Catholic Biblical Apologetics

Apologetics without apology!

What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about ...? ... and why?

This website surveys the origin and development of Roman Catholic Christianity from the period of the apostolic church, through the post-apostolic church and into the conciliar movement. Principal attention is paid to the biblical basis of both doctrine and dogma as well as the role of paradosis (i.e. handing on the truth) in the history of the Church. Particular attention is also paid to the hierarchical founding and succession of leadership throughout the centuries.

This is a set of lecture notes used since 1985 to teach the basis for key doctrines and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. The objectives of the course were, and are:

To present the biblical basis for the origin and development of the Roman Catholic Church.
To present the development of the canon of Scripture and evolution of biblical teaching in the Church.
To understand the role of paradosis/tradition in the oral transmission of revelation.
To study the Council of Jerusalem, described in the 15^th chapter of The Acts of the Apostles and its role in the development of doctrine in the conciliar movement in the Church.
To understand the revelation, doctrinal development and practice of the sacramental life in the history of the Church.
To study the role of the Holy Spirit as teaching authority in the Church.
To study the revelation and development of hierarchical authority in the Church.
To understand the hierarchy of truths in the Church as well as the role of private devotion and personal growth in holiness.

The course grew out of the need for the authors to continually answer questions about their faith tradition and their work. (Both authors are active members of Catholic parish communities in the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Robert Schihl was a Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Communication and the Arts at Regent University. Paul Flanagan is a consultant specializing in preparing people for technology based changes.) At the time these notes were first prepared, the authors were spending time in their faith community answering questions about their Protestant Evangelical workplaces (Mr. Flanagan was then a senior executive at the Christian Broadcasting Network), and time in their workplaces answering similar questions about their Roman Catholic faith community. These notes are the result of more than a decade of facilitating dialogue among those who wish to learn more about what the Roman Catholic Church teaches and why.

Chronology of the Apostolic Age and the Development of the New Testament Canon

A chronology is now appropriate in order to present a sequence of events both biblical and extra-biblical which affect the canon of the Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament. It is said that no two scripture scholars will agree on one apostolic chronology. Hence what is presented here is acceptable to some but not universally. It serves to give points of reference for the events that took place and their consequences.

EVENT	DATE	WORK
Preaching of John the Baptist	27
Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church	30
Stephen is stoned to death.	36/37
The conversion of Paul
Paul's first missionary journey	45/49
Council of Jerusalem	50
Paul's second missionary journey	50/52
	51	1 and 2 Thessalonians written
Paul's third missionary journey	53/58
	54-57	Galatians written
	57	1 and 2 Corinthians written
	58	Romans written
The voyage to Rome	59/60
Paul's first Roman imprisonment	61-63	Philemon written
		Colossians written
		Ephesians written
		Philippians written

		James written
	65	Mark written
		1 Timothy written
		Titus written
The Apostle James is martyred
Paul taken to Rome	63/64
Peter in Rome	64	1 Peter written
Paul's second imprisonment and death	67	2 Timothy written

Peter's death; Linus is Bishop of Rome		Hebrews written
The destruction of Jerusalem	68-70
	70s	Matthew written;
		Luke and Acts written
Anacletus is Bishop of Rome	78
	70s/90s	Jude written
	90s	John written
		1, 2, and 3 John written
		Revelation written
Clement is Bishop of Rome	92-101	1 Clement written
John's death at Ephesus	98

END OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE

EVENT	DATE	WORK
Council of Rabbis at Jamnia	99-100	Palestinian Canon in Hebrew
First Christian Canon of the Old Testament	c. 100	Alexandrian Canon in Greek
	100-125	2 Peter written
		Didache written
Melito, Bishop of Sardis	c. 170	Produced the first known Christian attempt at an Old Testament canon. His list uses the Septuagint order of books but contains only the Old Testament protocanonicals minus Esther.
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons	185	Developed a New Testament Canon (without 3 John, James or 2 Peter)
	c. 200	Muratorian Fragment contained a canon similar to Trent
Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea	c. 325	History of the Church written; referred to James, Jude,2 Peter, and 2 and 3 John as "disputed, yet similar to most."
Council of Laodicea	c. 360	List of books similar to Trent's canon.
Pope Damasus	382	Decree listing the books of Trent's canon.
Council of Rome	382	Prompted Pope Damasus' Decree.
Council of Hippo (North Africa)	393	Approved a list of OT and NT Canon (same as later Trent)
Council of Carthage (North Africa)	397	Approved a list of OT and NT Canon (same as later Trent)
Exuperius, Bishop of Toulouse	405	Wrote to Pope Innocent I requesting a list of canonical books. Pope Innocent listed the Trent canon.

I noticed that some other New Testaments references, especially to books, were also missing.

Maybe we have some historians that will come on this thread and can answer your question. I’m just posting from this site. It really is quite thorough, though, or else I wouldn’t be using it.

Makes one wonder, doesn’t it? But then, I’ve heard it said that the moment we get to heaven we won’t have anymore questions — because they will all be answered. LOL!

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