What Did The Earliest Christians Believe?
There is a myth out there that goes something like this: The Christianity that we know today was not what the earliest Church believed. The earliest Christians believed something different (which is usually claimed to be Arianism or a more naturalistic view of the faith). However, the claim is that they did not believe what orthodox Christianity claims they believed. However, despite the fact that this is a popular myth, it is baseless. In order to see what the earliest Christians believed, it is important to look at the earliest records we have. As it stands, we have incredibly early accounts that show that the earliest Christians did, in fact, believe what orthodox Christianity claims. One such record is a pre-Pauline creed that Paul quotes in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8. When I say that this is pre-Pauline, I mean that this creed predates Paul's conversion to Christianity. This is clear when Paul states that he is simply passing on what he has received (v. 3). Most scholars who have st...