The Church in History
The Fact and Process of Apostasy
THE APOSTASY OF THE FIRST-CENTURY CHURCH OF CHRIST IS INDEED PROPHESIED BY THE BIBLE
THE ISSUE OF whether an apostasy occurred in the first century Church is of great importance, particularly for the Roman Catholic Church. If such an event did happen, the Catholic Church cannot be the true Church founded by Christ but an apostatized church. This is because the Catholic Church claims to have succeeded the first-century Church of Christ. For this reason, the Catholic Church attempts to use every possible way to cover up the biblical and historical evidence of the apostasy that occurred in the first-century Church of Christ.
WHAT "APOSTASY" IS
The dictionary defines “apostasy” as “the renunciation of a religious or political belief or allegiance” (Microsoft Encarta Dictionary). Thus, Apostasy is a defection, a falling away from what one believed in, as apostasy from one’s religion, creed, or politics. Hence, one becomes an “apostate” as soon as he departs from his former belief, whatever it was. What undergoes change is not the person nor his nature but his beliefs.
The Bible also has a definition for “apostasy.” Let us read what is written in I Timothy 4:1:
“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.”
(Reference: New Living Translation)
According to Apostle Paul, “some WILL TURN AWAY FROM THE TRUE FAITH; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.” These words (“turn away from the true faith”) is synonymous with the word “apostasy”:
But the Spirit speaks expressly, that in latter times some shall APOSTATISE from the faith, giving their mind to deceiving spirits and teachings of demons.”
(Reference: Darby Bible, Emphasis Mine)
Aside from “turning away from the true faith,” the Bible also used the following words, which are also synonymous with the word “apostasy”:
“depart from faith” (KJV)
“abandon the faith” (NIV)
“fall away from the faith” (NASB)
“desert the Christian faith” (God’s Word)
“turned away from the faith” (Bible Basic English)
“renounce the faith” ((NRSV)
For Apostle Paul, apostasy is not only turning away from the true faith but also “following deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.” The “true faith” is what the Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles taught. Where could we find the truth taught by the Lord Jesus and His Apostles? Which can teach us the truth? This is what apostle Paul said in II Timothy 3:16-17:
“And you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.”
(Reference: II Timothy 3:16-17 TEV, Emphasis Mine)
Not all the things done by Christ and the Apostles were written (cf. Jn. 20:30-31). In fact, there were some things that God did not want to be written (cf. Dan. 12:4; Rev. 10:4). The Apostles wrote down what they witnessed (cf. 1 Jn. 1:1-4). All such writings were inspired by God, should be used for doctrine, correction, and instruction, and they make man perfect (cf. II Tim. 3:16-17). What was written is enough and nothing should be added to them nor subtracted from them (cf. Rev. 22:18-19). But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (cf. Jn. 20:30-31). Apostle Paul adds that we must not go beyond what is written:
“Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.”
(Reference: Mark 16:15-16 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, departing from the true faith is departing from what the Bible teaches through going beyond what is written. Moreover, apostasy is also changing the Gospel of Christ or the doctrine written in the Bible:
“I am surprised at you! In no time at all you are deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ, and are accepting another gospel. Actually, there is no “other gospel,” but I say this because there are some people who are upsetting you and trying to change the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel that is different from the one we preached to you, may he be condemned to hell!“
(Reference: Mark 16:15-16 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
BIBLICAL FACTS OF THE APOSTASY ON ― Matthew 16:18
As expected, the Catholic Church denies that apostasy took place. Catholic Defenders even used Matthew 16:18 and Matthew 28:18-19 to prove that apostasy did not occur. However, carefully reading the verse will show that the Lord Jesus did not say there would be no apostasy. Let us first look at Matthew 16:18:
“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
(Reference: Matthew 16:18 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
When the Lord Jesus said, “the gates of Hades will not overcome it the Church He built,” the Catholic defenders understood this to mean that the Church would not be apostatized. However, this is only their conclusion, revealing their ignorance of the teachings of the Bible. What is the equivalent of the words of Christ that “the gates of Hades will not overcome the Church”? Let us read the rendering of Today’s English Version:
“And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it.”
(Reference: Mark 16:15-16 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
When the Lord Jesus Christ said that “the gates of Hades will not overcome it,” what He meant is “not even death will ever be able to overcome it.” In I Thessalonians, this is what Apostle Paul said:
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
(Reference: I Thessalonians 4:16-17 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, nowhere in Matthew 16:18 that the Lord Jesus Christ said that the Church He founded will not be apostatized. What the Lord Jesus Christ said is that “the gates of Hades will not overcome” the Church He founded. The Bible explained that these words of Jesus do not mean that the Church will not be apostatized, but that “the power of death will not overcome it” because the members of the Church He founded although they suffered death, will be resurrected in His “Second Coming.”
ON MATTHEW 28:19-20
Regarding Matthew 28:19-20, Catholic Defenders insist that the words of the Lord Jesus saying, “And remember that I am always with you until the end of time,” means apostasy did not occur. However, a careful study of the verse shows that the conclusion or interpretation of Catholic Defenders is erroneous. Let us read:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
“age” — (Time)
“I am always with you until the end of time.”
(Reference: God’s Word Translation®, Emphasis Mine)
Before the Lord Jesus Christ said the words, “I am always with you until the end of time.” He first said, “and make disciples of all nations… and TEACHING THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I HAVE COMMANDED YOU” (NIV). Thus, if the disciples continue obeying everything the Lord Jesus Christ commanded, He will be with them always to the very end of time.
Thus, like Matthew 16:18, nowhere in Matthew 28:19-20 did the Lord Jesus Christ say that the Church He founded would not apostatized. The Lord said to His disciples that He will always be with them to the very end of time IF they will continue obeying everything He commanded.
COMPARING THE CHURCH WITH ISRAEL
They refuse to accept that the first-century Church could have fallen away (apostatized) from the true faith, as it was established and built by Christ, taught by the apostles, and guided by the Holy Spirit. For them, the Church is of God and belongs to the nation of God, so they believe that apostasy is impossible. However, they overlook the fact that before the Church of Christ, Israel was the chosen nation of God. In Deuteronomy 7:6 this is what the Bible tells about Israel:
“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”
(Reference: Deuteronomy 7:6 NIV))
How did Israel become God’s nation? In II Samuel 7:24, this is what is written:
“You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.”
(Reference: Darby Bible, II Samuel 7:24 NIV)
The following were the privileges enjoyed by the Israelites when they were still the nation of God:
“They are God’s people; he made them his children and revealed his glory to them; he made his covenants with them and gave them the Law; they have the true worship; they have received God’s promises; …”
(Reference: Romans 9:4 GNT)
Although Israel was the first nation established by God as His people and received His promises, Israel apostatized and ceased to remain as God’s nation:
“All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. ‘Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you.”
(Reference: Daniel 9:11 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
Israel “turned away” from God. Isn’t the word “turned away” synonymous with “apostatized”? Israel was indeed apostatized, that is why she was replaced as God’s nation. Apostle Peter attests to this fact:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
(Reference: I Cor 4:6 NIV,(I Peter 2:9-10 NIV)
Apostle Peter is referring to the Church of Christ, the Church that Christ established. Thus, because Israel did not remain faithful to God and was apostatized, she was replaced as God’s nation by the first-century Church of Christ through the seed of David (Mat.1:1), which came Christ, although Israel continued as a nation but no longer as God’s chosen people. But how can God do this without breaking His promise or covenant with Israel? After Israel fell into apostasy, Abraham’s seed carried on with God’s covenant with Abraham. The Bible enlightens us on this regard:
“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
(Reference: Galatians 3:29 NIV)
Hence, in the Christian era, God’s everlasting covenant with Abraham continues because it was handed down to those who belong to Christ and thus are Abraham’s seed. One need not be an Israelite in the flesh anymore to partake of God’s covenant with Abraham. One can have a share of God’s promises by having a relationship with Christ, who is Abraham’s seed. The Bible emphasizes this:
“Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.”
(Reference: Galatians 3:16 NKJV, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, the argument suggesting the first-century Church of Christ will never be apostatized because it was built by Christ and acknowledged by God is baseless. Israel was established by God as His people, receiving God’s promises and covenant, and acknowledged as His nation, but yet she was apostatized and replaced by the Church of Christ which Christ established.
Therefore, although the first-century Church of Christ was apostatized, it doesn’t mean Christ failed. It was not Christ but the people who failed to continue obeying His commandments. Remember that Christ will only continue to be with them if they continue obeying everything He commanded.
DOES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH'S CONTINUOUS HISTORY OR ITS EXISTENCE FOR 2,000 YEARS PROVE THAT NO APOSTASY TOOK PLACE?
The Catholic defenders asked us, “why the Church of Christ had not ceased to exist throughout any period in history if it was truly apostatized?”
For them, the continuous history of the Catholic Church, spanning over 2,000 years, stands as their testament to the absence of any apostasy from ever taking place. If this were the case, then the Jews of Israel (the Jewish people) can still claim that they never turned away from God and they are the continuous nation of God until the present day. This would be tantamount to saying that Israel was not replaced by the Church of Christ as God’s nation since the Jewish people remained throughout history, which, therefore, would mean that there has never been a time in history where the Jewish people of Israel ceased to exist as God’s chosen nation. This would mean that from the time of Christ until now, the Jewish people have had a continuous history of around 3,500 years, (since the time of Moses).
However, as the New Testament points out, although the Jewish people or Israel continued, they did not remain as God’s chosen nation because they departed from the true faith or “turned away” – They apostatized. This is why, even though they continued to exist, the Israelites were no longer God’s nation. The nation of Israel was replaced by the Church of Christ as God’s nation. Thus, by the same comparison, the apostasy mentioned in the Bible does not mean that the Church will not continue to exist. The Church or the organization remained, but it was transformed from the true Church to an apostatized church. Therefore, although the church continued for 2,000 years, as we know it, it was not the Church of Christ but the Roman Catholic Church.
WHO MAKES THE LORD JESUS CHRIST A LIAR?
Catholic Defenders say that “those who say that the Church was apostatized are making the Lord Jesus a liar.” It is not those who say that the Church was apostatized, making Jesus a liar, but the Catholic Defenders who say that the Church will not be apostatized. Please ponder these words of the Lord Jesus Christ:
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time MANY WILL TURN AWAY FROM THE FAITH and will betray and hate each other.”
(Reference: Matthew 24:9-10 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
These are the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ: “MANY WILL TURN AWAY FROM THE FAITH.” Remember that “apostasy” means “turning away from the faith.” So, who makes the Lord Jesus Christ a liar, those who say that apostasy took place or those who say that there was no apostasy? According to the Lord Jesus Christ, who will lead the disciples astray, and how many will be led astray?
“Many false prophets will rise up and lead multitudes astray.”
(Reference: Matthew 24:11 Weymouth, Emphasis Mine)
Take note that Jesus warned us that not only “many will turn away from the faith” but that those faithful disciples “will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death.” This is how the first-century Church of Christ was totally apostatized. The faithful disciples were persecuted and put to death, and the multitudes of His disciples “will turn away from the faith.”
Therefore, it is indeed a biblical fact that the first-century Church of Christ had apostatized.
THE PROCESS OF APOSTASY
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.”
(Reference: II Peter 2:1-2 AB, Emphasis Mine)
Apostle Peter said, “there will be FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU,” meaning, within the Church, who will deceive many and lead them astray from the faith. These false teachers will not come from outside the Church but will rise from within the Church itself, IN THE MIDST of the disciples.
How will these false teachers distort the doctrines of Christ and the Apostles written in the Bible? Apostle Peter said, “They will secretly introduce destructive heresies.” Thus, apostasy will happen inside the Church.
The organization and the Church persisted over time; However, her doctrines did not remain “pure” as what Jesus Christ and the Apostles taught in the Bible. As prophesied, false teachers will rise among them and secretly introduce destructive and spurious doctrines.
Remember what Apostle Paul said in I Timothy 4:1:
“Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.”
(Reference: I Tim. 4:1 New Living translation, Emphasis Mine)
Who are these false teachers that will secretly introduce to the Church “destructive heresies” or false doctrines? Apostle Paul answered this in Acts 20:30:
“Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”
(Reference: Acts 20:30 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
Apostle Paul said, “from your own number men will rise and distort the truth.” Who were Apostle Paul talking to when he said “from your own number men will rise and distort the truth”? In Acts 20:28:
“Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.”
(Reference: Acts 20:28 ASV, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, among the bishops, these men or false teachers will rise and distort the truth leading many astray. When will this happen? Apostle Paul sheds light on this:
“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”
(Reference: Acts 20:29-30 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
Apostle Paul said, “after I leave…” He is referring to his death (cf. Acts 20:29-30, 24-25 and 37-38; I Tim. 4:6-8). The process of apostasy, or the turning away from the teachings of God as written in the Bible, was already at work even during the times of the apostles (cf. II Thess. 2:7). Apostle Paul warned the Christians in Galatia that those who teach doctrines different from what the Apostles already taught be accursed (cf. Gal. 1:6-9). But for as long as the Apostles were still alive and in control of Church administration, such forces of iniquity did not succeed in enticing the entire living members of the Church away from what the Apostles taught them (cf. II Thess. 2:7).
Thus, the apostasy will take place after the death of the apostles or after the apostolic period. After the death of the apostles (John, the last of the apostles, died in c. 90-100 AD), among the bishops (those who succeeded the apostles) will rise false teachers that will distort the truth.
THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY
What will happen to those who resist the apostasy prophesized by Christ to come and how severe will it be? According to Christ, this is what he stated:
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”
(Reference: Matthew 24:9-11 NIV, Emphasis Mine)
Christ said that “you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” In addition, Christ also stated that “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” Therefore, not only will there be many false prophets that will emerge but the persecution will be severe, the first century Christians were persecuted and put to death. There’s the Jewish persecution where Stephen was one of the Christians who were put to death. Then came the imperial persecution of the Church started by Roman Emperor Nero in 64 AD:
“There can be no question regarding persecution of Christians by Nero, Claudius’ successor… Tacitus, thus describes the torture inflicted upon Nero’s victims at Rome in the summer of 64 A.D.”
(Reference : Christianity Through the Centuries, By Daryl Chase, Ph.D, Pub: 1944, P.46)
“Nero has the dubious distinction of being the first major persecutor of the Christian church. Tacitus recorded the rumor that Nero had ordered the fire that destroyed part of the city of Rome. This rumor was so widely accepted by the people that Nero had to find a scapegoat. He diverted feeling against himself to the Christians by accusing them of arson and by engaging a saturnalia of destruction of the Christians… Peter and Paul died in this period.”
(Reference : Christianity Through the Centuries, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded, A History of the Christian Church By Earle E. Cairns, p.140)
During the first century AD, this time by Emperor Domitian, he initiated another imperial persecution of the Christians:
“Persecution broke out again in 95 during the reign of the despotic Domitian. The Jews had refused to pay a poll tax that had been levied for the support of Capitolinus Jupiter. Because the Christians continued to be associated with the Jews, they also suffered the effects of the emperor’s wrath. It was during this persecution that the apostle John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation.”
(Reference : Christianity Through the Centuries, Third Edition, Revised and Expanded, A History of the Christian Church By Earle E. Cairns, p.141)
Thus, what the Lord Jesus Christ prophesied in Matthew 24:9 was fulfilled. The faithful, including the apostles, were put to death during the imperial persecution. Indeed, many Christians were put to death during these two imperial persecutions of the Church in the first century. Apostle John was exiled on an island called Patmos. He died in c. 90-100 AD. With the death of the apostles, however, something happened to the Church:
“For the years after the record in Acts ends, evidence for the history of the Christian Church becomes more scanty. There began to be passing references to it in pagan writers. These writers make it seem likely that the Roman Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for the burning of the city of Rome in A.D. 64. It is also very likely that Saint Peter and Saint Paul were put to death at Rome about this time… When the original Apostles died, the leadership of the Church was taken over by local pastors, known as bishops. Under them were ministers of lower rank, known as presbyters and deacons. The Church organized the area of the Roman Empire into provinces. The bishops at the head of the Christian communities in the large cities such as Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, and Carthage ranked highest.”
(Reference : Christianity Through The New Book of Knowledge, vol. 3c, p. 287, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, when the Apostles died, not much was recorded on what went on in the Church of Christ, but during this period of silence, the administration of the Church fell into the hands of the bishops. Apostle Paul describes the bishop as he was in the first century Church of Christ. His qualities are detailed in I Timothy 3:2-7 as:
“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, not violent, not greedy of dishonest gain; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that rules well his own house, having his children in subjection with all respect; (For if a man knows not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them who are outside; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
(Reference: I Timothy 3:2-7 King James 2000 Bible, Emphasis Mine)
Apostle Paul further states that a bishop should be “holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers” (cf. Titus 1:9). Thus, among other things, a bishop in the first-century Church of Christ is a husband of one wife and a teacher of things taught by the Apostles and Christ, things that are written in the Bible.
The bishops that took control of the Church administration in the second century were of a different breed. They were priests who were not allowed to marry and taught things not coming from the Bible. Moreover, the bishops of the first-century Church were not monarchical:
“In Acts 20:28, …the fact that there were several bishops in one community excludes the monarchical concept of the term…”
(Reference : New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol 2., by Catholic University of America, Pub: 1967, p.585)
In spite of this clear evidence from the Bible that the original bishop in the Church of Christ was not monarchical, Catholic Church authorities inject the idea that the monarchical episcopate which prevailed in the second century must have come from oral tradition:
“Therefore, since there is no clear evidence in NT for a monarchical episcopate, this office, which was firmly established by the early decades of the 2d century must have been based on oral apostolic tradition going back ultimately to Christ.”
(Reference : New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol 2., by Catholic University of America, Pub: 1967, p.585)
A monarchical episcopate is defined as “one single bishop assisted by priests and deacons” (Ibid. p. 589), a thing that did not prevail during the time of the Apostles. In spite of this difference in administration between the first-century Church of Christ and that of the second, Catholic authorities reject the first and accept the second:
“The testimony of Ignatius from the first decade of the 2d century, along with the evidence of the writers from the second half of that century and the earliest catalogs of bishops in the principal Churches – all of which trace a line of succession of individual bishops back to the apostolic age – satisfies most Catholic theologians that this form of Church government was the only one ever recognized as normal and regular.”
(Reference : New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol 2., by Catholic University of America, Pub: 1967, p.589)
Soon after the bishops took over the administration of the Church in the second century, the doctrines of this Church began to be infected with poison:
“At first, the history of the Roman Church is identical with the history of the Christian truth. But unhappily there came a time when streams of poison began to flow from the once pure fountain.”
(Reference : The World’s Great Events, Vol. 2 by Great Historians; Esther Singleton, Pub: 1913., pp. 529-530,Emphasis Mine)
This control of the Church administration by the bishops who began to teach different doctrines was the fulfillment of what Apostle Paul prophesied concerning the overseers (bishop) within the church:
“Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”
(Reference: Acts 20:30, KJV)
DEPARTING FROM THE TRUE FAITH
The great apostasy did not consist of the destruction of the first-century Church of Christ and the establishment of another. It consisted of the deterioration of the Church established by Christ into a completely different one. Immediately after the death of the Apostles, during this period, the bishops took over the administration of the Church, and the Church became very different from what Christ founded (the first-century Church):
“The age of Shadows,” partly because the gloom of persecution was over the church… For fifty years after St. Paul’s life a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look; and when at last it rises, about 120 A.D. with the writings of the earliest church-fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul.”
(Reference : The Story of the Christian Church by Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman, Pub: 1933, p. 41, Emphasis Mine)
The differences between what used to be the Church of Christ in the first century and the Church that was revealed in the second to the fourth centuries are profound:
“It is necessary to note that we should recall the reader’s attention to the profound differences between this fully developed Christianity of Nicaea and the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth….What is clearly apparent is that the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth was a prophetic teaching of the new type that began with the Hebrew prophets. It was not priestly, it had no consecrated temple and no altar. It had no rites and ceremonies. Its sacrifice was “a broken and contrite heart”. Its only organization was an organization of preachers, and its chief function was the sermon. But the fully fledge Christianity of the fourth century, though it preserved as its nucleus the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, was mainly a priestly religion of a type already familiar to the world for thousands of years. The centre of its elaborate ritual was an altar, and the essential act or worship the sacrifice, by a consecrated priest, of the Mass.”
(Reference : The Outline of History by H.G. Wells, Pub. 1920, p. 601, Emphasis Mine)
These profound changes, made on the original teachings of Christ, dealt great violence on the teachings of the Bible for the purpose of enhancing the interests of the Catholic Church:
“Jesus too, being a Galilean, was of Aryan stock, a remarkable man whose teachings had, in the course of centuries, been deformed out of all recognition in the interests of the Catholic Church.”
(Reference : The Vatican in the Age of Dictators by Rhodes, Anthony, Pub: 1973, p. 168, Emphasis Mine)
Adding insult to injury, Catholic authorities acknowledge such changes without shame and even with pride:
“We Catholics acknowledge readily, without any shame, nay with pride, that Catholicism cannot be identified simply and wholly with primitive Christianity, nor even with the Gospel of Christ, in the same way that the great oak cannot be identified with the tiny acorn.”
(Reference : The Spirit of Catholicism, by Dr. Karl Adam… Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D., Censor Lirorum; Imprimature: Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Archbishop, Pub: The Macmillan Co. 1939, p. 2, Emphasis Mine)
Catholic authorities even boast that they did not derive their faith in Jesus from the Scriptures:
“‘Without the Scriptures,’ says Möhler, ‘the true form of the sayings of Jesus would have been withheld from us….Yet the Catholic does not derive his faith in Jesus from Scriptures’.”
(Reference : The Spirit of Catholicism, by Dr. Karl Adam… Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D., Censor Lirorum; Imprimature: Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Archbishop, Pub: The Macmillan Co. 1939, p. 49, Emphasis Mine)
Hence, those responsible for this apostasy of the first-century Church of Christ were the bishops under whose administration these profound changes took place. The first bishop identified as having introduced changes into the Church was Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who was martyred in Rome about 110 A.D. He was the first to use the term Catholic Church in reference to the Church of Christ:
“The name Catholic as a name is not applied to the Catholic Church in the Bible. ..St. Ignatius of Antioch, writing to the Christians of Smyrna about the year 110, is the first to use the name ‘The Catholic Church’…”
(Reference : The Question Box by Rev. Bertrand L. Conway, Preface To New Edition by Imprimatur: Patrick Cardinal Hayes D.D., Archbishop, from old Edition by Cardinal Gibbons; Permissu Superiorum: John B. Harney, C.S.P., Superior General; Nihil Obstat: Arthur J. Scanlan, S.T.D., Censor Librorum; p. 132,
Emphasis Mine)
This same Ignatius introduced the doctrine that Christ is both God and man:
“Ignatius…He asserted unequivocally both the divinity and humanity of Christ, the Savior.”
(Reference : New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 7, p. 311, Emphasis Mine)
Ignatius is one of the so-called Ante-Nicene Fathers who were divided into three groups, namely:
1. Apostolic Fathers — These men supposedly had personal contact with the Apostles or were instructed by their disciples. Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyna, and Clement of Rome belong to this group.
2. Greek Apologists — born of the Church’s reaction to paganism. To this group belong, Justin Martyr, Athenagoras of Athens, Theophilus of Antioch, and Irenaeus.
3. Theologians — this group belongs to Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, and Cyprian.
Ignatius is one of the so-called Ante-Nicene Fathers who were divided into three groups, namely:
“Obviously much that Christ and the apostles preached was in time reduced to writing. Hence there grew up a library composed of men called “the fathers of the Church.” They were called so because in apostolic days the word “father” also meant teacher of spiritual things, and these were among her earliest teachers. But, unlike the apostles, all of whom enjoyed infallibility, they were not immune from error nor inspired as the scriptural writers had been. In so far as they dealt with questions of faith and morals, much of what they wrote was approved by the Church, and thus became part of written tradition.”
(Reference : Whereon to Stand: What Catholics Believe and Why, by John Gilland Brunini, Pub. 1961, p. 142)
As a result of the teachings of these early Church Fathers, the Church of Christ or Christianity became Roman Catholicism, the last and the greatest of the mystery religions:
“On that dies Domini, or Lord’s Day, the Christians assembled for their weekly ritual. Their clergy read from the Scriptures, led them in prayer, and preached sermons of doctrinal instruction, moral exhortation, and sectarian controversy… By the close of the second century these weekly ceremonies had taken the form of the Christian Mass. Based partly on the Judaic Temple service, partly on Greek mystery rituals of purification, vicarious sacrifice, and participation, through communion, in the death-overcoming powers of the deity, the Mass grew slowly into a rich congeries of prayers, psalms, readings, sermon, antiphonal recitations, and, above all, that symbolic atoning sacrifice of the ‘Lamb of God’ which replaced, in Christianity, the bloody offerings of older faiths. The bread and wine which these cults had considered as gifts placed upon the altar before the god were now conceived as changed by the priestly act of consecration into the body and blood of Christ, and were presented to God as a repetition of the self-immolation of Jesus on the cross. Then, in an intense and moving ceremony, the worshippers partook of the very life and substance of their Saviour. It was a conception long sanctified by time; the pagan mind needed no schooling to receive it; by embodying it in the ‘mystery of the Mass,’ Christianity became the last and the greatest of the mystery religions.”
(Reference : Ceasar and Christ : a history of Roman civilization and of Christianity from their beginnings to A.D. 325 by Will Durant Pub. 1944, pp. 599-600, Emphasis Mine)
IN CONCLUSION
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Thus, the Catholic Church claims to be the Church founded by Christ in the first century, but this assertion is far from the truth. The Church of Christ, which was established by Jesus in the first century, is vastly different from the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is not the true Church founded by Christ, but rather, it is the fulfillment of the prophecies mentioned in the Bible, which speak of the apostasy that would occur immediately after the death of the apostles. Therefore, the Catholic Church’s claim that they succeeded the apostles is not proof of being the true Church founded by Christ. It is, in fact, strong evidence that the Catholic Church is the apostate Church, fulfilling what the Bible prophesied — that after the death of the apostles, false teachers would rise among the ranks of bishops and distort the truth. Therefore, the Church Of Christ eventually became the Catholic Church — an apostatized church that adopted many corrupted and man-made teachings and unbiblical rituals over the centuries.
To learn more about the Apostasy or the restoration of the true Church built by Christ you may visit the following links below:
The Apostasy
AFTER THE DEATH of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, the Apostasy took place. Christians were hunted down, persecuted, and killed, causing the church to drift from the original teachings of Christ and His Apostles. False teachings emerged, leading to the contamination of the pure doctrine. With the Apostles no longer around to defend the truth, the Church Of Christ evolved into a different organization ( the Catholic Church), adopting many pagan rituals and deviating from the pristine gospel established by Christ. This era is known as the “Great Apostasy.”
The Third Group of Christ
THE TRUE CHURCH of Christ is Comprised of 3 Groups. Before Christ’s ascension to heaven, He prophesized about His other sheep (the third group of people) or flock that were not part of His flock then. The flock being the Church of Christ (Acts 20:28 Lamsa). Christ said he will call his other sheep “in the future” they will be one flock or Church of Christ:
“I have other sheep too. They are not in this flock here. I must lead them also. They will listen to my voice. IN THE FUTURE there will be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16 Easy-to-Read Version, Emphasis Mine)
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