It is the Decision of the Holy Spirit and Us – A Reflection on the Catholicity of the Early Church

The first readings at daily Mass this week recount the Council of Jerusalem, which scholars generally date to around 50 A.D. It was a pivotal moment in the history of the Church, because it would set forth an identity for Her that was independent of the culture of Judaism per se and would open wide the door of inculturation to the Gentiles. This surely had a significant effect on evangelization in the early Church.

Catholic ecclesiology is evident in this first council in that we have a very Catholic model of how a matter of significant pastoral practice and doctrine is properly dealt with. What we see here is the same model that the Catholic Church has continued to use right up to the present day. In this and all subsequent ecumenical councils, there is a gathering of the bishops, presided over by the Pope, that considers and may even debate a matter. In the event that consensus cannot be reached, the Pope resolves the debate. Once a decision is reached, it is considered binding and a letter is issued to the whole Church.

All of these elements are seen in this first council of the Church in Jerusalem, although in seminal form. Let’s consider this council, beginning with some background.

Peter arises to settle the matter because, it would seem, the Apostles themselves were divided. Had not Peter received this charge from the Lord? The Lord had prophesied, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you all like wheat but I have prayed for you Peter, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers (Luke 22:31-32). Peter now fulfills this text, as he will again in the future and as will every Pope after him. Peter clearly dismisses any notion that the Gentiles should be made to take up the whole burden of Jewish customs. Paul and Barnabas rise to support this. Then James (who it seems may have felt otherwise) rises to assent to the decision and asks that a letter be sent forth to all the Churches explaining the decision. He also asks for and obtains a few concessions.

So there it is, the first council of the Church. That council, like all the Church-wide councils that would follow, was a gathering of the bishops in the presence of Peter, who worked to unite them. At a council a decision is made and a decree binding on the whole Church is sent out—very Catholic, actually. We have kept this biblical model ever since that first council. Our Protestant brethren have departed from it because they have no pope to settle things when there is disagreement. They have split into tens of thousands of denominations and factions. When no one is pope, everyone is pope.

A final thought: Notice how the decree to the Churches is worded: It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us (Acts 15:28). In the end, we trust the Holy Spirit to guide the Church in matters of faith and morals. We trust that decrees and doctrines that issue forth from councils of the bishops with the Pope are inspired by and authored by the Holy Spirit Himself. There it is right in Scripture, the affirmation that when the Church speaks solemnly in this way, it is not just the bishops and the Pope speaking as men, it is the Holy Spirit speaking with them.

We can try this again.......

The Greek word for *church* is *ekklēsia* which means *assembly* or *congregation*. Here is the link to Strong's

http://biblehub.com/greek/1577.htm

Strong's Concordance

ekklésia: an assembly, a (religious) congregation
Original Word: ἐκκλησία, ας, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: ekklésia
Phonetic Spelling: (ek-klay-see'-ah)
Short Definition: an assembly, congregation, church
Definition: an assembly, congregation, church; the Church, the whole body of Christian believers.

HELPS Word-studies

1577 ekklēsía(from 1537 /ek, "out from and to" and 2564 /kaléō, "to call") – properly, people called out from the world and to God, the outcome being the Church (the mystical body of Christ) – i.e. the universal (total) body of believers whom God calls out from the world and into His eternal kingdom.

[The English word "church" comes from the Greek word kyriakos, "belonging to the Lord" (kyrios). 1577 /ekklēsía ("church") is the root of the terms "ecclesiology" and "ecclesiastical."]

Hmmm, look at that..... The word for *church* doesn't appear in the Greek but is from the Latin translation of the Greek, which is the same source for the word *rapture*.

And yet Catholics reject the word rapture as not occurring in the Bible but accept the word *church*.

I can't imagine why........

I wonder how many of those people who appointed their own preference of pope were led by the Holy Spirit as well......

If indeed the claim is true that the Catholic church is guaranteed to be kept free from error in the matter of faith and morals, then just HOW do Catholics justify, excuse, rationalize, whatever some of the abominable men who have been in the position of pope.

How can they claim the *church* is right and true when it's filled with such corruption and immorality.

The excuse that the *Church* is protected in light of the rampant immorality falls flat. And the excuse that well, the *church* is right even though it's filled with sinners falls flat too, because without people, there is no church. There is no such thing as a separate entity knows as the church that exists without the people it is comprised of.

The Holy Spirit speaking through the apostle Paul, laid out very clear guidelines about the qualifications of church leadership and how to deal with immorality within the church and engaging in it, protecting it, ignoring it, excusing it, justifying it, are NOT options.

The very Bible that the Catholic church likes to take credit for says this about church leadership and discipline.....

Qualifications for elder and deacon.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

That precludes taking communion with someone like that.

2 John 1:4-11 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Titus 1:5-16 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.

1 Timothy 3:1-13 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 5:19-24 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

The question that remains then is this...

WHY does the Catholic church not follow the very Bible that it claims it gave to the world that is inspired by God for us?

The Catholic church and Catholics love to take credit giving us the Bible.

How about they try following it once in a while. It just might give them a little more credibility in their claims that they are the true church cause right now, and for the past two thousand years, they haven't been acting like it.

Some Protestants acknowledge that the Catholic Church existed in the Apostolic Era ---you among them, Elsie, it seems. Some Protestants think Catholicism didn't exist until --- oh, I don't know --- mrobisr thinks the 5th or maybe the 6th century; some others peg the beginning of Catholicism (founded by Constantine, dont'cha know!) to the Council of Nicaea, 4th century; some say the real-church apostasized and became the wayward Catholic church even before that: it petered out right after Peter apparently, and that petered-out church was Catholicism.

But when, exactly? Ahem! Make up your minds!

To make it even more complicated, the Mormons, the Muslims, and the "Woman-Church" Feminists all agree that the Church ran off the rails WAY early, and consequently corrupted the Scriptures! Bigtime! So what passes for "Scripture" now is completely unreliable, abominable even, because it is the product of these apostates, the Catholics! Maybe even Paul was the first corrupter, constructing an anti-Gospel. Ask any Muslim, Inshallah!

What they all have in common, is that they do not believe that Jesus actually founded a church, that He did not leave her an orphan, and that He actually sent the Holy Spirit to lead and protect her. And I'm not talking about just a purely undocumentable, ahistoric, aphasic, invisible church (the Church of the Headless Hammer Without a Handle). I'm talking about one you can locate in the phone book.

What they (Muslims, Mormons, Woman-Church and allies Right and Left) cannot credit, is that Christ's church is His bride, both visible and invisible, and her quite-visible activities can be traced around the world, as she makes her pilgrim way through history.

What about bad popes? Out of 266 popes since Peter, there have been a few stinkers: 8 or 9, by my informal count (I forced myself to read Lives of the Popes when I was in High School, and made a list of baddies!) Most have been godly men, in the B-to-C range in teaching, administration, works of mercy, diplomacy; and a goodly number have been stellar, A+ saints.

How to account for the bad ones? Tares among the wheat. We were told from the start to expect this. It may sadden, but should not surprise us.

They're very much like the original Twelve Apostles: one out-and-out traitor, one triple-denier, nine abandoning their Captain and headed for the tall grass at the moment of crisis, --- and one at the foot of the Cross.

It is these sinners (and I am right in there) who are Christ's co-workers ("For we are co-workers in God's service", 1 Cor 3:9) receiving His saving word even as we listen to (and are) His Church.

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