Christ's Church Failed?

Overview

In order to justify the validity of the Protestant Reformation, Protestants typically hold these views:

• The church failed soon after Pentecost, or
• At some point in history the church went bad.
• It needed to be fixed (Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses have the same view).
• The Protestant Reformers fixed it.

Protestants must accept the notion that the church "went bad" and that God used the Protestant Reformers to "fix" it. Some even go so far as to claim that their denomination has historical continuity with the church of the New Testament (link) via such groups as the Albigensians and Waldenses!! (link).

These claims are simply false. Although the church has always been in need of reform, it has never failed. The Catholic Church of today is the same church as the New Testament church, and it is the church which Jesus founded through the Apostles.

   Church History — From before the time of Jesus to the present. 150+ hours of free MP3 files.

In this article I consider:

• When did the church fail? (No one can seem to agree).
• What did the church believe before it failed? (It was clearly Catholic).
• Did the Catholic Church become pagan? (It did not).
• Did the Protestant Reformers really go back to the New Testament church? (They did not).

   The New Testament Church

Featured article: Biblical Interpretation

Related article: One Apostolic Church

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Index

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Introduction

Various ways in which the church supposedly "went bad" and failed:

• Adopted pagan practices and beliefs
• Added unbiblical doctrines
• Became politicized with Constantine.
• Leaders (popes, bishops) became corrupt.

There is ample evidence that the church didn't fail or go bad after all:

• She defended true doctrine (even Protestants agree that the heresies were incorrect).

  Throughout the entire period in which the Catholic Church was supposedly falling into apostasy she was defending herself from various heresies that were developing. But how could a failing church be so discerning of truth? See: The Great Heresies

• She defined and developed Christian doctrine (even Protestants agree with these foundational, essential doctrines of the Christian faith). Examples:
  • Trinity
  • Canon of scripture
  • Inerrancy of scripture
  • Many of the basic doctrines from the table of contents of any book of Protestant Systematic Theology.
• There are many examples of saintly and holy men, including bishops and popes.
• She Christianized and evangelized the world.

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Is Catholicism Pagan?

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism commonly claim that the Catholic Church adopted pagan beliefs and practices. This is simply not so.

Articles claiming that Catholicism is NOT pagan:

Is Catholicism Pagan?

Did the Catholic Church Blend Paganism with Christianity?

Article claiming that Catholicism IS pagan:

Roman Catholicism: The Paganization of Christianity

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Added Unbiblical Doctrines

Most Protestants will be surprised to discover that it is actually Protestantism which is unbiblical. Catholicism matches the Bible much better. For example, concerning Mary.

Links:

Catholic "Inventions"

More Catholic "Inventions"

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Political Power and Corruption

A common objection to the Catholic Church is that it had so much political power during Christendom. Bishops and Popes spent time and energy dealing with the same kinds of issues that rulers had to address. But we should remember that in the times of Christendom the church leaders were themselves also secular leaders to varying degrees.

Every denomination has to deal with political issues to some extent. Politics is merely (1) the management of the interests of organizations or persons, and (2) the process of resolving various conflicts. Protestant denominations have to deal with laws and have to manage their congregations. The Catholic Church is such a large organization that the various Catholic leaders need to spend a great deal of time and energy in managing the organization. The goal is that these management issues do not supercede the mission of the church to provide teaching and moral guidance. Certainly there have been times in history when they became unbalanced.

Links:

Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church

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Is Protestantism the New Testment Church?

Many Protestants believe that their denomination reflects the teaching and practice of the New Testament church. But there are several problems with this view:

• While some denominations may mimic certain attributes described in the New Testament, none really match it very well. It is easy to come up with a list of differences.
• The writings of the Early Church Fathers supported Catholicism from the very beginning. Some of these church leaders were alive during the apostolic era.
• Protestant denominations typically look to the New Testament to discover what the early church was like, but unfortunately many important topics are simply not addressed.
• There was no Bible yet at the time of the Early Church. The church developed the New Testament.

Article originally written July 17, 2004.

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