Wow, you mean the "church" was created 1517 after the birth of Christ?
No. The Church was created by God, and includes even those before Christ, whose faith was credited to them as righteousness.
I think we're all going to be surprised when we get to heaven and see who's there who didn't hold the same beliefs as us -- and who isn't there that did.
"Wow, you mean the "church" was created 1517 after the birth of Christ?":
you know, this is a crucial problem for all those who try to completely throw out the Catholic Church. I have read those who have the line of the 'true' Church going through various groups of heretics.
Far easier, and better to claim that the Church has existed, though tainted with sinners, for 2000 years.
Thomas Acquinas, surely, was a Christian, as were Augustine and countless others. Remember the parable of the weeds in the wheat field.