"Deeds of the Nicolaitans".....it was an heretical distortion of Church government in effect. You can research the matter a little more to gain a better understanding of it.
Thanks for the response. Does the Eastern Orthodox Church have a "Pope"?
What is their view of eschatology?
1) Do they understand the "rapture of the Church" as a fact (pre-trib)?
2) Do they understand the future redemption of the nation Israel?
3) Do they recognize that that the Church age (this age) is unique and limited in time span?
You see, I am presently not attending Church. As I have yet to find a pre-trib rapture, premillennial Church that is NOT ecumenical (the true Church is built up one-by-one, not by "absorbing" any other corpus or group or so-called denomination).
I am a born again Christian, that Jesus saved 43 years ago. I would object to statements #1&2. There is no rapture in the Bible!! The entirety of premillennialism dispensationalism is founded on this egregious mistake. I could show you in Koine Greek how wrong this dispensational interpretation of 1 Thess 4:17, but that would be abducting the thread! And it has already been abducted enough! I hope on another thread, at another time?
Suffice it to say, there are 4 different eschatological scenarios right now:
1. Pre-Millennialism and all its variations.
2. Historic pre-Millennialism which contends that as far as the Jews, there is no Plan B for their salvation. There are other differences between the historic and dispensational pre-Millennialism, but too lengthy to discuss here.
3. Post-Millennialism. They believe that:
"Postmillennialism...teaches that the forces of
Satan will gradually be defeated by the expansion of the
Kingdom of God throughout history up until the
second coming of
Christ. This belief that good will gradually triumph over evil has led proponents of postmillennialism to label themselves "optimillennialists" in contrast to "pessimillennial"
premillennialists and
amillennialists."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmillennialism#:~:text=This%20belief%20that%20good%20will,%22pessimillennial%22%20premillennialists%20and%20amillennialists
My understanding is that this third view largely disappeared after WWI & WWII, along with other 20th century pessimisms like nuclear war, and so forth! In other words, things are not gradually getting better & improving through human efforts!
4. Amillennialism- Amillennialism holds that while Christ's reign during the millennium is spiritual in nature, at the end of the church age, Christ will return in final judgment and establish a permanent reign in the "new heaven and new Earth.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ami...hat while Christ's,new heaven and new Earth."
All 4 of these positions are valid, theologically sound doctrines. While some obscure, independent fundamentalist churches believe only the first view is correct, when they preach that the other three views are heresy, and the people holding to these views are not saved, these false preachers are going to be judged by Christ, for the exclusion of Bible believing, born again Christians, on the basis of their eschatological beliefs, from the kingdom of God.
God will certainly recognize his own, including those who hold different eschatological theology. The Bible commands people to be saved by their faith in Jesus Christ as the propitiation for their sins not their end times doctrine!
"He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Acts 16:30-31
"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved." Roman's 10:9-10
There are other verses, too! So before you start knocking out whole denominations as well as individuals from the kingdom of God for their eschatological beliefs, you need to take a closer look at what the Bible actually says.
Further, those who focus on eschatology to the exclusion of other doctrines are shallow, immature and need to read the Bible unaided, to see what really matters to God.
Simona comes from a church that is theological deep & rich! The Cappadocian Fathers, for example were advancing the doctrine of the Trinity in the 4th century. I've met a few very exclusive Orthodox in America, but most are inclusive of other Christians that believe in Jesus & the gospel, and understand they are saved. My grandparents were Orthodox, and my grandmother frequently used to say, "Ya gotta believe in Jesus!" In her broken English.
Instead of searching for a church that matches your eschatological doctrines, perhaps looking for a church that preaches that Jesus is the way, the truth & the life. No one comes to the father, but by him! Or the other "thing - agape love!
"34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35-35
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