Was there ever a time in recorded history where The Catholic Church was the only Christianity in Existence?

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Was there ever a time in recorded history where the Catholic Church was the only Christianity in Existence?

If there was in fact a large period of time where Catholicism was the only Christianity this will strengthen the possibility that the Catholic Church is the true church of Christ.
 
ChainBreaker said:
Was there ever a time in recorded history where the Catholic Church was the only Christianity in Existence?

If there was in fact a large period of time where Catholicism was the only Christianity this will strengthen the possibility that the Catholic Church is the true church of Christ.
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Prob not.
There were divisions in the Early Church right from the start - though whether they amounted to separate Churches we will never know as many died out.

Suprisingly scholars discovered a Church (allegedly followers of John the Baptist) in Iran/Iraq in the late 1800s dating back to the time of Christ. Apparantly these were those disciples of JB who did not want to follow Christ.

There was also some conflict between the blood followers of Jesus (who apparantly tried to keep control in the family) and the rest.

Then there were those Jewish followers who wanted to keep to the Old Law. It is unlikely they all agreed (much like today and the 2014-2015 Synod) after the Jerusalem Council but if a breakaway sect formed they didn’t survive over time.
 
This question needs to be thought through carefully. I know one thing, at the feast of Pentecost, the Catholic Church was born.

Though there were disagreements as we can see in Paul’s letters as he tries to keep communities in line, meaning in communion with the teaching of the apostles. This is an interesting question. There was dissent within the Church like the Aryan heresey and Athanasius against the world but it was still the Catholic Church…At a certain point, signifcant schism did arise, however.
 
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it is generally agreed that there was one Christian Church until the great schism between the Eastern Church and the Western Church in 1054. And then of course there was the Protestant Reformation in 1517, which led to the birth of the Protestant denominations.
 
jpjd said:
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe it is generally agreed that there was one Christian Church until the great schism between the Eastern Church and the Western Church in 1054. And then of course there was the Protestant Reformation in 1517, which led to the birth of the Protestant denominations.
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Well, it kind of depends on a persons perspective. From a Catholic perspective the dissenting communities were just break aways of schimsmatic churches, but heresy has been in our midst since 100 A.D. or so.

A good CA article can be found here. It gives a rough timeline of the various heresies.

catholic.com/tracts/the-great-heresies
 
Primary questions to ask:

Were the 12 apostles in communion with one another?

Can it be argued that they were, by their called by Christ, the legitimate authority of the Church?

Are the bishops the successors for each apostles, handed down from one man to the next?

I would argue that WE have apostolic succession. No other church has that. Therefore, we are the REAL church.

🙂
 
From Mark 9:38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us.

So no, there was never a time when the church was unified as desired by the OP question.

But as a previous post stated, the Great Schism is generally considered the first break up.
 
JamalChristophr said:
Primary questions to ask:

Were the 12 apostles in communion with one another?

Can it be argued that were by their called by Christ the legitimate authority of the Church?

Are the bishops the successors for each apostles, handed down from one man to the next?

I would argue that WE have apostolic succession. No other church has that. Therfore, we are the REAL church.

🙂
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The Orthodox also claim sole truth which is why none but Orthodox can receive the Eucharist there.:rolleyes:
 
i think this a pretty easy one to answer

until Luther posted his personal problems with the holy catholic church in the late 16th century
 
ChurchSoldier said:
The Orthodox also claim sole truth which is why none but Orthodox can receive the Eucharist there.:rolleyes:
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I am quite find of the Orthodox personally. They are our closest brothers and we share so much. Let’s get along while respecting our differences.

😉
 
JamalChristophr said:
This question needs to be thought through carefully. I know one thing, at the feast of Pentecost, the Catholic Church was born.
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You could say that the Christian Church was founded at the feast of Pentecost. There was certainly no concept of Catholic and non Catholic at that time. The word ‘catholic’ in the creed means universal and not ‘Catholic’ as we understand it today.
 
ChurchSoldier said:
The Orthodox also claim sole truth which is why none but Orthodox can receive the Eucharist there.:rolleyes:
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I’d just like to say that the Church does not claim that she alone has the truth. She claims that the fullness of truth subsists within her, which is something altogether different from claiming to be the only one that has the truth. Truth may be found, in fragments–some large and some quite small, in every religion and culture because God put natural law into our hearts.

I don’t think JamalChristophr wrote correctly that the Catholic Church is the only one with true apostolic succession, although I don’t believe he meant to leave out the Orthodox churches in his statement–I’ll let him clarify his meaning on that. But he didn’t state that he believes that the Catholic Church alone has the truth. I think if he meant to state that he would have. Again, I’ll let him comment on it. 🙂
 
Della said:
I’d just like to say that the Church does not claim that she alone has the truth. She claims that the fullness of truth subsists within her, which is something altogether different from claiming to be the only one that has the truth. Truth may be found, in fragments–some large and some quite small, in every religion and culture because God put natural law into our hearts.

I don’t think JamalChristophr wrote correctly that the Catholic Church is the only one with true apostolic succession, although I don’t believe he meant to leave out the Orthodox churches in his statement–I’ll let him clarify his meaning on that. But he didn’t state that he believes that the Catholic Church alone has the truth. I think if he meant to state that he would have. Again, I’ll let him comment on it. 🙂
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I agree with you on all counts. Yes, I forgot about our brethren the Orthodox. 🙂 The Catechism refers to itself as the true Church and other “churches” as “eclesial communities.”

Anyways, we should try and stay on track with the original question. I believe at the beginning at Pentecost the Christian Church was the Catholic Church…no distinction can be made, even though the first time the word “catholic” was used was in the writings of Ignatius of Antioch ca. 110 A.D.

catholic.com/video/when-was-the-word-catholic-first-used
 
ChainBreaker said:
Was there ever a time in recorded history where the Catholic Church was the only Christianity in Existence?

If there was in fact a large period of time where Catholicism was the only Christianity this will strengthen the possibility that the Catholic Church is the true church of Christ.
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Yes, for 1,500 years the Catholic Church was the only One, Holy Catholic And Apostolic Christian Church. founded by Jesus Christ, and still is today. Read the Early Church Fathers and learn where the TRUTH is. God Bless, Memaw
 
eamonnroma said:
You could say that the Christian Church was founded at the feast of Pentecost. There was certainly no concept of Catholic and non Catholic at that time. The word ‘catholic’ in the creed means universal and not ‘Catholic’ as we understand it today.
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But Jesus still only founded ONE Church, (it wasn’t yet called Christian then either) but it is still the Catholic, Universal, (meaning her Doctrine is the same everywhere,) Church. Others may have retained some of her TRUTHS but certainly not all. Especially the Sacraments. God Bless, Memaw
 
ChainBreaker said:
Was there ever a time in recorded history where the Catholic Church was the only Christianity in Existence?

If there was in fact a large period of time where Catholicism was the only Christianity this will strengthen the possibility that the Catholic Church is the true church of Christ.
Click to expand...
It depends on how you define the Catholic Church. It is to my observation that the Church had to be developed slowly from its early beginnings. For me the Church must include both East and West. Not one Church centre has the authority to be only the Church. The Church must include both East and West. That is why you cannot say the Catholic Church was the only Church in existence if you meant it to be the Church of Rome. All early centres of Christianity took time for it to be developed into what the present times of what these Apostolic centres are today. If you believe the Catholic Church to be composed of both East and West than yes it has always existed. However if you are only pointing this question for the Church of Rome than you are missing almost half of Christianity and to its Eastern history.
 
Very interesting thread, though, I don’t think that existence of offshoots necessarily negates the one true Church.

As said in an earlier post, Jesus established one Church (he never said “churches” etc.) so his Church was the first and ushered in the rest.

That it’s withstood all this time as unchanged as it is, and that so many others have come, gone, mutated is enough for me. I mean, really…Jesus established what we call Catholicism. All the rest were set up by man.
 
ChainBreaker said:
Was there ever a time in recorded history where the Catholic Church was the only Christianity in Existence?

If there was in fact a large period of time where Catholicism was the only Christianity this will strengthen the possibility that the Catholic Church is the true church of Christ.
Click to expand...
Pentecost (33 AD) - Protestant Reformation (1517 AD)

*For all intents and purposes, I am putting (Western) Catholicism and (Eastern) Orthodoxy in the same group, since although they have been in schism for 1,000 years, they are the two halves of the Church which Christ founded. *

In 1517, heretical “reformers” abandoned the one True Religion to create their own. 500 years later, there are 30,000 little Protestant sects. I don’t think that’s what Christ wanted.
 
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