The Old Ways — The Ancient Paths

^{Apostolic Age Followers of “The Way” (ἡ ὁδός - hė hodós) c. AD 30 to c. AD 100 (1st Century). See Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22 (c. A.D. 61 – 64).}

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The true Church has existed in every generation since the time of Christ, when He proclaimed, “… upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it” (New Living Translation, 2015, Matt. 16:18). Many generations have passed since Christ walked the earth over 20 centuries ago (2000+ years), but the truth has been with us since the very beginning.

¹⁸ So I tell you, you are Peter [^Cthe Greek petros, like the Aramaic cephas, means “rock” or “stone”]. On this rock I will build my church, and the ·power of death [^Lgates of Hades/the underworld] will not be able to ·defeat [overpower; conquer; prevail against] it (Expanded Bible, 2011, Matt. 16:18).

The basis for Catholicism’s contention that the Church is built on Peter’s leadership is that his name means “stone.”¹⁴ For sure there is wordplay going on in Peter’s confession, but I would suggest there is also an important double entendre: the “rock” refers to the mountain location where Jesus makes the statement. When viewed from this perspective, Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, at “this rock” (this mountain—Mount Hermon). Why? This place was considered the “gates of hell,” the gateway to the realm of the dead, in Old Testament times.¹⁵

The theological messaging couldn’t be more dramatic. Jesus says he will build his church—and the “gates of hell” will not prevail against it. We often think of this phrase as though God’s people are in a posture of having to bravely fend off Satan and his demons. This simply isn’t correct. Gates are defensive structures, not offensive weapons. The kingdom of God is the aggressor. ¹⁶ Jesus begins at ground zero in the cosmic geography of both testaments to announce the great reversal. It is the gates of hell that are under assault—and they will not hold up against the Church. Hell will one day be Satan’s tomb (Heiser, 2015, pp. 284-5).

Consider this: Do your current beliefs have roots in every generation since the time of Christ, or can you trace them only to a specific historical period? If your beliefs cannot be linked to earlier generations, they may be false, lacking the historical foundation that the true Church has upheld since Christ’s declaration. The Word of God instructs us to turn to past generations in our pursuit of truth, assuring us that if we earnestly seek, we will find (Matt. 7:7-8):

Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you (ESV Study Bible, 2008, Deut. 32:7).

The challenge lies in the fact that many parents today are as adrift in contemporary movements as the children they have inadvertently misled. It is incumbent upon us to fulfill our duty by embracing the old ways and ancient paths, rather than succumbing to the ignorance of modernity. Ironically, biblical language scholarship and ecumenical academicians are on our side; more on that later.

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ (ESV Study Bible, 2008, Jeremiah 6:16).

This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’ (New Living Translation, 2015, Jer. 6:16 NLT).

Christianity today is populated by individuals who have chosen to abandon the old ways and ancient paths, instead accumulating false teachers who entice them with new things and deceive them into believing they can live lifestyles of sin contrary to Scripture (1Jn 3:4-10; 5:18), all to satisfy their itching ears. In their pursuit of justifying their sin, they forsake the wisdom of the past, while those who remain steadfast in the ancient truths stand as a testament to genuine faith.

For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths (The NET Bible: Full Notes Edition, 2019, 2Tim. 4:3-4 NET).

The essential question then becomes: How can we shield ourselves from the “new things” that cultivate ignorance, lead to destruction, and ultimately result in apostasy? How can we be confident that we are adhering to the old ways and the ancient paths? One thing is certain: if we confine ourselves to a single point of view, we risk falling into an echo chamber of groupthink, where the blind lead the blind, pulling us into a quagmire of fables and ignorance (frequently propagated by contemporary movements). Dr. Heiser (2015), biblical language scholar and master of Biblical Hebrew and Ancient Egyptian, reveals:

1. We’ve been trained to think that the history of Christianity is the true context of the Bible

We talk a lot about interpreting the Bible in context, but Christian history is not the context of the biblical writers. The proper context for interpreting the Bible is not Augustine or any other church father. It is not the Catholic Church. It is not the rabbinic movements of late antiquity and the Middle Ages. It is not the Reformation or the Puritans. It is not evangelicalism in any of its flavors. It is not the modern world at all, or any period of its history.

The proper context for interpreting the Bible is the context of the biblical writers—the context that produced the Bible [Second Temple period].¹ Every other context is alien to the biblical writers and, therefore, to the Bible. … (p. 16).

1. We do not share the cognitive framework of the biblical writers. While the implications may seem uncomfortable, it is hermeneutically pointless to pretend otherwise. … (p. 16).

It’s clear that the late Dr. Heiser spent vast amounts of time traversing the old ways and ancient paths. A comparable and earlier admonition can be found in the writings of the Apostle Paul, who cautions against labeling ourselves after specific leaders. This guidance is articulated in the following scripture:

“What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (ESV Study Bible, 2008, 1Cor. 1:12-13)

Paul’s point here is to emphasize unity in Christ rather than division by allegiance to specific human leaders. If you label yourselves with Catholicism (of the Pope), Lutheranism (of Martin Luther), Calvinism (of John Calvin), Arminianism (of Jacobus Arminius), Wesleyanism (of John Wesley), Amyraldism (of Moses Amyraut), Molinism (Luis de Molina), Chaferanism (of Lewis Sperry Chafer), you are going directly against the word of God and your doctrine is not sound. The Bible warns that some of these people may have created divisions because they are devoid of the spirit:

These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them (New Living Translation, 2015, Jude 19).

If you find yourself ensnared in one of the numerous man-made systematic theologies that are rife with errors and various ‘isms that contradict the inspired Word of God, I urge you to turn away from these deviations in the unfeigned contrition of repentance and return to sound doctrine. The Bible instructs us to “Call no man your teacher” for you have only one teacher, Christ Jesus, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters (New Living Translation, 2015, Matt. 23:8-9 NLT). At the very least, backup into basic protestant solas without the ‘isms.

You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and do so correctly, for that is what I am (The NET Bible: Full Notes Edition, 2019, John 13:13 NET).

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father (New Living Translation, 2015, Matt. 23:8-9 NLT).

Teachers who promote man-made systems are the epitome of the teaching of the blind guides. The scriptures tell us to flee from them!

Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.” (The NET Bible: Full Notes Edition, 2019, Matt. 15:14 NET)

It’s time for many of us to pull our heads out of the theological sand. It’s time for us to give the Bible another chance. The world can never know God through human wisdom. Remember that men are not meant to interpret scripture for you—that right belongs to the Holy Spirit (1Jn 2:27; Jn 14:26;16:13; 2Pe 1:20-21; 1 Cor 2:12-14). Instead, open your Bible and fellowship with Christ.

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him (ESV Study Bible, 2008, 1John 2:27; cf. John 15:4-5 ESV).

But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ (New Living Translation, 2015, 1John 2:27).

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (ESV Study Bible, 2008, 1Cor 2:13)

So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe (New Living Translation, 2015, 1 Cor 1:20-21 NLT).

In unity, let us distance ourselves from the misleading teachings and philosophies of this world, and instead turn towards the Scriptures, and secondly, to the faithful educators of Scripture who do not indoctrinate us into man-made systems. Dr. Heiser (2021) exemplifies the faithful didaskalos when he stated:

“This is why the Scripture says what it says. Now again, I don’t care how that fits into your system. Okay, I really don’t. We don’t need systems. We need to pay attention to the text, and we need to be consistent across the Testaments. That’s what we need” (8:38-49).

I strongly advocate for, and highly recommend, prioritizing direct engagement with Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27), supported by high-quality scholarly resources, over adherence to rigid theological systems. The Bible cautions against the divisiveness inherent in man-made systems and promotes a more personal, less doctrinally divided approach to faith. The hierarchy of authority presented in the Bible underscores the importance of divine guidance and the original biblical texts (via biblical language scholarship), placing them above human interpretations and systematic theology. Bibles, lexicons, interlinears, and textual criticism are all you need to bridge the language gap, and Christ is your only teacher. Being systemless does not mean being theology-less or churchless. Here are my recommendations:

• BDAG and HALOT Lexicons (word study)
  • The world’s most authoritative lexicons
• ESV Reverse Interlinear (word study)
• NET Full Notes (textual criticism)
  • World’s foremost biblical scholars
  • Non-sectarian and inter-denominational
  • Notes are an unparalleled treasure trove of textual criticism
• ESV Study Bible / NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible (Bible study)
• https://kjvparallelbible.org/ (textual criticism)
• Systemless Biblical Language Scholars
  • Dr. Michael S. Heiser (PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
    • The Unseen Realm; Demons; Angels
  • Dr. Daniel B. Wallace (PhD, Dallas Theological Seminary)
    • Reinventing Jesus
• Systemless Theologians
  • Dr. D. A. Carson (PhD, University of Cambridge)
    • Divine Sovereignty & Human Responsibility
    • The Gospel according to John
    • The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God
  • C.S. Lewis (Oxford and Cambridge)
    • Mere Christianity
• Systemless Scientist Theologians
  • Dr. Alister McGrath (PhD, Molecular Biophysics at Oxford; D.D., Theology at Oxford; D.Litt., Intellectual History at Oxford)
  • Dr. Hugh Ross (PhD, Astrophysicist at University of Toronto)
    • Beyond The Cosmos
• The ecumenical creeds
  • Nicene Creed (A.D. 381)
  • Apostles’ Creed (A.D. 650)
• The moderate confessions
  • Thirty Nine Articles of Religion (1562)
  • Heidelberg Catechism (1563)
  • New Hampshire Confession (1833)

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References

ESV Study Bible (ESV Text Edition: 2016). (2008). Crossway.

Heiser, M. S. (2015). The unseen realm (1st ed.). Lexham Press.

Heiser, M. S. (2021, July 12). Can an Apostate Turn Back to God? [Video]. Dr. Michael S. Heiser. https://youtu.be/0vgF6UMdm6Y&t=526

NET Bible: Full notes edition. (2019). Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.

New Living Translation (Filament enabled). (2015). Tyndale House Publishers.

The Expanded Bible. (2011). Thomas Nelson.

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Together in action, united in spirit, aligned in purpose. Ordo Dei Invictus.