Information on history of Catholism

[blues01]

My brother is baptist but he has asked me what the first church was after Jesus and the apostles. Of course, I know it is the Catholic church but where can I find some books or info that say that in a simple form. I don’t want to give him anything to heavy to read just something that shows that Catholism is the first church. After we get that foundation laid I can build on it but he needs to get this first. Help!!

 

[Corpus_Cristi]

blues01:

My brother is baptist but he has asked me what the first church was after Jesus and the apostles. Of course, I know it is the Catholic church but where can I find some books or info that say that in a simple form. I don’t want to give him anything to heavy to read just something that shows that Catholism is the first church. After we get that foundation laid I can build on it but he needs to get this first. Help!!

Here are some good sites to go to for apologetics information:

catholic.com

biblechristiansociety.com

catholicconvert.com

phatmass.com (click on resources and they’ll give you an extremely exhaustive resource database full of information)

newadvent.com

hope this helps!

• JMJ JHS

VIVEINSPIRITUSEMPER

 

[bhlincoln]

blues01:

My brother is baptist but he has asked me what the first church was after Jesus and the apostles. Of course, I know it is the Catholic church but where can I find some books or info that say that in a simple form. I don’t want to give him anything to heavy to read just something that shows that Catholism is the first church. After we get that foundation laid I can build on it but he needs to get this first. Help!!

Try:
www.protestanterrors.com

It is an apologetics site dedicated to this topic and related ones.

BH

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

scripturecatholic.com/
ewtn.com/
releventradio.com/
avemariaradio.net/
vatican.va/
usccb.org/

also, any books by scott hahn, stephen k ray, karl keating, patrick madrid or anything along those lines would be great.

if you check amazon.com or abebooks.com, you can get them pretty cheap used.

for starters, i would check out “rome sweet home” by scott hahn and “crossing the tiber” by stephen k ray. coming from a fundamentalist background, your brother should also read catholicism & fundamentalism by karl keating. also “where we got the bible : our debt to the catholic church” by henry g graham is good too. here is a small list of books which you should definitely check out…

Rome Sweet Home: Our Journey to Catholicism by Dr. Scott Hahn & Kimberly Hahn

Crossing the Tiber: Evangelical Protestants Discover the Historical Church by Stephen K. Ray

By What Authority: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition by Mark P Shea

Catholicism and Fundamentalism: The Attack on “Romanism” by “Bible Christians” by Karl Keating

Where We Got the Bible… Our Debt to the Catholic Church

Catholicism for Dummies

Catechism of the Catholic Church: Second Edition

The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass As Heaven on Earth by Dr. Scott Hahn… this is an awesome book to read if your brother is in to end times prophecy and the book of Revelation. It gives you a good Catholic explanation of the book, however it is a lot of theological speculation (but Saint Augusitne also took this interpretation)

The Catholic Home Study Service has some great free materials including free books & correspondence courses.

The Mary Foundation also has free audio CDs.

if you need anything else just pm me.

 

[Jabronie]

I’m reading “Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words” by Rod Bennett. It describes Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyz, and Irenaeus of Lyons. It also show that these early Church leaders, some of whom were directly trained by the 12 apostles, practiced a faith that is theological almost identical to the Catholic faith of today.

 

[JimG]

Jabronie:

I’m reading “Four Witnesses: The Early Church in Her Own Words” by Rod Bennett.

*Four Witnesses * is an excellent book, and readable. It has excerpts from those four early Church fathers. In the end, one cannot help but noticing that the early Church was Catholic and nothing else.

 

[itsjustdave1988]

blues01:

My brother is baptist but he has asked me what the first church was after Jesus and the apostles. Of course, I know it is the Catholic church but where can I find some books or info that say that in a simple form. I don’t want to give him anything to heavy to read just something that shows that Catholism is the first church. After we get that foundation laid I can build on it but he needs to get this first. Help!!

St. Ignatius (AD 50-110) was a pupil of St. John the Apostle, the author of the Gospel According to St. John, St. John’s Epistles, and the Book of Revelation. St. Ignatius became the Bishop of Antioch approx. AD 70, the place where they were first called “Christian.” He remained Bishop there until being chained and brought to Rome to be eaten by lions around AD 110. On his way to his martyrdom, he wrote letters to the other Churches, which are still extant.

In the letters of St. Ignatius, which Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestant scholars are believe are authentic, he wrote about his Church, which he explicitly called the “Catholic Church.” He describes some doctrines of the Catholic Church in his letters:

1. 
   *]the primacy of the Church of Rome (Rom., introd.).
   *]the Church was Divinely established as a visible society, the salvation of souls is its end, and those who separate themselves from it cut themselves off from God (Philad., c. iii)
   *]the hierarchy of the Church was instituted by Christ (lntrod. to Philad.; Ephes., c. vi)
   *]the threefold character of the Church hierarchy (Magn., c. vi)
   *]the order of the episcopacy superior by Divine authority to that of the priesthood (Magn., c. vi, c. xiii; Smyrn., c. viii; Trall., c. iii);
   *]the unity of the Church (Trall., c. vi; Philad., c. iii; Magn., c. xiii);
   *]the holiness of the Church (Smyrn., Ephes., Magn., Trall., and Rom.);
   *]the catholicity of the Church (Smyrn., c. viii);
   *]the infallibility of the Church (Philad., c. iii; Ephes., cc. xvi, xvii);
   *]the doctrine of the Eucharist (Smyrn., c. viii), which word we find for the first time applied to the Blessed Sacrament
   *]in Smyrn., viii, we meet for the first time the phrase “Catholic Church”, used to designate all Christians;
   *]the Incarnation (Ephes., c. xviii); the supernatural virtue of virginity, already much esteemed and made the subject of a vow (Polyc., c. v);
   *]the religious character of matrimony (Polyc., c. v);
   *]the value of united prayer (Ephes., c. xiii);
   *]He denounces in principle doctrine of private judgment in matters of religion (Philad. c. iii)
   
   Kenneth Whitehead’s book, One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
   *The Early Church Was The Catholic Church, *is a good resource for further reading.
   
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