The Ancient Way: A History of Christianity
1. The Foundations in the Old Testament
The story of salvation begins not in the New Testament, but in the Garden of Eden. God created man in His image and likeness, desiring communion with His creation. Even after the fall—when Adam and Eve turned from God and ushered in decay and death—God did not abandon humanity. He promised a Redeemer, and through the history of Israel, He prepared the world for His coming.
The Law, the Prophets, the Temple, and the sacrificial system were not ends in themselves, but signs pointing to their fulfillment. The entire Old Testament is a divine pedagogy—a gradual training of the human heart to recognize and receive the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.
2. The Fulfillment in Christ and the Church Born at Pentecost
In the fullness of time, Christ came—not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. He healed, taught, was crucified, and rose again for the life of the world. His Resurrection is not merely a past event but the cornerstone of reality. It is the promise of eternal life and the defeat of death.
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended, and the Church was born—not as a vague “spiritual body,” but as a visible, Eucharistic, Spirit-filled communion. The Apostles were sent out, not just with a message, but with the power to heal, forgive, and teach. They established bishops, ordained presbyters, and created a living organism that would carry forward the fullness of Christ’s life until the end of the age.
3. Heresies, Councils, and the Battle for the Truth
As the Church spread, so did confusion. Heresies emerged—some denying Christ’s humanity, others His divinity. The Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, responded not with innovation, but with clarity.
The Seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787 AD) were monumental moments in this battle. They were not theological debates among academics but moments of discernment and protection of the faith. The Church was defending the reality of the Incarnation: that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, and that in Him, all things are being made new.
These councils preserved the unity of doctrine, the centrality of the sacraments, and the Apostolic succession through the laying on of hands.
4. The Rise of Rome and the Tragedy of Schism
For the first millennium, the Church was one—Orthodox in faith and conciliar in governance. But over time, the bishop of Rome began to claim supremacy over all other bishops, altering the Creed (e.g. the Filioque) and asserting dogmatic innovations (e.g. papal infallibility, purgatory).
The result was the Great Schism of 1054—a wound in the Body of Christ.
Rome continued down a path of increasing institutionalization, often driven by politics and power. The Orthodox Church remained rooted in the ancient faith, even as it faced persecution under Islamic empires and communist regimes.
5. The Fracture of the West: Protestantism
In response to real corruption in the Roman Catholic Church, Martin Luther and others launched the Protestant Reformation (16th c.). But rather than returning to the early Church, they severed themselves from the sacraments, from apostolic succession, and from the visible Church altogether.
The result is today’s landscape: over 30,000 denominations, each claiming to represent the Gospel, but lacking the living, Eucharistic, apostolic continuity of Orthodoxy.
6. The Modern Dilemma and the Return to Orthodoxy
Today, many are disillusioned. They hunger for beauty, mystery, and truth—but find only noise, moral confusion, or sterile religion. They are taught that truth is relative, salvation is symbolic, and spirituality is optional.
Orthodoxy stands as a radical witness against this. It is not a denomination or a style—it is the unchanged Church of the Apostles. Its teachings have never been revised. Its worship is ancient and timeless. Its path is narrow, but it leads to Life.
7. Healing, Not Just Belief
To become Orthodox is not merely to “believe the right things.” It is to enter into a hospital for the soul. Through the sacraments—Baptism, Chrismation, Confession, the Eucharist—we are healed and sanctified. Through ascetic struggle, prayer, and love, we are transformed.
The goal is not to “go to heaven,” but to become heaven—to be filled with God, as Christ was. This is theosis.
8. Breaking Through the Old Skin
The Church calls us to repentance—not just of behavior, but of identity. To become truly human again. This is not easy. Like the Israelites leaving Egypt, we are tempted to look back. We struggle with the world, with ourselves, with spiritual inertia. But God is faithful.
To prepare the soul, we must be humble. To prepare the body, we must fast, pray, labor, rest. We must return to liturgy. Return to stillness. Return to the fathers. And return to Christ, who never left.
9. One Church. One Path.
This is not triumphalism. It is simply truth.
There is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism. And the Orthodox Church, in all her fragility and imperfection, still carries the fullness of this Faith. Not because of us—but because of Christ, who promised the gates of hell would not prevail.
Come and see.