Early Church History

Lizzie (of Lizziesanswers) spoke on the Gus Lloyd show, Seize the Day on SiriusXM on March 8, 2018 about her conversion to Catholicism.  In the interview she spoke about how she never learned about the history of the early church in Protestantism.  I really relate to that because I never learned.

This part of my seeking is a bit blurry, but at some point last year when I was confused and seeking Truth, I got into a big theological discussion with a friend of mine who simply calls himself a Christian, but is really a mixed bag and quite intellectual and well-studied.  He explained some of the church history that he learned and lent me a book on the matter from an economic standpoint.  That was really a spring-board for me in that I realized how I ultimately knew nothing about the early church.

I remember imploring him, "I want to know what the early church was like after the Bible and before the Middle Ages!"  We call the Middle Ages the Dark Ages, but for church history, it seems the Dark Ages was that time after the time of the books of the Bible.  What was the early church like?  How did they worship?  What did they believe?  How was it set up?

If you ask a Catholic, they point to the earliest historical texts possible that explains their origins and link them with Bible verses.

If you ask a Protestant, you get a blank stare, or something along the lines of the church being unorganized house churches or city churches...fringe groups...while Catholicism got corrupted by Paganism until the Reformation sorted it all out.

I feel like I do when I have to confront my kids about a something and I get two different stories.  "Someone is lying to me!" I demand.  "I want the truth!"

The only difference I am seeing is that Protestants tend to get rabid and angry in their side of the debate.  Catholics seem to hold firm and calmly.  To me, that speaks volumes.  Truth doesn't need to be violently defended.  It defends itself.

In early Church history it is:  Catholics 1 Protestants 0