The destruction of Jerusalem the rise of Rome

Rome the beginning of replacement theology?

Listed below are the founder, starting date and starting location of a number of Christian faith groups and traditions. They are organized in chronological order.

Faith Group or tradition	Founder	Date (AD)	Location
Roman Catholic	Jesus, Peter 1	Circa 30 1	Judea
Orthodox churches	Jesus, Peter 2	Circa 30 2	Judea
Lutheranism	Martin Luther	1517	Germany
Swiss Reformed Church	Zwingli	1523	Switzerland
Mennonites	No single founder	1525	Switzerland
Anglican Communion	King Henry 8	1534	England
Calvinism	John Calvin	1536	Switzerland
Presbyterianism	John Knox	1560	Scotland
Baptist Churches	John Smyth	1605	Holland
Dutch Reformed	Michaelis Jones	1628	Netherlands
Amish	Jakob Ammann	1693	Switzerland
Methodism	John Wesley	1739	England
Quakers	George Fox	1647	England
Moravians	Count Zinendorf	1727	Germany
Congregationalism	John & Charles Wesley	1744	England
Swedenborg	Emanuel Swedenborg	1747	Sweden
Brethren	John Darby	1828	England
Latter-day Saints	Joseph Smith	1830	NY, USA
Seventh Day Adventists	Ellen White	1860	NH, USA
Salvation Army	William Booth	1865	England
Jehovah's Witnesses	Charles Russell	1870	PA, USA
Christian Science	Mary Baker Eddy	1879	Pleasant View, NH USA
Pentecostalism	Charles Parham	1900	CA, USA
Worldwide Church of God	Herbert W. Armstrong	1933/1947	OR, USA 3
Unification Church	Sun Myung Moon	1954	South Korea

The most prevalent form of Christianity in the world today is Pentecostalism and its founder was Charles Parham and he founded this belief in 1900 in California. The Pentecostal family of denominations forms one of the largest branches of conservative Protestantism within Christianity. A major defining feature of Pentecostalism is their belief in Glossolalia -- the ability to speak "in tongues". And is the unusual freedom and spontaneity exhibited during their religious services and many other mainline denominations have appropriated this glossolalia practice or belief into their own congregations. Pentecostalism is a relatively modern branch of Christianity. It grew out of the Holiness movement, which in turn had roots in Methodism. Robert Longman Jr. has listed a number of mid to late 19th century writings from within the Holiness movement which laid the foundations for Pentecostalism:

During the last two decades of the 19th century, there were reports of xenoglossia breaking out at revival meetings, particularly in North and South Carolina. Xenoglossia is the speaking of a foreign language by a person who normally has no familiarity with it. For example, an American with no ability to speak any language other than English suddenly became capable of speaking fluent German. There may also have been some instances of glossolalia (ecstatic speech that is meaningless to the typical listener).
The year 1899 saw a great rise in religious fervor as people speculated about the second coming of Jesus and the end of history as they knew it during the year 1900. Many books were written about the power of the Holy Spirit. Charles F. Parham, a Holiness preacher and head of the Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas conducted a revival meeting in that city. Agnes Ozman, a Methodist, shocked the meeting by reportedly speaking fluently in a number of foreign languages that she had never previously learned. This happened on 1900-JAN-1. This event is often regarded as the founding of the Pentecostal movement. Some days later, many other individuals also spoke in tongues. Then Parham did as well.

One of Parham's students, an African-American named William Seymour started a home church in Los Angeles CA which was attended by members of the two Baptist churches and one Holiness church in that city. On 1906-APR-9, Seymour's landlord, Edward Lee, and closest co-worker, Jennie E. Moore broke out in tongues. Attendance increased precipitously. This made it necessary to find new quarters in which to hold their meetings. They rented an empty warehouse on Azusa Street in Los Angeles and founded the Apostolic Faith Mission.

The movement spread to other cities in California, and into the Northwestern and Southeastern sections of the US. Many churches were organized - particularly among immigrants. Some Holiness churches switched to Pentecostalism. The movement subsequently spread across North America, and has now blanketed much of the world.

Until 1914, the movement worked primarily within the Holiness churches. But increasing friction motivated the Pentecostals to form their first denomination, the Church of God in Christ. Although the movement was racially integrated in its early years, racial divisions soon developed. Many white clergy could not handle the presence of both blacks and whites in the congregation; the clergy subsequently left to form the Assemblies of God where blacks could be excluded.

In reference to the above chart it can be noted that the fragmentation of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe and Asia was first initiated by the Orthodox Church and it was the only other major denomination recognized by a large groups of people other than the Roman Catholic faith. It took 1496 years for there to be another schism for the Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism fracturing again this time under the teaching of Martin Luther who was a German Roman Catholic priest that became disgusted with the practices of Rome. Subsequently there followed many other schisms and fractures from Catholicism within Protestantism following in its breakaway from the Roman Catholic Church.

Soon after the Lutheran church experienced the same schisms within the confines of its faith and by referring back to the chronological chart above we can see some of the major denominational fractures that followed within Protestantism.

The first recognized religious organization to splinter from within Protestantism in the U.S. was the Church of the Latter Day Saints in 1830. Pentecostalism did not follow for another seventy years and before this time as well as after there where many other fractures within the Protestant denominations. Pentecostalism is a relative latecomer on the scene as far as being a recognized religious denomination.

Excluding Catholicism’s fundamental split from the apostolic church in Judea and with the understandings of the denominational schisms within Christianity the Pentecostal church is but one of the most recent. This occurred in 1900 however Pentecostalism did not become accepted as a mainstream denomination by large groups of people until the late 1950s and early 1960’s. However, the departure from the undiluted truth of the apostolic teachings began early and in earnest with Rome beginning with the council of Nicaea at the behest of Constantine the emperor of Rome in 324 AD. Although this schism between the true and original faith had been growing over time this schism soon found firm political footing under Constantine and was justified by his power as the emperor of Rome. His church remained the principle power and belief in the empire and even as the politic of Rome crumbled the doctrine of Rome that Constantine had created remained for millennia until the schism created by Luther and the invention of the printing press caused a chasm so large that Protestantism or Lutheranism became a socially and legally recognized belief.

King Henry the eighth caused the split from Catholicism during his reign as the king of England in 1525 and became the head of the Church of England in exactly the same way that Constantine had become the head of the Catholic Church of Rome. Both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church where created by the proclamation of the ruling power. King Henry did this for the simple reason that he wanted a divorce from one of his wives and since the Pope wouldn’t grant Henry’s request he created his own church of which he became the head. The Church of England and thus Protestantism found its champion. King Henry mercilessly persecuted those that would not abdicate their allegiance to Rome. The Bishop of England of England was given the choice to become the Archbishop of the Anglican church of England with the King as head of the church or have his head cut off. Let’s say he kept his head and was royally rewarded for doing so.  

With this schism the beginnings of the fracture of the truth that started with Constantine started to splinter into even more denominations. To comment on the sucking sound of the lose of freedom that was caused by this vacuuming up of the eclectic plethora of ideas is what caused first the dark ages and then one of the bloodiest civil wars in England. Millions of people where caught up in these relgio-politcal shifts. This consolidation or ecumenism effectively destroyed freedom from any departure from the powers that be. The truth became even more convoluted and diluted as this splintering continued through time.

As this fragmentation began to become more widespread the truth became even more diluted through the ominous teachings and interpretations of men some of whom had very little education in any matter let alone the Greek and Hebrew writings of the scriptures. Most of the denominations that are seen in today’s society around the world are the trees of the roots that have taken hold and grown strong in their ignorance through the traditions of men. Thus their beliefs having been passed from parent to child generation after generation with the same misunderstanding and ignorance of their founders and all the while with little inclination to discover the roots of their so dearly held beliefs.

This is the ignorance that God speaks of when He say’s that men die for the lack of knowledge. There is little concern for the truth among the denominations due to the apathetic and anemic hunger for the truth. There is a general malaise among the members of the congregations and instead of seeking the truth they would rather agree to disagree and move forward in ignorance of the truth because it seemingly to difficult to strike off from the familiar paths of ignorance.  

The modern ecumenical movement of this generation is a topic that requires serious thought and consideration in light of the history of such efforts imposed on those willing to accept such pacification by the marching force of such policies and that is a discussion to long to include in this short article. However it is important to note that power is a numbers game it matters not that the numbers are ideas or people. Whoever has the most is the most powerful and ecumenism is the most powerful unifying force for any generation or faith or politic. The singularity caused by ecumenism does not care what the belief, idea, faith, politic, currency, country or people it occupies. It only cares for the singularity of such in order to gain the support of the masses for its own purposes.

America occupies the same ideological ground that made Rome great and it is in the same danger of that ideological ground being overtaken by the same power to control the same masses of the new generations. So it has been and so it will always be. Most will be pacified by their own seemingly good reason. But the standard for truth is truth and the measurement of any mortal reason must stand the test of this measurement. I do not tell you or ask you to march to any beat but your own but be aware of the fact that the beat that you choose to march by may be a drumming you can not distinguish from your own as many may be beating to the same beat and thinking that they are marching to their own drum for the rhythm of one drum may match the rhythm of the masses making the sound of your drum indistinguishable from the sound of another.

History is the teacher and it is there for those who have an appetite to undertake it. It is as it has always been the blind leading the blind. The truth for far to many is a journey to difficult to undertake so these many follow the leader regardless of where they are being lead for it is far easier to follow than it is to blaze the trail of truth. The ignorant follow the ignorant and let it be so for that is the way of men and women for it is the path of least resistance. Ignorance is the path most trod and the way is well worn. Its trail is easy to follow because it is has been traveled by so many.  

My hope and my prayer is that you draw your own conclusions for you will be asked why you stand by them in whatever or wherever you find yourself. I hope you have the answers that will set you free from the bonds of fear. For if your fearful then you have not succeeded in finding the reality that is the truth.