CHRISTIANS BEFORE 300AD WERE CATHOLIC By Tom Trinko

Even if you reject the Church Fathers as sources of doctrine you must accept them as recounting what Christians did believe in the first two centuries after Christ died.

Therefore as you read below and discover that those who learned at the feet of the Apostles or from those who were trained by the Apostles were Catholics it is clear that the Catholic Church is teaching the same truths it has always taught.

We can therefore reject that the Catholic Church was founded in 313AD in any meaningful sense since there was no change in core doctrine.

That is the Christian in 100AD believe in the Eucharist, the Christian in 400AD believed in the Eucharist, and the Catholic Church has preached the Eucharist unchanged even to this very day. This same continuity applies to all Church teachings.

Even if you reject the historical arguments that clearly show that the Church has a clear continuity back to when Christ founded it you can’t reject the historical fact that the early Christians believed what the Catholic Church now teaches not what Protestants teach.

If you reject the Church then you must declare that all Christians from the 70’s, in the first century, or even earlier must have misunderstood what Christ taught. You cannot contend, without ignoring the testimony of the Christians who lived then, that there was a change in the dogmatic teaching of the Church in 313AD. For the Church today, the Church in 400AD, and the Church in 100AD all preach the same faith.

Protestants claim that their beliefs are a return to what Jesus actually taught. However there is a problem in that there is no evidence that any early Christians, or in fact any Christians prior to 1500 years after Christ died, believed in any modern Protestant doctrines.

It is difficult to prove a negative but there is no evidence in the teaching of those early Christians, prior to 313AD–or prior to 1500AD for that matter–for Protestant doctrines such as Sola Scriptura or Sola Fide.

As to Sola Scriptura it clearly wasn’t true for the first 50 years after Jesus died since John did not finish writing until sometime in the 80’s. Hence the Canon accepted by Protestants did not exist for nearly half a century after Christ died. What does not exist cannot be learned from. Therefore it is obvious that that first generation of Christians could not have believed in Sola Scriptura since most of the Canon had not been written.

We can therefore reject that Protestantism is a return to the beliefs of the early Christians on two grounds

1) The early Christians believed in doctrines, such as the Eucharist, that are rejected by Protestants. Therefore, rightly or wrongly, Protestants reject much of what early Christians believed in hence Protestants cannot be returning to what they reject.

2) There is no evidence the early Christians adhered to any of the core teachings of Protestantism that are rejected by Catholics–such as Sola Scriptura.

Note: As you read the quotes below they may sound familiar because the Christians prior to 313AD used the same arguments for Catholic teaching, such as the Eucharist, as you’ve heard used by Catholics on this page. We stand as one on matters of Dogma with all Christians prior to 1000 years after Christ died.

Documentation of the beliefs of the early Christians(prior to 313AD)

The Early Christians on Key issues of Faith

The Catholic Church: The early Christians, from at least the last quarter of the first century referred to themselves as being Catholic. These quotes show the earliest written references to the term all of which date to nearly 200 years prior to the supposed establishment of the Catholic Church by Constantine.

Ignatius of Antioch

“Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid. — Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8(110AD)”

The Martyrdom of Polycarp

“1 The church of God which sojourneth in Smyrna, to the church of God that sojourneth in Philomelia, and to all the settlements of the holy and Catholic Church in every place, mercy, peace, and love from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied unto you.”(167AD)

The Muratorian Fragment

“For John also in the Revelation writes indeed to seven churches,

yet speaks to all. But to Philemon one,

and to Titus one, and to Timothy two, (written) out of goodwill

and love, are yet held sacred to the glory of the catholic Church

for the ordering of ecclesiastical

discipline.” (170AD) 

The Eucharist: These quotes clearly establish that hundreds of years before 313AD Christians believed that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the Church has taught and still teaches but completely in contradiction to Protestant doctrine.

Paul

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” 1 Cor 10:16

“Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.” 1 Cor 11:27(Why would we have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord if the bread is just bread and the wine just wine?)

Ignatius of Antioch

“I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible” (Letter to the Romans 7:3 [A.D. 110]).

“Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1 [A.D. 110]).

Justin Martyr

“We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration [i.e., has received baptism] and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus” (First Apology 66 [A.D. 151]).

Irenaeus

“If the Lord were from other than the Father, how could he rightly take bread, which is of the same creation as our own, and confess it to be his body and affirm that the mixture in the cup is his blood?” (Against Heresies 4:33–32 [A.D. 189]).

“He has declared the cup, a part of creation, to be his own blood, from which he causes our blood to flow; and the bread, a part of creation, he has established as his own body, from which he gives increase unto our bodies. When, therefore, the mixed cup [wine and water] and the baked bread receives the Word of God and becomes the Eucharist, the body of Christ, and from these the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they say that the flesh is not capable of receiving the gift of God, which is eternal life—flesh which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, and is in fact a member of him?” (ibid., 5:2).

Clement of Alexandria

“’Eat my flesh,’ [Jesus] says, ‘and drink my blood.’ The Lord supplies us with these intimate nutrients, he delivers over his flesh and pours out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children” (The Instructor of Children 1:6:43:3 [A.D. 191]).

Tertullian

“[T]here is not a soul that can at all procure salvation, except it believe whilst it is in the flesh, so true is it that the flesh is the very condition on which salvation hinges. And since the soul is, in consequence of its salvation, chosen to the service of God, it is the flesh which actually renders it capable of such service. The flesh, indeed, is washed [in baptism], in order that the soul may be cleansed . . . the flesh is shadowed with the imposition of hands [in confirmation], that the soul also may be illuminated by the Spirit; the flesh feeds [in the Eucharist] on the body and blood of Christ, that the soul likewise may be filled with God” (The Resurrection of the Dead 8 [A.D. 210]).

Hippolytus

“‘And she [Wisdom] has furnished her table’ [Prov. 9:2] . . . refers to his [Christ’s] honored and undefiled body and blood, which day by day are administered and offered sacrificially at the spiritual divine table, as a memorial of that first and ever-memorable table of the spiritual divine supper [i.e., the Last Supper]” (Fragment from Commentary on Proverbs [A.D. 217]).

Confession: The early Christians clearly believed in the need to confess one’s sins to a priest–who though having no power of his own has been delegated the authority to forgive sins by Jesus Christ. Once again the Church Fathers make it clear that long before 313AD Christians believed as the Catholic Church has always taught.

The Didache

“Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure” (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).

Tertullian

“[Regarding confession, some] flee from this work as being an exposure of themselves, or they put it off from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty than of salvation, like those who contract a disease in the more shameful parts of the body and shun making themselves known to the physicians; and thus they perish along with their own bashfulness” (Repentance 10:1 [A.D. 203]).

Hippolytus

“[The bishop conducting the ordination of the new bishop shall pray:] God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . Pour forth now that power which comes from you, from your royal Spirit, which you gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and which he bestowed upon his holy apostles . . . and grant this your servant, whom you have chosen for the episcopate, [the power] to feed your holy flock and to serve without blame as your high priest, ministering night and day to propitiate unceasingly before your face and to offer to you the gifts of your holy Church, and by the Spirit of the high priesthood to have the authority to forgive sins, in accord with your command” (Apostolic Tradition 3 [A.D. 215]).

Origen

“[A final method of forgiveness], albeit hard and laborious [is] the remission of sins through penance, when the sinner . . . does not shrink from declaring his sin to a priest of the Lord and from seeking medicine, after the manner of him who say, ‘I said, “To the Lord I will accuse myself of my iniquity”’” (Homilies on Leviticus 2:4 [A.D. 248]).

Cyprian of Carthage

“The apostle [Paul] likewise bears witness and says: ‘ . . . Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord’ [1 Cor. 11:27]. But [the impenitent] spurn and despise all these warnings; before their sins are expiated, before they have made a confession of their crime, before their conscience has been purged in the ceremony and at the hand of the priest . . . they do violence to [the Lord’s] body and blood, and with their hands and mouth they sin against the Lord more than when they denied him” (The Lapsed 15:1–3 (A.D. 251]).

“Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who . . . confess their sins to the priests of God in a straightforward manner and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience. . . . I beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin while he is still in this world, while his confession is still admissible, while the satisfaction and remission made through the priests are still pleasing before the Lord” (ibid., 28).

“[S]inners may do penance for a set time, and according to the rules of discipline come to public confession, and by imposition of the hand of the bishop and clergy receive the right of Communion. [But now some] with their time [of penance] still unfulfilled . . . they are admitted to Communion, and their name is presented; and while the penitence is not yet performed, confession is not yet made, the hands of the bishop and clergy are not yet laid upon them, the Eucharist is given to them; although it is written, ‘Whosoever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord’ [1 Cor. 11:27]” (Letters 9:2 [A.D. 253]).

Praying to the Saints: All Christians prior to 1500 years after Christ died believed that we can ask our brothers and sisters in Heaven to pray for us; for that is what a Catholic means when he says he’s praying to the saints, he’s asking them to pray to God for him. Catholics know the Saints have no more power than to turn to Jesus and pray to Him for us.

Origen

“But not the high priest [Christ] alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the angels . . . as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep” (Prayer 11 [A.D. 233]).

Cyprian of Carthage

“Let us remember one another in concord and unanimity. Let us on both sides [of death] always pray for one another. Let us relieve burdens and afflictions by mutual love, that if one of us, by the swiftness of divine condescension, shall go hence first, our love may continue in the presence of the Lord, and our prayers for our brethren and sisters not cease in the presence of the Father’s mercy” (Letters 56[60]:5 [A.D. 253]).

Anonymous

“Atticus, sleep in peace, secure in your safety, and pray anxiously for our sins” (funerary inscription near St. Sabina’s in Rome [A.D. 300]).

“Pray for your parents, Matronata Matrona. She lived one year, fifty-two days” (ibid.).

The Papacy: The early Christians turned to the Pope to resolve key doctrinal issues and they declared the Church in Rome to have been founded by Peter. On many occasions the Pope acted to resolve theological disputes demonstrating a unique authority recognized by the Popes themselves and other Christians who accepted the Popes right to rule.

St. Clement

The quote is too long for here but if you read Letters to the Corinthians I 14, 63 (70AD) you’ll see that the church in Corinth requested theological clarification from Pope Clement–indicating that they believed he had special authority–and that Pope Clement tells them what to do–indicating that he believed he had a universal authority.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons

“Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere.” (170AD)

Cyprian of Carthage

“The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not overcome it. And to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever things you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, they shall be loosed also in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18–19]). … On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were also what Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251]).

“Cyprian to [Pope] Cornelius, his brother. Greeting. . . . We decided to send and are sending a letter to you from all throughout the province [where I am] so that all our colleagues might give their decided approval and support to you and to your communion, that is, to both the unity and the charity of the Catholic Church” (Letters 48:1, 3 [A.D. 253]).

“Cyprian to Antonian, his brother. Greeting … You wrote … that I should forward a copy of the same letter to our colleague [Pope] Cornelius, so that, laying aside all anxiety, he might at once know that you held communion with him, that is, with the Catholic Church” (ibid., 55[52]:1).

Mary: Christians have never worshiped Mary. Rather the early Christians, along with the Church throughout the ages has taught that Mary is the greatest of all people. She is the Mother of God for she bore Jesus Christ and Jesus’s humanity and Divinity are indivisible. She is full of grace and spotless. Yet she in of herself has no power but to turn to Jesus he son and implore Him in our name. Just as she implored Him at the Wedding feast.Anonymous

“Hail, Mary!” (inscription at the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth [A.D. 200]).

(in fact the catacombs in Rome from the 1st century there are numerous depictions of Mary showing early Christian devotion to the Mother of God)

Origen

“The Book [the Protoevangelium] of James [records] that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now those who say so wish to preserve the honor of Mary in virginity to the end, so that body of hers which was appointed to minister to the Word . . . might not know intercourse with a man after the Holy Spirit came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her. And I think it in harmony with reason that Jesus was the firstfruit among men of the purity which consists in [perpetual] chastity, and Mary was among women. For it were not pious to ascribe to any other than to her the firstfruit of virginity” (Commentary on Matthew 2:17 [A.D. 248]).

Hippolytus

“[T]o all generations they [the prophets] have pictured forth the grandest subjects for contemplation and for action. Thus, too, they preached of the advent of God in the flesh to the world, his advent by the spotless and God-bearing (theotokos) Mary in the way of birth and growth, and the manner of his life and conversation with men, and his manifestation by baptism, and the new birth that was to be to all men, and the regeneration by the laver [of baptism]” (Discourse on the End of the World 1 [A.D. 217]).

Gregory the Wonderworker

“For Luke, in the inspired Gospel narratives, delivers a testimony not to Joseph only, but also to Mary, the Mother of God, and gives this account with reference to the very family and house of David” (Four Homilies 1 [A.D. 262]).

“It is our duty to present to God, like sacrifices, all the festivals and hymnal celebrations; and first of all, [the feast of] the Annunciation to the holy Mother of God, to wit, the salutation made to her by the angel, ‘Hail, full of grace!’” (ibid., 2).

I could address more Catholic Doctrines but this should be a good sampling sufficient to make one who is honestly striving to serve Christ see that the Catholic Church today echoes the words of our brethren from nearly 2000 years ago.