Restless Pilgrim

It is often asserted that the Catholic Church was founded by the Constantine, who was Emperor of the Roman Empire from AD 306-337. A couple of weeks ago, a lady named Monica made such an assertion and in earlier post I pointed out some of the problems with such a theory.

However, today I would like to do something a little different… In this post I would like to set forth the positive historical case for the existence of the Catholic Faith in the generations prior to Constantine. I will show how twenty-two different Catholic doctrines were taught long before Constantine rose to power:

1. The Church is Catholic
2. The Church has a three-fold structure of leadership
3. There is unity through episcopal authority and schism is evil
4. Sacred Tradition is authoritative
5. Worship is liturgical
6. There is Apostolic Succession
7. Peter has Primacy
8. The Eucharist is a Sacrifice
9. Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist
10. The Eucharist is taken to the sick
11. Infants are to be baptized
12. Baptism actually washes away sin
13. Priests forgive sins
14. Works are involved in salvation
15. Prayers are said for the dead
16. There is purgation after death
17. Relics are venerated and Saints are celebrated
18. Mary is the New Eve
19. Mary was a perpetual virgin
20. Mary is the Mother of God
21. Prayers are made to Saints
22. Songs are sung to Mary

I will demonstrate these early Christian belief by looking at primary sources alone and restricting myself to writings produced prior to AD 300.

Read more