I was born and raised as a Roman Catholic, did elementary, middle & high school in a Catholic school, then served in the church of my town as a youth & had plans to serve later as a nun, but God had different plans for me. So I am writing of things I know about & lived with for over thirty years.

During my high-school years I started reading the Bible more, we all in the school received a small Gideon Bible (NT) as a gift. I signed the back cover confirming Jesus was my Savior, but my conversion was done gradually, there were still many questions & things I didn’t know.

I was taught that the Catholic church was started by Jesus when He picked the apostle Peter to lead the church, to be the first pope, after which there was an uninterrupted line of Popes through history (apostolic succession, not based on a direct scriptural command). For that reason it’s considered to be the only true Church of God, & that there isn’t salvation outside of it, This last part was first introduced during the ‘Fourth Lateran Council’ in 1215. But I  put my faith in what Jesus says: “ I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

  • So, if you ask Catholics, they will say that the early Church was Catholic from the beginning.

But the main struggle I had was about the line of sucesion. They don’t have the order of succession at various times, but also to me it was really interrupted long time ago, specially during the time of the Inquisition, when many ‘popes’ decided to kill & torture thousands of people, just because they didn’t agree with their teachings or because they just owned a Bible (The Council of Toulouse (1229) & the Council of Trent (1545–1563) prohibited laypeople from reading the Bible in their native languages w/out clerical oversight, enforcing the Latin Vulgate as the authoritative text).

Let us take into account that the pope is called the ‘Vicar of Christ‘ the main representative of Christ on earth (reason why they claim their authority), but many of them were not representative of Jesus AT ALL, neither followed His teachings, nor imitated His character. The Bible says we are called to follow God not men (Acts 5:29, Matt.15:9, Eph.5:1). Also these representatives live in a palace with many servants (even an army), wear a crown, a ring that people kiss, etc. Most popes if not all, live & exercise authority like kings.

“But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant”. Matt. 20:25-27

The Bible explicitly states on Ephesians 5:23, that “Christ is the head of the church,” which conflicts with the notion of another head of the church.

To better answer the question if the early Church was ‘Catholic’ or just ‘Christian’ we should start from the beginning & also clarify the definition of some concepts:

Church = Ekklesia a Greek word meaning “a called-out assembly or congregation”, it isn’t a building, a leadership, or a pope, but the believers whom God has called out of the world “into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Paul says he persecuted the church of God (1 Cor.15:9). In the New Testament ‘ekklesia’ was also used to refer to any assembly of people. In Acts 19:39, ekklesia refers a gathering of citizens called out from their homes to discuss legal matters. However, in most contexts, the word ekklesia is used to refer to the people who made up the New Testament church.

God has called the church to be separate from sin (1 Peter 1:16), and to be a light to the world (Matthew 5:14). God has called us unto Himself: “Come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

  •  1st century – After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Jerusalem church started as the first Christian church with about 120 believers (Acts 1:15) after Pentecost it started to grow really fast. – Paul experienced the “Road to Damascus” conversion & was commissioned by God to be  “Apostle to the Gentiles” (Acts 9:15, Gal 1:11–24). Peter was the apostle for the circumcised (Jews), Gal2:7.  – The Antioch church was founded, where the term Christian was first used (Acts 11:2) as well as other churches mentioned in the book of Acts. – Early Christians were persecuted by both, the Jews & by the Romans who controlled Judea, as it was part of the Roman Empire at that time. – On 70 AD during the siege of Jerusalem most of its population was killed, enslaved or displaced. – The New Testament was completed.

Instead a single figurehead, a council of elders (presbyters) oversaw the early church. Acts 14:23 states, “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church…”. The words Presbyters = G4245 & bishops =G1985 are used interchangeably, see Titus 1:5-7.

In Galatians 2:9, Paul refers to Peter, James, and John as “pillars” of the church, indicating a shared leadership rather than a singular headship. Paul rebukes Peter publicly in Antioch Gal.2:11-14,  for hypocrisy, which clearly suggest that Peter did not hold a supreme, unchallengeable authority within the early church. In 1 Peter 5:1, Peter describes himself as “a fellow elder,” emphasizing equality among church leaders rather than supremacy. Also during the important Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:13-22), the first council of the church & their “Apostolic Decree”, it was James, not Peter (present there also), who leads in the decision-making.

Peter appears to have preached in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Asia to the Jews of the dispersion. But no where in the Bible, nor early writings appear Peter as pope or even as bishop of Rome, nor we find in the Bible the word Catholic, or pope, etc. Also we know by a letter of the historian Eusebius that Peter went to Rome at the end of his life & he was killed there (by Nero). But the formal establishment of the papal office & its claims of  succession developed over centuries, long after Peter’s death.

  • 2nd century – Emergence of various theological schools & interpretations of Christian doctrine, including Gnostic sects and early Christian apologists. – Rabbi Tarfon advocates burn heretical Christian writings. – Development of the office of bishop in some Christian communities: Many scholars infer a collegial leadership of presbyters (elders), from which later emerged a presider or “first among equals” & was retrospectively described as “bishop” after the mid 2nd century.

Continue Pt.2 . . .