the ecclesiology of the early church teachers is not what is being talked about here... do not change the subject.
this was about he teaching of eschatology within the church, more considering the return of Jesus Christ.
Yes, Christianity was slowly corrupted by paganism, and with the inclusion of Roman Catholicism, Christianity became more acceptable in the eyes of the world... premillennialism was called a heresy, and amillennialism became the norm.
and if you want to get into the Shepherd of Hermas, along with many of the other early church teachers...
http://www.oasischristianchurch.org/air/018.pdf
i have no respect for dispensationalism, or pre-tribulationism, for that matter, and i never will... it teaches favoritism, escapism, and fear... fear of tribulation, of persecution... it promotes a lukewarm church, a body that foolishly believes that they wont be refined by fire because it has been taught that persecution is God's wrath on His children. It makes me sick, because it teaches the very same sins that i blindly followed for so long.
Shepherd of Hermas, 3rd vision
"You will tell, therefore, those who preside over the Church, to direct their
ways in righteousness, that they may receive in full the promises with great
glory. Stand steadfast, therefore, ye who work righteousness, and doubt
not, that your passage may be with the holy angels. Happy ye who
endure the great tribulation that is coming on, and happy they who shall
not deny their own life. For the Lord hath sworn by His Son, that those who
denied their Lord have abandoned their life in despair, for even now
these are to deny Him in the days that are coming."
Shepherd of Hermas, 4th vision
"Twenty days after the former vision I saw another vision, brethren a
representation of the tribulation that is to come. I was going to a country
house along the Campanian road. Now the house lay about ten furlongs
from the public road. The district is one rarely traversed. And as I walked
alone, I prayed the Lord to complete the revelations which He had made
to me through His holy Church, that He might strengthen me, and give
repentance to all His servants who were going astray, that His great and
glorious name might be glorified because He vouchsafed to show me His
marvels. And while I was glorifying Him and giving Him thanks, a voice, as
it were, answered me, Doubt not, Hermas; and I began to think with
myself, and to say, What reason have I to doubt I who have been
established by the Lord, and who have seen such glorious sights? I
advanced a little, brethren, and, lo! I see dust rising even to the heavens. I
began to say to myself, Are cattle approaching and raising the dust? It
was about a furlong’s distance from me. And, lo! I see the dust rising more
and more, so that I imagined that it was something sent from God. But the
sun now shone out a little, and, lo! I see a mighty beast like a whale, and
out of its mouth fiery locusts proceeded. But the size of that beast was
about a hundred feet, and it had a head like an urn. I began to weep,
and to call on the Lord to rescue me from it. Then I remembered the word
which I had heard, Doubt not, O Hermas. Clothed, therefore, my brethren,
with faith in the Lord, and remembering the great things which He had
taught me, I boldly faced the beast. Now that beast came on with such
noise and force, that it could itself have destroyed a city. I came near it,
and the monstrous beast stretched itself out on the ground, and showed
nothing but its tongue, and did not stir at all until I had passed by it. Now
the beast had four colors on its head-black, then fiery and bloody, then
golden, and lastly white. Now after I had passed by the wild beast, and
had moved forward about thirty feet, lo! a virgin meets me, adorned as if
she were proceeding from the bridal chamber, clothed entirely in white,
and with white sandals, and veiled up to her forehead, and her head was
covered by a hood. And she had white hair. I knew from my former visions
that this was the Church, and I became more joyful. She saluted me, and
said, Hail, O man! And I returned her salutation, and said, Lady, hail! And
she answered. and said to me, Has nothing crossed your path? I say, I was
met by a beast of such a size that it could destroy peoples, but through
the power of the Lord and His great mercy I escaped from it. Well did you
escape from it, says she, because you cast your care on God, and
opened your heart to the Lord, believing that you can be saved by no
other than by His great and glorious name. On this account the Lord has
sent His angel, who has rule over the beasts, and whose name is Thegri,
and has shut up its mouth, so that it cannot tear you. You have escaped
from great tribulation on account of your faith, and because you did not
doubt in the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of
the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them that this beast is a type of the
great tribulation that is coming. If then ye prepare yourselves, and repent
with all your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for you to
escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye spend the rest of the
days of your life in serving the Lord blamelessly. Cast your cares upon the
Lord, and He will direct them. Trust the Lord, ye who doubt, for He is allpowerful,
and can turn His anger away from you, and send scourges on
the doubters. Woe to those who hear these words, and despise them:
better were it for them not to have been born. I asked her about the four
colors which the beast had on his head. And she answered, and said to
me, Again you are inquisitive in regard to such matters. Yea, Lady, said I,
make known to me what they are. Listen, said she: the black is the world
in which we dwell: but the fiery and bloody points out that the world must
perish through blood and fire: but the golden part are you who have
escaped from this world. For as gold is tested by fire, and thus becomes
useful, so are you tested who dwell in it. Those, therefore, who continue
steadfast, and are put through the fire, will be purified by means of it. For
as gold casts away its dross, so also will ye cast away all sadness and
straitness, and will be made pure so as to fit into the building of the tower.
But the white part is the age that is to come, in which the elect of God will
dwell, since those elected by God to eternal life will be spotless and pure.
Wherefore cease not speaking these things into the ears of the saints. This
then is the type of the great tribulation that is to come. If ye wish it, it will
be nothing. Remember those things which were written down before. And
saying this, she departed. But I saw not into what place she retired. There
was a noise, however, and I turned round in alarm, thinking that that
beast was coming.
