Searching for a "Bible Church"

Edited by Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West)

Christian Traditionalists are often judged by Evangelicals as being insufficiently "biblical," based on a modernistic view of what understanding and applying the Bible means for our lives. We would agree with our Protestant friends that to be truly a “Bible Church,” the church should adhere to everything that is in the New Testament. Strangely enough, though, we believe that if you truly follow the Bible, one would end up looking far more like the historic church, rather than practicing the low-church Christianity of recent popularity. 

Here is a checklist of questions from the New Testament to which all "Bible Churches" should be able to answer in the affirmative - 

1. Does the church have ministers who can forgive sins in the name of Jesus (John 20:21-23)?

2. Does the church have a healing rite for the dying that forgives the sins of the person who is dying (James 5:14-15)?

3. Does the church meet daily for the breaking of the bread (Matthew 6:11, Acts 2:42-46)?

4. Does the church teach that you must physically eat the flesh of Jesus and drink His blood to have life in you (John 6:53)?

5. Does the church history date back to the time of the Apostles (Acts 1:20-26)?

6. Does the church teach that individuals can suffer for the sake of the church, because Christ’s sufferings were lacking (Colossians 1:24)?

7. Does the church teach that salvation isn't a sure thing (Matthew 10:22, 2 Peter 2:20)?

8. Does the church teach that prayers in heaven go through heavenly intercessors before reaching God (Revelation 5:8, Revelation 8:3)?

9. Does the church teach that saints in heaven are alive and can appear to humans? (Mark 9:4-5, Matthew 27:52-53)

10. Does the church teach that one must physically suffer to keep from losing one’s salvation (1 Corinthians 9:27, 1 Peter 2:19-21)?

11. Does the Church preach Christian unity, or division (1 Corinthians 1:10-13)?

12. Are the church's decisions ratified in heaven as well as on earth (Matthew 18:18)?

13. Is the Mother of Jesus considered to be the most blessed Woman, and do they call her blessed (Luke 1:42-48)?

14. Does the church teach that the church itself (rather than the Bible) is the pillar and bulwark of truth? (1 Timothy 3:15)

15. Does the church teach that the whore of Babylon is a "great city" where Jesus Christ was crucified? (Revelation 11:8 and Revelation 17:18).

16. Does the Church teach that celibacy is a good thing? (Matthew 9:12, Luke 18:29-30, 1 Corinthians 7: 25-27, 1 Corinthians 7:32-38, Revelation 14:3-5).

17. Does the Church teach that life begins at conception? (Deuteronomy 30:19, Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13, Luke 1:43-44,Luke 23: 2).

18. Does the Church teach that contraception is intrinsically evil? (Genesis 1:28, Psalm 127:3-5, Genesis 38:8-10).

19. Does the Church teach that divorce and remarriage is adulterous? (Matthew 5:3, Mark 10:11-12, Luke 16:18)

20. Does the Church teach that good works are a very necessary component of our faith? (Matthew 25:31-46, James 2:26, Colossians 1:10, Matthew 7:21, Revelation 20:12-13, Romans 2:6.

21. Does the Church teach that Jesus Christ established his earthly Kingdom on earth before He was crucified? (Matthew 3:2, Matthew 16:19).

22. Does the Church teach sexual sins are transgressions that will keep one from gaining entry into heaven, or do they now say that they are no longer sinful? (Romans 1:24-32, 1 Timothy 1:9-10, Ephesians 5:19-21, Colossians 3:5).

If the answer to any of these questions is no, then it must be assumed that the so-called “Bible Church” is really a "tradition of man," and is not in accord with EVERYTHING in the New Testament. The Church can’t just preach salvation from John 3:16 (although that is a great verse) and ignore the rest of the divinely inspired Word of God. God gave us the whole bible for a reason. To ignore the hard parts, the parts that tell us what to do, how to act, and our manner of liturgical worship, just because they are difficult to follow, would be totally wrong.

Only Churches that adhere to all of the above questions are members of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox Church started by Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 16:18), of which the Anglican Vicariate of the Orthodox Archdiocese of America is a part! We are a real "Bible Church!"