A couple years ago I was neglecting this newsletter because of my health, and this year I have been neglecting it because of my work. I am very excited to be part of the shepherding team at Rose Creek Village. I am very excited about continuing work on Rome's Audacious Claim, my book answering the Roman Catholic claim of Papal Primacy. I am also working on a series called "Rebuilding the Foundations," which slowly and carefully goes over the Bible's description of the foundations of the Christian faith.

Between those things, my job, and my family, life is busy ... but exciting.

I will tell you about the two projects that have to do with Church history, since this is the "Christian History for Everyman" newsletter.

Over 28 years of reading, talking about, arguing about, writing about, and studying the early church fathers, one picks up distinct attitudes and favorite passages that differ between the early churches and our churches today. The "Rebuilding the Foundations" series is an attempt to clarify the foundational ideas held by the early churches; however, I am doing this from the Scriptures rather than their writings. It is a look at the foundational doctrines of Scripture (Heb. 6:1-2) the way the early Christians would have taught them.

I am creating this series on my blog at https://www.ancient-faith.com. When it is done, I will combine those posts in a booklet.

The second project has been going on for two years, but I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That is Rome's Audacious Claim.

The Roman Catholic Church claims that the pope has "full, supreme, and universal authority over the whole Church, a power he can always exercise unhindered" (Catholic Catechism, par. 883). In other words, they claim the pope is the authority and shepherd over your church and you.

They further claim that Jesus had the authority of the bishop of Rome in mind when he called Peter "Rock" and gave him the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 16:13-19. This means, of course, that all the apostles and all the early churches were aware of the authority the Roman bishop held in the name of Peter.

My book thoroughly examines this bold claim. It is broken into mostly small chapters that address each historical argument presented by Catholic apologists (those who defend the Roman Catholic claim).

Only a segment of the readers of Christian History for Everyman will be interested in Rome's Audacious Claim, but all of you can benefit from the "Rebuilding the Foundation" series. I am going very slowly through the scriptural arguments because the early churches and modern churches have some central issues we disagree on. At the end of the series, I will compare the conclusions drawn during the series with quotations from second- and third-century Christians, but I really wanted to base the series solidly in Scripture.

I embrace and put forth the argument that the churches of the second and third centuries were closer to the apostles than us, spoke the same language as the apostles, and lived in the same culture; therefore, they are far more likely to hold to biblical doctrines than we are. That is the reason I created the Christian History for Everyman web site: to expose modern Christians to the life and beliefs of early Christians. With "Rebuilding the Foundations" I am giving you the biblical foundation for their focus on holiness, unity, and good works.

I hope you will join me in the work of rebuilding the foundations (ancient-faith.com) and look forward to the release of Rome's Audacious Claim. I hope to release some of the chapters in advance as I get closer to the end.