Five "UnBiblical Traditions" of Protestants
ONE THING Proves the Early Church was Catholic
Photo By: Flickr/sunnyscamera
All Christians generally believe they are trying to be like the pure, early Church of the Lord's apostles!
Many debates have arisen over time between Christians, some leading to breaks in communion, and most have appealed to the Scripture or the early Church to justify their viewpoint on various issues. There are so many issues at play, it is hard to keep track of all of them in a discussion. And everyone has underlying personal biases that they cannot or will not articulate, making communication more challenging. Lord help us!
Can we simpify? Is there just ONE SIMPLE THING that PROVES that the Catholic Church is one and the same with the Church founded by the Lord Jesus while also showing Protestantism is not?
It has to be something very early in Church history, because many Protestants believe the Church was hopelessly corrupted after the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.
Well, here is a candidate, and it's easy to remember:
HOLY COMMUNION BROUGHT TO THE HOMEBOUND!
This is a traditional practice that has ALWAYS been practiced by the Catholic Church and NEVER by Protestants.
Yet it clearly was a practice of the EARLY CHURCH!
This is indicated by the First Apology of St. Justin Martyr written around 155 AD! About 60 years after the Book of Revelation was written. And Christians worshiped every Sunday together...
Describing the Sunday Liturgy:
And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. (Chapter 65)
Think about it: If Protestants are right about the nature of Holy Communion (merely symbolic), why would they carry it to the homebound!? They wouldn't and they don't do that. But the early Church clearly did. The early Church believed in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
The early Church was the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is the early Church.
Almost half a century earlier than this, in 107AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote to Smyrna:
They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ,
And there's always John 6:53.
For the rest of St. Justin's description of the Liturgy in 155AD, check this article out.
And for another reason that Protestantism is NOT like the early Church, read here.
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