Question: "What is the origin of the
Catholic Church?"
Answer: The Roman Catholic
Church contends that its origin is the death, resurrection,
and ascension of Jesus Christ in approximately 30 A.D. The
Catholic Church proclaims itself to be the Church that Jesus
Christ died for, the Church that was established and built
by the Apostles. Is that the true origin of the Catholic
Church? On the contrary. Even a cursory reading of the New
Testament will reveal that the Catholic Church does not have
its origin in the teachings of Jesus, or His apostles. In
the New Testament, there is no mention of the papacy,
worship / adoration of Mary (or the immaculate conception of
Mary, the perpetual virginity of Mary, the assumption of
Mary, or Mary as co-redemptrix and mediatrix), petitioning
saints in Heaven for their prayers, apostolic succession,
the ordinances of the church functioning as sacraments,
infant baptism, confession of sin to a priest, purgatory,
indulgences, or the equal authority of church tradition and
Scripture. So, if the origin of the Catholic Church is not
in the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, as recorded in
the New Testament, what is the true origin of the Catholic
Church?
For the first 280 years of Christian history, Christianity
was banned by the Roman empire, and Christians were terribly
persecuted. This changed after the “conversion” of the Roman
Emperor Constantine. Constantine “legalized” Christianity at
the Edict of Milan in A.D. 313. Later, in A.D. 325,
Constantine called together the Council of Nicea, in an
attempt to unify Christianity. Constantine envisioned
Christianity as a religion that could unite the Roman
Empire, which at that time was beginning to fragment and
divide. While this may have seemed to be a positive
development for the Christian church, the results were
anything but positive. Just as Constantine refused to fully
embrace the Christian faith, but continued many of his pagan
beliefs and practices, so the Christian church that
Constantine promoted was a mixture of true Christianity and
Roman paganism.
Constantine found that with the Roman Empire being so vast,
expansive, and diverse – not everyone would agree to forsake
their religious beliefs and instead embrace Christianity.
So, Constantine allowed, and even promoted, the
“Christianization” of pagan beliefs. Completely pagan and
utterly unbiblical beliefs were given new “Christian”
identities. Some clear examples of this are as follows:
(1) The Cult of Isis, an Egyptian mother-goddess religion,
was absorbed into Christianity by replacing Isis with Mary.
Many of the titles that were used for Isis, such as “Queen
of Heaven,” “Mother of God,” and “theotokos” (God-bearer)
were attached to Mary. Mary was given an exalted role in the
Christian faith, far beyond what the Bible ascribes to her,
in order to attract Isis worshippers to a faith they would
not otherwise embrace. Many temples to Isis were, in fact,
converted into temples dedicated to Mary. The first clear
hints of Catholic Mariology occur in the writings of Origen,
who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, which happened to be the
focal point of Isis worship.
(2) Mithraism was a religion in the Roman Empire in the 1st
through 5th centuries A.D. It was very popular among the
Romans, especially among Roman soldiers, and was possibly
the religion of several Roman emperors. While Mithraism was
never given “official” status in the Roman empire, it was
the de-facto official religion until Constantine and
succeeding Roman emperors replaced Mithraism with
Christianity. One of the key features of Mithraism was a
sacrificial meal, which involved eating the flesh and
drinking the blood of a bull. Mithras, the god of Mithraism,
was “present” in the flesh and blood of the bull, and when
consumed, granted salvation to those who partook of the
sacrificial meal (theophagy, the eating of one’s god).
Mithraism also had seven “sacraments,” making the
similarities between Mithraism and Roman Catholicism too
many to ignore. Constantine and his successors found an easy
substitute for the sacrificial meal of Mithraism in concept
of the Lord’s Supper / Christian Communion. Sadly, some
early Christians had already begun to attach mysticism to
the Lord’s Supper, rejecting the Biblical concept of a
simple and worshipful remembrance of Christ’s death and shed
blood. The Romanization of the Lord’s Supper made the
transition to a sacrificial consumption of Jesus Christ, now
known as the Catholic Mass / Eucharist, complete.
(3) Most Roman emperors (and citizens) were henotheists. A
henotheist is one who believes in the existence of many
gods, but focuses primary on one particular god, or
considers one particular god supreme over the other gods.
For example, the Roman god Jupiter was supreme over the
Roman pantheon of gods. Roman sailors were often worshippers
of Neptune, the god of the oceans. When the Catholic Church
absorbed Roman paganism, it simply replaced the pantheon of
gods with the saints. Just as the Roman pantheon of gods had
a god of love, a god of peace, a god of war, a god of
strength, a god of wisdom, etc., so the Catholic Church has
a saint who is “in charge” over each of these, and many
other categories. Just as many Roman cities had a god
specific to the city, so the Catholic Church provided
“patron saints” for the cities.
(4) The supremacy of the Roman bishop (the papacy) was
created with the support of the Roman emperors. With the
city of Rome being the center of government for the Roman
empire, and with the Roman emperors living in Rome, the city
of Rome rose to prominence in all facets of life.
Constantine, and his successors, gave their support to the
bishop of Rome as the supreme ruler of the church. Of course
it is best for the unity of the Roman empire that the
government and state religion be centered in the same
location. While most other bishops (and Christians) resisted
the idea of the Roman bishop being supreme, the Roman bishop
eventually rose to supremacy, due to the power and influence
of the Roman emperors. When the Roman empire collapsed, the
popes took on the title that had previously belonged to the
Roman emperors – Pontificus Maximus.
Many more examples could be given. These four should suffice
in demonstrating the true origin of the Catholic Church. Of
course the Roman Catholic Church denies the pagan origin of
its beliefs and practices. The Catholic Church disguises its
pagan beliefs under layers of complicated theology. The
Catholic Church excuses and denies its pagan origin beneath
the mask of “church tradition.” Recognizing that many of its
beliefs and practices are utterly foreign to Scripture, the
Catholic Church is forced to deny the authority and
sufficiency of Scripture.
The origin of the Catholic Church is the tragic compromise
of Christianity with the pagan religions that surrounded it.
Instead of proclaiming the Gospel and converting the pagans,
the Catholic Church “Christianized” the pagan religions, and
“paganized” Christianity. By blurring the differences and
erasing the distinctions, yes, the Catholic Church made
itself attractive to the people of the Roman empire. One
result was the Catholic Church becoming the supreme religion
in the “Roman world” for centuries. However, another result
was the most dominant form of Christianity apostatizing from
the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and the true proclamation of
God’s Word.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 declares, “For the time will come when men
will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their
own desires, they will gather around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They
will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to
myths.”