A Quiz

[deogratias]

Note to all:

I asked the adminstrator to delete the answers (which were not “my answers by the way”) once it was called to my attention that they were in error. Any one can answer the questions correctly, giving reliable sources will make them more valid than the original answers posted in error.

I got the quiz via E-mail from a friend. I have since told them it was wrong also.

I hope everyone can dialogue in this in a friendly manner with the aim at not proving who is right or wrong but for all of us to learn what is true Church history.

I probably won’t post any more.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

1. In what century were Presbyter or elders first called priests?

We see the term (in english) used throughout the Old and New Testaments. So this seems to be more of a question of word origin instead of Theology. However if we ask when did the idea of “Priesthood” one who offers Sacrifice begin of course it has roots well back into the Old Testament. The New Testament speaks of the Priesthood of Christ, and Christ himself speaks of the office of priests and in the early Church it is related to the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

1. When did the Church begin saying Prayers for the dead…

The cult of the dead is found in the first century catacombs.

1. When did the veneration of angels and saints and the use of images begin?

Again Veneration of martyred Christians and the use of images are seen in the first century caracombs. Images of angels are first spoken of in the book of Genesis on top of the Ark of the Covanent.

1. When was the Mass adopted as a daily celebration?

Tertullian C225 speaks of the “Daily Bread” as the daily offering of the Eucharist. Daily Mass was never a requirement for Priests.

1. Which Council first used the term “Mother of God” for Mary?
   Ephesus in 431.

 

[deogratias]

1. When did the Church begin saying Prayers for the dead…

The cult of the dead is found in the first century catacombs.

I had just read this in the Catholic Encylopedia as well -

Monumental inscriptions

The inscriptions in the Roman Catacombs range in date from the first century (the earliest dated is from A.D. 71) to the early part of the fifth; and though the majority are undated, archaeologists have been able to fix approximately the dates of a great many by comparison with those that are dated.

There was also a notation that early liturgies referenced that and gave the following example:

From the Syriac Liturgy of S.t James, may be quoted as a typical example: *"we commemorate all the faithful dead who have died in the true faith…We ask, we entreat, we pray *

Christ our God, who took their souls and spirits to Himself, that by His many compassions He will make them worthy of the pardon of their faults and the remission of their sins" (Syr. Lit. S. Jacobi, ed. Hammond, p. 75
).

It would seem to me that Church History and the Writings of the early Fathers should convince any protestant that Catholicism is the Church founded by Christ and indeed I have read of several protestant ministers who converted after reading some of the early Father’s writings. *