Christ's Church

[spedteacherita]

The answer would be NO. It would not be the Church of God, and that is why it is important to check what the other Christian Churches teach and see if that is the one deposit of faith handed to the Apostles.

You can do this by reading scripture and reading what those early priest and Bishops, who were the disciples of the disciples, wrote about. There are many of their writings and you they are called the “Early Church Fathers”. I always found it interesting that when I walk into a protestant book store they have numerous books on Angles and spirituality etc, but they never have any of the writings by the disciples of Saint John. I would think every Christian would want to read what the disciples of the Apostles taught. Don’t you?

Hi ichobode,

Thanks for your response! I actually have been collecting some of the writings of the early church fathers who were actual disciples of the apostles. I agree - all Christians ought to be interested in those writings, but as someone else mentioned here it’s the Tradition of the Apostles that wasn’t written down…why would that not happen? I would think that information would be of high interest to all Christians and I guess that’s what I’ve been seeking as well.

Does the Catholic Church consider the Catechism as Tradition written down? I guess as a former teacher I like to read it for myself - understand it from the perspective of those who gave it to us.

I do appreciate your response,

Peace and God bless!

Rita

 

[MarcoPG]

Hi ichobode,

Thanks for your response! I actually have been collecting some of the writings of the early church fathers who were actual disciples of the apostles. I agree - all Christians ought to be interested in those writings, but as someone else mentioned here it’s the Tradition of the Apostles that wasn’t written down…why would that not happen? I would think that information would be of high interest to all Christians and I guess that’s what I’ve been seeking as well.

Does the Catholic Church consider the Catechism as Tradition written down? I guess as a former teacher I like to read it for myself - understand it from the perspective of those who gave it to us.

I do appreciate your response,

Peace and God bless!

Rita

On the Catechism: it contains most of Sacred Tradition, but isn’t Sacred Tradition written down per se. So these are 2 different things.

 

[Telstar]

Hi ichobode,

Thanks for your response! I actually have been collecting some of the writings of the early church fathers who were actual disciples of the apostles. I agree - all Christians ought to be interested in those writings, but as someone else mentioned here it’s the Tradition of the Apostles that wasn’t written down…why would that not happen? I would think that information would be of high interest to all Christians and I guess that’s what I’ve been seeking as well.

Does the Catholic Church consider the Catechism as Tradition written down? I guess as a former teacher I like to read it for myself - understand it from the perspective of those who gave it to us.

I do appreciate your response,

Peace and God bless!

Rita

Hi, Rita

One thing we have to remember is that the Apostles and most of the earliest Christians came from Jewish roots. Their traditional means of teaching the faith of their fathers to their children was to use the scriptures that were written down to augment their oral teaching, the same way teachers today use a ‘teachers manual’ as a means of putting together lessons for their class. That’s how they passed on their history to all subsequent generations. They didn’t write everything down. The ECFs were the ones that began to write down much more of what they were taught, to counter the errors that were cropping up in some of the teachings of churches in different areas, to ensure that the real truth was maintained in all of the churches.

There were some real problems with people that were teaching their old beliefs mixed in with the truth, such as the among the Gnostics and others, who often embellished on the truth and were teaching heresy through their misinterpretations of the true Gospel. This is also why the earliest Councils were called together, because when the Apostles were all gone, and their direct disciples were also dieing, it was decided by the Bishops that the Gospels and letters of the Apostles needed to be gathered together into one book.

There were too many writings being used in some of the churches that contained errors, so they needed to eliminate the partially fictionalized writings that were already circulating among them. They had to decide which ones that were written by the Apostles or their direct disciples, should be considered worthy to be called scripture. Then, which ones were to at least be approved for use in teaching, even though they were not to be considered as scripture. And finally, which writings were not to be used for teaching at all, because they contained too many errors, or even heresies.

The only way any of this could ever have been accomplished, was through the guardianship and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would protect the Church from teaching error, and He has continued to do that for 2000 years. Jesus is Faithful and True to His word. He would never let His Church fall into serious error, especially regarding faith and morals. People have come and gone, and many have broken away from the Church, ever since the beginning. But, Jesus didn’t build His House on sand that could undermine and wash it away. The Rock that Jesus built Her on was a solid foundation that can weather any storm that lashes against it, because He is the Cornerstone that holds it all together.

 

[spedteacherita]

Hi, Rita

One thing we have to remember is that the Apostles and most of the earliest Christians came from Jewish roots. Their traditional means of teaching the faith of their fathers to their children was to use the scriptures that were written down to augment their oral teaching, the same way teachers today use a ‘teachers manual’ as a means of putting together lessons for their class. That’s how they passed on their history to all subsequent generations. They didn’t write everything down. The ECFs were the ones that began to write down much more of what they were taught, to counter the errors that were cropping up in some of the teachings of churches in different areas, to ensure that the real truth was maintained in all of the churches.

There were some real problems with people that were teaching their old beliefs mixed in with the truth, such as the among the Gnostics and others, who often embellished on the truth and were teaching heresy through their misinterpretations of the true Gospel. This is also why the earliest Councils were called together, because when the Apostles were all gone, and their direct disciples were also dieing, it was decided by the Bishops that the Gospels and letters of the Apostles needed to be gathered together into one book.

There were too many writings being used in some of the churches that contained errors, so they needed to eliminate the partially fictionalized writings that were already circulating among them. They had to decide which ones that were written by the Apostles or their direct disciples, should be considered worthy to be called scripture. Then, which ones were to at least be approved for use in teaching, even though they were not to be considered as scripture. And finally, which writings were not to be used for teaching at all, because they contained too many errors, or even heresies.

The only way any of this could ever have been accomplished, was through the guardianship and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would protect the Church from teaching error, and He has continued to do that for 2000 years. Jesus is Faithful and True to His word. He would never let His Church fall into serious error, especially regarding faith and morals. People have come and gone, and many have broken away from the Church, ever since the beginning. But, Jesus didn’t build His House on sand that could undermine and wash it away. The Rock that Jesus built Her on was a solid foundation that can weather any storm that lashes against it, because He is the Cornerstone that holds it all together.

Agreed!! St. Justin Martyr gives a great description of an early Christian service and St. Irenaeus (never know if I spell his name correctly) put together a great compilation against the heresies that were threatening the Church at that time.

I guess I’m just curious as to what is considered Tradition and when was it considered that? My family over the years have had certain traditions but with the death of a parent or with family moving away some of our traditions had to change to keep up with the family. Am I using the word “tradition” in the wrong way when it comes to the Catholic Church?

Blessings, Lori!

Rita

 

[outremer]

Rita,

Even though I believe all Trinitarian Christians are saved through the grace of God, and are living within this grace through their faith and their works, regardless of denomination, the only two churches that have the most valid claims to the ancient faith are the Catholic and the Orthodox churches.

The Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 is how the Catholic and Orthodox churches operated until the present day. There have been many issued decided over the centuries through this very process.

As for the debate over Christ’s church, I wonder why there is this black and white debate solely between Catholics and Protestants. Why are the Orthodox always excluded?