The Mother of All Christian Churches

Many people don't know this, but for the first 5 centuries after Christ, there was only one Christian Church. In approximately the 2nd or 3rd century, that church became known as the Catholic Church. The term "Catholic" is not a label, like "Methodist", "Lutheran", or "Baptist". The term "Catholic" refers to what the church is, which is "universal". For more information regarding the name "Catholic", please click here.

I found an interesting diagram on Wikipedia that graphically illustrates when the various branches of Christianity began. To view the chart and accompanying article, click here. It is interesting to note that before the Assyrian Church broke off and became a separate branch of Christianity in the year 431, the church prior to that point was referred to as "Early Christianity". In reality, the church that existed from the time of Christ was the Catholic Church. As was mentioned above, the term "Catholic" began to be applied to the church in the 2nd or 3rd century, but the church existed before that. The Assyrian Church broke away from the Catholic Church, not some generic Christian community. Further proof that the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus himself, and was the first Christian church, can be seen in the list of Catholic Church leaders (popes), which began with the apostle Peter and continued in unbroken succession to the current pope, Pope Benedict XVII. For a complete list of popes, please click here.

This post provides just some of the reasons why I am a Catholic. If you are a non-Catholic Christian, why do you belong to the particular Church you belong to? If you consider yourself "non-denominational", why? Please provide any comments you might have in the comment box below. God's peace be with you!