The Pilgrim Church

Product Description

It ought to be obvious to even the casual observer of history that the real story of the church is
not the one recorded in secular history. But this classic work demonstrates that the true heart of
this amazing drama is not even recorded in church history books. Right from apostolic days there
have always been little groups of persecuted believers who just wanted to follow the Lamb.
This hardcover contains 448 pages with a timeline and subject index, plus 8 more pages of full
color maps to enrich the text. Written in an engaging style, this volume will thrill your heart with
the stories of unknown heroes of the faith. It will spur you on to greater devotion to the Lord
Jesus and a deeper concern for His suffering people in many countries today. --This text refers to
an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

EDMUND HAMER BROADBENT was born in Lancashire , England , in 1861. Through his
personal study of the New Testament while still in his teens, he was convinced of the need to
follow the pattern for the church found there. In his early twenties, business took him to Berlin ,
where he began a long and fruitful ministry to believers all across Europe and into Asia . His
travels and research made him aware that since apostolic times there had always been
movements to form local churches after the apostolic pattern, and he felt it would be useful to
collect what could be known about them in an orderly sequence. This resulted in the publication
of The Pilgrim Church. Broadbent was active in ministry until shortly before his death in 1945.
Ages of the Church
Jesus Movement

The Christian religion is built around an itinerant Jewish preacher, Yeshua Ben Joseph or Yeshua
of Nazareth. Later, Pauline Christians gave him the title Jesus Christ (Jesus was derived
from Iesous, the Greek version of Yeshua; Christ means Messiah, the anointed one - a title often
given to King of Israel). Roman Catholics, Evangelical Christians, many other Christians, and
Muslims believe that his mother, Mary, was a virgin when he was conceived; her pregnancy was
caused by the Holy Spirit, and did not result from human sexual intercourse. He was born in
Bethlehem Judea or Nazareth in the Gallilee (interpreters differ). His birth probably happened
circa 4 to 7 BCE, possibly in the fall. (Some believe that his birth occurred in the springtime,
during the time that the lambs were giving birth, when the shepherds were watching their flocks
by night.) He was raised by his Jewish family of origin in the city of Nazareth in the Galilee .
Yeshua was the eldest child in the family. The Bible refers to his four brothers by name and at
least two sisters who were not considered important enough to name. (Some Christians believe
that Mary had no further children, and regard these "brothers" as either step-siblings, cousins, or
close friends). At the time, the Galilee was very unstable politically. It had been under severe
Roman oppression for decades. Many Jews expected the imminent arrival in Galilee of a
military/political/religious leader, the Messiah, (Anointed One) who would lead them to a
military victory over the occupation forces and later reign as king. This would be followed by the
Reign of God on earth. The Zealots were actively promoting the overthrow of the Romans.
At the age of about 30, circa 26 CE, he was baptized by John the Baptist, who was perhaps his
cousin. John was a Jewish prophet, and probably a member of the Essenes. The Essenes were the
smallest of the four largest Jewish religious/political groups active in Jerusalem at the time; the
others being the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Zealots. Yeshua became an itinerant preacher whose
message found an enthusiastic audience. He collected a group of followers during his ministry of
which about 10 are fully described in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament); about half were
male, and half female. (The Bible says that there were 12 disciples at one time and 70 at another.
It has multiple lists of the twelve, but the names differ. Many Christians believe that he had
exactly 12 disciples, all male, that women held a lower status among his followers., and that they
were not eligible for consideration as disciples)
 
 
 
 
  The Christian Empire

The status of Christianity changed considerably in the fourth century because of one
person, Emperor Constantine the Great, who officially permitted and promoted
Christianity in the Roman Empire . The emperors who followed Constantine I continued
his legacy; they were all Christian except one. A little later in the century, Theodosius
I(379-395) required that all of his subjects be Christian. Now the former "persecuted
church" was in danger of becoming a worldly and "oppressing church."
At the time of the Edict of Milan, the Roman Empire was at war with
Persia . Romebegan to consider Christians in the Persian Empire as potential allies. As
a result, thePersian Empire persecuted Christians under its rule, the worse time being
between 339 and 379, under Sapor II. Thousands of Christians were martyred.
 
The conversation of barbarians

Jesus Christ, being the Lord of History, the Teacher, Christians have lessons to learn from the
history of any epoch...However, the historical period described by Richard Fletcher in his
magisterial The Barbarian Conversion: from Paganism to Christianity, (Henry Holt & Co., New
York, l997), is particularly fascinating, as we prepare to celebrate the Jubilee year 2000, which
commemorates not only the millennial anniversary of the birth of Jesus, but also two thousand
years of Christian history. During that time Christianity has grow from 12 apostles to well over a
billion and one-half of the globe's inhabitants. Pope John Paul II has repeatedly called for the re-
evangelization of the West, precisely in those areas whose evangelization is studied in this book.
The Pope has also spoken in his Apostolic letter Tertio Adveniente Millenio about the Church in
the first millennium possibly serving as a model for the reunion of all Christians, a leading goal
of his Pontificate.

In an earlier review published in these pages, I examined Rodney Stark's best seller The Rise of
Christianity, which took the reader on a conjectural sociological survey of primitive Christianity
fromPentecost to the Edict of Milan. The author came up with some startling and controversial
conclusions underlining the primary importance of personal example, in family life, and
friendship or, to use a term of Cardinal Newman, the "power of personal influence," of the early
Christian laymen and families, guided by the Holy Spirit, to fuel the growth, of the infant Church
until its toleration by the Roman empire. Fletcher's book takes us to the next stage, which is
dramatically different and in some ways of even greater importance, to us in the WeSaint "This
book is about the process by which a religion which had grown up inside the Mediterranean
world of the Roman Empire was diffused among the outsiders whom the Romans referred to as
barbarians." We, almost without exception, are the descendants of those "barbarians."
Asacademic history the book is thorough but often wordy and repetitive. A condensed version
would have more readable, but then again might not serve as well as a resource for other
specialists.
Fletcher does an excellent job in the early chapters of setting up the scene of the barbarian
invasionsand conversion which began with two developments that shattered the cultural unity of
the Mediterranean world. One of these was the withdrawal into herself of the eastern Byzantine,
Orthodox half of the former Roman Empire . The other was the eruption of Islam into the
Mediterranean and the resultant drawing off of its eastern and southern shores into an alien
culture.
The period of barbarian conversion spans the time from the early fourth century, with the Edict
of Milan, when Christianity was basically tolerated in the Empire, and the first signs appeared of
the barbarian incursions into the Roman empire, to 387, with the final conversion of an European
state, Lithuania .