Like what the Roman Catholic Church was before or after Vatican II? Before or after the Rosary, the tradition of confessions to a priest?
The Catholic Church is not a constant for the last 2,000 years, and didn't formally exist for 400 years after Jesus. The Messianic communities of the early Church were far more Jewish and far more decentralized than the Catholic Church you reference. Were they truly saved? I believe so. Did they believe and worship in a way at all similar to Catholics for the last 500 years? I don't think so.
Christianity is very simple and does not need the Catholic superstructure of outdated traditions rooted in dead cultures and forgotten heresies. Claims to exclusivity based on traditions not followed for hundreds of years after the resurrection of Jesus should be met with skepticism at the very least.
You have to ask yourself. If it wasn't necessary for salvation to the first Christians, why is it necessary now?
Who has claimed that?
...and didn't formally exist for 400 years after Jesus.
Define "formally exist." It was founded by Christ Himself.
Christianity is very simple and does not need the Catholic superstructure of outdated traditions rooted in dead cultures and forgotten heresies.
LOL By your calculus, you prefer the fresh traditions of dying cultures and newfangled heresies.
And you have tens of thousands of denominations to prove it, right?
Just curious - what do you think the Church today requires for Salvation that It did not in the first days?
Wonderfully said!
Ah, would that were true. Sadly, those heresies aren't forgotten, but championed around here.