Why a Christian can
only be a Catholic
A
Christian is someone who follows the true faith of Jesus Christ. In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that it
was at Antioch that the followers of Christ were first called Christians.
Acts 11:26- “And they conversed there in the
church a whole year; and they taught a great multitude, so that at Antioch the disciples were first named Christians.”
Interestingly,
it was also at Antioch, in the year 110, that the term “Catholic” was first applied
to the Christian Church. This was done
by the famous martyr of the ancient Christian Church, St. Ignatius.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter 8, 110 A.D.- “Apart from the
bishop, let no one do anything that pertains to the Church. The only true Eucharist is the one performed
by the bishop or by him whom the bishop has appointed. Wherever the bishop is, there must be the
congregation, just as wherever Jesus Christ is there is the Catholic Church.”
In Greek, the term “Catholic” means
universal. Thus, the one universal
Christian Church came to be known as the Catholic Church. It makes sense that the terms Christian and
Catholic became interchangeable; for the only Christian Church which existed
from the beginning was the Catholic Church.
Ignatius
had a real connection to the original Christians. He was the third bishop of Antioch. Ignatius knew St. Polycarp who knew the
apostle John himself.
Many think that being Christian
means accepting everyone, being kind to everyone. Certainly being Christian involves a true
charity toward all men. This means that
you work and desire each man’s salvation – each man’s eternal happiness. First and foremost, however, being a
Christian requires that one believe all the truths of Jesus Christ. It requires that one hear the one Church He
established. For Jesus Himself declared
that preaching the Christian faith (the Gospel) means “teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have
commanded you” (Matthew 28:19). In
Matthew 18:17, we read that those who don’t hear the Christian Church
established by Jesus are to be considered as the “heathen and publican.”
The true Christian faith has a real
power. This power is of course
identified with the miracles of its founder, the God-man, Jesus Christ. But the power of the Christian faith didn’t
dry up and disappear once Jesus ascended into Heaven. No, Jesus left that power with His Church. He left it not only in the miracles which He
said some His followers would perform (John 14:12), but in the supernatural
protection and guidance which would sustain His visible Christian
institution. In Matthew 16:18-20, we
read that this Christian Church structure was founded on the apostle Peter, who
would be the first pope. This visible
Christian structure would be an ongoing testament to Jesus Christ’s power. It would guide the Christians on the way of
truth. It would also be necessary for
salvation; for the Lord would add all who were to be true Christians to this
one Christian Church (Acts 2:47).
One of the most moving episodes in
Christian history – which illustrates the power of the Christian Church and its
visible structure – involved the Attila the Hun and his invasion of Italy in
452. Attila the Hun was a fierce
non-Christian emperor in the East. He
was greatly feared by many in the Christian Roman Empire. In 447, Attila invaded the Eastern
Empire. In 452, he was ready to invade
Rome itself, the center of the Christian Church. With Atila
threatening the center of the Christian Church, Pope Leo the Great, the
undisputed leader of the Christian Church, faced him down. He went out to meet Atilla. As Pope Leo went out to meet Attila, he was
miraculously flanked by the apostle Peter.
History tells us that St. Peter threatened Attila with death if he
should proceed further. Attila was so
frightened that he turned back. If
Attila had not turned back, all of history might have been different. The leader of the Christian Church carried
with him the supernatural protection of Christianity’s founder, the Lord Jesus
Christ.
After the initial establishment of
the Christian Church, each century brought new challenges and trials for the
Christian. Heresies would appear and
lead many astray. Many who were
Christians were separated by these heresies from the true Christian faith. Arianism was the
most notorious of all the early heresies which threatened the Christian. It proclaimed that Jesus Christ was not true
God, that He was not equal with the Father.
Arianism spread wildly in the 4th century, causing countless
people to lose the true Christian faith.
The two central dogmas of the
Christian faith are the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation. The Trinity is the truth that there is one
God in three divine persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Each divine person is God; yet there are not
three gods, but one God. Each person is
a distinct person. The Sabellian
heretics, for example, a group of false Christians, wrongly taught that each
person is simply a different aspect of God.
According to them, The Father and the Son are simply different elements
of the same person. This heresy was
condemned by the Christian Church. A
Christian must believe that there are three divine persons, that each one is
God, but that there is only one God.
The other central dogma of the
Christian faith is the Incarnation. This
is the truth that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, became
man. That is Jesus Christ. He is one divine person, the second person of
the Holy Trinity, with two natures. He
is true God and true man.
For more about the true Christian
faith, which is necessary for salvation, please consult our website.
www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com