“Yes, it must have drifted into paganism in such a short time because it disagrees with the Protestant interpretation of Scripture which came 1500 years later.”
No, it disagrees with Scripture, which you can look at today and see that those things are not there.
“And yet, if such early Christianity fell into error how can we have confidence in what is, or is not, Scripture in the first place since the canon of the Bible would not be definitively decided until over a hundred years later?”
I am always amazed that catholics do not worship a God who is both Sovereign and Omnipotent. As a Christian, my confidence is in Him. It always takes me by surprise that people who claim to be Christians see God as weak, ineffectual and unable to carry out His will.
Please do not mistake your private interpretation (and indeed denial) of Scripture with Scripture itself. Jesus clearly said "This is my Body" and this is how the early Church understood it. Any attempts to deny what our Lord said are unconvincing.
I am always amazed that catholics do not worship a God who is both Sovereign and Omnipotent. As a Christian, my confidence is in Him. It always takes me by surprise that people who claim to be Christians see God as weak, ineffectual and unable to carry out His will.
Nice attempt at trying at avoiding the question at hand. God works through human agents, as He did with Moses and the prophets. Unless you are claiming direct inspiration, how did God communicate to us what is, and is not, Scripture? The early Church gave us the doctrines and praxis of the faith as well as the canon of Scripture. It is either trustworthy in all or in none. If we cannot trust the Church in its doctrine and praxis then we cannot trust it in deciding the content of the Scriptures.