Wait… How Did We Get From Jesus to the Catholic Church?

A lot of Protestants hear the word Church and immediately think:

“The Church is just all believers in Jesus.”

And at first that sounds right.

After all, the Bible does call Christians the Body of Christ.

But then you start reading a few passages and you have to stop for a second.

Because the Church in the Bible seems to be more than just an invisible collection of people who believe in Jesus.

Jesus talks about a Church that can actually hear a case.

He says:

“Tell the church.”
— Matthew 18:17

Wait.

Tell the Church?

How do you “tell” an invisible collection of all true believers everywhere?

Then Jesus says if the person refuses to listen even to the Church, he can be treated as outside the community.

So apparently this Church can hear disputes, make judgments, and exercise discipline.

That already sounds a little more organized than:

“Everyone who believes in Jesus is the Church.”

And then it gets even more interesting.

Jesus Did Not Just Gather Random Believers

Jesus had many disciples.

But from those disciples He chose twelve Apostles.

Not twelve suggestions.

Not twelve examples.

Twelve men with a specific mission.

He told them:

“As the Father hath sent me, I also send you.”
— John 20:21

And before ascending into heaven:

“Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them… and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.”
— Matthew 28:19–20

Wait a second.

Jesus tells these men to teach.

To baptize.

To make disciples.

And He promises to remain with them until the end of the world.

But the Apostles were obviously going to die.

So how does that mission continue?

That question becomes important very quickly.

Then There Is Peter

Catholics talk a lot about Peter, and Protestants often respond:

“Peter was important, but he was just one apostle among many.”

Fair enough.

But then you read the actual passages.

Jesus changes Simon’s name to Peter and says:

“Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church.”
— Matthew 16:18

Then He gives Peter:

“the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

Wait.

Why keys?

Then in Luke, Jesus tells Peter:

“I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.”
— Luke 22:32

And after the Resurrection:

“Feed my sheep.”
— John 21:17

You may interpret those passages differently from a Catholic.

But you at least have to admit:

Peter is being given some very unusual responsibilities.

Pentecost Does Not Look Like Independent Christianity

Then Pentecost happens.

Peter preaches.

Thousands are baptized.

And Acts tells us what the first Christians devoted themselves to:

“The doctrine of the apostles… the breaking of bread… and prayers.”
— Acts 2:42

Again, wait a second.

They are not simply told:

“Believe in Jesus and then figure things out individually.”

They are attached to:

apostolic teaching

baptism

the breaking of bread

a worshiping community

And they are being added to something.

Christianity already looks like a real community.

Then a Huge Doctrinal Fight Breaks Out

This one is especially interesting.

In Acts 15, Christians are arguing about whether Gentile converts have to be circumcised.

This is not a small issue.

People are disagreeing over doctrine.

So what happens?

Does every congregation make up its own mind?

Does Paul say:

“Just read Scripture and follow your conscience”?

No.

Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem.

The Apostles and elders gather.

They debate.

Peter speaks.

James speaks.

Then they issue a decision to the churches.

And they say:

“It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us…”
— Acts 15:28

Wait.

That sounds very different from:

“No visible Church has authority.”

The early Church actually gathers, decides a doctrinal controversy, and expects the churches to follow the decision.

That is a pretty Catholic-looking moment.

But What Happens When the Apostles Die?

This is where things really start to click.

If the Church depends on the Apostles, what happens when they die?

Paul gives us a clue.

He tells Timothy:

“The things which thou hast heard of me… commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also.”
— 2 Timothy 2:2

Look at that chain.

Paul

teaches

Timothy

who teaches

faithful men

who teach

others.

That is four generations right there.

Paul also leaves Titus in Crete and tells him to appoint leaders in every city.

So the New Testament itself is already showing a pattern of continuation.

Catholics call that apostolic succession.

It sounds technical, but the idea is simple:

The Apostles appointed men, and those men appointed others.

Then You Read the Christians Right After the Apostles

And this is where a lot of people have another “wait a second” moment.

You do not have to jump to the Middle Ages.

You can read Christians who lived right after the Apostles.

Around A.D. 96, Clement of Rome writes about the Apostles appointing ministers and making provision for successors.

Then around A.D. 107, Ignatius of Antioch writes letters on his way to martyrdom.

And Ignatius keeps talking about:

the bishop,

the priests,

the deacons,

and unity with them.

Wait.

A bishop?

Priests?

Deacons?

This is around A.D. 107.

Not 1000.

Not 1500.

Barely after the New Testament period.

And then Ignatius uses a phrase that sounds very familiar:

“the Catholic Church.”

So Where Did the Name “Catholic” Come From?

This is another common misunderstanding.

Some people assume the word Catholic appeared much later.

It did not.

The word comes from the Greek katholikos, meaning something like:

universal

or

according to the whole.

The Church had spread into different cities and countries.

Jerusalem.

Antioch.

Rome.

Ephesus.

Corinth.

North Africa.

And these Christians did not think:

“Well, we are all separate churches with separate truths.”

They saw themselves as belonging to one worldwide Church.

So the phrase Catholic Church basically meant:

the universal Church.

Ignatius of Antioch uses the expression around A.D. 107.

So the name Catholic is older than Constantine.

Older than the Middle Ages.

Older than the Reformation by more than a thousand years.

That surprises a lot of people.

But Weren’t They Just Called Christians?

Yes.

They absolutely were.

Acts says:

“At Antioch the disciples were first named Christians.”
— Acts 11:26

Catholics are Christians.

That is not a contradiction.

“Christian” tells you who you belong to.

Christ.

“Catholic” tells you which Christian communion you belong to.

So saying:

“I am Catholic”

does not mean:

“I am not Christian.”

It means:

“I am a Christian in the Catholic Church.”

The same way someone today may say:

“I am a Christian and I am Baptist.”

or:

“I am a Christian and I am Lutheran.”

Then Why Did Christians Need the Word Catholic?

Because eventually everybody claiming to follow Jesus did not agree about who Jesus was or what Christianity taught.

Some groups denied that Jesus was truly human.

Some denied other essential doctrines.

Some broke away from the bishops of the wider Church.

So simply saying:

“I am Christian”

was not always enough to identify what someone believed.

The word Catholic became a way of saying:

the whole apostolic Church throughout the world

rather than some local breakaway group.

Then You Get to the Second Century

Around A.D. 180, Irenaeus of Lyons is fighting heresies.

And what does he do?

He points people back to the churches founded by the Apostles and to the succession of their bishops.

His argument is basically:

“You say you have the real teaching of the Apostles?

Okay.

Let us look at the churches the Apostles actually founded and see what those churches have been teaching.”

That is a very different mindset from:

“Everyone just interprets Christianity for himself.”

The early Christians cared about historical continuity.

Who taught you?

Who taught them?

Where did this doctrine come from?

Can you trace it back to the Apostles?

And Rome Keeps Showing Up

Then another question appears.

Why Rome?

Why does the Bishop of Rome matter?

Well, Peter and Paul were both associated with Rome and were martyred there.

And Catholics believe Peter had a special role among the Apostles.

So the Church of Rome gradually holds a unique place in Christian history.

The bishop of Rome becomes known as Peter’s successor.

That bishop eventually becomes commonly known as the Pope.

Now a Protestant may disagree with the Catholic understanding of the papacy.

But at least now the claim makes sense.

Catholics are not saying:

“One day Rome randomly took over Christianity.”

They are saying:

Peter had a special role, Peter was connected with Rome, and that office continued there.

What About Constantine?

This is another big one.

Some people say:

“Constantine created the Catholic Church.”

But then you look at the dates.

Ignatius is already using the phrase Catholic Church around A.D. 107.

Constantine does not come along until the fourth century.

So that theory falls apart immediately.

Before Constantine, Christians already had:

bishops,

priests,

deacons,

baptism,

the Eucharist,

Church discipline,

martyrs,

apostolic succession,

and the name Catholic Church.

Constantine did not invent Catholicism.

He changed Christianity’s legal status in the Roman Empire.

Then Nicaea Happens

In A.D. 325, bishops gather at the Council of Nicaea because there is a huge dispute about Jesus.

Again, notice the pattern.

A doctrinal crisis happens.

Bishops gather.

They debate.

They define the faith.

This is not an entirely new idea.

You already saw the basic pattern in Acts 15.

And eventually Christians profess belief in:

“one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”

That phrase sums up the whole idea.

One.

Holy.

Universal.

Connected to the Apostles.

So Why “Roman Catholic”?

Now this is where terminology gets confusing.

The worldwide Church is properly called the:

Catholic Church.

But the term Roman Catholic became common because Catholics are united with the Bishop of Rome.

It also helps distinguish Catholics from Orthodox and Protestant Christians.

But here is another “wait a second” fact:

Not every Catholic is Roman in the liturgical sense.

There Are Actually Different Catholic Churches

The Catholic Church today is a communion of 24 Catholic Churches.

The largest is the Latin Church, which is what most Americans mean when they say Roman Catholic.

But there are also Eastern Catholic Churches.

For example:

Maronite Catholics,

Ukrainian Greek Catholics,

Melkite Catholics,

Chaldean Catholics,

Syro-Malabar Catholics,

Armenian Catholics,

and others.

Their worship can look very different.

Different music.

Different languages.

Different vestments.

Different liturgical traditions.

Some look much more Eastern Orthodox than what an American thinks of as “Roman Catholic.”

But they are fully Catholic.

Why?

Because they share the Catholic faith and remain in communion with the Bishop of Rome.

So “Catholic” is bigger than “Roman.”

Then Christianity Splits

Over time, major divisions happen.

The split between East and West develops over centuries and is commonly associated with A.D. 1054.

That leads to what we now call the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches existing separately.

Then much later, in the sixteenth century, comes the Protestant Reformation.

Martin Luther.

John Calvin.

Huldrych Zwingli.

And others.

Then come many later Protestant traditions.

Lutherans.

Baptists.

Presbyterians.

Methodists.

Pentecostals.

Evangelicals.

And so on.

And this is why today the phrase:

“I am Christian”

does not tell you very much about what someone believes about baptism, Communion, Church authority, salvation, bishops, or worship.

So What Is the Catholic Claim?

Here is the claim in simple terms.

Catholics do not believe Jesus founded some vague invisible group of believers and then centuries later Rome created an institution called the Catholic Church.

Catholics believe Jesus founded a real Church.

A Church that was spiritual, yes.

But also visible.

A Church with:

Apostles.

Teaching authority.

Baptism.

The breaking of bread.

Discipline.

Leaders.

Councils.

And succession.

Then the Apostles appointed others.

Those men appointed others.

The worldwide apostolic Church came to be called Catholic.

Peter’s connection with Rome explains the unique role of the Bishop of Rome.

Different Eastern and Western Catholic traditions developed.

And that Church continues today.

So the real question is not:

“Were the first Christians Christian?”

Of course they were.

The better question is:

“What did their Christianity actually look like?”

Because when you read the New Testament and then immediately read Clement, Ignatius, Irenaeus, and the other earliest Christians, something interesting happens.

The gap between:

“the Church of the Apostles”

and

“the Catholic Church”

starts looking a lot smaller than many people were taught.