As there existed great hatred against the Hebrew religious tradition by both Greek and Roman citizens, the gentile converts to Yahosheanism held to religious character of their natives thereby rejecting some of the major religious practices of the movement.
At the conception of Yahosheanity, there were two ways available to the converts. It is either they hold to uncompromising teachings and principles of Yahoshea and the holy scriptures or to gravitate towards the wide and easy going path of compromise with the worldly system of thing during that era.
The early converts of the movement were Hebrew citizens and they held to the religious principles as taught and observed by Yahoshea. They were noted as the Hebrew – Yahosheans and they dominated the affairs of the movement during the first century AD.
In the middle of the 2nd century, the Hebrew Yahosheans lost their stronghold and equally dispersed that became the opportunity for the Gentile converts to twist the basic principles of the movement with Greek Philosophies and Roman pagan traditions.
Based on the anti-Yahudism of the Greek and Roman converts with support of their political rulers, they rejected all central doctrines of Yahosheanism as they relate to Yahudean traditions. They viewed all Yahoshean practices that relate to Yahudism as pervatious and dangerous thereby seeing the Yahudism as a criminal sect.
As the gentiles began to control the affairs of the movement, it casted aside the warnings of Yahoshea and his apostles that every convert must be watchful so that they may not be laid away by the evil concepts of law-defying people and thereby fall from their proper steadfastness.
Within short period, the Yahosheanism was removed from the teachings of Yahoshea Meshiyach and his apostles and been based on the ideas forged by the gentile disciples in the generation after their exit.
As the true Hebrew followers of the Meshiyach have exited, the gentile Yahosheans changed all practices of the movement to appear in a Greek garb and later introduced the priestly exclusive hierarchy that developed into Christendom during the 4th century AD.
By this apostasy, the system of faith established by Yahoshea Meshiyach lost and replaced by Christendom that is combined with pagan practices of the Greek and Roman traditions.
EMPEROR CONSTANTINE’S INFLUENCE:
From the third century Ad, the Yahosheanism witnessed a negative transformation into Christendom. The Christian theology began to exercise victory over the Hebrew related Yahosheanity that held to the holy scriptures.
By that period, the bishopric monarchial order has been established and in time, the bishop of Rome began to claim succession to Peter the chief apostle, an office that later began identified as the Supreme Bishop “or” “Pope”.
Based on this development, the governing body of elders at Yerusalem that served for general oversight for all Yahosheans later turned to a monarchial or one man episcopate with the title as “Pope”.
The title “Pope” was never mentioned during the first two centuries of Yahosheanity. To support this assertion, Jesuist Michael Walsh gave the following explanation – “The first time a Bishop of Rome was called “Pope” seems to have been in the third century and the title was given to Pope Callistus”.
The office of the Pope being created by the gentile Yahosheans of Rome steadily grew into position of prestige and power as it exercised supreme authority over other stations of the movement.
Another force that supported to transform and stabilize the Christianity was the activities of some Roman Emperors that showed favour to it. Though, there were many emperors that were against the activities of Yahosheanism or later Christendom but there were equally some of them that showed some favour to the movement. Some of these favouring emperors rapoured with the Yahoshean elders or later Christian Bishops and Popes.
One of such favouring emperors was the Emperor Constantine the Great. In 306 Ad, Constantine succeeded his father and with Licinius became coruler of the Roman empire.
In 312, he prosecuted the Milvian Bridge War with a claim that he had a dream before the battle in which he saw a cross symbol with a voice instructing him that “In this sign conquer”.
As he marked the sign of cross at his soldier’s shields, he went for the war and won and such prompted him to advance his interest on Christianity which was already established by his mother’s devotion to the religious tradition.
That was when the so called Constantine’s conversion to Christianity occurred though without the process of baptism as prescribed by the faith.
Based on the acclaimed conversion of Emperor Constantine, Christianity became the official state religion of Rome through the issuing of the Edict of Milan. Constantine showed marked preference to Christianity against Yahudaism or Yahudean proselytism.
Constantine held together the doctrinally divided Christianity by convening of the first Council of Nicaea in 325 that gave rise to the Nicaean creed. The council resolved some contesting issues in the movement as the trinity and Easter festival.
The emperor helped the Christianity on resolving of matters of heresies and orthodoxy. He supported the Christianity against schisms as Arianism and Donatism that shook the foundation of the movement.
Although Christianity started evolving among the gentile Yahosheanism of second century through the activities of the Apostolic and later church fathers, the involvement of Constantine influence the growth, spread and stability of the faith and such is reason it is viewed in some quarters that Christianity was formed by Constantine. Emperor Constantine obtained permission from the professed Christianity to adopt Chi-Rho as his empiric seal. Chi-Rho was a ligature (joining of letters) in Greek that were used by pagans as well as Christianity. The term “Chi-Rho” was the first two letters of the name – “Christ” in Greek that was used as Christian monogram.
Meshiyach Yahzitere Yahmarabhi
(+234) 7066195260
Email: okohmeshiyach@yahoo.com
