This video tackles one of the most uncomfortable questions in Christian theology: if you believe the church went off the rails and needed to be "restored" or "reformed," how are you fundamentally different from the groups you mock?
We all laugh at the strip mall prophet who claims the true church vanished for 1,900 years. But then Protestants and Catholics give each other that awkward look, because one believes it disappeared for 1,500 years, and the other thinks that's ridiculous.
The uncomfortable truth? If you accept that the church Jesus promised to build—the one He said the gates of hell would not prevail against—somehow vanished, corrupted, or went completely off track for centuries, then you're playing the same game as every restorationist movement in history. You've just moved the date back a bit.
The Mormons say 1820. The Adventists say the 1840s. The Pentecostals point to Azusa Street. The Reformers say the 1500s. The only variable is timing.
This video isn't about dunking on any particular tradition. It's about asking the hard question: If Christ promised an indefectible church, can it really have disappeared? And if it did disappear, what makes your version of "rediscovering" it more legitimate than anyone else's?
As Rod Bennett put it: "If the church vanished, then everybody's a restorationist."
Some just prefer a different century. Or hairstyle.
If the church needs rediscovering, we're all Joseph Smith. We just argue about the calendar.
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