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Question:
When was the first Christian church founded and by whom? Did Jesus go to any Church? If yes, which one? Did Jesus pray in Church? If yes, please tell me the name and location of this Church. Did Jesus worship in the church with saints painted on the walls and painted wooden icons? If yes, describe in detail, because we cannot believe without details and without research. We must know who we worship.
Since there are many questions here, they need to be answered one by one, but first I will answer the main question.
What is the Church?
From the way the question was asked, it is obvious that for the author, a church is a building where Christians gather, that is, a house of prayer. This is not a Church, but a building where the Church meets for worship.
The word “Church” used in our translation of the Bible is the Greek “ekklesia”, which was widely used in the Greek world before the writing of the New Testament and meant an assembly of citizens called from their homes into a public place to decide some government issue. Sometimes this word was even used to define any gathering of people who gathered without a specific purpose. In the New Testament, the word ekklesia , that is, Church, has the same sense of assembly, namely, the gathering of those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ for the inheritance of eternal life. Moreover, the phrase used in the Bible "house church of so-and-so" makes a clear distinction between the assembly of believers and the building. Here's an example:
The churches greet you ; their home church greet you earnestly in the Lord . (1 Corinthians 16:19)
Buildings cannot send or receive greetings. If you read the New Testament carefully, you will easily see that there is always a clear division between the Church, which is an assembly of people, and the place where the Church meets, which is a sacred assembly. Now I will answer the questions you asked...
The first Christian church in human history
The most beautiful Christian church on earth was the first church in Jerusalem. It arose as a result of the meeting of the twelve Apostles with a people that included not only Jews, but also people of other nationalities. The latter is very important for understanding why exactly all nationalities acquired the Christian faith, which became a continuation of the original faith of people: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David. The Christian faith in its beginning could only arise in Israel, only through the Jews who became devoted disciples of Jesus Christ, both His Apostles and through other Jews: men and women who loved Him. The Christian faith arose on the ruins of the Jewish faith, which was lost as a result of its distortions in recent times, when the Jews were no longer true believers, but performed their service only for their own well-being. Jesus Christ speaks about this, addressing the Jews like this: (John 5:46) “... if they had believed Moses, they would have believed Me, because he wrote about Me.” The Bible tells us about the first Christian church, how the first Christians lived, how they served God, how they communicated with each other, and their daily life in the book “Acts” 2, 42-47 and 4, 32-37. Christians should strive to make their churches as similar as possible to the first Christian church. But we must understand: why we cannot fulfill one condition, and it is unlikely that the first Christians should have fulfilled this condition, which is that “... everyone who owned lands or houses, selling them, brought the price of what was sold and paid to the feet of the Apostles; and everyone was given whatever they needed.” Acts 4, 34-35. Christians must love one another according to the commandment given by the Lord to them. This means that they must help each other in all the difficulties that arise in their lives. But if everything is sold, then there will be no conditions left for the existence of a family, for the life of children, and for adults too. Moreover, nowhere in the Bible does God require this of us. Is it possible to live normally without a roof over your head, without having the land that fed them at that time? Of course not. This can only be explained by the fact that these first Christians expected from day to day the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Their actions were the result of the love for each other that the Lord spoke to them about. It was a wonderful outburst of their sincere love for God and each other.
But selling their houses and land was their mistake, because not only all those people who came into contact with the Lord and listened to His sermons, but also His closest disciples could not at first understand everything and comprehend everything that the Lord told them. And among everything that Jesus Christ spoke about to his disciples, He also spoke about the time of His Second Coming. The Lord indicated all the signs by which every Christian can know this time. Let us briefly examine these signs. At the same time, it will be clear to us that many of them are already being fulfilled now, but were not during the existence of the first Christian church. - “...for many will come in My name and say: I am the Christ, and they will deceive many.” Matthew 24:5 – “You will also hear about wars...” And then all this can be read in this chapter of Matthew, which contains the signs that the Lord spoke about (also in other Gospels) to his disciples. The Lord also told the disciples that (verse 14): “... this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.” The disciples of Jesus Christ knew all this, but did not attach much importance to it. The Apostles did not attach much importance to the words of the Lord, expecting the Second Coming of Jesus Christ from day to day, and therefore this action of the first Christians was erroneous, because There were no signs of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ during the existence of the first Christian church. They were not expected in the near future.
Should Christians sell their homes and other possessions when the last days before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ actually begin? Yes, that would be good, because... This time will be very difficult: there will be famine, there will be disease and many will need help. At this time, it is better for Christians to be together, supporting each other in everything, and with the money raised it will be easier to live together. But this does not mean that everyone should sell their homes. Each individual case will require its own specific decision: what to sell and what to keep for common use. And when we read further in chapter five that Ananias and his wife Sapphira were punished by death from God for withholding part of the money for the sold estate, then this punishment was for lying! The Apostle Peter told Ananias that this was his property, i.e. he could manage on his own, but Ananias decided to exalt himself, saying that he, like everyone else, gave all his money for the sold estate to the church, and by this he allowed Satan to take possession of his heart and lie. Lying is always a great sin, and during the first church all this increased for Ananias and his wife. God would not punish them if they honestly admitted that they could only give away part of what they sold, so I think.
Echmiadzin Cathedral, Armenia
The main temple of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the throne of the Supreme Patriarch Catholicos of All Armenians in 303-484, and again since 1441. Located in the city of Vagharshapat, Armavir region of Armenia. Since 2000 it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Etchmiadzin Cathedral #2700thanniversary #armenia #armenian #armenianarchitecture #etchmiadzincathedral #proudarmenia #richarmenia
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