SPLIT: The origin of the Catholic Church & Constantine

[crochet_lady]

Just a few more comments to a few more people – then will be off for a while.
Mr Clean # 71
Why am I here? Taking of precious time? Well – this Is the apologetics section of the Forum isn’t it? What does a person believe and what is it based on?! So this Can be informative for All of us, right?!
And the Catholic Church being the ‘whore of Babylon’ has Not been brought up by Me. Wouldn’t that comment be insulting? I’ve Nod intention of being that way.

adf417 # 72

I Will correct my comment – there has Always been and will continue to Be persectuion of believers.
My ‘truth’ is in Scripture – Jesus Christ tell us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life – No man comes to the Father, but bu Me"
I’ve never been rude on here and never intend to be. ie calling all priests molesters – will never, ever do that.
I’ve gotten on this Forum the same way every one has – I said I was Not Catholic and stated my denomination. Was accepted as a Trial Member and then as a New Member.
Apparently there are ‘issues’ that I haven’t ‘dealt with’ or simply don’t agree with that some people Want me to ‘accept’ – in order to be ‘correct’ in my beliefs.

adrift – the place of Peter in the New testament has Always been debated. And I Have done research about it – some of my extended family have married into the RCC – my older sister and her husband spent 40 years ministering to the Catholic population in Brazil. They started several churches and have worked with the homeless kids in their area.
Apparently information from a Non-Catholic source isn’t appreciated.

 

[crochet_lady]

Mr. clean

The Holy Spirit does not Force people to believe/ follow… And groups have been known to ‘cherry pick’ Scripture to create their own Private interpretations./ groups.There are groups who believe / practice foot washing and those who don’t. There are those who are charismatic / speaking in tongues. And there are groups that enjoy contemporary music and some who prefer old-fashioned Gospel music. There are those who believe that Saturday worship is necessary for salvation – that Sunday worship is of the devil. There are those who believe that baptism is essential for salvation and some who don’t. And there are those who don’t believe that Jesus Christ has really come yet.

But the Basic is what Is Salvation. Salvation FROM hell and TO heaven / being with God for eternity.

 

[crochet_lady]

Jhoreh Carnelian

No - my sister is Not Catholic. She met her husband when he was going to chiropractic college – but after a while - he felt called to missions – Brazil , S. A. – neither of them had been Catholic. He’d been Church of Christ. Then they Both felt led to minister in Belo

As for the links – have found that links Don’t especially go where they’re supposed to. So I give the name of the article to type in to Google and include the www address to differentiate the particular article. I’ve tried clicking into links given, also and find they’ve gone basically no where at times.

I’ve also been discovering how Structured / Strict the RCC church seems to be.

 

[YADA]

The First English Bible is translated from Latin in 1382 and is called the Wycliffe Bible --he had wanted common people to have the Bible.
The Coverdale Bible is translated by Miles Coverdale (1535) and is the 1st complete Bible to be printed in English
And the Geneva Bible in 1560 – then eight years later comes the Bishops Bible.
THEN the Rheims-Douai Bible was translated into English from the Latin Vuilage by Catholic scholar Gregory Martin, New Testament in 1609 / Old Testament 1582) It becomes the standard translation for the Catholic Church.

You are wrong Crochet Lady - about so much …and especially this … Wycliff was not the first person to translate the Bible into the English you have been fed and believe a MYTH!!!

Luther was not the first to translate a bible into German either …

You understand that prior to the printing press bibles were costly - like only the Church or millionaires could afford them, rare and often not contained in whole - but separate books. Also - literacy among the common people rare.

Caedmon’s song is one of the earliest Anglo-Saxon attempts to place portions of the scriptures into the common language of the people 7th Century … Christianity was in the Anglo-Saxon area in the 6th century - earlier efforts may just be lost to time …

From the 8th to the 10th century we have Bede and Aelfric and others between.

St Bede’s translations of various books of the Bible …the Psalms, Gospel of John - other works … many Psalters by various names …

With much in between Bede and Aelfric … we have Aelfric who translated the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Kings, Job, Esther, Judith, and the Books of the Maccabees.

From the 11th to the 14th centuries - French was a popular [non-latin] language along with Norman … I am not a linguist - just studied enough to understand how languages are impacted by conquest and outside cultural influences - like when the Normans invaded England what is in the barnyard comes from the old english - a cow, a pig, a sheep and what is on the table comes from the french - beef, pork and mutton … and during this time many bibles in England were French translations …

The first ‘printed bibles’ in the early 15th century: France, Spain, Italy, Bohemia, and Holland possessed the Bible in the vernacular prior to the 16th

The scriptures were printed in 1466 in Germany and there existed 17 editions before that of Luther.

No portions Bible was printed mechanically in English before 1525, no complete Bible before 1535, and none in England before 1538.

You believe you are here to teach us history - but the fact is - your view of history is limited, biased and entirely un-scholarly

 

[adrift]

adrift – the place of Peter in the New testament has Always been debated. And I Have done research about it – some of my extended family have married into the RCC – my older sister and her husband spent 40 years ministering to the Catholic population in Brazil. They started several churches and have worked with the homeless kids in their area.
Apparently information from a Non-Catholic source isn’t appreciated.

If by a non-Catholic source you mean Mary Ann Collins, than you are misunderstanding my objections. It is not that she is non-Catholic but that she is dishonest. Why do you think she uses the qualifier of being (A Former Catholic Nun)? It seems that this is a falsehood. I object to her article because it doesn’t present any evidence. It talks of Constantine’s sinful behavior but it presents no evidence of the conclusion she reached that this is when the Catholic Church began. I pointed out before that doctrine is not presented to show that the Church was any different before than after. The difference mentioned is the Church was persecuted and then it wasn’t. But doctrine is not presented because that would have shown how the Church was the same. It would have gone against the thesis of the article. Frankly, there is no evidence that a different Church emerged under Constantine. Historically, the author was not on solid ground.

As for Peter, I would dispute your statement that his place has always been disputed. If this is true, you should be able to present evidence of it. As far as I know, the dispute came when the authority of the Catholic Church came under attack during the protestant revolt.

 

[sennincatholic]

You are wrong Crochet Lady - about so much …and especially this … Wycliff was not the first person to translate the Bible into the English you have been fed and believe a MYTH!!!

Luther was not the first to translate a bible into German either …

You understand that prior to the printing press bibles were costly - like only the Church or millionaires could afford them, rare and often not contained in whole - but separate books. Also - literacy among the common people rare.

Caedmon’s song is one of the earliest Anglo-Saxon attempts to place portions of the scriptures into the common language of the people 7th Century … Christianity was in the Anglo-Saxon area in the 6th century - earlier efforts may just be lost to time …

From the 8th to the 10th century we have Bede and Aelfric and others between.

St Bede’s translations of various books of the Bible …the Psalms, Gospel of John - other works … many Psalters by various names …

With much in between Bede and Aelfric … we have Aelfric who translated the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Kings, Job, Esther, Judith, and the Books of the Maccabees.

From the 11th to the 14th centuries - French was a popular [non-latin] language along with Norman … I am not a linguist - just studied enough to understand how languages are impacted by conquest and outside cultural influences - like when the Normans invaded England what is in the barnyard comes from the old english - a cow, a pig, a sheep and what is on the table comes from the french - beef, pork and mutton … and during this time many bibles in England were French translations …

The first ‘printed bibles’ in the early 15th century: France, Spain, Italy, Bohemia, and Holland possessed the Bible in the vernacular prior to the 16th

The scriptures were printed in 1466 in Germany and there existed 17 editions before that of Luther.

No portions Bible was printed mechanically in English before 1525, no complete Bible before 1535, and none in England before 1538.

You believe you are here to teach us history - but the fact is - your view of history is limited, biased and entirely un-scholarly

Great post YADA!

 

[Mr_Clean]

Crochet Lady, my apologies for puttings words in your mouth. No, you did not overtly say the RCC is the whore of babylon but the one site you gave a link to did and much more.

As long as you don’t try to preach a different Jesus, as St Paul spoke of, then you are always welcome here in my eyes.

Lets start the New Year on a positive note.

God bless.

 

[crochet_lady]

Yada

What are Your sources for information?

My sources are

English Bible History – timeline of how we got the English Bible.
just type in the title.

And — Why trust the Bible — Bible Basics put out by Rose publishing company.

1384 AD:Wycliffe is the first person to produce a Hand Written manuscript copy of the complete Bible; all 80 books. He’d wanted common people to have the Bible.

1455 Gutenberg invents the printing press – printed first in Latin

Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in 1522.

William Tyndale Tries to get the translation from Greek in 1525 in England, but can’t So he goes to Germany and prints Bibles and smuggles them into England. Then in 1536 he publishes part of the Old Testament from Hebrew
Tyndale is also known as the “Father of the English Bible” cause his translation forms the basis of the KJV Much of the style and vocabulary we know as ‘biblical English’ is traceable to his work.

For some years, it was Not legal for the common people To read Latin. The priests and whomever were the Only ones Allowed to read it.

Also – Bibles Had been written by hand. People are Not literate because - back Then at least – they were Kept Non literate. Hierarchy then have more control over a people group. The ‘leaders’ can tell the ‘people’ Anything and they ‘believe’ what they are told.
UNTIL the people gradually start Learning to Read for themselves. And having Scripture translated into German and English sure helped the people get into It for themselves for the 1st time – WoW – and hey, This Scripture is saying something Different than what the ‘hierarchy’ has been teaching them.

Jesus Christ tells us “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, No man comes to the Father, but by Me.”

 

[crochet_lady]

Mr. Clean

Good idea – let’s start this year 2014 on a Positive note. And thank you

 

[Goya]

Yada

What are Your sources for information?

My sources are

English Bible History – timeline of how we got the English Bible.
just type in the title.

And — Why trust the Bible — Bible Basics put out by Rose publishing company.

1384 AD:Wycliffe is the first person to produce a Hand Written manuscript copy of the complete Bible; all 80 books. He’d wanted common people to have the Bible.

1455 Gutenberg invents the printing press – printed first in Latin

Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in 1522.

William Tyndale Tries to get the translation from Greek in 1525 in England, but can’t So he goes to Germany and prints Bibles and smuggles them into England. Then in 1536 he publishes part of the Old Testament from Hebrew
Tyndale is also known as the “Father of the English Bible” cause his translation forms the basis of the KJV Much of the style and vocabulary we know as ‘biblical English’ is traceable to his work.

For some years, it was Not legal for the common people To read Latin. The priests and whomever were the Only ones Allowed to read it.

Also – Bibles Had been written by hand. People are Not literate because - back Then at least – they were Kept Non literate. Hierarchy then have more control over a people group. The ‘leaders’ can tell the ‘people’ Anything and they ‘believe’ what they are told.
UNTIL the people gradually start Learning to Read for themselves. And having Scripture translated into German and English sure helped the people get into It for themselves for the 1st time – WoW – and hey, This Scripture is saying something Different than what the ‘hierarchy’ has been teaching them.

Jesus Christ tells us “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, No man comes to the Father, but by Me.”

Tyndale’s and Wycliffe’s translations were rife with substantive errors, and editorial liberties–that’s why the Church resisted their translations–in fact, condemned them.

Because THE CHURCH–the one that Christ actually founded--had preserved the Word of God inviolate for centuries, and took the integrity of the Word of God, quite seriously.

The reformers (and Wycliffe) actually dared to take great LIBERTIES with the Word of God–and these are the people whom you hold in such high esteem???

Had the Church–the actual, proper fiduciary of the Word of God–in the 15 centuries prior–taken a fraction of the liberties the reformers (and Wycliffe) had taken…

…what was left for them to translate would have been a complete mutilation of that which was actually uttered by the Holy Spirit.

…and yet, that is the Church against which you protest.

 

[adrift]

Just in case anyone wonders what forum rule it breaks

Hate material and links to sites that promote bigotry, hatred, or prejudice toward those of any race, religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality

 

[adrift]

JharekCarnellan #85

You asked Why my sister and her husband would be wanting to lead people Away from / out of the Church. Well – there’s a difference between the RCC and the Church. I’ve mentioned that on some thread or another lately.

.

As in most of your beliefs, your are wrong. Our Church is not named the RCC We are the Catholic Church that is the Church that Jesus established there is no difference.

How Old Is Your Church?
If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1605.

The following is from a non-Catholic source. emphasis mine

For the first thousand years of Christian history, there were no "denominations" within the Christian church as there are today.

Various offshoot groups certainly existed, but they were considered “heresies” and not part of the Christian church. Most were small and, until the 16th century, were never very influential. From the beginnings of Christianity through the Middle Ages, there was only one the catholic (“universal”) church. Basically, if you did not belong to the Church, you were not considered a Christian.

The first division within Christendom came in 1054 with the “Great Schism” between the Western Church and the Eastern Church. (More on this in the article on Orthodox Christianity.) From that point forward, there were two large branches of Christianity, which came to be known as the Catholic Church (in the West) and the Orthodox Church (in the East).

The next major division occurred in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation. The Reformation was famously sparked when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1517, but “Protestantism” as a movement officially began in 1529. That year marked the publication of the Protestation, directed at the imperial government. The authors, German princes who wanted the freedom to choose the faith of their territory, protested that "in matters which concern God’s honor and salvation and the eternal life of our souls, everyone must stand and give account before

 

[Michael_Francis]

**Off topic posts have been either deleted or split off into a new thread, which can be found at (SPLIT) Mike Gendron’s “Who Holds the Keys?”.

Please remain on topic.**

 

[YADA]

1384 AD:Wycliffe is the first person to produce a Hand Written manuscript copy of the complete Bible; all 80 books. He’d wanted common people to have the Bible.

Setting aside how many common people could read - how many of the common folk had access to these hand written copies produced by Wycliffe and his helpers … and you do realize that Wycliffe translated from the Latin Vulgate and this this Bible contained all the books of the Catholic canon

1455 Gutenberg invents the printing press – printed first in Latin

… 48 partial and/or complete Gutenberg bibles are extant to this day

Martin Luther translated the New Testament into German in 1522.

Here this should be easy enough for you to read and understand:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translations_into_German

William Tyndale Tries to get the translation from Greek in 1525 in England, but can’t So he goes to Germany and prints Bibles and smuggles them into England. Then in 1536 he publishes part of the Old Testament from Hebrew
Tyndale is also known as the “Father of the English Bible” cause his translation forms the basis of the KJV Much of the style and vocabulary we know as ‘biblical English’ is traceable to his work.

Tyndale went back to the Hebrew and Greek and translated into a more modern version of English - that does not mean that older English versions translated from the Latin did not exist - nor that even earlier versions some scriptures were not translated into Olde English - as I noted

For some years, it was Not legal for the common people To read Latin. The priests and whomever were the Only ones Allowed to read it.

Baldersdash - unauthorized translations were not to be read - Books of any kind were not cheap to produce - large populations of “common” people were not literate - they could not read and did not have the funds necessary to ‘own’ books … only rich people owned books … Bible were chained adn made available in churches so that people had access to them - but also so they would not be stolen … not sure what the equivalent price in today’s economy is - but when i was studying for my masters degree the most common hand produced [not the most elaborate - but common] bibles would have cost about $16,000 … not sure about your household -In my house I have 9 different bibles - various translations - King James - Authorized Version, The Oxford Bible, New American, , A Catholic Study Bible … etc … some leather bound, some paper back … and on my computer even more versions … But if I had to spend $16,000 - I probably would not possess even one bible - and I am literate and not poor

Also – Bibles Had been written by hand. People are Not literate because - back Then at least – they were Kept Non literate. Hierarchy then have more control over a people group. The ‘leaders’ can tell the ‘people’ Anything and they ‘believe’ what they are told.
UNTIL the people gradually start Learning to Read for themselves. And having Scripture translated into German and English sure helped the people get into It for themselves for the 1st time – WoW – and hey, This Scripture is saying something Different than what the ‘hierarchy’ has been teaching them.

You have the Church to thank for education becoming widely available to the common people - the Catholic Church started educating people and made access to positions within the church available to all - not merely the nobility … The church help bring literacy to the people - the Church never kept the scriptures from the common language of the people … you forget that Latin was the language that crossed geographic boundaries … ad as I noted - french was the language that crossed into England and many bibles during that time in England were not in Latin - but French …and 17 German language translations existed before Luther’s translation - both in High German [spoken by the nobility] and Low German [for the common man] - you may not like the truth of history - but that is a fact

Jesus Christ tells us “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, No man comes to the Father, but by Me.” … and He founded a Church … not many churches - One Church … and He prayed that we be One … He sweat blood and tears with that prayer - that we be One as He and the Father are One … and scripture tells you to ‘take it to the Church’ … to hold fast to the teachings received whether they were received by word or letter …

The New Testament canon is a work of the Church - those writings were written by believers to believers and for believers - the Church existed for decades before all the NT Gospels, Letters, Book of the Acts of the Apostles and Book of Revelation was written … She wrote, handed on, preserved and carefully maintained the accuracy of the Scriptures -

St Jerome said that to be ignorant of the Scriptures is to be ignorant of Christ …

You should study history - pure history without the bias of anti-catholic polemics … do some real research - read for yourself the the writings of the early Christians - not what some person with an agenda writes about history

 

[harlen]

Dear Crotchet Lady,

In one of my early replies to you I tried to point out the relation between Church & Scripture.

You don’t really seem to have considered this from a Catholic point of view; Christ didn’t write; He founded one Church. He said it would endure many trials, it would be full of weeds and yet it would prevail and reach the ends of the earth. Here it is.
Have you ever, deeply considered the alternative Protestant narrative…"The Church founded by Christ fails, and has to be refounded 1500 years later by Luther, then Calvin, Melanthon etc. etc." An understanding of the OT, eschatology, or just the implication of God’s final definitive act and final covenant means that that narrative is wrong.

---

This final covenant, this New Israel/People-of-God/Kingdom-of-Heaven***…to which all the nations flock*** cannot fail *** and be refounded/rediscovered by another merely mortal man.
Please really think about this; was not the success of this new Israel always guarenteed? And if Christ’s church fails, who’s will succeed?

I didn’t think the Baptist Religion worried about History (as a Regenerative faith), but if you study enough History, and study both sides, you will be convinved that The Catholic Church is that started by Christ…whether that is important to you, is another question? J.H. Newman said “To be deep in History is to cease to be Protestant” (And he was an Oxford Don specialising in Biblical Studies).

But still you seek to start from “Just accepting the (reduced) Bible” …as a given and requiring concrete, scriptural corroboration for everything.
Well you have started from the wrong place but anyway…
(1)Where is the Trinity in the Bible? (This is a later doctrine of The Catholic Church)
(2)This selection of a mishmash of totally different literature-forms (The Bible), spread over centuries, is far being a novel that a Medieval peasant could read and understand, no more could we. It needs constant contextualisation, explanation and interpretation.
Who does this for you?
Are you not trusting them as your authority?
Then why not trust the Church Christ guaranteed?
(3)You have a simple, cynical narrative that people were kept from reading the Bible to control them. The hard, historical fact is that any hand-written book was hideously expensive, so, until the printing press was widely in use, there wass absolutely no point in the masses learning to read. What would they have to even learn on?
In this costly context books were “internationalised” (in Latin) or, in England, mostly in French… because the ruling classes were Norman whilst the peasants spoke Saxon English.
(4)In this unavoidable context of illiteracy the Churches were covered in Bible Stories to illustrate its message. (The visual and musical arts also facilitate transport towards meditative prayer). This was all wrecked and vandalised by The Protestants because The Bible told them not to*** worship*** images. Did they wish that the illiterate couldn’t even have their bible-story books on the walls?
(5) Anyway the Church has often been very wary of uneducated people misinterpreting scripture, but any fair-minded assessment would have to say that they probably had cause.

You will never understand The Catholic Church (nor Mary) without a feel for eschatology.
St Augustine said there are people of God outside the Church and enemies of God inside it. But this visible “city on a hill” has an eschatological significance just as the OT people of God (Israel) does.
God’s Church is spiritual and invisible*** but*** it is also*** incarnate*** (like Christ) and visible. And it has a vital role in the winding-up of History…and so does Mary probably.

Why not try ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/frmselecrprog.asp?seriesID=-6892289&T1=journey
There are plenty of Protestant Ministers & Scolars who recount their conversion stories there.

 

[Michael_Francis]

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
Last warning people:

The topic of this thread is historical; to wit: **The origin of the Catholic Church & Constantine.

Please get back on that topic and remain there of this thread will be closed.
**

 

[steve_b]

Responding now to Steve b # 65
A study Bible – mine is the old NIV study Bible – at the beginning of each book a person will find the date / author / place of writing / recipient / purpose, etc.
You said the Catholic Church wrote the New Testament? Well – looking at the beginning of the books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, and ! & 2 Timothy. — Paul was the writer of those with Timothy for one of them. James wrote the book of James.
In 1408 in England, it becomes illegal to translate or read the bible in common English without permission of a bishop.
Erasmus, a priest and Greek scholar, publishes a new Greek edition and a more accurate Latin translation of the New Testament in 1516 . His goal is that everyone be able to read the Bible, from the farmer in the field to the weaver at the loom.
Alfred The Great, King of Wessex (871 - 901) translates portions of Exodus, Psalms, and Acts.
The First English Bible is translated from Latin in 1382 and is called the Wycliffe Bible --he had wanted common people to have the Bible.
The Coverdale Bible is translated by Miles Coverdale (1535) and is the 1st complete Bible to be printed in English
And the Geneva Bible in 1560 – then eight years later comes the Bishops Bible.
THEN the Rheims-Douai Bible was translated into English from the Latin Vuilage by Catholic scholar Gregory Martin, New Testament in 1609 / Old Testament 1582) It becomes the standard translation for the Catholic Church.

Paul wrote to the church at Rome And Corinth And Galatia and numerous locations close by there. Yes, there were a Bunch of locations that Paul wrote to. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit with God as the Main author.

I had just previously mentioned the spiritual gifts given to believers and the qualifications for elders/ deacons. Because Scripture gives us a Structure of leadership. God is creator – His Son , Jesus Christ, the Head of the New Testament church – with earthly leadership of pastors / elders of individual groups of believers. Hebrew tells us Not to forsake getting together with other believers on a regular basis because we Need to fellow ship with others. Reading God’s Word together, left each other up, worship together.
And there Are groups formed GARBS, Regular Baptists, Independent, Southern, Northern. But they are Not Mandated. No group Mandates the leadership or beliefs of Anyone. Churches vote to be included or NOT in any of these groups.
Any church I’ve gone to – anyone who questions what the pastor is teaching is free to go and ask the pastor the why’s and wherefores. And the pastor is supposed to go to Scripture to verify – to compare Scripture to Scripture with the person. They are seeking Godly wisdom. And there Are pastors who take more authority than Scripture gives them.
When we have a question – we are responsible to God / His Word – but it’s Easier to go to a person and be Told what to do. But - ultimately we Are responsible for our Own actions.

#65 isn’t me.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=11545814&postcount=65

 

[YADA]

… Paul wrote to the church at Rome And Corinth And Galatia and numerous locations close by there. Yes, there were a Bunch of locations that Paul wrote to. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit with God as the Main author.

I had just previously mentioned the spiritual gifts given to believers and the qualifications for elders/ deacons. Because Scripture gives us a Structure of leadership. God is creator – His Son , Jesus Christ, the Head of the New Testament church – with earthly leadership of pastors / elders of individual groups of believers. Hebrew tells us Not to forsake getting together with other believers on a regular basis because we Need to fellow ship with others. Reading God’s Word together, left each other up, worship together.
And there Are groups formed GARBS, Regular Baptists, Independent, Southern, Northern. But they are Not Mandated. No group Mandates the leadership or beliefs of Anyone. Churches vote to be included or NOT in any of these groups.
Any church I’ve gone to – anyone who questions what the pastor is teaching is free to go and ask the pastor the why’s and wherefores. And the pastor is supposed to go to Scripture to verify – to compare Scripture to Scripture with the person. They are seeking Godly wisdom. And there Are pastors who take more authority than Scripture gives them.
When we have a question – we are responsible to God / His Word – but it’s Easier to go to a person and be Told what to do. But - ultimately we Are responsible for our Own actions.

Paul did not write to many churches … he only wrote to One Church … what he did was write to the members of that One Church in different geographical locations …

Paul wrote to the Church that sojourns resides in Galatia, to the Church that sojourns in Collisii, to the Church that resides in Rome … that was why Paul when to Peter to verify that he was teaching authentically …

That is why the Church though its leadership gathered in Jerusalem in Acts - to unify the teachings … that is why Paul wrote the letters - to correct and strengthen the unified Church … that is why Paul exhorts Timothy to hold fast to the traditions he has been taught by word and/or letter …

The Holy Spirit is not the author of confusion and strife - there is not one teaching for Christians in America and another for those in Europe … not one Truth for this Church and a different one for that Church … nor for individual Christians … there is One Church, One Truth and One Lord …

Jesus sweat blood and tears as he prayed that we would be One - as he and the Father are One … its the same Holy Spirit that guides us all … if he guides you one way and me another - then their is some ill spirit in the mix … because God cannot lead to disunity and confusion … Jesus is the Way, the Light and the Truth

This is the origins of the Catholic Church - Universal from the original apostles down to this vary day … Constantine had no part in the origins of the Church - only in its being given the right to practice the faith openly and without oppression by Rome