150 AD The Rule Before The Book - Faith That Traveled Faster Than Scripture

The Rule of Faith: How the early church preserved and proclaimed the gospel through a memorized, spoken summary of truth—before the Bible was finalized or widespread.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJdTG9noRxsEKpmDoPX06VtfGrB-Hb7T4&si=W7jZcm46Ka3eJlm5

Imagine you’re a Christian in the year 150. Your church doesn’t have a Bible. Your bishop can’t quote chapter and verse. Your city doesn’t even own a full Gospel. But somehow… you know exactly what to believe. You were taught that there is one God, maker of heaven and earth… and one Lord, Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, crucified under Pontius Pilate, who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. You don’t have Scripture in your hand— but you have something ancient, trusted, and clear: A Rule of Faith—a verbal summary passed down by the apostles, remembered by the churches, and recited by the faithful across the empire. You were baptized into it. You confess it every week. You teach it to your children. And even though Rome mocks you, even though heretics twist theology, even though you can’t read a word of Greek… You know the truth. Because before the Bible was bound, before the canon was closed, before churches had full libraries— They had the Rule of Faith. And it was enough.

From the That’s Jesus Channel, welcome to COACH—where we are tracing the story of Church Origins and Church History. I’m Bob Baulch. On Mondays, we stay between 0 and 500 AD. And today… we’re going back to the second century. A time before Nicea. Before Constantine. Before the New Testament was fully formed. And way before anybody had a leather-bound Bible on a shelf. Christianity was growing fast. But it was fragile. Churches were scattered across cities and deserts and villages. Many couldn’t read. Most didn’t own a single scroll. So how did they know what to believe? Not by debating proof-texts. Not by googling sermons. Not even by reading Paul’s letters. They had something spoken. Something memorized. Something trusted. They had what early fathers called the Rule of Faith— a short summary of Christian truth that preserved the gospel across geography, persecution, and illiteracy. It was the church’s way of saying: “Here’s what the apostles taught. Here’s what every church believes. Here’s what we would die to defend.” Before there were creeds, there was the Rule. Before there was canon, there was confession. And today, we’re going to tell its story.

The phrase “Rule of Faith” shows up in the writings of some of the most important early Christian leaders: Irenaeus in Gaul Tertullian in North Africa Origen in Alexandria Hippolytus in Rome And what’s remarkable is this: Even though these men lived thousands of miles apart— they described nearly the same Rule. Here’s how Irenaeus put it around 180 AD: “The church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, carefully preserves this faith… believing in one God, the Father Almighty… and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God… and in the Holy Spirit… who spoke through the prophets.” 📌 (paraphrased from AH 1.10.1) It wasn’t Scripture—but it reflected the heart of Scripture. It wasn’t a creed—but it united churches like one. And it wasn’t a full theology—but it protected the essentials. Some scholars call it the proto-creed. Others call it the apostolic echo. But what mattered most is what it did. It gave every church—from Rome to Jerusalem to Carthage— a shared doctrinal spine when the New Testament was still being copied, debated, and delivered. Because remember—this was a world before: Bookstores Printing presses Mass literacy Church libraries Many believers could not read. And even if they could, most didn’t own Scripture. The best they could hope for was hearing a Gospel read aloud in worship— maybe a letter from Paul if their bishop had a copy. But the Rule? They could remember it. Recite it. Defend it. And that Rule became the glue of orthodoxy in a church with no centralized headquarters and no single book.