Church History Conference Part 1 – What If Your Most Sacred Practice Is PAGAN?

Could the traditions you hold most sacred actually be blocking your freedom? Gene Edwards argues that new archaeological evidence, much of it surfacing only recently, is finally “cracking” the prevalent religious mindset concerning the first centuries of the faith. He reveals how the early believers (100–313 AD) were “matrix neutral,” successfully resisting pagan influence without inverting into a rigid, formalized religious system. This new history challenges us by showing a classless community meeting freely in homes, where documents show “virtually no reference to any kind of clergy” and Jesus was invariably depicted as “smiling” and triumphant. Instead of solemnity and ritual, Gene Edwards shows that the Lord’s Supper was a “joyful festivity”. Gene Edwards calls for honesty and conscience, challenging listeners to embrace the total liberation found in confronting our deeply held, often unexamined, traditions and our “venerated Protestant history”.