HISTORICAL ROOTS OF CATHOLICISM
by PEDRITO B. PLACIO
THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF CATHOLICISM
PEDRITO
B. PLACIO
AS A CATHOLIC seminarian, I was imbued with a lot of
Church and secular history. Armed with the knowledge, I was of the same
thinking as my friend, Oblate Priest Rev. Ben Carreon – indeed as other
Catholics worthy of the name – that the historical Church of Christ which was
established in Jerusalem in 33 A.D. is the Catholic Church. I was firm in that
historical conviction. Until 1981, I thought the claim of the Iglesia
ni Cristo as being the true Church founded
by Jesus Christ in Jerusalem was presumptuous, preposterous, if not downright
deceptive and vicious. Why then am I now a member of the Iglesia ni
Cristo.
CATHOLIC CLAIMS OF HISTORICITY
The Catholic claim of being the historical Church of
Christ is written in a host of history books and encyclopedias. Thus my friend
Rev. Carreon, whose historical errors have already been exposed, feels so
confident in asserting that no other church existing today can validly claim
any historical linkage with Christ and the Apostles except the Catholic Church.
A survey of such books reveals the Rev. Carreon is right.
“Roman Catholicism
– a Christian church characterized by its uniform, highly developed doctrinal
and organizational structure that traces its history to the Apostles of Jesus
Christ in the 1st century AD.”
“ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, collective designation for the
portion of Christendom that acknowledge the supremacy of the pope and
considers submission to papal authority in matters of faith an indispensable
condition of membership in its rank. The Roman Catholic Church regards itself
as the only legitimate inheritor, by an unbroken episcopal succession
descending from Saint Peter to the present time, of the commission and powers
conferred by Jesus Christ upon the twelve Apostles.”
These two passages coincide with Rev. Carreon’s claim of
Catholic historicity. Yet the next passage states that the Church founded by
Christ is not just the Catholic Church but other churches as well:
“Founded in the 1st
century AD by Jesus of Nazareth (the Christ), Christianity has become the
largest of the world’s religions. Geographically the most widely diffused of
all religions, it has a membership of over 1,000,000,000. Its largest groups
are the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the
Protestant churches; in addition to these churches there are several
independent churches of Eastern Christianity as well as numerous sects
throughout the world.”
Thus, the New Encyclopedia Britannica disputes Rev.
Carreon’s claim that only the Catholic Church is founded by Christ. This is
more in tune with what the New Catholic Encyclopedia states:
“Since Christ
intended His Church to be universal, all those who claim to be members of that
Church must profess Catholicism at least implicitly…the word Catholicism is
applied to that Christianity that owes allegiance to the pope…those who do owe
allegiance to the pope often see in this designation Catholic an implicit
admission that they alone are the true Church of Christ. They do not realize
that the term is often used merely as a convenient label and no deep
signification or recognition of the papal claims is intended.”
THE CHURCH FOUNDED BY CHRIST
AND THE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Catholic Church authorities make use of Matthew 16:18 to
assert that Christ founded a Church. Yet nowhere in the Bible does it say that
the members of the church of Christ owe allegiance to the pope as stated in the
citations above. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the name of the Church
established by Christ is called Catholic Church nor that this Church is
fragmented into sects.
The biblical Church founded by Christ has Christ Himself
for its rock foundation (Acts 4:8-11; Eph. 2:20) and not Peter as the Catholic
Church claims. It could not be Peter because no other foundation can be laid
other than that of Christ (I Cor. 3:11). The name of the Church founded by
Christ is not Catholic Church but Church of Christ (Acts 20:28, Lamsa). This
fact a Jesuit priest states very clearly:
Did Jesus Christ establish a Church?
“Yes, from all
history, both secular and profane, as well as from the Bible considered as a
human document, we learn that Jesus Christ established a Church, which from the
earliest times has been called the Christian Church or the Church of Christ.
This Church, founded and organized by Christ and preached by the Apostles, is
the Church of Christ,…It is the only true Church, and the one which God orders
all men to join.”
The Church of Christ as written in the bible is holy and
without blemish (Eph. 5:26-27) and is compared to a chaste virgin (II Cor.
11:2). This is a far cry from the record of the Catholic Church which has
shamed herself in history with all kinds of heinous crimes.
Although it asserts that indeed there were other things
done by Christ which were not written (Jn. 21-25; Rev. 10:4; Dan. 12:4), the
Church of Christ considers what was written is enough to save man (Jn.
20:30-31), that what was written was inspired by God and should be used to
teach men perfection (II Tim. 3:16-17), that what is not written is not
necessary and ordered forgotten (Rev. 10:4), that one should not go beyond what
was written ( I Cor. 4:6), and that most of all, there is a dire warning on
those who add to or subtract from what has been written (Rev. 22:18-19). This
is a far cry from the Catholic Church which has these claims:
“’Without the
Scriptures,’ says Mohler, ‘the true form of sayings of Jesus
would have been withheld from us.’… Yet the Catholic does not derive his faith
in Jesus from the Scriptures.”
“We Catholics acknowledge readily, without any shame, nay
with pride, that Catholicism cannot be identified simply and wholly with the
primitive Christianity, nor even with the Gospel of Christ..”
Where then does the Catholic Church get her teachings?
From paganism!
“In her methods she
has borrowed from many sources…from the Jewish ecclesiastical system, from
Roman, and hence pagan, religious and civil procedures…”
Thus, history and Catholic literature show that the
Church of Christ and the Catholic Church are not one and the same entity. Why
then does the Catholic Church claim to be the true Church of Christ?
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ORIGINAL CHURCH OF CHRIST?
The claim of the Catholic Church that it is the
original Church of Christ lies on the assumption that the Church of Christ as
originally built by Christ was a tiny acorn – primitive and undeveloped – but
now has grown and developed into the great oak called the Catholic Church:
“We Catholics
acknowledged readily, without any shame, nay with pride, that Catholicism
cannot be identified simply and wholly with the primitive Christianity, nor
even with the Gospel of Christ, in the same way that the great oak cannot be
identified with the tiny acorn.”
This is the key to their claim that the Catholic Church
is the original Church of Christ (a tiny acorn when built by Christ) but now
grown and fully developed as the Catholic Church (the great oak). That’s why
Catholics are proud of being Catholics and scoff at the claim of the Iglesia
ni Cristo as being the true Church of
Christ.
“Apostasy? How can this be?” they ask. “Did not Christ
promise in Matthew 28:19-20 that He will be with His Church up to the end of
the world? Did he not say in Matthew 16:18 that not even the gates of hell will
prevail against the Church of Christ? Apostasy? Impossible! “Is it?
Such promise, however, is premised on the Church’s
keeping all the commandments of Christ. Read closely and attentively Matthew
28:19-20. John 8:31 is even more specific. In order that Christ will be with
the Church up to the end of the world, her elders and members must teach and
obey everything taught by Christ – no more, no less. If the Church ceases to
obey Christ in everything, then the members have rejected Christ, thus, He will
not have any reason to be with this Church anymore. In fact Apostle Paul
vehemently says that:
“…though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If
any man preach any other gospel unto you that ye have received, let him be
accursed.” (Gal. 1:8-9, King James Version)
Strong words from Christ’s Apostle!
THE METAMORPHOSIS
That the Church of Christ gained a foothold in Rome
through the missionary works of Apostle Paul is indisputable. But even during
his lifetime Apostle Paul spent a lot of energy warding off false teachings as
can be seen in his sometimes very angry letters. And when he died, history
records that false teachers, now rid of the presence of the Apostles, finally
succeeded in infiltrating the Church of Christ:
“At first the history
of the Roman Church is identical with the history of Christian truth. But
unhappily there came a time when streams of poison began to flow from the once
pure fountain.”
This poison referred to are the false teachings which
came from the false teachers who were now in positions of authority in the
Church after Paul’s death – poison because such false teachings will lead to
man’s eternal damnation.
Apostle Paul warned that this poison would come from the
overseers of the Church of Christ who would do the evil work after his death
(Acts 20:29). This was fulfilled.
“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 as the head of the Christian communities in the large cities such
as Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, and Carthage ranked the highest.”
A stream of poison flowed from one of these bishops:
“Catholic’…was first
used by St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch in Syria, who martyred about A.D. 110.
The Church founded by Christ is here, for the first time, called ‘the Catholic
Church’…It was to stress the unity of the universal Church that St. Ignatius
invented the name.”
This is lethal poison! The only name through which man
can be saved – the name Christ (Acts 4:10,12) was rejected by this bishop and
replaced by an invented name! How can you now expect Christ to be still with
this Church that has now rejected His own name? This Church has now become
poisonous!
Both God and Christ abhor paganism (Jer. 10:2 I Cor.
10:19-22). This makes paganism poison. But what did the first-century Church of
Christ, now transformed into the Catholic Church, do with this poison of
paganism? It absorbed such poison into its very own system!
“Christianity did not
destroy paganism; it adopted it. The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated
life in the theology and liturgy of the Church;…the Greek mysteries passed down
into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Other pagan cultures contributed top
the syncretist result. From Egypt came the ideas of divine trinity…the
adoration of the Mother and Child…From Phrygia came the worship of the Great
Mother; from Syria the resurrection drama of Adonis;…The Mithraic ritual so
closely resembled the eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass…Christianity was the
last great creation of the ancient pagan world.”
“The cult of a host
of saints and martyrs sprang up to take the place of many local gods of pagan
mythology. The pagan who had relied on the protection of the homely gods of the
hearth found similar comfort from the adoption of a patron saint. Christian
celebrations were created to replace the feasts and holidays of the older religions.
The assimilation by Christianity of so much of popular belief and practice was
in no small degree responsible for its almost universal acceptance during this
period, but at the sacrifice of its early purity and simplicity.”
LOSS OF DIVINE GUIDANCE
Before ascending to heaven, Christ promised the
apostles that He would send the Holy Spirit to guide them and to remind them of
whatever He had taught them (Jn. 14:26; 16:13). Such divine guidance is very
evident in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:4-11; 8:29-31; 13:2-4;
15:28-29; 16:6-7). Even when disputes arose, no division because decisions from
the central administration were accepted with gladness (Acts 15:1-31).
But now with the Apostles gone and with the apostasy of
the first-century Church of Christ a matter of fact, such divine guidance was
totally absent.
“When Nero died and
Titus demolished the Temple, and again when Hadrian destroyed Jerusalem, many
Christians hailed these calamities as signs of the second coming. When chaos threatened
the Empire at the close of the second century, Tertullian and other thought
that the end of the world was at hand; a Syrian bishop led his flock into the
desert to meet Christ halfway, and a bishop in Pontus disorganized the life of
his community by announcing that Christ would return within a year. As all
signs failed, and Christ did not come, wiser Christians sought to soften the
disappointment by reinterpreting the date of his return. He would come in a
thousand years, said an epistle ascribed to Barnabas; he would come, said the
most cautious, when the ‘generation’ or race of the Jews was quite extinct, or
when the Gospel has been preached to all gentiles; or, said the Gospel of John,
he would send in his stead the Holy Spirit or Paraclete…Even the belief in the
millennium – in the return of Jesus after a thousand years – was discouraged by
the church, and was ultimately condemned.”
This belief in the millennium was revived as the year
1000 A.D. drew near when the Church saw that it was materially profitable to do
so. A rumor was spread that the world would end by the year 1000 A.D.
“As the year 1000
drew nearer, they got rid of their possessions with increasing speed. How? By
donating them to what they were told was Christ’s bride on earth, The Roman
church. And so it came to pass that monasteries, nunneries, abbeys, bishops’
palaces and the like bustled with activity. Believers came and went, not only
to confess their sins, to repent and to prepare for the end of the world in
purity and poverty, but also donate and give the Roman Catholic Institution all
they had. They gave her their money, their valuables, their houses, their
lands. Many of them became total paupers, since what would it avail them to die
as the owners of anything when the world was destroyed? Whereas, by giving away
everything they were gaining merit in the eyes of the Great Judge!
“The Church, via her
monastic orders and clergy, accepted the mounting offers of earthly riches.
This she did by duly recording them with legal documents, witnesses and the
like…To prove with matter-of-fact concreteness and the possessions of those who
had given were, from then on, the possessions of the papacy!
“When, following the long night of terror of the last day
of December 999, the first dawn of the year 1000 lit the eastern sky without
anything happening,…those who had given away their property made for the
ecclesiastical centers which had accepted their ‘offerings,’ only to be told
that their money, houses, lands, were no longer theirs.”
This loss of divine guidance has been replaced by false
prophets and false teachers who rushed in to fill the void! This also resulted
in the divisions of the Church. The Bible states that divisions are works of
the flesh and hostile to God (I Cor. 3:3; Rom. 8:7-9). And the resulting
divisions that followed after the death of the Apostles are again the work of
false prophets!
“…the followers of
Christ, in the first three centuries, divided into a hundred creeds.”
Such divisions resulted after disputes which could not be
settled. In the biblical Church of Christ, disputes were settled by central
authority whose decisions were gladly accepted by all. But in this transformed
in schisms.
“As a consequence of
the christological disputes, the national churches beyond the eastern frontiers
of the Empire separated themselves from the imperial Byzantine church, while
Germanic Christian kingdoms of both Arian (Ostrogothic and Visigothic) and
Roman (Frankish) observance were formed in the western Empire. The rise of the
specifically Roman Church of Gregory the Great and the Arab invasions of the
seventh century marked the turning-point…the Germano-Roman West became
estranged from Byzantium.”
And how were disputes settled? By political
considerations!
“The distinction
between orthodoxy and heresy, between opinions accepted or rejected by the
church authorities, was often decided partly by political consideration and
after a bitter struggle between the opposing parties.”
HOW DID THE CHURCH OF CHRIST DISAPPEAR? REAPPEAR?
The disappearance of the first-century Church of
Christ came so gradually that it was almost indiscernible. It changed so
gradually as it became the Catholic Church, That’s why Catholics can claim
historical affinity with the Church founded by Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, but
they cannot show the same with the doctrines of the original Church. What
Christ built as the Church of Christ was transformed into the Catholic Church
whose official name was formed only at the Vatican Council in 1870. It was not
a case of a tiny acorn becoming a great oak but rather of an oak tree being
transformed into a different tree. Such transformation was so gradual that the
members failed to notice it as the fact of apostasy.
This disappearance, however, was complete. The two-thirds
of the converted Gentiles and Jews of the first century disappeared. The third
part, claimed by Jesus as His “other sheep not yet of this fold” – those still
to be called into the Church (Jn. 10:16), identified by Apostle Peter as from
afar off (Acts 2:39), specified by Prophet Isaiah as from islands in the Far
East (Is. 41:1-5; 43:5), and to be called at the ends of the earth (Is. 43:6),
will appear. This third part arose in the Philippines in 1914, the Iglesia ni
Cristo preached by Brother Felix Y. Manalo.
N O T E S
1.
The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol.
VIII, p. 644
2.
Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, Vol. 20. p. 349
3.
The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Micropaedia, Vol.
4, p. 459
4.
New Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. III, p. 338
5.
Francis B. Cassily, S.J. Religion : Doctrine and
Practice, pp.442, 442, 444
6.
Karl Adam, The Spirit of Catholicism, p. 50
7.
Ibid., p. 2
8.
John Gilland Brunini, Whereon to Stand: What
Catholics Believe and Why, p. 316
9.
Rev. John C.O’ Leary, Ph.D. The Externals of the Catholics Church, p. 226
10.
Karl Adam, op. cit. p. 2
11.
The World’ Great Events, Vol. II pp. 163-164
12.
The New Book of Knowledge, Danbury, Conn:
Grolier Inc. Vol. 3, p. 281
13.
Rev. Edward K. Taylor, ‘Roman’ Catholic, p. 3
14.
Will Durant, The Story of Civilization III-Caesar and Christ New York: Simon &
Schuster, p. 595
15.
Wallace K. Ferguson and Geoffrey Bruun, A Survey of
European Civilization, 3rd ed.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, p. 92
16.
Will Durant, op. cit. pp. 603-604
17.
Avro Manhattan, The Vatican
Billions, USA:
Chick Publications pp. 55-56
18.
Will Durant, op. cit. pp. 604
19.
Karl Baus, History of the Church, Vol. 1. From The
Apostolic Community to Constantine, p. 7
20.
Ferguson and
Bruun. op. cit. p. 92
