I do not confirm the Catholic Church is the original religion.
Maybe I misunderstood.
If so I apologize.
However, yes, the CC IS the original church.
Unless you could name another denomination that was around at the time.
In a letter to Smyrnea, Ignatius of Antioch (my favorite ECF) first used the term CATHOLIC.
It meant UNIVERSAL...however the title did stick...and it is THIS church that was present then and now.
Ignatius did this because heresy was already in the church and he wanted to distinguish the TRUE CHURCH from heresy.
John wrote about this in a much ussed verse but used incorrectly.
1 john 2:19
19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that [a]it would be evident that they all are not of us.
Those that uphold OSAS always use this verse for support.
Unfortunately, it does not mean what they think it means.
John was referring to heretics that had infiltrated the church.
You have been taught a bunch of lies.
Which lies have I been taught GH?
And by whom?
You're the one who went to a theological university and studied under MEN.
I read my bible and make sure that when I'm told/taught something it matches EXACTLY with scripture.
Scripture teaches me that there is ONLY ONE GOD.
And this is both in the OT and the NT.
The Catholic Church was established during the Ecumenical Councils and at the time the head of that Church was Emperor Constantine. That is way people call it the Roman Catholic Church. And then later on words like Pope and Bishop came into use. The Roman Empire enforced all doctrines that the Ecumenical Councils established.
You should learn if you're going to speak.
Roman is not a denomination.
Roman is a rite.
It's not even correct to call it the RCC...
There's no such animal.
And you're wrong about Pope and Bishop too.
1 timothy 3:1-2
It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.
An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
Titus 1:7
7 For the [a]overseer must be beyond reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not overindulging in wine, not [b]a bully, not greedy for money,
That's two verses. There are more.
And the good ole' KJV uses the word BISHOP, which, in Greek is EPISKOPOS and the correct word is BISHOP, but it just sounds too Catholic for we Protestants, I guess, so the word has been changed to ELDER. The meaning is the same.
A bishop IS AN ELDER. Not to be confused with elders in the JW religion or elders in a neighborhood church.
Titus 1:7
7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
This is true for every verse that uses the word OVERSEER or ELDER in our more modern bibles.
And there were MANY councils...why are you obsessed with the Council of Nicea??
Were bishops not present? Was the church not making decisions there?
And you should find out about the history of POPE.
There were 5 Popes while PETER WAS STILL ALIVE.
Look it up.
We have the internet now.
The 12 Apostles....the Jewish Christians did not continue their lineage. They pretty much died out by the end of the 1st century. The Catholic Church started re-writing history, trying to connect to the Apostle Peter but then embraced the teaching of Paul. Re-writing history is bad practice because you end up looking like a liar then all of what you are teaching falls into question. Pope and Bishop are English words, the ECF's wrote in Greek and Latin.
Yes sir.
I just got through explaining the word Bishop.
And it's the CC that created the CANON FOR SCRIPTURE.
It is the CC that established WHAT LETTERS and GOSPELS were to be included in the NT.
Did they not include writings by Paul AND Peter?
HOW did the CC rewrite history when you're not even representing correct history??
But if you look up a word like Bishop it will give a more modern Latin word. The ECF's refereed to religious leaders as episcopus, from Greek episkopos "watcher, (spiritual) overseer. The words Pope and Bishop do not appear in the actual texts. It would be like calling Constitine president.
This is rather a silly statement GH.
Sorry for having to say this.
It's like saying that the word COMPUTER did not exist before the COMPUTER existed.
EPISKOPOS means BISHOP.
Of course the actual word BISHOP did not exist....
because Christianity had to be ESTABLISHED.
But EPISKOPOS means BISHOP...it means a religious LEADER,,,an OVERSEER.
This is what a BISHOP does !
Constantine doesn't appear in scripture either...
but you keep bringing him up.
Double standard?
Most of the history of the Catholic Church was filled with horror and corruption. After Vatican II the Catholic Church affirmed all that and apologized for a lot of it. Today the Catholic Church is better than it ever has been. Like I always say I would not give you two cents for the Vatican. They still have problems but what denomination does not have problems.
Yes. Hatred of the CC runs rampant.
The very church that has allowed Christianity to be established and without which there would be NO CHRISTIANITY.
Your hatred colors everything you say and so it is impossible to be objective.
