Please click on the "play button" above to listen to the lecture on the history of the Catholic church by Fr. John Theodore.

Introduction

Many Catholics the world over have been bombarded with questions about their faith by other religious groups and sects. Many Catholics either have not been privileged to be exposed to the authentic teachings of the Church, or simple never made the effort to find out.  This topic is meant to clear up all the misconceptions that Catholics as well as people of other beliefs, have about the Catholic Church, her teachings and her authenticity.  There is a misconception that all of the Church's teachings and practices must be found in the Bible.  This topic will show that the Catholic Church existed for several hundred years before the Bible was printed. 

The origin of the Catholic Church

After creation, sin took over the world - the story of Adam and Eve - and God decided that he would start over; that he would bring man back to himself.  God choose Abraham, a Jew, as the starting point and said to him, "From you, I will start a new people. 

Now the climax of the Jewish people was the coming of the Messiah, our lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  In John's gospel Chapter 4 verse22, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, "salvation comes from the Jews."

After Jesus' work on earth was done and before he ascended into Heaven, he left a group of men - his disciples - behind.  The Greek word for group in the ecclesia, which comes from the word ecclesiastics, which means church.

In Matthew 28: 16-20, we see Jesus on ascension morning commissioning his disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I give you."  Jesus assured them by saying, "And know that I am with you always; yes to the end of time."  That was a promise that Jesus made to his group - the Church - which he left.

In John 10: 16, Jesus says, "There are many other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well.  They too will listen to my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd."  Note the oneness of which Jesus speaks.  He desires that there should be only one group.

The group of men that Jesus left were not left alone.  Jesus left his Holy Spirit to be with them and to teach them.  John 14: 25-26 says, "I have said these things to you while still with you; but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all I have said to you."

John 16: 12-13 says, "I still have many things to say to but they would be too much for you now.  But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what h has learnt; and he will tell you of things to come."  This is the same Holy Spirit that Jesus said will be with his group until the end of time. So to summarize so far, we have:

1. Mankind fell from grace with God (The story of Adam and Eve)

2. God started over with the Jews (Abraham)

3. The climax of the Jewish people was the coming of the Messiah - Jesus Christ

4. Jesus left a group - ecclesia, from the word ecclesiastics, which means Church

5. Jesus left his Holy Spirit to be with that group until that group - the Church - always, and further promised them that he will be with them until the end of time.

The only group that can trace itself all the way back to the original group that Jesus left is the Catholic Church and that is a historical fact.  The Catholic Church can trace from Her present Pope all the way back to Her very first leader, Peter.

This Church that Jesus left was a distinct reality in the time of the first apostles.  St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: 9, "I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve to be called apostle."  

1 Corinthians 15: 3 says, "Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Jesus died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures;"  St. Paul says here that he teaches what he was taught.  This is how the faith of the Church was handed down and lived by the early Christians since there was no 'formal documentation' on her teachings.

1 Corinthians 15: 11 says, "but what matter is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all believed."  St. Paul underscores the importance of the Church teaching one doctrine.

Whenever the Church had a problem, it would always call a council to discuss the problem and then decide the way forward under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus left with the Church.  An example of this, the first such council, can be seen in Acts 15: 1-29.  Here the early Church had a problem where "some men came down from Judaea, and taught the brothers 'unless you have yourself circumcised in the tradition as Moses, you cannot be saved'."  This posed a problem to the Church at Antioch because it was not what they were taught.  It is important to note the tone of the letter that the Church wrote to the people (Acts 15: 22-29).  Verse 24 says that 'they acted without authority from us'; and verse 28 goes on to say, "It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and ourselves not to saddle you with any burdens beyond these essentials."  So from the very beginning, the Church was speaking with absolute authority because she had the Holy Spirit.

The letter that the early Church wrote is important because:

1. She speaks with absolute authority

2. Some people have no authority because they were not sent by the Church.  Another example of this can be seen in Romans 10: 13-15.

3. The Church's authority is based on the Holy Spirit

The Bible And Its Origin

• 2000 plus years ago, after Jesus rose from the dead, He did not leave a Bible.  He left a group of people - group is ekklesia which means church. Matthew 28: 16-20

• Jesus also empowered the group with His Holy Spirit and left the Holy Spirit as a promise for the future.  John 14: 25-26,  John 16: 12-13

• Jesus therefore left a group (the church) and His Holy Spirit.

• The Catholic Church is the only church that can trace itself back to this original group.  This can be seen by looking at the line of Popes from the very first one Peter, all the way down to our present Pope.  Click here to view list.

• The Church was a recognized reality preaching a simple doctrine.  1 Cor. 15: 8-11, Eph. 5: 28-29

• Early Christians received their faith from the life of the Church.  There was no Bible at that time.  1 Cor. 15: 3-7,  2 Thes. 2: 14-15

• A very important scripture that demonstrates how the early church existed can be found in Acts 15: 1-29.  In this passage we see that the Church has authority coming from the Holy Spirit. - "It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves, not this value with any burden beyond these essentials:" Acts 15: 28

• Some persons have no authority because they have not been sent by the Church.

• Acts 15: 24

• Romans 10: 14-15 - preachers must be sent

• The Church has clear leadership that decides on to the of doctrines.

• Acts 15: 23 - 29

• Gal. 2: 1-3

• The Bible came to us through and not the Church Council - The Council of Carthage in the year 397. Prior to that there were many writings divided into three groups:-

  • Those that were accepted by all

  • Those that will be rejected by all

  • Those that were rejected by some and accepted by some.

• In the year 397 the Council of Carthage decided upon the 73 books as inspired by the Holy Spirit that made up the Bible.

• The Bible therefore comes to us through the authority of the Church. Therefore, the correct question to ask is not " wind do you find this in the Bible?" but rather " what does the Church teach about to this?" it is the Church that tells us that the Bible is the word of God.

• It is important to note that the Protestant Bible is different from that of the Catholic Bible.  The Protestant's Bible has less books.  This came about as a result of a man called Luthor who broke away from the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century.  He left out the following six books from the Bible so as not to contradict what he was teaching :

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          • Tobit
          • Baruch
          • Wisdom
          • Ecclesiasticus
          • 1 & 2 Maccabees

• He left out part of the books of Esther and Daniel, and changed up parts of the New Testament.  For instance, the original text says that 'we are justified by faith', but Luthor wrote that 'we are justified by faith alone'.  Because he was teaching that there was no Purgatory, and the books of Macabees says otherwise, he omitted them.

• The Bible needs someone in authority to give correct interpretation of scriptural passages. Only the Catholic Church can do this.
• 2 Peter 1: 19 -21
• 2 Peter 3: 16
• Acts 8: 26-35
• Matt 28: 16-20

• The Catholic Church of authority to teach. Some teachers are false teachers even if though they work miracles.

  • 1 John 4: 1-6

  • 2 John: 7-11

  • Rev. 16: 12-14

  • 2 Thes. 2: 9-10

• If God has spoken to the human race there has to be a place to hear his voice with a measure of clarity he has left a church, the Catholic Church.