A Look at the Early Catholic Church from the Acts of the Apostles

The second reading from last Sunday’s Mass (5th Sunday of Easter) is very Catholic, and too informative to merely pass up. It presents the Church as rather highly organized and possessed of some of the structures we know today in full form. Granted, some of these structures are in seminal form, but they are there.

We will also notice qualities of the original kerygma that are at variance with what some modern thinkers declare should be the methodology of the Church. The soft Christianity of those who replace the cross with a pillow and who insist on solely inclusion and affirmation is strangely absent in this early setting.

Let’s look the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 14:21-27) and see there the true path of priests, teachers, and leaders in the Church. Four steps are prescribed for our consideration, by noting that they went forth announcing, admonishing, appointing, and accounting.

I. Announcing – The text says, After Paul and Barnabas had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples …

Notice that the happiness is linked to the harvest. By proclaiming the Good News, they yield a great harvest. As Catholics, we are not sent out merely to proclaim a list of duties; we are sent to proclaim the Gospel. And the Gospel is this: God so loved the world that He sent his Son, who by dying and rising from the dead has purchased for us a whole new life, free from sin and the rebellious obsessions of this world. He is victorious over all the death-directed drives of this world. Simply put, he has triumphed over these forces and enabled us to walk in newness of life.

God save us from brands of the faith in which rules and obligations are all that is heard by sour-faced saints, dead disciples, fussy Pharisees, bored believers, and frozen chosen. Save us from Pharisaical philosophers who are obsessed with particulars not even commanded by God, who sneer at things they consider beneath than their preferences.

No, we are sent to announce a new life, a life free from the bondage of sin, rebellion, sensuality, greed, lust, domination, and revenge. We are sent to announce a life of joy, confidence, purity, chastity, generosity, and devotion to the truth rooted in Love.

Yes, here is a joyful announcement rooted in the cry Anastasis (Resurrection)! New Life! The old order of sin is gone and a new life of freedom from sin is here!

Did everyone accept this as good news? No. Some, indeed many, were offended and sought to convict Christians as “disturbers of the peace.” Some don’t like to have their sin and bondage called out as such. They prefer bondage, sin, and darkness to light, holiness, and freedom.

As Catholics, we announce what is intrinsically good news, and we ought to start sounding like it by proclaiming it with joy. We must proclaim it without the bitterness and anger that are indicative of those who are more interested in winning an argument than in joyfully announcing something wonderful, freeing, and true.

II. Admonishing – The text says, … they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Preaching/teaching is a process. You don’t just preach or teach once and then move on; you return and reiterate. Paul and Barnabas are retracing their steps back through towns they have already evangelized. They do not just come, have a tent revival, and move on. They return and, as we shall see, they establish the Church.

1. Encourage – They strengthened the spirits of the disciples.
2. Exhort – They exhorted them to persevere in the faith.
3. Explain – They explained by saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

Let’s focus especially on the last the point. Paul and Barnabas teach that if you’re not willing to endure the cross, no crown will come your way. If you can’t stand a little disappointment, if you can’t stand being talked about, if you think you should always be up and never down, then I’ve come to remind you: No cross, no crown.

Yes, beware of “cross-less” Christianity. We do have good news to proclaim but there is also the truth that we get to the resurrection and the glory through the cross. There is a test in every testimony, a trial in every triumph. There are demands of discipleship, requirements for renewal, laws of love, and sufferings set forth for Saints.

Good preaching combines the hardship and the happiness in one message. It is a joy to follow in the footsteps of our Lord, who endured hostility, hardship, and the horrors of the cross but still triumphed and showed that the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. Yes, He caught the wise in their craftiness and showed that the thoughts of the wise in this word are futile (cf 1 Cor 3:20). He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them (paradoxically) by the cross (cf Col 2:15).

Thus, St. Paul and Barnabas announce the cross, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles (cf 1 Cor 1:23). Many today insist that the Church soft-pedal the cross, that she use honey, not vinegar. No can do. We joyfully announce and uphold the paradox of the cross. We must be willing to be a sign of contradiction to this world, which sees only pleasure and the indulgence of sinful drives as the way forward, which exalts freedom without truth or obedience, and which calls good what God calls sinful.

Too many so-called Christian denominations have adopted the pillow as their image and have a “give the people what they want” mentality. That is 180 degrees out of phase with the cross.

The Catholic Church does not exist to reflect the views of its members, but to reflect the views of its founder and head, Jesus Christ. As He went out to die, Jesus announced the cross without ambiguity, saying, Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me (John 12:31-32).

And so we announce the cross not merely as suffering, but as life, power, and love. By the power of the cross, it is possible to live without sin, to overcome rebellion, pride, lust, and greed; it is possible to learn to forgive and to live the truth in love.

The world will hate us for this. But such hardships, such crosses, are necessary preludes to the hallelujah of Heaven. The Church can do no less than to point to the cross. The center of our faith is a cross not a pillow. And the cross is our only hope (Ave Crux spes unica nostra (Hail, O Cross, our only hope).

Yes, the Church announces the cross and admonishes a world obsessed with pleasure and with passing, fake happiness.

III. Appointing – The text says, They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia.

And thus we see the ordination of priest leaders in every place. “Priest” is just an English mispronunciation of the word “presbyter.” Paul and Barnabas did not simply go about vaguely preaching and then moving on. They established local churches with a structure of authority. The whole Pauline corpus of writings indicates a need to continue oversight of these local churches and to stay in touch with the priest leaders established to lead these local parishes.

Later, St. Paul spoke of the need for this structure in other places when he wrote (to Titus),

This is why I left you in Crete, that you might amend what was defective, and appoint presbyters in every town as I directed you (Titus 1:5).

This appointment was done through the laying on of hands and is called ordination today. It was a way of establishing order and office in the Church to make sure that the work continued and that the Church was governed by order. This is why we call the sacrament involved here the “Sacrament of Holy Orders.”

Note, too, that a critical task for leaders in the Church is to develop and train new leaders. Too many parishes depend on individual charismatic and gifted leaders whose inevitable departure leaves a void, not an ongoing ministry or organization. This should not be so. Good leaders train new leaders.

IV. Accounting – The text says, From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished. And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

Note that Paul and Barnabas are now returning to render an account for what they have done. Accountability is part of a healthy Church. Every priest should render an account to his bishop, every bishop to his metropolitan and to the Pope. Today’s ad limina visits of bishops to the Pope is the way this is done. Further, priests are accountable to their bishop through various mechanisms such as yearly reports and other meetings.

A further background to this text is that Paul and Barnabas are returning to Antioch because it was from there that they were sent forth by the local bishops and priests on this missionary task.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off (Acts 13:2).

Thus St. Paul was not the lone ranger that some think him to be. He was sent and was accountable.

But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and remained with him fifteen days (Gal 1:15-18).

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up by revelation; and I laid before them (but privately before those who were of repute) the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, lest somehow I should be running or had run in vain (Gal 2:1).

The preacher and teacher must be accountable: For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So each of us shall give account of himself to God (Rom 14:10-12).

And thus we see some paths for priests, preachers, teachers, and leaders. We must announce the Gospel as good news, with joy and confidence. We must admonish a world obsessed with pleasures to embrace the cross as our only hope. We must continue to develop, train, and appoint leaders to follow after us. And we must be accountable to one another.

Then the angel took the censer, filled it with burning coals from the altar, and hurled it down to the earth. There were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. rev 8:5

When he took it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each of the elders held a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the holy ones. Revelation 5:8

The intercession of fellow Christians—which is what the saints in heaven are—also clearly does not interfere with Christ’s unique mediatorship because in the four verses immediately preceding 1 Timothy 2:5, Paul says that Christians should interceed: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and pleasing to God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:1–4). Clearly, then, intercessory prayers offered by Christians on behalf of others is something “good and pleasing to God,” not something infringing on Christ’s role as mediator.

Calling Catholic Answers deceitful liars tells us a lot about your intentions and your willingness to accept the Truth.

Specifically, we’ll examine the words of Christ to Peter and the apostles: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” As CCC 553 says, Christ here communicated not only authority “to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church,” but also “the authority to absolve sins” to the apostles.

These words are unsettling, even disturbing, to many. And understandably so. How could God give such authority to men? And yet he does. Jesus Christ, who alone has the power to open and shut heaven to men, clearly communicated this authority to the apostles and their successors. This is what the forgiveness of sins is all about: to reconcile men and women with their heavenly Father. CCC 1445 puts it succinctly:

The words bind and loose mean: whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive anew into your communion, God will welcome back into his. Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God.

Can you explain why the Holy Spirit did not include the word “Trinity” in the Old or New Testament?

May the Holy Spirit help you understand His Truth.

One thing we do not do is ask her forgiveness, which we can only receive through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The things we ask of Mary depend entirely on her receiving them from Christ to share with us. Lucem Gentium explains it better than I can.

III. On the Blessed Virgin and the Church

60. There is but one Mediator as we know from the words of the apostle, “for there is one God and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all”.(298) The maternal duty of Mary toward men in no wise obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows His power. For all the salvific influence of the Blessed Virgin on men originates, not from some inner necessity, but from the divine pleasure. It flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on His mediation, depends entirely on it and draws all its power from it. In no way does it impede, but rather does it foster the immediate union of the faithful with Christ.

61. Predestined from eternity by that decree of divine providence which determined the incarnation of the Word to be the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin was on this earth the virgin Mother of the Redeemer, and above all others and in a singular way the generous associate and humble handmaid of the Lord. She conceived, brought forth and nourished Christ. She presented Him to the Father in the temple, and was united with Him by compassion as He died on the Cross. In this singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity in the work of the Saviour in giving back supernatural life to souls. Wherefore she is our mother in the order of grace.

62. This maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent which she gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, and lasts until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.(15*) By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix.(16*) This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator.(17*)

For no creature could ever be counted as equal with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer. Just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by the ministers and by the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is really communicated in different ways to His creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source.

The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary. It knows it through unfailing experience of it and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so that encouraged by this maternal help they may the more intimately adhere to the Mediator and Redeemer.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html

To properly understand what the writers of the Word had in mind we have to draw upon the Greek. Anything apart from that we begin to lose the original intent.

Using Biblehub.com I did a word search for veneration. Results are below:

σέβομαι(seb'-om-ahee)

4576 sébomai – properly, personally esteem; to hold something (someone) in high respect; showing the reverence or awe (veneration) of someone who is devout.

[4576 (sébomai) always occurs in the Greek middle voice in the NT, accounting for the deep, personal sense of veneration involved.]

It is used 10x in the NT.

Not all of these are used in reference to God.

Acts 19:27 illustrates this:

Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence."

The word for worship is derived from this definition.

Another word is

εὐσέβεια (eusebeia) (yoo-seb'-i-ah)

2150 eusébeia (from 2095 /eú "well" and 4576 /sébomai, "venerate, pay homage") – properly, someone's inner response to the things of God which shows itself in godly piety (reverence). 2150 /eusébeia ("godly heart-response") naturally expresses itself in reverence for God, i.e. what He calls sacred (worthy of veneration).

It is used 15x in the NT.

One thing we do not do is ask her forgiveness, which we can only receive through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Yet we have this.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross and saw His apostles and disciples desperately in need of being forgiven and giving forgiveness, He told Mary to be the mother of all His disciples, represented by John. He told all of us to accept Mary as our spiritual mother.

(Yet this is not recorded in John as we will see below.)

Mary is a minister of reconciliation (see 2 Cor 5:18) who will help us accept God's grace to forgive.

However the New Testament records the following: 18Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 Cor 5:18

No where is Mary mentioned in this.

Mary is "Our Lady of Sorrows." However, she has been given a pre-eminent part in God's plan of salvation not merely through her sufferings but also through her loving forgiveness for those who have caused her Son's sufferings.

Yet no where in Scripture is this aspect of Mary recorded.

Mary is the "Mother of Forgiveness." She prayed with her tortured and crucified Son: "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing" (Lk 23:34).

Yet Luke does not record this. He does record Christ saying the following:

34But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. Luke 23:34

She forgave each of us for our part in murdering her Son. This made it possible for her to obey the dying Jesus' command that she be our mother (Jn 19:26-27). Mary is the "Mother of the Church" because she is first "the Mother of Forgiveness."

Addressing Mary as the "Mother of Forgiveness," ask Mary to be your mother and to pray for you. Promote devotion to Mary under the title of "Mary, the Mother of Forgiveness." Pray the novena of "Mary, the Mother of Sorrows" and invite others to do the same. Pray the following prayer:

"Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, I ask for the willingness to forgive and the grace to forgive immediately all who have sinned against me.

On Calvary, You gave Mary the grace to forgive me for my part in killing her Son. Then you gave Mary the grace to become my mother (Jn 19:26-27).

However, none of this is noted in John 19:26-27.

26When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. Jn 19:26-27 NASB

Mary, Mother of Forgiveness, may I forgive others as you forgave me in imitation of your Son. Mary, take my hand and lead me as I decide to accept God's grace to forgive (name the person) for (name the sin), etc.

http://www.presentationministries.com/publications/BookOnForgiveness.asp

60. There is but one Mediator as we know from the words of the apostle, “for there is one God and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption for all”

Yet catholicism invokes mary as mediatrix. The disconnect in what catholics say on one hand and then the other is amazing.

You would think at some point in the NT, if Mary was assigned all of the roles catholicism claims for her we would have a clear mention of this. Yet we do not.

You posted the following as testament of what you were taught as a young catholic:

"Question: What must we do to save our souls? First, you cannot save your soul, that's why God took for Himself a body, Jesus, and fulfilled the law and went to the cross as the Lamb of God, perfect for the ultimate sacrifice to save your soul.
Catholic Answer: To save our souls we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart. And this is what muslims do in their worship of the god of Islam, which your organization claims is the same god of catholiciism. JESUS, GOD with us, said that we must believe, faithe on the One Whom GOD sent for our salvation, and thus be born from above. This allows GOD to immediately save the believer, as illustrated perfectly on the Day of Pentecost when more than 3000 were added to the body of believers, and in the House of Cornelius where people believed even before Peter finished his sermon, people who are SAVED because they believed in the One Whom God had sent to save them, immediately, when they faithe in Him.

This 'believe and immediately be born from above' (as Jesus explained to Nicodemus) is a subtle difference from what you were taught to memorize. But satan is brilliant at making holes in minds into which he pours his blasphemies. So the Catholic organization started feeding you slippage from the TRUTH in what they required you to memorize.

Eventually, they, the catholiciism hierarchy, doing satan's bidding, slipped in many more things which were pure heresy and some even blasphemous (like teaching you to believe --by twisting scripture, by isolating the chosen phrases, to say what the hierarchy commanded in order to empower their priestly class --you are taught that in the catholic Mass you are literally eating God, body, blood, soul and DIVINITY to get God-life in you.

The catholic Mass is pure blasphemy, a pagan ritual which mocks God on the Cross pouring out His perfect life's blood for our redemption. READ the Old Testament; the blood of the sin offering was NEVER imbibed, the Law which GOD gave to the Hebrews forbade it! The was poured out upon the ground, just as Abel's blood poured out upon the ground. And Jesus illustrated this when He poured out the last cup of WINE at the Passover with His disciples. God is not offering JESUS for your priest to feed to you. The Lord's Table was instituted by JESUS, God with us, as a remembrance of His Body slain as the sacrifice for our sins and His blood poured out for our redemption from sin, not a pagan rite of eating food sacrificed by priests for eating the object of worship.

Catholicism is not Christianity. It is a demonically inspired look-alike that will point to anything to gain your fealty, except the One Whom God has sent for your salvation. You cannot strive your way to salvation, trying to earn enough points with God in order to be owed eternal life. That is a lie, albeit one of satan's most camouflaged lies, and he started using variations of that lie all the way back with the first family.

What is the Gospel of Salvation? And where can someone find it in The Word of God? Answer that, then place that simplest of all revelations of GOD's Grace beside the complex system of worship promulgated as a 'striving way' to salvation by the catholic institution.

And know this Rich, your religion's leadership has said that even Muslims are saved because 'they believe in the same god as catholics', but you and I know that they do not faithe in Jesus, WHO is the ONLY means of Salvation. And the state of their spiritual deadness is manifest in their murderous jihadis who are of course NOT anathema to faithful muslims.

You posted:

Specifically, we’ll examine the words of Christ to Peter and the apostles: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” As CCC 553 says, Christ here communicated not only authority “to pronounce doctrinal judgments, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church,” but also “the authority to absolve sins” to the apostles.
These words are unsettling, even disturbing, to many. And understandably so.

The first point to note is that the Apostles are all now dead, bodily. There are no longer any of the Twelve Apostles still alive, not even in the catholic religion.

The second point is a strange attribution by the catholic religion over the terms bind and loose. The quote of Jesus you offered is not the quote where Jesus specified forgiving the sins of men.

You claimed the quote conveyed 'but also “the authority to absolve sins” to the apostles'. There is such a passage, but you didn't quote it, and of course there are no longer ANY of the Twelve Apsotles yet among us to carry out these functions. Catholicism erroneously claims that Apostolic Authority regarding sins is conveyed from Peter right to the present Pope and catholic priesthood. The authority to manage the ekklesia particulars is separate from the authority to forgive sins of men. And therein is the way catholic deception is foisted upon the unwary.

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