The deeper I dug, the more I discovered that the Catholic notion of authority had very Jewish roots, which only shed light on the many places in the New Testament when Christ and the Apostles delegated authority to others. Indeed, the Hebrew Bible is deeply instructive on the topic of how God exercises His authority among His people.
Read MoreIn the 2nd century, around AD 155, St. Justin Martyr described, in stunning detail, the early mass, and the Church's Eucharistic doctrine. There are only two possibilities for living out this very same doctrine to this day: either among the eastern apostolic churches (who, as the Church has acknowledged, have valid sacraments), or the Catholic Church.
Read MoreLong before I had even read a single word by a Catholic apologist or a Church Father, I read the Bible’s account of the Council of Jerusalem and simply had no way to fit it into any of a variety of protestant frameworks for a “biblical church.” Further study eventually led me to conclude that the Church, from its earliest days, was (1) Catholic; (2) Authoritative; (3) Infallible; (4) Apostolic; and (5) Hierarchical in a way that matched the Catholic Church to this very day.
I was thus faced with a fundamental question—since the Bible clearly portrays a Church of this nature, and never says those features ended, where is that Church today?
Read MoreThe two meta-questions that framed all my other questions about the “vexing verses” were: what is actually “the gospel,” and what is actually “biblical”? I was haunted by these questions for more than a decade before I read a single word by a Catholic. But my love of the Bible, my burning desire to understand it, my inability to make sense of so much of it within a protestant framework, alongside the appeals made to it as the authority behind wildly divergent and contradictory theologies, compelled me to dig deeper.
Read MoreIt is beyond doubt that Ignatius speaks of the Roman church in ways he simply does not speak of any church. Most significantly, he speaks of her as one who teaches, confirms, instructs, and enjoins other churches, and as one not only deserving of, but indeed gifted with, unique honors and graces both from God, and the other churches. Ignatius thus serves as one of the earliest witnesses to the primacy of the Roman church.
Read MoreIn short, this Ignatian epistle, like the others, shows that he had a high view of Church authority; he considers obedience to a hierarchical structure of bishops, priests, and deacons to be obedience to Christ; he believes that this obedience is an inherent part of eucharistic communion; and that he believed obedience to these ministers provided strong protection against falling into heresy.
Read MoreEver since I’ve been a Christian, these examples always caused me great consternation—they do so still. I cannot get around Jesus’ words: my deeds are inextricably linked with the Day of Judgment, upon whose outcome I will enter eternal paradise, or eternal damnation. Either Jesus is right, or “faith alone” is wrong. He could not be clearer—first century peasants could not have been in doubt as to what He was saying, nor can we.
And we’re not even done with Matthew.
Read MoreIn short, in this epistle, like the others, Ignatius of Antioch, a man who knew and was discipled by some of the Apostles himself, and barely 75 years after the death and Resurrection of Christ, took the authority of the Church very seriously, and took the tri-partite structure of Bishop, priests, and deacons for granted within the Catholic Church.
Read MoreIn short, in this one epistle to the Ephesians, we see Ignatius of Antioch articulate the basics of fundamentally Catholic ideas of hierarchical authority, Church unity, eucharistic communion, and the authority of Scripture alongside living apostolic tradition.
Read MoreHow one of the earliest Church Fathers who knew the Apostles, and wrote some letters barely 75 years after Christ’s death, changed my life forever.
Read MoreThere has never been a “small ‘c’” catholic church. Only a “Big ‘C’” Catholic Church. The Church Fathers prove it.
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