I like to refer to the book of Hebrews as, “The Him Book.” Those early Jewish believers had turned their backs on the Temple, with all its relics and trappings, for Christ and Christ alone. In place of Temple worship, small groups met in homes. This went on for centuries. One of the main things they left behind when leaving the Temple was their religious ritualism.
This simple type of Christianity is always a threat to Micah’s Clan (Judges 18), as well as those who emulate his religion. Some years ago one of “Micah’s ministers” put out a pamphlet against us “Plain Protestants”. It reads;
A religion which has:
No priest, no Holy Mass, or Communion,
No Jesus in the Tabernacle, no Crucifix,
No blessed Virgin, no Mother, no Rosary,
No Saints and no statues of them,
No baptism for your babies,
No visible forgiveness for sinners,
No last Sacraments for the dying,
No prayers for the beloved dead,
No purgatory to ready for heaven,
No blessing in life or in death,
Not a candle, flower, or bell,
No head, no rule, no catechism—
But only preaching and singing—only a Bible and a song book.
Such a religion is not, cannot be, the religion of Christ.
What a blessed condemnation! My Primitive Baptist granny, who chewed twist tobacco and smoked a corn-cob pipe, used to go to church carrying only her song book, with her Bible on top of it. As the song goes, “It was good for my Granny, and it’s good enough for me.” That is, the Bible and song book. (smiling)
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