04 The Roman Catholic Church the “Mother of all Churches?”
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“Some parts of the governmental system of the Catholic Church are of divine origin, and
many of them are human institutions.” – Externals of the Catholic Church, p. 19.136
“If it [is] not identical in belief, government, etc., with the primitive Church, then it is not
the Church of Christ.” - John Francis Knoll, Catholic Facts, p. 27.137
“There could never be a reformation of the Creed of the Church. An individual might fall
into error, even a priest, or a number of bishops, but not the Church as a Church.”
–John Francis Noll, Father Smith Instructs Jackson,p. 44.138
“The Mother of All Churches”?
The Oldest Church is Jesus’ Church
The Origin of the Name “Catholic”
The Western Church Became the Catholic Church
Branches of the Catholic Church
The Early Church was Never Called “Catholic”
Romanist Claim to Petrine Succession
Romanist Claim to Being Apostolic
Paul’s Warning About the Falling Away
Witness from an ex-Catholic Priest
Witness from the Catholic Writings
Apostasy was Slow, but Sure
A. “Mother of all churches”?
The Roman Catholic Church calls herself the “mother of churches,” the one from which all
the denominations came.139 She is old, but definitely she is not the oldest.
B. The Oldest Church is Jesus’ Church
The oldest church in the world, the very first one, was the church Jesus founded in the city
of Jerusalem at the time mentioned in Acts 2. Jesus called it “my church” (Matthew
16:18); it was also designated as:
(a)
the churches of Christ (Romans 16:16);
136
Sullivan, Externals of the Catholic Church (New York: J. P. Kennedy & Son, 1919), p. 19.
John Francis Knoll, Catholic Facts (Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor Press, 1927), p. 27; quoted
by O. C. Lambert, 1:64.
138
John Francis Knoll, Father Smith Instructs Jackson (The Knights of Columbus Information Bureau,
March 1962), p. 44.
139
More properly she may be called, sans kindness, of course, “the mother of harlots” (cf. Revelation 17:5).
137
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04 The Roman Catholic Church the “Mother of all Churches?”
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
the church of God (1 Corinthians 1:2);
the church of the living God (1 Timothy 3:15);
the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 1:23; 4:12; Colossians 1:24);
the Kingdom of God’s dear Son (Colossians 1:13);
the house of God (1 Timothy 3:15);
the church of the living God (1 Timothy 3:15);
the flock (Acts 20:28, 29).
C. The Origin of the Name “Catholic”
The use of the name “Catholic” goes only as far back as Ignatius of Antioch, who used the
word in his letter to the Smyrnaeans, A.D. 110.140 Subsequently, the word “Catholic”is
used “to distinguish the entire body of Christians from individual congregations,” and puts
a distinction between “true believers” and “false believers.”141
By the 3rd century A.D., the technical use of the term became established.142 Today, at
least six religious groups call themselves “Catholics,” as we shall point out below.
D. The Western church became the Catholic church
After the “filioque controversy”143 and the subsequent division between the Western
church and the Eastern church, “Catholic” became the identifying name of the Western
church.144 The Eastern church145 came to be called “Orthodox.”146 This was in 1054 A.D.
Hence, the origin of the name “Catholic” is not apostolic.
Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-107), bishop of Antioch and martyr, one of the Apostolic Fathers. “[He] is
believed to have been a disciple of St John the Evangelist. During the reign of the Roman emperor Trajan,
Ignatius was condemned to be devoured by wild beasts. On his way from Antioch to Rome, where the
execution took place, he wrote seven letters. Of these, five were addressed to the Christian communities of
Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, and Philadelphia, and Smyrna— cities in Asia Minor that had sent
representatives to greet him as he passed through.… He was the first Christian writer to stress the virgin birth
and to use the term ‘catholic church’ to mean the faithful collectively” (MEPS 2005, art. “Ignatius of
Antioch”).
141
GAE, 4:211, art. “Catholic.”
142
MEPS 2005, art. “Catholic Church.”
143
“In the 7th century the universally accepted creed was interpolated in Spain with the Latin word filioque,
meaning “and from the Son”, thus rendering the creed as “I believe ... in the Holy Spirit ... who proceeds
from the Father and the Son”. The interpolation, initially opposed by the popes, was promoted in Europe by
Charlemagne (crowned emperor in 800) and his successors. Eventually, it was also accepted (in around 1014)
in Rome. The Eastern Church, however, considered the interpolation heretical” (MEPS 2005, art. “Orthodox
Church”).
144
“A growing estrangement between the Catholic church in the West and the Orthodox church of the East in
the first millennium led to a break between them in the 11th century, and the two regions diverged in matters
of theology, liturgy, and disciplinary practices” (GME 2000, art. “Catholic”).
145
The Eastern church, otherwise known as the Greek church, “rejects the Roman dogmas of the papacy, of
the double procession of the Holy Ghost, the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary, and the infallibility
of the pope, as heretical, because [these are] contrary to the teaching of the first seven ecumenical councils”
(Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 2:513, 514).
146
“The word orthodox (from Greek, “right-believing”) implies the claim of doctrinal consistency with
apostolic truth” (MEPS 2005, art. “Orthodox Church”).
140
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04 The Roman Catholic Church the “Mother of all Churches?”
E. Branches of the Catholic Church
John Francis Noll says, “Well now, Mr. Jackson, outside the Catholic Church, there is no
united Christianity.”147 Is it true that the Catholic Church is united? We have listed below
at least six groups or churches that claim to be “Catholic,” even though they had broken
away from Rome.
In the 16th century, the church of Rome claimed “Catholic” as the name to distinguish it
from the Protestant churches that arose after Martin Luther’s separation from it.148 But the
Lutherans still continue to call themselves “Catholics.” Even the Anglicans refuse to
accept the claim of the Church of Rome as being “the only Catholic Church.” And there
are others. Thus we have:
(1) German “Catholics” (Lutherans), those who followed the tenets of the Augustinian
priest, Martin Luther.
(2) “Anglo-Catholics” (Church of England), the Catholic church in the Great Britain
headed by the English monarch.
(3) Greek Catholics (Orthodox Church, who separated from Rome in 1054 over the
issue of filioque).
(4) “Roman Catholics” (Church of Rome)
(5) The Old Catholics (those who separated from the Roman Catholic Church over the
issue of papal infallibility in 1870).
(6) “Independent (or Philippine) Catholics,” followers of Filipino priest Gregorio
Aglipay who broke away from the church of Rome in the 1900’s.
The term “Catholic” means “universal.” But when the “Catholic Church” divided into six
branches or sects mentioned above, its claim to being universal was even more
ridiculous.149
F. The Early Church was never called “Catholic”
The early church (and by this we mean the church of the first century) never called itself
“Catholics”; individually the members were simply designated as:
(a) “disciples”150 (Acts 11:26; 20:7);
(b) Christians”151 (Acts 11:26; 26:28);
(c) saints”152 (cf. Acts 9:13; 9:32);
147
John Francis Noll, Father Smith Instructs Jackson (The Knights of Columbus Information Bureau, March
1962), p. 42.
148
“Within Western Christianity beginning with the 16th-century Reformation, the Roman Catholic church
came to be identified by its differences with the Protestant churches” (GME 2000, art. “Catholic Church”).
149
O. C. Lambert, 1:14.
150
Gr. mathetes, “learner, pupil, disciple” from the verb manthano, “to learn” (Colin Brown, 1:483f).
151
“Christians,” Gr. Christianoi, singular Christianos, “defines the one to whom it is applied as belonging to
the party of a certain Christos, very much as Herodianos is a technical term for the followers of Herod”
(Colin Brown, 2:343).
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04 The Roman Catholic Church the “Mother of all Churches?”
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
Sons of God153 (Rom. 8:14; Phil. 2:15);
Believers (Acts 5:14);
Children of God154 (Rom. 8:16);
Brethren (Rom. 8:29; Heb. 2:11).
Sons of light (1 Thess. 5:5).
G. Romanist Claim to Petrine Succession Has no Scriptural Basis
The Roman Catholic Church could claim to be Roman,155 since her first head was a Roman
bishop,156 not Peter the Jew.
There is no record in the Catholic Bible that Peter had ever been to Rome. When the
Apostle Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans (A.D. 58),157 he greeted every Christian in
the city of Rome, even mentioning their names (see chapter 16 of the epistle), but he did
not mention Peter’s, and this at a time Peter was supposedly in the city of Rome and
serving as “pope”! Why did he not? Because Peter was not there. J. N. D. Kelly, canon of
Chichester Cathedral, admits that concerning Peter’s stay in Rome, the New Testament
“appears silent about such a stay.” 158 Furthermore, he says: “Nothing is known of the
length of his residence: the story that it lasted twenty-five years is a 3rd-century legend.”
159 (italics mine, ETM). The real Peter—the Peter of history—can be known from the Four
Gospels, from the Epistles that bear his name, and from the Epistles of Paul. But these
writings do not support the claims of the Roman Catholic Church to apostolic succession.
Says J. N. D. Kelley, “In the late 2nd or early 3rd century, the tradition identified Peter as
the first bishop of Rome. This was a natural development once the monarchical episcopate,
that is, government of the local church by a single bishop as distinct from a group of
presbyter-bishops, finally emerged in Rome in the mid-2nd century.”160
“Saints,” Gr. hoi hagioi, from hagios, “holy, sacred” (Colin Brown, 2:224).
“Sons,” Gr. huioi, “signifies the relation of offspring to parent...[and] is often used metaphorically of
prominent moral characteristics” (Vine, p. 47).
154
“Children of God,” Gr. tekna theou, singular teknon, “child,” used in both the natural and figurative
senses. “In contrast to huios, son, it gives prominence to the fact of birth, whereas huios stresses the dignity
and character of the relationship” (Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, p. 187).
155
It is “identified as Roman because of its historical roots in Rome and because of the importance it attaches
to the worldwide ministry of the bishop of Rome, the pope” (GAE, 16:277. See also GME 2000, art. “Roman
Catholic Church”).
156
Linus (66?-78?), whose episcopacy is under a cloud of doubt, was said to have been “entrusted with his
office by the apostles Peter and Paul after they had established the Christian church in Rome. By this
primitive reckoning he was therefore the first pope, but from the late 2nd or early 3rd century the convention
began regarding St Peter as first bishop. What Linus’ actual functions and responsibilities were can only be
guessed, for the monarchical, or one-man, episcopate had not yet emerged in Rome” (J.N.D. Kelley, The
Oxford Dictionary of Popes [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986], p. 7).
157
See Introduction to Romans, The New Analytical Bible (Chicago, Illinois: John A. Dickson Publishing
Company. Copyright 1971), p. 1287.
158
Kelley, p. 7.
159
Kelley, p. 7.
160
Ibid.
152
153
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04 The Roman Catholic Church the “Mother of all Churches?”
H. Romanist Claim to Being Apostolic Not Textually Supported
The Roman Catholic church could claim catholicity, since her faith is universal, perhaps as
universal as the early church of Christ. In this sense of the term, even the Muslims could
claim to be catholic, or universal, because they also are found throughout the world.
But she could not claim apostolicity, not only because the Roman Catholic system as we
know it was virtually unknown in the days of the apostles, but also because her doctrines
are not apostolic. “Writers of the fourth century were prone to describe many practices as
Apostolic Institutions which certainly had no claim to be so regarded,” so says the Catholic
Encyclopedia.161
The doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church are an admixture of paganism
and Christianity,162 her rule of faith is not Christian and her structure is other than what one
would find in the New Testament.
The Roman Catholic Church admits that the New Testament Church used only Scriptures,
but that she does not. Says the Catholic Dictionary: “There was far more extensive use and
continuous use of the Scriptures in the public service of the early Church than there is
among us.”163 Even the Catholic Encyclopedia admits that “our present convenient
compendiums— the Missal, Breviary, and so on— were formed only at the end of a long
evolution. In the first period (lasting perhaps till about the fourth century) there were no
books except the Bible, from which lessons were read and Psalms were sung.”164
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that “the Bible is not intended to be a textbook of the
Christian religion.”165 For that reason, she makes her own laws: “To enable her to carry
out this divine plan she makes laws, laws purely ecclesiastical, but laws that have the same
binding force as the divine laws themselves.” 166 These laws she made have substituted
God’s laws. “For Catholics, therefore, as far as obligations are concerned there is no
practical difference between God’s law and the law of the Church.”167
Says John Francis Knoll: “If it is not identical in belief, government, etc., with the
primitive Church, then it is not the Church of Christ.”168 Sullivan admits the Roman
Catholic Church is not what it claims to be: “Some parts of the governmental system of the
161
Catholic Encyclopedia (New York: The Encyclopedia Press, Inc., 1913), 3:484. Fifteen volumes. Special
edition published under the auspices of Knights of Columbus Catholic Truth Committee.
162
Catholic authorities admit the much borrowing the Roman Catholic Church made from paganism: “At the
same time it seems probable enough that certain features of Christian ceremonials were directly borrowed
from Roman secular usages... But granting, as even so conservative a historian as Cardinal Baronius is fully
prepared to grant, a certain amount of direct borrowing of pagan usages, this is no subject of reproach to the
Catholic Church... Of such pagan rites laudibly adopted for the service of the Christian religion we have
many examples...” (Catholic Encyclopedia, 9:246, 247).
163
Catholic Dictionary, p. 509; quoted by O. C. Lambert, 1:19.
164
Catholic Encyclopedia, 9:296; quoted by O. C. Lambert, 1:19.
165
John Francis Knoll, Catholic Facts, p. 27; quoted by O. C. Lambert, 1:64
166
Explanation of Catholic Morals, p. 26; quoted by O. C. Lambert, 1:21-22.
167
Explanation of Catholic Morals, p. 26; quoted by O. C. Lambert, 1:21-22.
168
Catholic Facts, p. 50; quoted by O. C. Lambert, 1:21.
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04 The Roman Catholic Church the “Mother of all Churches?”
Catholic Church are of divine origin, and many of them are human institutions.”
Roman Catholic Church thus cannot claim to be the true church.
169
The
I. Paul’s Warning About the Falling Away
The spirit of apostasy170 was at work at the time of Peter and Paul. Writing his first letter to
Timothy (about A.D. 66 or 67),171 Paul warned about such departure from the faith: “Now
the Spirit expressly says that in after times [or later times] some will depart from the faith,
giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies hypocritically, and
having their conscience branded. They will forbid marriage and will enjoin abstinence
from foods [or meats] which God has created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by the
faithful and by those who know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1-3).
The fact that Christianity had been corrupted during the post-apostolic period is also
admitted by the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Encyclopedia says, “One is forced
to admit that the gradual corruption of Christianity began very early.”172
J. Witness from an ex-Catholic priest:
These words from Stephen L. Testa, a former Roman Catholic, as quoted by author
Lorraine Boettner in his book Roman Catholicism, pp. 23-24:
“The church remained pure and faithful to the gospel for about 300 years, which was the
golden age of martyrs and saints, who were persecuted by pagan Rome. After the so-called
conversion of emperor Constantine (310 A.D.), Christianity was declared the state
religion, and multitudes of pagans were admitted to the church by baptism alone, without
conversion. They brought with them their pagan rites, ceremonies and practices which
they gradually introduced into the church with Christian names, all of which corrupted the
primitive faith and the church became Romanized and paganized. What makes the church
truly catholic is its adherence to the gospel of Christ... The Roman church has added
popery and so many other pagan doctrines and practices that many people think it no
longer either Christian or catholic...”
K. Apostasy was slow, but it was sure
The Roman Catholic Church is the fulfillment of what the Holy Spirit prophesied in 1
Timothy 4:1-3. It is an undeniable fact that the Roman Catholic Church has forbidden its
people to eat meat on Lenten Fridays, and its priests to get married. Both doctrines –
“enjoining people to abstain from meats [or foods]”173 and “forbidding to marry”174-- did
not originate from God. Paul calls these teachings the “doctrines of demons,” or
“doctrines of devils.”
169
Sullivan, Externals of the Catholic Church (New York: J. P. Kennedy & Son, 1919), p. 19.
Gr. apostasia, “rebellion, abandonment”; from apo, “away,” and histemi, “stand” (Colin Brown, 1:51).
171
See Introduction to First Timothy, The New Analytical Bible (Chicago: John A. Dickson Publishing Co.
Copyright 1971), p. 1371; also Introduction to Romans, p. 1287.
172
Catholic Encyclopedia, 12:414; quoted by O. C. Lambert, 1:18.
173
The Catholic doctrine of fasting on Fridays and during Lent was enforced in AD 998.
174
A church ordinance forbidding priests to marry was decreed by pope Hildebrand in 1079.
170
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