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Hi Monica,
Jesus is indeed an ethnic Jew. He is of the line of David and the tribe
of Judah. If you read the Old Testament, you will see that all
the prophecies point to Him as Messiah. There are also many Old Testament
prophecies that indicate that the Messiah would be a Light to non-Jews
as well.
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus tells us that He will build His Church on Peter.
Upon His Resurrection Christ commanded his Apostles to preach the Gospel
to all nations. In the book of Acts, we see Peter bringing the Gospels to
the Roman Centurion. Later in Acts, we see Saint Paul called and commissioned
specifically to preach to non-Jews.
Now the Early Church was indeed predominantly made up of Jewish believers.
They were considered a sect of Judaism. The first name for the Church was The
Way. They were also often called the Nazarenes. In Antioch, believers
in Jesus were first called Christians.
By the end of the first century
or early second century, the term Catholic was adopted. That word
comes from the Greek word Katolicos, which
means universal. The reason for this name is that it distinguished the
One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church from the various heretical sects
that started popping up. In other words, to be Catholic is to be faithful to all the teachings of Christ as delivered by the Apostles. Check out the quote from St. Pacian of Barcelona, (c. 310-375 A.D.), bishop of Barcelona, on the home page of this site.
It is also important to note that the Judaism of Jesus' day has not existed
since 70 A.D. when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The Judaism of
Jesus' day included all the observations of the Old Covenant:
- circumcision
- animal sacrifice, and
- so forth.
Jesus established a New Covenant with His Blood, therefore animals no longer
have to shed their blood for man's sin. Jesus paid that debt in full with
His Blood. Jesus replaced the Old Testament signs such as circumcision
with sacraments such as Baptism. We don't need to slaughter a Lamb and
eat it at Passover to renew our Covenant. Catholics renew the Covenant
when we celebrate the Eucharist, which makes present His Sacrifice at Calvary.
As for the Bible, we accept the entire Old Testament as well
the New Testament because it was inspired by the Holy Spirit and written
during the Apostolic era by either the Apostles themselves or their companions.
The New Testament also is consistent with the Oral Tradition which has been handed down
from the Apostles.
Scripture teaches us that the Apostles left successors. The successor of
Peter is the Bishop
of Rome who is commonly called the Pope. Since Christ
chose Peter to be lead the Church,
His successors also lead the Church.
I hope this helps.
John DiMascio |
