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ROMAN CATHOLIC
As the apostles of Jesus
Christ spread the Gospel, they provided the beginning
structure for the early Christian Church. It is impossible
to separate the initial stages of the Roman Catholic church
from that of the early Christian church.
After Jesus died, Simon Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, became
a strong leader in the Jewish Christian movement. Later
James, most likely Jesus' brother, took over leadership.
These followers of Christ viewed themselves as a reform
movement within Judaism yet they continued to follow many of
the Jewish laws.
At this time Saul, originally one of the strongest
persecutors of the early Jewish Christians, had a blinding
vision of Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, and became a
Christian. Adopting the name Paul, he became the greatest
evangelist of the early Christian church.
Paul's ministry, also called Pauline Christianity, was
directed mainly to Gentiles rather than Jews. In subtle
ways, the early church was already becoming divided.
Another belief system at this time was Gnostic Christianity,
which taught that Jesus was a spirit being, sent by God to
impart knowledge to humans so that they could escape the
miseries of life on earth. |
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In addition to Gnostic, Jewish, and and Pauline Christianity,
there were already many other versions of Christianity being
taught. After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Jewish
Christian movement was scattered. Pauline and Gnostic
Christianity were left as the dominant groups.
The Roman Empire legally recognized Pauline Christianity as
a valid religion in 313 AD. Later in that century, in 380
AD, Roman Catholicism became the official religion of the
Roman Empire. During the following 1000 years, Catholics
were the only people recognized as Christians.
In 1054 AD, a formal split occured between the Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. This division
remains in effect today.
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DEVINE
APPARITION (MARIAN APPARITION): Supernatural apparitions of divine
forces have been known in every religion since ancient
times. Marian Apparitions are the most frequent of all
miraculous phenomena within the Catholic Church.
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SYBIL: A woman, a
prophetess who spoke God's words for Him. There were
Sybil's in many places. A God would move the Sibyl to
speak, someone would write down what she said and later
on people would consult her words. In Rome they kept
them in what is called the "Sybilline Books".
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Our Father, who art in Heaven;
hallowed by Thy name;
Thy kingdom come;
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil. Amen
Catholic Prayer, Our Father
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