Jeremiah's Call: Return to the Old Paths.

Jeremiah's words to a divided and backslidden church in the 7th Century BC were: "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." (Jer 6:16)

Today, Jeremiah's call is as clear as then. There are divisions or, in another word, schisms in the Church and their accompanying heresies (1 Cor 11:18,19). This call is addressed to those who consider themselves Protestant Christians, of which number I once was, but am now fully persuaded that the Protestants had actually in the 16th century torn themselves away from the Church. This separation from the Church, for which they were then rightly charged with the sin of schism, meant departing from the apostles' teachings and fellowship (Acts 2:41-43).

Michelangelo's painting of Jeremiah on
the Sistine Chapel ceiling

The Protestants at that time had formulated new doctrines and drawn away disciples after them (Acts 20:30), doctrines such as 'once-saved-always-saved', 'faith alone', 'scriptures alone', watered down liturgies and other teachings which were never embraced in the first sixteen centuries of the New Testament Church. Today, with the benefit of hind sight, there is little reason for not being able to tell heretical from orthodox teachings. The early church fathers had a fine way of fending off false teachings by appealing to antiquity and tradition. They simply followed the Apostle Paul's example (1 Cor 11:16), "We have no such custom."


A little fact that is mostly glossed over by Protestants is that Martin Luther, in order to cling to his favourite 'faith alone' philosophy, had denied that the Book of James and some other passages were part of the Bible since those spoke against his personal conviction. Then, the Church suffered tragic schisms at the hands of presumptuous reformers like him and their private interpretations of the scriptures (2 Pet 1:20). Actually, although doctrinal corruptions might have crept into the medieval church, all the early church doctrines and traditions were essentially intact.

Instead of throwing out the baby with the bath water, we ought to obey God to "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess 5:21) "stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle" (2 Thess 2:15),  "let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering" (Heb 10:23),  and "that which ye have already hold fast till I come." (Rev 2:25)

In the days when our Lord was here in the flesh, there were also some groups that had separated from the religious authorities in Jerusalem. They, too, did not like the corrupted teachings and traditions that the Scribes and Pharisees were zealously promoting. But it was the Scribes and Pharisees, and not the separatists, whom our Lord had endorsed when He told His disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat." (Matt 23:2) Likewise, although we may not like the corrupted doctrines and traditions that the successive bishops at Rome had introduced into the Church, they, nevertheless, sit in the apostles' seat. They still hold the teaching authority that was conferred on the first disciples, i.e. the apostles (Matt 28:18,19). So, whereas Moses' seat was occupied by the Scribes and Pharisees in the Old Testament Church, in the New Testament Church, whether we like it or not, the bishops sit in the apostles' seat. We need only heed our Lord's warning and beware of their "leaven". (Matt 16:6,11,12)

Be acquainted with the scriptures and early church history. The New Testament Church did not only come into existence in the 16th century. She was instituted in the first century by our Lord and had been endowed with a blessed doctrinal tradition, at least in the earlier part of her history. When the Protestants denied this tradition, they have denied themselves the only teaching authority that they could fall back on, and thus the resultant never ending schisms in their midst. This can never be emphasized enough: there is only one church as there is only one body of Christ (John 10:16). What our Lord has joined together, let no one put asunder. The early church was right in viewing schism as the equivalent of idolatry and apostasy - a very grave sin indeed.

This one Church, which the early church fathers referred to as the "one holy, catholic and apostolic church", may presently still be found in the Roman Catholic Church (including those who would prefer to drop the word "Roman"), the Orthodox Church and remnants of the Episcopal/Anglican Church. In general, where a church is presided by a bishop and adopting the old liturgy, that church is in all likelihood continuing in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship.

Jeremiah whom the Almighty God sent to speak, still speaks loudly today, "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Would you, after hearing the call, answer as those who answered Jeremiah, "We will not walk therein"? But "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." (Heb 10:31)

Suggested reading:

The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World
Reasons to Believe: How to Understand, Explain, and Defend the Catholic Faith
Dear Brother
In Defense of the One True Church to the Skeptics
The Catholic Verses: 95 Bible Passages That Confound Protestants