By Israel Anderson on X
Before Rome invented religion, there was only the Way — and it is time to return.
The Problem No One Wants to Admit
Modern Christianity is not what Jesus founded. It is not even what the first believers practiced. It is a Roman creation — a political, theological, and institutional invention built centuries after the resurrection.
The first followers of Jesus were not called Christians. They were called followers of the Way.
The Way was not an institution. It was not a religion. It was a living path — a way of being, loving, and living in direct relationship with the Father through His Son.
Today’s Christianity — Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox — is a Roman descendant, tracing its roots to Constantine, imperial councils, and centuries of philosophical inventions layered over simple faith.
Modern Christians are, knowingly or not, practicing mildly reformed Catholicism – clinging to the structure, doctrines, and worldview built by Rome, only rejecting the most obvious absurdities.
It is time to see this clearly. It is time to return to the Way.
The Way: The Original Followers of Jesus
Before Christianity was a word, there was the Way.
The book of Acts describes the earliest believers:
“I (Saul/Paul) persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prisons both men and women.” (Acts 22:4)
“About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.” (Acts 19:23)
“Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, adjourned the proceedings.” (Acts 24:22)
The Way was:
- A way of life, not a religion.
- Centered on following Jesus, not forming creeds.
- Guided by faith, love, and direct relationship, not by councils or clerical control.
It was a movement, not an institution. It was a living road to the Father, walked by the power of the Spirit.
Saul’s War Against the Way: Proof of Its Radical Power
Before he became Paul, Saul of Tarsus was the Church’s greatest enemy.
He didn’t oppose competing synagogues. He didn’t oppose a sect teaching slightly different theology.
He hunted the followers of the Way because they threatened the very foundations of the religious world.
“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2)
Saul’s fury reveals how different and dangerous the Way was. It was not just a reformation — it was a total departure from religious power structures.
And it took nothing less than a direct encounter with the risen Jesus to turn Saul into Paul — to pull him out of defending the old system and into proclaiming the new life of the Way.
If the Way had merely been another form of Judaism — or what Christianity later became — Saul would not have seen it as such a deadly threat.
The Rise of “Christianity”
The term Christian itself comes later — and even then, it was a label used by outsiders, not by Jesus’ followers themselves.
“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26)
Notice:
- They were called Christians — by others —
- It was not a name they chose for themselves.
Early believers continued to refer to themselves as followers of the Way well into the second century.
It was only after Christianity was recognized and legalized by Constantine — and then forcibly unified at councils — that it became a state religion, and the organic movement of the Way was replaced with an institutional Christianity.
Christianity: The Roman Invention
The transformation from the Way to Christianity happened not by revelation, but by imperial decree.
- 312 AD: Constantine’s supposed conversion.
- 313 AD: Edict of Milan legalizes Christianity.
- 325 AD: Council of Nicaea defines Christianity by imperial force.
- 380 AD: Edict of Thessalonica declares Nicene Christianity the only legal religion.
By this time:
- Faith was no longer a matter of personal devotion, but a matter of political loyalty.
- Belief was defined by imperial councils, not the Spirit.
- Those who dissented were labeled heretics, exiled, or killed.
Christianity became, in essence, a baptized Roman Empire.
The Church Fathers themselves admitted the changes:
Eusebius of Caesarea wrote admiringly:
“All things were performed according to the will of Constantine.” (Life of Constantine, Book 3, Chapter 6)
Augustine later defended using state violence to enforce Christian belief:
“It is better for the heretic to be corrected by fear of punishment than to be destroyed by the mischief of his error.” (Letter 93)
This is not the Way Jesus taught.
Even Before Constantine: The Early Drift Toward Hierarchy
The seeds of institutional corruption were already being sown before Constantine’s rise.
- Ignatius of Antioch (early 2nd century), one of the earliest Christian writers, strongly promoted the idea that obedience to the bishop was obedience to God.
He wrote:
“Where the bishop appears, there let the people be; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church.” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 8:2)
This language shows how hierarchy and clerical authority began creeping into Christian gatherings, moving believers further away from the organic, Spirit-led assemblies that characterized the Way.
By the time Constantine arrived, much of the groundwork for empire religion was already laid.
The betrayal of the Way was gradual — and then sudden.
Today’s Christians: Mildly Reformed Catholics
Modern Protestants often believe they have broken free from Catholicism. But in truth, they have only rejected some of Rome’s more obvious errors (like indulgences, papal supremacy), while retaining most of Rome’s structure, doctrines, and worldview.
Nearly every Protestant church still:
- Meets in buildings modeled after Catholic cathedrals.
- Organizes itself into clergy-laity hierarchies.
- Recites creeds crafted by imperial councils.
- Celebrates holy days invented or adopted by Rome.
- Accepts theological fictions such as the Trinity and the identification of YHWH as the Father.
In truth, modern Christians are just lightly reformed Catholics.
The spirit of Constantine’s Christianity still rules.
Two Doctrinal Fictions That Must Be Rejected
If we are to truly return to the Way, we must strip away the false doctrines Rome attached to the faith.
Two of the most foundational errors are:
1. The Misidentification of YHWH as the Most High God
Rome taught that YHWH, the tribal deity of the Hebrews, was the same as the Father Jesus revealed. But Jesus Himself spoke and acted as if His Father was different from the violent, tribal god of the Old Testament.
Jesus taught:
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)
“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you.” (Matthew 5:44)
This is not the character of YHWH, who commanded genocide, demanded total tribal loyalty, and ruled by fear.
Jesus explicitly said:
“No one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11:27)
If the Hebrews had already known the true Father, there would have been no need for a new revelation.
Many early believers wrestled with this tension — recognizing, even if quietly, that the God revealed by Jesus was greater than the god their ancestors had feared.
2. The Invention of the Trinity
The doctrine of the Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as co-equal, co-eternal persons in one substance — was invented at the Council of Nicaea and refined at later councils.
The Bible never defines God as a Trinity.
Jesus Himself never speaks of such a doctrine. He simply teaches:
- One Father.
- One Son, sent by the Father.
- One Spirit of the Father.
The Trinity was a philosophical attempt to reconcile Jesus’ divinity with monotheism — but it ended up creating a mystery that Jesus never taught.
Even respected scholars admit that the Trinity is not in the Bible:
“The New Testament does not contain an explicit doctrine of the Trinity.” (New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. 14, p. 299)
Believing in the Trinity today is to accept a Roman theological invention, not the Way Jesus taught.
The Call: Return to the Way
The Way is still alive. It was never fully destroyed, only buried under centuries of traditions, councils, and creeds.
The Way is:
- Following Jesus personally.
- Living by the Spirit, not by YHWH’s Law.
- Walking in love, not in ritual.
- Knowing the Father as Jesus revealed Him — not as men reimagined Him.
It means rejecting the fantasy fictions of Roman Christianity. It means returning to faith, to simplicity, to the radical freedom Jesus offered.
It means walking — not sitting in pews under a hierarchy, but moving daily along the road Jesus Himself walks.
The Final Appeal
Modern Christianity is not the true faith Jesus gave us. It is a rebranded empire. A polished edifice built on centuries of compromise, philosophy, and control by men usurping the teaching of Jesus.
We who truly love Jesus must recognize this. We must have the courage to step out of our man-made religions and walk the narrow road once again.
Not to throw away the Bible. Not to despise the faith. But to return to the raw, unfiltered call Jesus first gave:
“Follow me.”
Not “Join my religion.” Not “Pledge to a hierarchy.” Not “Recite a creed.”
Just — follow me.
No creeds. No councils. No cathedrals.
Only the living Jesus, leading us on the Way.
Come out of her.
Come back to Him.
The Way still waits.
