Poor Martin
Martin Luther stumbled upon a complete Latin Bible for the first time as a 21-year-old Augustinian monk at the University of Erfurt.
He was combing through books in the monastery library when he came across a full compilation of Holy Books written in Latin, a rarity of considerable value at the time. He was about to engage with the full texts of the Bible—the Catholic canon—for the first time.
Luther read with a passion the modern believer—and any to whom the Bible has always been accessible—may never know and found in Paul’s letter to the Roman Church a truth mainstream Christianity still grapples with: justification by faith. The decades that followed are forever cast, not only in stone but in the fleshy hearts of every bona fide churchman.
The Post-Apostolic Church
The Protestant Reformation that followed Martin Luther’s doctrinal findings (which he summed up into ninety-five theses) is often celebrated as the liberation of the Church from the man-made doctrines of the universal Church of Rome and a return to the faith once handed down to the saints.
But what is clear, given Church history and God’s powerful Spirit of prophecy, is that Martin’s reformation was to trigger a series of events spanning centuries that will keep the Church searching and enquiring until she navigates back to the ‘complete’ faith handed to the Apostles.
This truth becomes apparent when you consider the Protestant Reformation, not as a standalone event but as part of a broader struggle of which numerous pre-Reformation groups partook (preachers like Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, and their followers, etc., advocated for a simpler, more Scriptural form of Christianity).
Since the Protestant Reformation, the church has witnessed reforms from other movements: Calvinist, Anabaptist, Anglican, Jehovah’s Witness, Pentecostal, and Charismatic.
Since the Church fell for the seductions of the Roman Empire and Greek philosophy, she has not known the peace of truth. The turmoil that has given rise to movements is therefore a chain of progressive attempts to return to the truth.
And just as demoniacs shriek the hardest and loudest just before the influence leaves them, the Church appears to be making the most confused and divisive noise at the moment.
We may well be on the brink of a radical change in Christianity that will shake the world, and it begins, not with any special individual, but with a new mindset going viral: Apostolic Intelligence. Or, put simply, with a return to the Apostles’ Doctrine.
What is the Apostles’ Doctrine?
The Apostles devoted themselves to proving that Jesus died and was truly raised into immortal kingship (Acts 4:1-4; 9:22, 17:2-3; 1 Cor.15). Their earliest converts were equally devoted to learning and teaching the same truth(s).
Acts 2:42 (KJV)
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
2 Timothy 2:2 (REV)
And the things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.
The first-century church was a powerful community whose doctrinal foundation was dug in God’s plan of eternal life and dominion for human beings (2 Tim. 1:9-10; Titus 1:1-3; Heb. 2:5-14).
We also believe, as we see clearly stated in Scripture, that sometime almost two thousand years ago the God of the Jews—and believers in Christ—provided irrefutable evidence that He is the true God and giver of life by raising a human being from the dead (Luke 24:13-48; Acts 2:22-36; 17:31).
This human being is Jesus of Nazareth, a Son born to human parents but adopted as God’s Son and Prime Minister over the universe after his resurrection from the dead (Acts 13:32-33; Rom. 1:1-6, 14:9).
It is not up to any council to debate or revise; Apostolic doctrine rests on the cardinal truth that the one true and living God raised a man from the dead and caused him to be seen by other men (Acts 17:31; 1 Cor. 15). Apostolic doctrine is the teaching about eternal life by faith in God’s display of power, which was mirrored in the resurrection of Jesus.
Apostolic Roots, Intelligence, and Worldview
With sobriety and a rapidly brewing Apostolic willingness to build or rebuild, we admit that the Church, by and large, has derailed from scriptural tradition to man-made tradition.
Apostolic Intelligence, therefore, steps in, not as a standalone organization, but as an open community, a mindset. We are a part of the much larger force of Scripture-minded believers from all races and nations of the world.
The Jewish nation had always been an island in the Pacific, a tiny parcel sandwiched in an ocean of nations that neither knew nor honored Yahweh. And isn’t it usual that the majority influences and perhaps overrides the minority? Yet the pre-Mosaic law and Old Covenant saints stayed aware of and loyal to Yahweh’s truth for as long as they shut out external voices.
We learn from verifiable history that the Church, enticed by universal acceptance and the great State power of the Roman Empire, began to open itself up to syncretism with Greek and Roman thought systems. The errors of thought and practice that crept into the Church, particularly in the second century AD and onward, are too overwhelming for a single book to address, how much less an article.
But one Book of Books stands out as the powerful solution, and Apostolic Intelligence is the spiritual initiative that drives you to that book: the Holy Scriptures. There is such a thing as an Apostolic worldview, and it is only obtainable when we return to the thoroughly Jewish roots by which means our patriarch saints received supernatural revelation.
To arrive at Apostolic truth(s), we must be spiritually intelligent enough to follow the Apostolic thought pattern. Our mission here at Apostolic Intelligence is thus to attain unity in the faith by establishing the Apostles’ teaching and practices. We envision a Church that returns to its Scriptural roots—Apostolic beliefs, practices, and teaching.
Final Thoughts
No member of our community identifies as ‘the reformer’ (whatever that may mean). We believe that true reformation happens only when God energizes willing hearts, not a single heart, to preach the truth to the nations of the world.
Since no standalone man serves as the custodian of truth, Apostolic Intelligence is a community of believers from all races, nations, tongues, and walks of life. Even more, we are calling out to you and other believers to partner with us in our sacred labors with God.
Martin Luther played his part in setting the Church off on a journey back to the Apostles’ Doctrine; he discovered that the Apostles taught justification by faith, not by personal righteousness and penance, as the orthodox church of his day taught. The question then is, “What else have they successfully passed on that the modern Church holds dearly?”
Whatever else that is, or whatever else they are, necessity has been laid on us to study Scripture with minds sharpened by the Spirit of God, so that we become thoroughly equipped vessels for the spiritual threshing of the unlearned.
We implore you to therefore stay with us: read our articles, listen to our podcasts, watch us on YouTube, engage on social media, and stay connected with us. Apostolic Intelligence is here to stay for our common good.
© Agaga Fredrick Abangji