How the Catholic Church evolved. - Page 2

Apostolic period (to~100)
33-36 crucifixion of Jesus
45-64 Missionary journeys of St Paul
49 The 1st christian council in Jerusalum
64 Persecution by Emperor Nero
70 Romans sack Jerusalem
94 Persecution by Emperor Domitian

Patristic Period (100-451)
Before Constantine)
155 martyrdom of Bishop Polycarp of Symrna
177 Persecution at Lyons
178 Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons
235-8 Persecution by Emperor Maximus
249-50 Persecution by Emperor Decius
303-11 Persecution by Emperor Diocletian

After Constantine, the Imperial Church
312 Emperor Constantine adopts Christian symbol at battle of Milvian bridge
313 Edit of Milan
323 Building of St Peter's in Rome
325 Council of Nicaea
325-81 Arian controversy
328-73 St Athanasius
330 Constantinople (Byzantium) Made new capital of empire
341-83 Ulfilas, Bishop of Goths
361-3 Emperor Julian the Apsotate
370 Basil, Bishop of Caesarea
374-97 St Ambrose, Bishop of Milan
381 Council of Constantinople condemns Arianism
386 St Jerome settles in monastary in Bethlehem, translates bible into Latin (Vulgate)
395 St Augustine appointed Bishop of Hippo
410 Goths sack Rome; Roman troops withdraw from Britian
416 Teaching of Pelagius condemned @ Church council at Carthage
430-61 Pope Leo 1
431 Council of Ephesus
451 Coucil of Chalcedon
460 Patrick {Magonus Sacatus Patricius} missionary to the Irish
476 End of Western Roman Empire



Dark Ages....

etc etc...all these are in the link I gave you in the original post.
I could go on, but it would take me hours.
I did this, IF you did not have acrobat.

Otherwise, the lineage of the Popes in rule, and the line of the events that occured through out history since Christ give credulous proof this is no fasiry tale, and the first church was Catholic, or IE given a distinction of UNIVERSAL (CATHOLIC MEANS UNIVERSAL) VS other broken off churches.

Petri, The life of Jesus is the perfect example of what & how we should live, the spirit is our helper, who directs our lives toward that Truth (if we are willing). Human life is full of error, people will fail to live up to expectations. So Jesus is the ideal not the idol, the truth to seek & know that you may know the Father.
The True Church is the body,the faithfull who have formed a relationship of Truth. They are many & diverse in beliefs (understanding) but they are one in the spirit.
The greatest thing I have aginst Catholics is they did not teach (give access) to the Word but sought to hide it away.
We both know the truth of why they did these things.

Me and my wife recently watched this documentery that claimed that the Pope was put in place by the U.S. Government to take out communism by starting solidarity strikes in Poland. Very interesting.

As I recall - I think the Greek Orthodox church believes it is the first church, older than the Roman Catholic church, but I don't believe em.

OkCity, ya I think I mentioned that I talked with a Greek Orthodox. He stated that the Church became divide by the issue of the Pope. Which means they were the same church pior to then? So one could not be older than the other.
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Petri, I'm not aginst Catholics, nor any other church (religion).
I see it as a mistake to put such emphemsis a Jesus as God.
Jesus did teach forgiveness of sins. Look at Peter, who denied Jesus 3 times before the morning light (cock crowed).
Yet Peter went on to do much & teach the Way that he had recieved from Jesus. Forgiveness is not one way street but required an act on the part of those seeking it. In Jewish Tradition it was to make a sacrafice (material form) which Jesus taught the true sacrifice was from your heart (being).
I am not trying to convert you to some other teaching but seek to help you & others understand His teaching better.
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Peace & Love of Christ be with you & guide you.

quote:

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But by the third quarter of this (first) century there had arisen what was called the Catholic Church,

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from The Growth of the Christian Church by: Robert Hastings Nichols.

We still haven't even gotten to the "Roman" Catholic Church.

Again, the term catholic came after the divisions began, to give them distinctions...to the broken off churches.
Catholic means universal. It was not named, but given the definition.
Popes have existed since Peter...and are buried in Rome.
There remains are there, and marked who they are, and this has been the custom way way before the united states even existed.

Ya just canot believe everything you hear.

CT, it is more a mistake to deny the divinity of Christ and then to downplay it. Anytime it is God, it must not be ignored.
The reason His divinity is so important, is that GOD gave us the greatest gift of all, and no mere man can do that.

It is also proof the love God has for His creatures, and is not merely sitting back, and letting us be 'abandoned' as we oursleves disobeyed and alientaed oursleves. HE is still with us, still loves us, and showed us...just how much.

The trinity is highly important

That your believe has stressed the divinity of Christ, which is not taught by Jesus, whom you call the Christ?
When asked to teach them how to pray, He taught them to pray to the Father, not to himself.
Notice that the apostles were very strongly opposed to anyone kneeling to pray to them?
Jesus the Christ that He came to serve, not to be served. Just as one of the temptations which He overcame was to be worshiped?
Yes, Jesus taught that sin could & would be forgiven but this came by a repentant heart, not the mouthing of words?
Yes the trinity as individual forms or funtions of God's Plan of Salvation
but that doesn't mean that the son (children) of God,
we should look upon man being equal to God.
If Jesus wasn't human then could He perform the acts
which made Him the Christ?

[the term catholic came after the divisions began, to give them distinctions...]

Let us not forget why the divisions took place. The nutshell was in the meaning of the Trinity, and how was Jesus to be be considered. Catholic does mean universal, but Orthodox means correct belief.
The Catholics thought Jesus to be less human and more godlike. The Orthodox side thought him to be more human but no less godlike in his actions. The division occured because of one word. Was Jesus made from the 'same' stuff as God, or was he made from 'similar' stuff?

The Orthodox could not believe that Jesus was made from the same stuff. This implied that God stooped to the pagan practice of siring with mere mortals.

Ironically, had the Trinity not be stated as is were, the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, then this division might not have occured at all.

An historian told me while I was taking a tour of the Roman Catacombs that Caesar (I don't know which one) converted to Christianity and became the first pope to the new Roman Catholic Church. This Caesar who once massacred Christians would now massacre non-believers. This would bring upon the dark ages where much has been lost and as a society, we went backwards in knowledge and wisdom as the church would suppress anything that it considered not of God. This is what I have found in my studies that has led me to believe that there was another church with a way different teaching that is known today. It is just a scrap of the Secret Gospel of Mark discovered in a letter to Clement of Alexandria found by Morton Smith in 1958. I can only quote part of it. If you're interested, you can find it in the "Other Bible." A collection of work that was not canonized and left out of the bible.

quote:

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Peter died a martyr, Mark came over to Alexandria, bringing both his own notes and those of Peter, from which he transferred to his former book the things suitable to whatever makes for progress toward knowledge. Thus he composed a more spiritual Gospel for the use of those who were being perfected. Nevertheless he yet did not divulge the things not to be uttered, nor did he write down the hierophantic teachings of the Lord, but to the stories already written he added yet others and, moreover, brought in certain sayings of which he knew the interpretation would, as a mystagogue, lead the hearers into the innermost sanctuary of that truth hidden by seven veils.

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My father condemned this work saying Peter was never in Rome. You believe he was, so what do you say? Before you condemn this work, I ask: "What is the truth hidden by seven veils? My wife says it is Jewish, but she doesn't even know what it is. I've belonged to just about every church there ever is including The Roman Catholic Church and nobody that I know of teaches this. Nor do I know anyone who can explain it to me. But according to this scripture, once you became a Christian, this truth was revealed to you. I say, "what happened to this church and this teaching?" I suppose that the church has already been raptured and there is no one on this earth who can explain to me what this means. We are all just pretending to be Christian, but aint nobody for real, we're just doing our best. I say, you can just condemn this piece of work, but, to condemn a piece of work you do understand is making assumptions you may answer for later.

I believe that I don't know the truth and I'm not stupid enough to try to convince others I do know truth. I'm honestly admitting that this is all guesswork. Honesty - never hurt anybody.

OK, you might be on to something. I don't know what it is, but thats just me.

Were you aware that in the time of Constantine the Great (the Ceaser you spoke of) (who by the way did not massacare Christians) the library in Alexandria was burned to the ground? Ironically the arsonists were Christians. In this library were thousands of manuscripts of all religions known at the time, pagan poetry, and just a wide array of wriiten texts. Who knows if anything actually survived the fire. Maybe your letter did.

The dark ages were very dark. When you ask, even historians, they don't have much to say. It was a long period of time where all manuscripts were either destroyed, hidden, or luckily not found. It is not unbelievable that our current bible would be made full of additions, subtractions and changes. After you get it just the way you want it, you call it the word of God and no one will dare question it, even to this day.

The thing about the truth hidden behind seven vales. I think that is something, my guess is just that. But it is something.

http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/nicaea.html

the text was random, most is lost now- they say.

That the Romans used christian in the arena is largely documented?
The 'sign of the fish (fisher of men)' & other secret symbols, give creedence to offensive of acts by Roman forces within their society.
I can't remember where I read, that christians were singled out as romans had to give alligence to Ceasar as a defacto-god made manifest?
As related division between the Christian Catholic & Greek Orthodox on the ruling council vs single enetity 'pope'.
"Native Tradition is to have a chiefs' and 'council of elders'. Those who lead & those who guide and they are choosen by displaying the neccessary atribute or ability.
Nice link but I would point out it lead to this statement http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03712a.htm

quote:

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Moreover, the Christianity of which we speak is that which we find realized in the Catholic Church alone; hence, we are not concerned here with those forms which are embodied in the various non-Catholic Christian sects, whether schismatical or heretical.

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#

His birth - Micah 5:2-5 - predicts that the ruler of Israel would be born in Bethlehem. "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah [Ephrathah is the old name for Bethlehem, and describes that area], too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." Further more, this ruler in Israel had existed from the days of eternity, and He had appeared a number of times prior to His birth. This passage of scripture goes on to describe the lost condition of Israel prior to the coming of the Messiah, and how the "shepherd king" would eventually be great throughout the whole earth. "Therefore He [God] will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has born a child. Then the remainder of His brethren will return to the sons of Israel. And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, and the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will remain, because at that time He will be great to the ends of the earth."

Isaiah 9:6,7 - tells us that a son would be born to sit on the throne of David. "For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor [the Holy Spirit], Mighty God, eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom...." The Old Testament predicts that all of God would be Christ, and in Christ. Such characteristics are precisely what Jesus claimed for Himself, and what the apostles attributed to Him after His resurrection (John 14:6,7 - Jesus is the Father; John 8:58 - Jesus is the Mighty God; John 14:16,17 - Jesus is the Holy Spirit; Colossians 2:9 - All the fullness of Deity dwells in Jesus bodily).

Isaiah 7:14 - prophesies that "God with us" would be born of a virgin.