Turning Away from God: The Dangers of Apostasy

The first 400 years of Christianity's history are crucial because they saw the development of the foundational doctrines and practices of the faith. During this period, the Christian church faced persecution, struggled with internal disagreements, and developed a coherent theology.

Who was Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109 C.E.)?

“A medieval monk and theologian who had a strong influence upon Christian thought. He followed Augustine in using Platonic philosophy to construct theology. His major contributions included his view of faith and reason, his ontological argument for the existence of God, and his interpretation of the atonement.”—Millard J. Erickson

THE RISE OF CATHOLICISM: The Great Apostasy

The argument often given by those within Catholicism is that the Catholic Church goes clear back to the apostle Peter as the first pope. Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bishops. They would also say that many early Christian writers used Catholicism. We will see that Catholicism goes back to Jesus, Christ, Peter, and Paul in the first century. However, not in the way that the Catholic Churchmen might want to accept, but it is nevertheless true. And having an understanding of what the word Catholicism means will help us understand why early Christian writers used it and why many Protestant authors have used it.

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