And I’ll be happy to support it. After all, I made the claim. The burden of proof now rests on me.
Unfortunately, as it was such a broad statement, it’ll take some time.
Points I made that you quoted
1. The Church was founded by the Apostles
2. The Church was founded at Pentecost
3. The Church has never changed a doctrine
1. The Roman Catholic Church calls her self the “Apostolic Church” and claims to have the Apostolic Authority.
To support this, I’d like to look to history, mainly, the Church Fathers.
- Saint Ignatius of Antioch was born in Syria in AD 35, a few years after the preaching, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. At a young age he became the apprentice/disciple of Saint John the Beloved Apostle. It can logically follow that Saint Ignatius’s beliefs followed his mentor’s. Ignatius became the third bishop of Antioch, following St. Peter (the papacy was at a point in Antioch) and St. Peter’s successor in Antioch once St. Peter moved. St. Ignatius died (martyrdom) around a decade after St. John in around 108-110, after writing much more than his mentor. We still have most of these writings, which all support current Catholic theology. In fact, Saint Ignatius was the first recorded person to refer to Christianity as the “Catholic Church,” in a letter we still have, and the use of the term suggests previous usage. Unless Ignatius apostatized while his mentor was still alive, it should be safe to trust these writings.
- St. Polycarp was born a generation or two later, in AD 69. Like Ignatius, he was a disciple of Saint John. Polycarp was appointed bishop of Smyrna and wrote a lot too. And yes; his writings still match the Church’s teachings. St. Polycarp was martyred in the mid 2nd Century (specifics are debated).
- St. (Pope) Clement ascended to the papacy around AD 88, following St. Pope Cletus, who succeeded St. Pope Linus, who succeeded St. (Pope) Peter. In that same year, a situation arose in Corinth. The Christians there had gotten rid of some lawful leaders. Now, Clement was all the way in Rome, and Saint John the Apostle was nearby in Ephesus. Despite this, it was Clement who dealt with the problem (with no absolutely objection from John). You can find his letter and read its entirety today. Unfortunately it’s called “The Letter to the Corinthians,” just like St. Paul’s, so finding it online takes a while.
- St. Irenæus, bishop of Lyon, was born in AD 130, so a little while after the death of the last Apostle (John in around 100). But he made up for his late life by recording so much. He knew St. Polycarp and recorded the man’s life as well as other aspects of the Church. He strongly combated early Heresies such as Gnosticism.
Other histories I’d like to cite
- The
Didache, or “The Teaching of the Apostles,” was written in the mid 1st Century, possibly as early as AD 40. While it probably wasn’t written by the Apostles themselves (we have early writings of saints and others discussing its controversy), it still accurately depicts the religious attitude of the early Christians and is almost certainly
based off of the teachings of the Apostles. No Biblical epistles ever condemn the book, so it’s safe to say that it wasn’t heretical. And, once again, it matches up.
>conclusion: While the Apostles themselves didn’t write enough (or clear enough, as we’re having all of these discussions and different interpretations of scripture), their earliest followers managed to record their teachings enough to where we have a clear understanding of the initial Christian theologies.
2. This’ll be a quicker one. Because the Church was founded by the Apostles, we can use sacred scripture to trace her origins back to the Pentecost recorded in Acts 2. St. Luke makes it clear that the forming of the Church was not a slow process, but rather a quick and exciting start. While it was initially called “The Way,” it still can be called that, the name “Catholic,” or
universal was simply used to distinguish it from early heretical groups.
3. The Catholic Church has never changed a doctrine and here’s why.
- She doesn’t have the authority to. This should be obvious, as logic follows that truth is truth and is never dependent on the views of man.
- She doesn’t claim to have the authority to. She is in fact, very opposed to the heresy of continuing revelation such as held by the LDS for example.
- She never has. We can determine this from the earliest writings, which brings me to my next point.
- The earliest writings we have support modern Catholic doctrines.
I. We have writings clarifying and detailing the Eucharist and the Mass. For example, see the writings of Irenæus on see Ignatius’s writings himself, see Clement’s, or see the
Didache.
II. We have writings supporting the Papacy. Again, look to Clement’s letter to Corinth for an example.
III. We have writings supporting Purgatory. A good example of this would be the tombs of the ancient Christians, which had prayers inscribed on them asking passers to pray for the fellow’s soul,
IV. We have writings supporting Marian doctrines.
V. We have writings supporting the intercession of saints.
The list goes on and on.
- Unfortunately, there seems to be a common misconception about what a doctrine is. Many people mistake disciplines for doctrines. Disciplines are man-made rules within the Church, such as whether or not priests must have beards. These matters are based on tradition and can change with the times or the needs of the Church. They do not affect her theological beliefs.
- The Church cannot change doctrine, but as she is composed of mere human beings, sometimes she can grow in her understanding of the beliefs which were fully revealed to her from God through the Apostles.
I. For example, while the Jews believed in the resurrection of the dead, they didn’t quite understand it. When they asked Christ about post-death marriage, He told them they should already have known because God revealed it to them. But because they were only human, they didn’t understand so Jesus helped them to comprehend it.
II. Another example is this: Jesus, many times, had to explain to His Apostles that He had to die. This had been revealed to the Jews through the prophets, but the Apostles (only human) didn’t quite get it.
- Similarly, the Church may clarify or “officially declare doctrines”. An example of this would be when she declared Christ as God at the Council of Nicaea. She had always taught this but there was no need to make it official until Arias attacked the doctrine. Another example would be when Pope Pius IX officially defined the Immaculate Conception in 1854. The Church had always taught it, but never saw a need to clarify until the Adventist movement became popular.
To conclude, if you made it this far, nice job. Sorry, that was a lot, I know. But I hope it helps you understand my argument that Catholic Church is the true Church founded by the Apostles and has stayed true to her teachings. Thank you and God bless