St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, a typical Catholic church. Picture from Wikipedia.

In this post, I will talk about how the history of Catholicism, in terms of how it originated as a form of Christianity.

The Catholic Church first originated from Roman Empire and was founded by the Jesus Christ, based on Catholic traditions. Jesus Christ designated 12 Apostles and gave them instructions, which are known as The Great Commission, to them to continue his work. The Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles signaled the beginning of the public ministry of the Church. Peter was the first bishop of Rome and the consecrator of Linus as its next bishop.

Due to the encouragement by the government for inhabitants to learn Greek language, the ideas of Catholicism were able to be more easily elaborated and comprehended. Therefore, many Jewish communities were able to be converted to Christians, with 40 Christian communities established by Year 100. The communities were also formed in other countries such as Armenia, Iran and Malabar Coast. As the early Christian Church was not well-managed, it led to difference in manipulations of beliefs in Christianity.

To ensure more consistency in their teachings, Christian communities developed into a more rigid hierarchy. A central bishop has more power over the appointed church personnel in his city, leading to the formation of the Metropolitan bishop. Since the second century, bishops often gather in regional synods to resolve doctrinal and policy issues. By the third century, the bishop of Rome serves as a court of appeals for problems that cannot be resolved by other bishops. The doctrine was refined by the Church Fathers, a series of influential theologians and teachers. However, proto-orthodox teachers such as Ignatius of Antioch and Irenaeus explained Catholic teaching in huge contrast to other things such as Gnosticism.

Find out more about the history of the Catholic church in this video.

That is all I have to offer for now. Look forward to my next and final post on Catholicism which will be published within this weekend.

- Chong You

References
History of The Catholic Church - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Catholic_Church

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