Brotherly advice was
backed up by hard financia! pressure.
When the Anglo- Israelí invasion
strained the pound sterling severely,
American monetary help suddenly
became contingent on an immediate
cease-fire. Westminster had to ac–
quiesce.
The British presence in the Middle
East had suffered another severe re–
grcssion. A vacuum was being
crcated which America never full y
filled. British withdrawal from east
of Suez followed in the sixties.
From a Western point of view, the
folding of the British umbrella must
be looked upon asan important cau–
sa l factor in the instability now
plaguing the Mideast.
There is a cause for every effect.
Men and nations do reap what they
sow. When will mankind finally learn
this most basic of all lessons?
o
35