Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up: A New Look at Today's Evangelical Church in the Light of Early Christianity

I consider this book seminal in both its topics and scope. If you are a Christian, (or even if you have no interest in church history,) "Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up" will challenge you as perhaps no other can or will. The early Christian writers, (sometimes referred to as "fathers,") left a body of writings that have been preserved to this day, (enough to fill a 10 volume set.) Though not inspired by God, (as were the Apostles who wrote the New Testament,) their writings do reflect what the early church believed and practiced for almost 300 years, (until the church was severely compromised by an unholy union with the Roman state under Emperor Constantine's overtures.) When personally challenged to read these writings, David Bercot initially rejected them; discovering that their beliefs were so antiquated and out of step with contemporary beliefs. Yet, as he begin reading them again, he came to the overwhelming conclusion that what the church believes today is *drastically* different from the beliefs of the early Christians. * Do you believe that a Christian is saved by faith alone, apart from good works? Then you believe a doctrine rejected as heresy by the early church. * Do you believe a Christian has no choice in his salvation, but is saved solely by the choice of God? The early church understood every person has a free will and is held accountable by God according to the choices made from it. (The pagans of the day were predestinationalists, believing all of life was controlled by "fate.") * Do believe a Christian can fight and kill in a war, and still go to heaven? The early Christians knew that those who lived by the sword would be killed by the sword, and therefore strove to live meek and harmless lives; preferring to suffer death at the hands of unbelievers rather than fight to save their lives, (like their Master did before them.) Included in this book is a very simple and understandable description of exactly where and how the church came to disown these original teachings, and why it currently believes and practices something entirely different today. Bercot's style is remarkable in its persuasion and meekness; refraining from attacking or belittling those who take the opposing view. (However, his arguments are unanswerable, due to their unavoidable logic and evidentiary conclusions.) * If you are a Calvinist, (or of that persuasion,) you will not like this book. * If you are a modern Evangelical, and believe in "Once Saved, Always Saved," you will not like this book. * If you are participant or supporter of any war or military action, you will be highly offended by this book. In short, if you are a denier of the literal words and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are utterly out-of-fellowship with the Believers of the first and second centuries, for they strove to follow Jesus as literally and as earnestly as they could. (And you would be cast out of their churches as a first-class heretic.) The church toda

Seldom has a book challenged my views as much as Mr. Bercot's work has done. David Bercot is an individual qualified to assess exactly just what the Early Christian community taught and believed. Not only is he a lawyer, but he also has a Master of Divinity degree and is an accredited member of the National Patristics Society. What impressed me most about this work was the standard that Mr. Bercot employed to determine if a teaching was truly Apostolic in origin and a valid belief of the Christian community. If a teaching was not held by several Fathers of the same time period from different geographical locations, then that teaching would not be included in the book.What really convicted me was how different my brand of Christianity is from that of the earliest followers of the Apostles and their Spiritual descendants. For instance, Bercot notes how the Early Church believed that Jesus' teachings in the Synoptic gospels were literal. Sure, they understood that Jesus wasn't commanding us to literally pluck out our eyes, but many parts of Jesus' teaching that they understood literally, todays Christian community has watered down or spiritualized to accomodate our 21st century mentality. For example, how many believe that Jesus really wanted us to sell everything that we own and follow Him? I know of no church that teaches such a doctrine and if one were to teach this they would probably be regarded as strange, bizarre and out of their mind. Yet, this is exactly how the Early Church understood Jesus' message and this is what compelled Cyprian, the great 3rd century bishop of Carthage, to liquidate his vast fortune and follow Jesus with everything that he had. Most Christians today are victims of the materialistic message of our capitalistic culture and they don't even realize it; Virtually every church teaches that wealth and possessions are good things and that they are signs of God's blessings. Many believe that as long as they don't diligently pursue wealth and possessions that they are ok, but Jesus' message was simple, a man cannot serve two masters because he will either hate one and love the other. This is exactly what most Christians do, believing that they can pursue some things as long as they don't do it excessively. Yet, this was not the teaching of the Early Church and it was not how they understood Jesus' gospel. I am not exempting myself from such criticism because I am guilty of such practices myself, and thanks to this book I have begun to reevaluate my beliefs.Another aspect of this book that convicted me was Bercot's explanation of the Early Christians' view of entertainment. I felt extremely uneasy when I read what Bercot had to say because I knew I was guilty of such practices. I realized I needed to exercise more caution and discretion in deciding what was acceptable to view because such material can and does have an impact on my spiritual well-being. Furthermore, Bercot's treatment of how the Early Christian

After reading all the reviews posted, I would like to clarify a few things about the Author and this book. David Bercot may not have a doctorate,but it is quite clear after over 20 years of study of the complete works of the early church fathers, Editor of "The Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs" and other studies too numerous to mention, this gentleman would be deserving of one. I find it doubtfull that any of these reviewers have ever read (much less studied) all 10 volumes of the ante nicene fathers. This book is the beginning of a journey by a man who admits to being a pilgrim himself, it is a mind opening book along the lines of "The Gospel according to Jesus" (MacArthur) and "How saved are we?"(Brown) If you are looking for a non-controversial book that never makes you Question if your beliefs are truth and allows you to be a pathetic weak "Christian".DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. If however you are interested in seeing how the Christians who were taught, ordained and lived with Apostles like John and Paul, viewed and interpreted the Gospel, this book is for you. Wether you agree with it or not it will certainly make you look at your own beliefs. As for those reviewers who think he did not go far enough, or missed certain points, His second book "Common Sense" and over 30 audio tapes, cover all of those areas and many, many others. My Prayer is that all who proclaim to Follow Jesus, will Make him Lord (not just savior) and DO his will. "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord'and do not do what I say?" Luke 6:46

In this book, David Bercot evaluates 5 doctrines (The roles of Faith & Works in Salvation, Predestination & Free Will, Baptism, Prosperity, and whether New Testament Moral Teachings Surpass those of the Old Testament) in the light of the writings of the Early Church Fathers. Those reviews that express concern over the authority that Bercot vests in the Fathers are misrepresenting the author's thesis. Bercot addresses these concerns in chapters 11-18. In the opening of chapter 11, titled "Who Better Understands The Apostles?", he states the following:"We evangelical Christians today generally think that we are following apostolic Christianity. The early Christians thought they were too. Yet, as we've seen, our beliefs and practices very considerably from theirs. So how can we know which one of us is more closely following the pattern set by the apostles? A tempting, but simplistic solution is to say, "Let's simply compare their beliefs and ours to what the Bible teaches." The problem is that the early Christians based their beliefs on the Bible - the same as we do. They quoted scriptures to support their beliefs, the same as we do. The real issue is one of Bible interpretation. The most we can do is to compare their interpretations of Scripture with our interpretations of Scripture. And that in itself doesn't prove very much. So the question becomes: Whose interpretation is more likely to be correct - ours or theirs?"Bercot then spends the next 8 chapters addressing this issue and its assoicated ramifications relative to modern Biblical interpreters. Included are excellent discussions of the Reformation, Martin Luther, Sola Scriptura (a 'myth' from the start), and issues related to the indefectibility of the Church (see Matthew 16:18-20). These chapters dispel the nonsense that the Early Church Fathers represent a departure from the 'true' gospel. This theory represents the post-Reformation paradigm and prejudice that dominates much of Evangelical theology.This book opened the door for my own transition from 22 years of Protestant Evangelical affiliation with Calvary Chapel (strong Scripture orientation) to my embrace of the Roman Catholic Church as the visible Church that Christ so faithfully promised He would build. History has always embodied the unfolding of God's redemptive plan since the fall of man. God is in charge, and His plans are being executed. The Church, the Bride of Christ, represents the wonderful work of Christ Himself (see reference from Matthew above). So, history cannot be ignored. It has always been important in manifesting God's workings. And as Cardinal John Henry Newman (a convert to Catholicism himself) said:"History is not a creed or a catechism, it gives lessons rather than rules; still no one can mistake its general teaching in this matter, whether he accept it or stumble at it. Bold outlines and broad masses of color rise out of the records of the past. T

Bercot does a good job of summarizing what the early church believed, and passing the information onto us. He challenges the beliefs of many Christians today whose beliefs do not match up with what the Earliest Christians believed. One only has to read the texts to know that, but Bercot saves us that trouble. Bercott not only tells us what they believed on such issues as Calvinism, but he gives scripture to back up the early Christian beliefs, to show they didn't just come up with it out of thin air. Its a very mind opening book. I must admit through my Bible reading I came up with a lot of what the early Christians did--I believe the death penalty is wrong, etc. But this book just goes to show that not going along with Conservatism doesn't mean you aren't a Christian. Bercot makes a big deal about Fundamentalist beliefs following Conservatism's tenets and not vice-versa and I tend to agree. Overall a great book.