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I told him to read the writings of the Early
Church Fathers in order to show him the Church
goes back to St. Peter.
He claims that the early
followers of Christ (before 200 A.D. or so)
were Christian, not Catholic, and they didn't
believe in the True Presence of Christ in the
Eucharist, nor did they celebrate Mass, etc.
He feels several hundred years later, the Catholic
Church came along and claimed to be the Church
founded by Christ.
How can I answer him?
I can't find anything pertaining to what the
very early Christians believed; their writings
don't seem to go back that far.
Thanks,
Jan
{
Where can I find the writings of the Early Church so I can show him the Church goes back to Peter? }
Mike replied:
Hi Jan,
Thanks for your question,
First, you have to point out to him that being Catholic and being Christian is
not a contradiction.
Catholic Christians are Christians who believe in
the fullness of the Faith, which Our Divine Savior wants all Christians
to believe in. The word Catholic means in its totality. So the Catholic faith is the Christian faith in its totality as St. Pacian of Barcelona implied back in 375 A.D. and the Catechism states in CCC 830.
You said: I told him to read the writings of the Early
Church Fathers in order to show him the Church
goes back to St. Peter.
Exactly! Read the following:
The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans written in 110 A.D.
Chapter 8 . — Let Nothing Be Done Without The Bishop
See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father,
and the presbytery as ye would the Apostles; and reverence the deacons,
as being the institution (17) of God. Let no man do anything connected
with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper(18)
Eucharist, which is [administered] either even as, wherever Jesus Christ
is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful without the
bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever
he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything
that is done may be secure and valid. (2) See that ye all follow the bishop,
even as Christ Jesus does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would
the Apostles. Do ye also reverence the deacons, as those that carry out [through
their office] the appointment of God. Let no man do anything connected
with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper (18) Eucharist,
which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has
entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of
the people] also be; by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted
it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the
people] also be; even as where Christ is, there does all the heavenly
host stand by, waiting upon Him as the Chief Captain of the Lord's might,
and the Governor of every intelligent nature. It is not lawful without
the bishop either to baptize, or to offer, or to present sacrifice, or
to celebrate a love-feast. (1) But that which seems good to him, is also
well-pleasing to God, that everything ye do may be secure and valid.
Justin Martyr — The First Apology of Justin — written In 148 A.D. to 155 A.D.
Chapter LXVI. — Of The Eucharist.
And this food is called among us Eucharistia (5) [the Eucharist], of
which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the
things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing
that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is
so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and
common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ
our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh
and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the
food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood
and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that
Jesus who was made flesh. (6)
For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called
Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that
Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye
in remembrance of Me, (7) this is My body;"
and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks,
He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone. Which
the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding
the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed
with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated,
you either know or can learn.
Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho written in 155 A.D.
Chapter XLI. — The Oblation of Fine Flour was a Figure of the Eucharist.
"And the offering of fine flour, sirs," I said, "which
was prescribed to be presented on behalf of those purified from leprosy,
was a type of the bread of the Eucharist, the celebration of which our
Lord Jesus Christ prescribed, in remembrance of the suffering which He
endured on behalf of those who are purified in soul from all iniquity,
in order that we may at the same time thank God for having created the
world, with all things therein, for the sake of man, and for delivering
us from the evil in which we were, and for utterly overthrowing (4) principalities
and powers by Him who suffered according to His will. Hence God speaks
by the mouth of Malachi, one of the twelve [prophets], as I said before, (5)
about the sacrifices at that time presented by you: 'I have no pleasure
in you, saith the Lord; and I will not accept your sacrifices at your
hands: for, from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same,
My name has been glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense
is offered to My name, and a pure offering: for My name is great among
the Gentiles, saith the Lord: but ye profane it.' (6) [So] He
then speaks of those Gentiles, namely us, who in every place offer sacrifices
to Him, i.e., the bread of the Eucharist, and also the cup of the Eucharist,
affirming both that we glorify His name, and that you profane [it]. The
command of circumcision, again, bidding [them] always circumcise the
children on the eighth day, was a type of the true circumcision, by which
we are circumcised from deceit and iniquity through Him who rose from
the dead on the first day after the Sabbath, [namely through] our Lord
Jesus Christ. For the first day after the Sabbath, remaining the first (7)
of all the days, is called, however, the eighth, according to the number
of all the days of the cycle, and [yet] remains the first.
Justin Martyr — The First Apology of Justin — written in 148 A.D. To 155 A.D.
Chapter LXVII. — Weekly worship of the Christians.
And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And
the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and
for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through
His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the
day called Sunday, (1) all who live in cities or in the country gather
together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings
of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader
has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation
of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we
before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought,
and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according
to his ability, (2) and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a
distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have
been given, (3) and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons.
And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit;
and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the
orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause,
are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning
among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But
Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly,
because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in
the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour
on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before
that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which
is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples,
He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for
your consideration.