Mathetes - Intro

Introduction

Before you buy the lies of Emergent heretics who would have you believe that today’s Christianity has completely got it wrong and that we need a New Kind of Christianity, you need to spend some time looking at what the earliest Christians believed, taught and confessed. When you look at the writings of the primitive historic Christian church you will discover that Brian McLaren is nothing more than a heretical innovator and that his New Kind of Christian- ity has practically nothing in common with historic Christianity.
This epistle, written circa A.D.130. by an anonymous author who gives himself the title Mathetes "a disciple of the Apostles" provides us with one of the earliest looks into the beliefs of Chris- tianity in the generation that immediately followed the Apostles.
This epistle is an ancient and pristine specimen of the apologet- ics employed against the paganism that adhered to the false gods of the ancient Greco-Roman world as well as the Judaism that re- jected Jesus Christ as the promised messiah of the Old Testament.
The careful reader of this 2nd century epistle will clearly see that Mathetes assumes that the overarching narrative of the scriptures tells of us mankind’s fall in to sin and rebellion against God and how God decisively dealt with mankind’s rebellion and sin through Jesus Christ’s penal substitutionary death, which Mathetes calls “the great exchange”.
The Postmodern reader would also be wise to take note of the fact that Mathetes, who learned the Christian faith from the Apos- tles and their associates did not believe the doctrine of hell to be contradictory to God’s nature or the Gospel. Like all Christians who hold to the Historic Christian faith, Mathetes affirmed that God is not violent and doesn’t use coercion to call people to Him- self but that the days of God’s mercy will come to an end when Jesus Christ returns in glory to judge the world and punish with the eternal fires of hell those who persist in their sin and unbelief.
Because of this epistle’s strong emphasis on God’s mercy and forgiveness, the Christian who confesses the sound Biblical doc- trines of the ancient church will find this letter to be full of comfort and glad tidings from our merciful God who calls us from sin and rebellion to the glorious light of Jesus Christ and His forgiveness won for us on the cross. Enjoy!

Thanks to Fighting for the Faith's Chris R. for all his work on this.