I tend to view the Lone Ranger Christians as similar to the Ethiopian Eunuch in the
8th chapter of the Acts. He tried to work things out himself, but realized that he couldn't understand what he was reading on his own: “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
The next question they need to ask is: "
Who is it that can guide me?" The Ethiopian Eunuch had an Apostle to guide him, so whatever the source of guidance, it has to be as close to Apostolic as possible. This can mean both "close in time", that is, the early Christian writings, as well as "close in tradition". It seems though, that many Lone Rangers have a problem with the latter (even though the Scriptures themselves tell us we must hold to the Apostolic traditions: 2Thessalonians 2:15), so the other option of the early Christian writings is often a "less confronting" option for them. But so often, they opt for the easy way out by reading modern interpretations of other Lone Ranger Christians- which is really the blind leading the blind. But as translations and free publications of the Early Christian Writings become more and more available, Lone Ranger Christians are kind of running out of excuses.
