Alternate History
Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2026 5:15 am
Alternate History
When we view the history of the early church through the lens of the historian, we seem to get a whole lot of fragments, contradicting statements, large gaps, and things that simply do not add up! The actual historical records and fragments cannot be pieced together to provide a uniform picture without simply ignoring many of the pieces.
When we view the early Church through the lens of a Forensic researcher, we find we have to throw out the accepted narrative of the historians and start piecing together the actual historical records themselves. Using this strategy for many years provided us the key to unlock the entire mystery.
Once we began researching all of the early church historical records and writings through that lens, and viewing the early church writers as the primary leaders of the opposition to Christ's teachings, then all of a sudden we could start placing all of the historical records themselves, and the fragment writings into their correct puzzle pieces, and everything formed into a perfect picture, leaving nothing out!
So the first thing we need to establish by the historical records is that Christ's apostles and their followers were still following the Torah and keeping the Holy Covenant Laws. This is easily accomplished through scripture and historical writings:
Matthew 5:18 Christ states:
"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
Acts 21:20 records James and the Jerusalem elders stating to Paul:
"You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law."
Epiphanius of Salamis, writing in his 4th-century work Panarion (Heresy 29):
explicitly describes the Nazarenes as Jews who accepted Christ but "use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do," noting they kept the Sabbath and circumcision.
(Panarion 30.2.2):
"For the Ebionites are derived from the Nazoraeans, and the Nazoraeans from the Ebionites.")
We will now establish historically that these Ebonites and Nazarenes were the descendants of the original followers of the Way in Jerusalem.
Epiphanius of Salamis in his Panarion (specifically Panarion 30.2.7 concerning the Ebonites:
"They received their origin when those who believed in Christ evacuated Jerusalem and lived as exiles in Pella, a city of the Decapolis... since they had settled there, they were able to continue their existence, and this is where they took their rise."
Epiphanius of Salamis in his Panarion (specifically Panarion 29.7.7), Concerning the Nazarenes:
"For this sect did not name themselves after Christ, nor after Jesus of his own name, but 'Nazarenes'... For they were all Jews by race who accepted Jesus. And they occupied Pella, having migrated there from Jerusalem when it was about to be besieged and taken, as Christ told them to leave Jerusalem and retire because of the siege that was about to befall it."
We have now historically shown that both the Ebonites and the Nazarenes fled to Pella before the destruction of Jerusalem, and that they are virtually the same people that were the followers off Christ under James at the Jerusalem church. We will now historically demonstrate that the seven Churches of Revelation that Christ describes are following the same teachings of the Apostles of Christ that the Ebonites and or Nazarenes were following.
In Polycrates's letter to Victor of Rome circa 190 AD (preserved by Eusebius in Ecclesiastical History, Book V, Chapter 24):
"We observe the exact day; neither adding nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep..."
In that same letter Polycrates defends their tradition by stating that they strictly followed the timing of the 14th day of Nisan; the exact day mandated in the Torah for the Passover sacrifice. They refused to alter it to align with Rome's shift to Sunday observance. He explicitly tied their practice directly to the authority of the apostles, noting that they walked "according to the gospel," and declared that he was not intimidated by threats because, "we ought to obey God rather than men."
Considering that Polycrates was the bishop of the church of Ephesus, which was started and overseen originally by the apostle John, this demonstrates that the true churches of Christ, the Nazarenes, and the Ebonites were all following the apostles of Christ and of the same mind and Spirit.
Now we will produce the historical evidence that as early as ten to fifteen years after the death of the apostle John the Roman church was already condemning following Judaism which was strongly professed by the apostles.
Ignatius of Antioch (circa 110 AD):
Ignatius addresses this directly in his Letter to the Magnesians (Chapter 8, Sections 1–2 and Chapter 10, Section 3), where he warns against observing Jewish customs and adopting what he called strange doctrines:
"Be not led astray by strange doctrines nor by old fables, which are profitless. For if we even now live according to Judaism, we confess that we have not received grace... It is absurd to profess Jesus Christ and to Judaize. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity, that every tongue believing in God might be gathered together."
And continuing into Chapter 10:
"Lay aside, therefore, the evil leaven, which is old and sour, and be ye changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be ye salted in Him, lest any one among you should be corrupted, since by your savor ye shall be proved. It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practice Judaism. For the Christian did not believe in Judaism, but the Jew in Christianity, that so every tongue which believes in God might be gathered together."
Considering Ignatius condemned following the Torah and the Holy Covenant which the apostles followed and taught as early as 110 A.D. and Marcion while in control of the church in 140 AD still proclaimed the same attitude, and todays Christian Churches still parrot virtually the same exact words as Ignatius, we can openly declare that history shows that Christianity excelled in opposition to the teachings of Christ.
When we view the history of the early church through the lens of the historian, we seem to get a whole lot of fragments, contradicting statements, large gaps, and things that simply do not add up! The actual historical records and fragments cannot be pieced together to provide a uniform picture without simply ignoring many of the pieces.
When we view the early Church through the lens of a Forensic researcher, we find we have to throw out the accepted narrative of the historians and start piecing together the actual historical records themselves. Using this strategy for many years provided us the key to unlock the entire mystery.
Once we began researching all of the early church historical records and writings through that lens, and viewing the early church writers as the primary leaders of the opposition to Christ's teachings, then all of a sudden we could start placing all of the historical records themselves, and the fragment writings into their correct puzzle pieces, and everything formed into a perfect picture, leaving nothing out!
So the first thing we need to establish by the historical records is that Christ's apostles and their followers were still following the Torah and keeping the Holy Covenant Laws. This is easily accomplished through scripture and historical writings:
Matthew 5:18 Christ states:
"For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."
Acts 21:20 records James and the Jerusalem elders stating to Paul:
"You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law."
Epiphanius of Salamis, writing in his 4th-century work Panarion (Heresy 29):
explicitly describes the Nazarenes as Jews who accepted Christ but "use not only the New Testament but the Old Testament as well, as the Jews do," noting they kept the Sabbath and circumcision.
(Panarion 30.2.2):
"For the Ebionites are derived from the Nazoraeans, and the Nazoraeans from the Ebionites.")
We will now establish historically that these Ebonites and Nazarenes were the descendants of the original followers of the Way in Jerusalem.
Epiphanius of Salamis in his Panarion (specifically Panarion 30.2.7 concerning the Ebonites:
"They received their origin when those who believed in Christ evacuated Jerusalem and lived as exiles in Pella, a city of the Decapolis... since they had settled there, they were able to continue their existence, and this is where they took their rise."
Epiphanius of Salamis in his Panarion (specifically Panarion 29.7.7), Concerning the Nazarenes:
"For this sect did not name themselves after Christ, nor after Jesus of his own name, but 'Nazarenes'... For they were all Jews by race who accepted Jesus. And they occupied Pella, having migrated there from Jerusalem when it was about to be besieged and taken, as Christ told them to leave Jerusalem and retire because of the siege that was about to befall it."
We have now historically shown that both the Ebonites and the Nazarenes fled to Pella before the destruction of Jerusalem, and that they are virtually the same people that were the followers off Christ under James at the Jerusalem church. We will now historically demonstrate that the seven Churches of Revelation that Christ describes are following the same teachings of the Apostles of Christ that the Ebonites and or Nazarenes were following.
In Polycrates's letter to Victor of Rome circa 190 AD (preserved by Eusebius in Ecclesiastical History, Book V, Chapter 24):
"We observe the exact day; neither adding nor taking away. For in Asia also great lights have fallen asleep..."
In that same letter Polycrates defends their tradition by stating that they strictly followed the timing of the 14th day of Nisan; the exact day mandated in the Torah for the Passover sacrifice. They refused to alter it to align with Rome's shift to Sunday observance. He explicitly tied their practice directly to the authority of the apostles, noting that they walked "according to the gospel," and declared that he was not intimidated by threats because, "we ought to obey God rather than men."
Considering that Polycrates was the bishop of the church of Ephesus, which was started and overseen originally by the apostle John, this demonstrates that the true churches of Christ, the Nazarenes, and the Ebonites were all following the apostles of Christ and of the same mind and Spirit.
Now we will produce the historical evidence that as early as ten to fifteen years after the death of the apostle John the Roman church was already condemning following Judaism which was strongly professed by the apostles.
Ignatius of Antioch (circa 110 AD):
Ignatius addresses this directly in his Letter to the Magnesians (Chapter 8, Sections 1–2 and Chapter 10, Section 3), where he warns against observing Jewish customs and adopting what he called strange doctrines:
"Be not led astray by strange doctrines nor by old fables, which are profitless. For if we even now live according to Judaism, we confess that we have not received grace... It is absurd to profess Jesus Christ and to Judaize. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity, that every tongue believing in God might be gathered together."
And continuing into Chapter 10:
"Lay aside, therefore, the evil leaven, which is old and sour, and be ye changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be ye salted in Him, lest any one among you should be corrupted, since by your savor ye shall be proved. It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practice Judaism. For the Christian did not believe in Judaism, but the Jew in Christianity, that so every tongue which believes in God might be gathered together."
Considering Ignatius condemned following the Torah and the Holy Covenant which the apostles followed and taught as early as 110 A.D. and Marcion while in control of the church in 140 AD still proclaimed the same attitude, and todays Christian Churches still parrot virtually the same exact words as Ignatius, we can openly declare that history shows that Christianity excelled in opposition to the teachings of Christ.