[wmfights]

Then, as I asked wmfights to do, provide a timeline documenting their adherence by even one body of believers (not merely a few cranky individuals scattered around the Christian Era), that itself has existed from the beginning.

I really don't see the point in playing "lets move the goal posts". You can find examples if you want. The best place to start is Scripture.

[magisterium]

Me:Then, as I asked wmfights to do, provide a timeline documenting their adherence by even one body of believers (not merely a few cranky individuals scattered around the Christian Era), that itself has existed from the beginning.

You:I really don't see the point in playing "lets move the goal posts". You can find examples if you want. The best place to start is Scripture.

Ah, but it is vital if one wants to affirm or refute the premise of the article heading this thread! "Authority" to proclaim the Gospel, and "authenticity" of that authority's message can be gleaned much more effectively when one can demonstrate a continuous, 2000 year existence for Christian authority in a particular body. To refuse to do so is to "move the goal posts" forward 1500 years. It's hard to imagine how an insistence on establishing continuity to Christ and the Apostles is not germaine to whether or not the Catholic Church preaches "a different Gospel"!

Again, "a different Gospel" as juxtaposed against what???