History of the True Religion Traced from 33AD to Date - Lcgmn.com

The first secular name given the true church by the outside world was “Nazarenes,” and of them Encyclopaedia
Britannica has the following:
“Nazarenes, an obscure Jewish-Christian sect existing at the time of Epiphanius (fl. A.D. 370) in Coele-Syria,
Decapolis (Pella) and Basanitis (Cocabe). According to that authority, they dated their settlement in Pella from the time of
the flight of the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem, immediately before the siege in A.D. 70; he characterizes them as neither
more or less than Jews pure and simple, but adds that they recognized the new covenant as well as the old, and believed in
the resurrection, and in the one God and His Son Jesus Christ. He cannot say whether their Christological views were
identical with those of Cerinthus and his school, or whether they differed at all from his own. But Jerome (Ep. 79, to
Augustine) says that they believed in Christ the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate,
and rose again, but adds that, ‘desiring to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other.’ They used the
Aramaic recession of the Gospel according to Matthew, which they called the Gospel to the Hebrews, but, while adhering as
far as possible to the Mosaic economy as regarded . . . sabbaths, foods, and the like, they did not refuse to recognize the
apostolicity of Paul or the rights of (Gentile) Christians,” Jerome, Comn. in Isaiah 9:1 -- The Encyclopaedia Britannica,
Eleventh Edition, Vol. 19.
From the above quotation we have learned that the church during the first four centuries used the Aramaic
recension of the Scriptures. Also they were known by the world as Nazarenes (Acts 24:5). The name originated from
Nazareth the city of the nativity of our Lord, as Jesus was raised to manhood in and around the city of Nazareth. We read
from Matthew 2:23, as follows: “And He came and dwelt in the city of Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
by the prophet, He shall be called a Nazarene.”
It is not strange therefore, that the early church would be known by the name Nazarenes, as the prophet long before
his birth said that Jesus would be given this title of national distinction. The people of Nazareth spoke the Aramaic tongue,
consequently, this was the native language of our Savior. Hence, we find on the event of his death he cried, “Eli, Eli, lama
Sabachthani,” which is in the ancient language of Nazareth, the Aramaic. The name Nazareth, or “Nazarenes,” is therefore
the national name, as American, Ethiopian, Russian, etc. In no way, however, was this name intended by the Lord to apply
to His church, or He would never have given the name, “The Church of God,” twelve times, as He did in the New
Testament writings.
In the ancient records of the early writers when sending letters back and forth between the churches, they always
addressed one another as “The Church of God in Smyrna,” the “Church of God in Philadelphia,” etc. In the second century
Ignatius wrote to the Smyrnaeans thus: “To the Churches of God in Smyrna.” On page 79, in the epistle to the
Philadelphians, he writes, “To the Church of God, which is at Philadelphia.” -- Ante-Nicean Fathers, Vol. 1.
Eusebius, who wrote of the church of the first centuries, speaks of the church observing the Lord’s supper at the
same time the Jews kept the passover; viz., on the 14th of the first month, Nisan. There were at first two elders, or bishops,
appointed for each city, as instructed by Paul to Titus (Titus 1:5); but toward the close of the second century this practice
began to give away to the appointment of one bishop instead of two, and these bishops were appointed over not only the
city, but a certain community or district, while an inferior order of ministers were appointed called deacons to preside over
the local affairs of the church.
“The first Christian church established at Jerusalem by apostolic authority became in its doctrine and practice a
model for the greater part of those founded in the first century. The first fifteen bishops of Jerusalem were all Jews, except
[possibly] one, St. Mark, and the congregation over which they presided united the teachings of Moses with the doctrines of
Christ.” -- History of the Christian Church, by Hugh Smith, pp. 50, 51, a Presbyterian work.
Hugh Smith says further, in his history of these Christian adherents to the faith as taught by the first fifteen bishops
of Jerusalem, “These Judaizing Christians were first known by the outside world as ‘Nazarenes’.” He speaks again of this
matter on page 69, as follows: “All Christians agreed in celebrating the seventh day of the week in conformity to the Jewish
converts.”
“As long as the Christians were supposed to be Jews they were not especially molested. They simply suffered from
the ill-feeling which the Romans had for the Jews. But in a process of time the Christians were hated for other reasons.
They nearly all came from the lower classes, the tradesmen, the freed-men and slaves. Being devoted to their religion, they
refused to engage in the practices commonly engaged in by the Romans. They disapproved of the Roman amusements, the
gladiatorial shows, the races in the circus, the plays, the dances, and the theaters. They were hence regarded as unsocial,
and ‘Haters of mankind.’ Their churches were looked upon as secret societies, which were contrary to law. They were
hated, and frequently subjects of mob violence.” -- Myer’s General History.
Mosheim’s History speaks of a sect of Christian worshipers who were made poor by the destruction of Jerusalem,
and who kept all of the commandments given by the great law-giver.
The Real Bible Name
While the name given these people by the world during this period was “Nazarenes,” still they were known among
themselves by the Bible name, “The Church of God.” The following sketches bear out this fact.
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