The catholic heresy is not “The Church.”
The Church is all the believers, whever they may be. The catholic mess was born 300+ years after Christ ascended.
LOL, i guess history isn’t your strong suit.
i’m still waiting for who believes Mary became a god.
does truth mean anything to you??
Yes, of course. St. Paul wrote to “The First Methodist Church of 324 Appian Way, Rome.”
Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8, J.R. Willis translation
i guess St Ignatius writing 60 years after Jesus ascended and after being taught personally by St John didn’t get your memo about the catholic “mess” appearing 300+ years after Christ.
btw - do you agree with Joey Smith the Church went apostate in the 1st century? are you Mormon?
Actually, the term “Catholic” was used to describe the Church of the Bishops who traced their authority to the apostles, as early as the first century. The term means universal. The common understanding of this to mean, “worldwide” is incorrect. Actually, “Roman” was used to signify “throughout the Roman Empire,” which the Romans understood as “worldwide.”
“Catholic,” on the other hand, meant, “universal” in the sense of “objective.” The Gnostics believed that one could discern occultic (”hidden”) meanings of scriptures, and claimed visionary powers to know of events they did not witness. There is the mystery religion which so many Freepers love to rant about. “Catholic,” in contrast, meant that anyone could know the basic the tenets of the faith, and those tenets had the same meaning to everyone; it was a denial of “subjective reality.”
As such, by the 2nd century, the true Christians were citing their belonging to the “Catholic Church” as an appeal to the authority of the disciples and objective knowledge; the Catholic Church was the bishops’ church. In essence, the Catholics offered a choice: believe in the Gnostics, and who knows what you know what they may invent, or believe in the Catholics, and follow the bishops who openly assert their beliefs.