What we believe about the church

As Jesus was about to leave the earth, He prayed for the unity of the church, in words such as this, “The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one…” John 17:22.(NASB) Historically, the church of Jesus Christ has not had great success in seeing this prayer fulfilled; it has been fractured and divided into innumerable pieces. There have at times been understandable reasons for division.

However, history does not change God’s word and purpose. He still sees His church as one. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:4-5 (NASB)

As we come to end times, we have this one final opportunity and motivation to do our best to be one: we all share the common hope that Jesus will come again. After all, the Scriptures say that God’s crown of life in Jesus Christ will be given not to Protestants or Roman Catholics or Anglican or Orthodox, etc., but “to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8 (NASB) In Revelation 2-3 we see that God recognizes the differences that have evolved in the church as a whole. But rather than including some branches of the church and excluding others, He addresses each branch with commendation or admonition or both. He claims ownership of the church in every branch of its diversity, and offers to each perfect counsel to ensure the means of being ready for the return of Jesus.

In view of this, the Patmos Project exists to encourage every person in every branch of Christendom to prepare for the return of Jesus and not miss out on it. In this sense, the Patmos Project holds to an ecumenical view of the church in its historic and current manifestations.

Personal note: Although the founder of the Patmos Project, Dr. Jim Christie, was raised as a protestant believer, trained at protestant Bible School, pastored for 30 years in a protestant church, and taught New Testament in a protestant Seminary; nevertheless when living in Mexico he was led by God to worship in the Roman Catholic church. Because of his background and prejudices, he at first was hesitant to believe God would lead him in such a direction. However, he could not but obey; and came to absolutely love the Roman Catholic church in Mexico. He loved the sense of awe for God that was nurtured there, and drew near to Him Sunday after Sunday; he received special words from God often while there, gained a deeper appreciation for some of the doctrines and traditions of the Christian faith, came to love and respect various priests, and enjoyed fellowship with fellow believers. In his ministry he established small groups and found many Roman Catholic believers who were hungry for hope of the return of Jesus.

Life and ministry in Mexico brought to Jim some much needed correction about the church of Jesus Christ.

Statement of faith

Given this embrace of an ecumenical, historical Christianity, the Patmos Project can do nothing better with respect to a statement of faith than affirm the universal beliefs of Christendom as set out in the apostles’ creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Eschatology (System of beliefs about end times)

There are almost as many versions of eschatology as there are divisions within the church. No matter what established eschatology the Patmos Project might embrace, it would win the favour only of a small percentage of the church, and be disapproved by the majority; for there really is no “majority position” in the church at large on eschatology.

However, for the Patmos Project, there was never an intention to adopt an established version of eschatology, nor to win favour or widespread support. Dr. Christie started this journey simply by memorizing the book of Revelation, as well as studying and reflecting on it for 15-20 years. His conclusions from Revelation do not really “fit” with any single, established system of beliefs about end times. These conclusions were not his intention either, but they resulted from his studies.

In such a situation, where it is unlikely that the church will find a lot of common ground with respect to eschatology, the Patmos Project makes three proposals.

Proposal 1: In view of our desire to see the church as a unity rather than hopelessly splintered, let us “agree to disagree” about our eschatology. Our salvation does not rest in our view of end times, it rests in what Jesus Christ has done for us through his incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. We don’t have to agree on everything to be a unity; we can be a unity with diversity.

Proposal 2: Let us celebrate our unity in the shared hope of the return of Jesus. In a world that seems to be a more and more dangerous place to be, in a time more and more frightening and insecure, the great expectation we share is that Jesus Christ is going to return and rescue His people and establish His kingdom of peace. The calling of the Patmos Project is to give credible reason to believe that the time of rescue is near. We should be preparing ourselves for the return of Jesus. Our eschatologies may have different views of what happens after Jesus returns; but we agree He is coming. Let’s be ready!

Proposal 3: For anyone who thinks it might be useful to examine or explore or evaluate or embrace what the Patmos Project does hold as an eschatology, we make this final proposal. First, you can explore our conclusions from the book of Revelation through material on this website. Our material is available here for free in audio/video format and also in book format. And then our proposal is this: when you find conclusions in our material that do not fit with what you were thinking up to now, don’t evaluate those conclusions solely based on your personal beliefs, nor on materials that affirm the various established beliefs on end times. Rather, go to the text of Revelation, what Revelation actually says, and from there evaluate whether the Patmos Project is being faithful to the Scripture or not in its conclusions.