Why do some anti-Catholic groups say that Constantine was the first pope and that he founded the

Catholic Church at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.?

This question has to be dealt with on two levels. First, we show that in actual fact there was a long line of popes to the time of Constantine, so how can Constantine be the first pope? Secondly we must look at the reasons these charges are made in the first place what did Constantine do or appear to do that makes !rotestants think he was the founder of the Catholic Church? "#nswer he called the First Council of $iceae in %&' #(). The answer to why some !rotestants say Constantine was the first pope is because of an appalling ignorance of history. *n actual fact, St. Sylvester was the pope at the time of Constantine+s rise to power in ,ome. !ope St. Sylvester was also the pope when the Council of $icaea was convened in %&' #(. Though Constantine called the council, it was !ope St. Sylvester+s legates, -itus "some sources say his name was -ictor) and -incent, who ratified it in his name. The Council was attended by %./ bishops of the Catholic Church, which would be sort of tricky if Constantine himself had started the Catholic Church that year. "The main activities of the Council were to define the (ivinity of Christ, and 0is consubstantiality with the Father, settling the date of 1aster, preparation of a list of canons, formulation of the $icene Creed, and drafting of a letter to the 1gyptian bishops to deal with the 2eletian Schism.) 3hat confuses those who think Constantine was the first pope is the fact that Constantine was the first emperor to legitimi4e Christianity and made it the state religion, this coming after three hundred years during which the Catholic Church was sporadically persecuted by various ,oman emperors, "such as (iocletian). This, plus the fact that Constantine ordered the First Council of $iceae to be convened , to deal with the #rian heresy, though he himself did not ratify the council, and of course could not with any validity do so. #ccording to anti5Catholic 6historians6 who tell us Constantine was the first pope, the story then goes, invariably, that the Catholic Church now was able to openly assimilate pagan customs and myths form the residual pagan religion of ,ome, and so you often hear the nonsense claims that the Catholic Church is full of paganism, from these same people who bring you the 6Constantine was the first pope6 nonsense7 So when discussing this question of Constantine being the first pope "or not), it is not really sufficient to point out the historical line of the popes to that date. These opponents of Catholic claims must be shown that there is nothing 8pagan9 about the Catholic Church. * have in the past recommended the book 6The :abylon Connection?6 by the !rotestant ,alph 3oodrow. 2r. 3oodrow had previously written a book entitled 6:abylon 2ystery ,eligion6 in which he made the 6Catholicism is pagan6 charges which you often hear from the 6Constantine was the first pope6 brigade. *n his earlier book, 3oodrow had relied heavily on the work of .;th century #le<ander 0islop entitled 6The Two :abylons6. =ater 2r. 3oodrow discovered that in fact 0islop+s research was seroiusly flawed and could not in any way be taken seriously. #s a result, and to his credit, 3oodrow published 6The :abylon Connection?6 which refutes his earlier work and shows that there is $> connection between Catholicism and the paganism of ancient ,ome, ?reece or :abylon.

,eturning to the historical line of :ishops prior to %&' #(, * include a couple of quotes from the early Church, referring to the primacy of the See of ,ome, dating from before %&' #(, to demonstrate that the idea of Constantine being the first pope is totally unsupportable. *n actual fact there are countless quotes which can be provided to prove the primacy of ,ome. 6:ut since it would be too long to eumerate in such a volume as this the successions of all the Churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether throuh self5 satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient Church known to all, founded and organi4ed at ,ome by the two most glorious #postles, !eter and !aul, that Church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the #postles. For with this Church, because of its superior origin, all Churches must agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world@ and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the #postolic tradition.6 Saint *renaneus, #gainst 0eresies "#( ./A5.;;), %,%,&. 63ith a false bishop appointed for themselves by heretics, they dare even to set sail and carry letters from schismatics and blasphemers to the chair of !eter and to the principal Church, in which sacerdotal unity has its source@ nor did they take thought that these are ,omans, whose faith was praised by the preaching #postle, and among whom it is not possible for perfidy to have entrance.6 St. Cyprian of Carthage, =etter to Cornelius of ,ome, #( &'&. >ther well5known instances include !ope St. Clement+s intervention with the Church of Corinth at the end of the first century "circa /A #(), and !ope St. -ictor+s &nd century e<communication of the Buartodecimans in regard to the dispute on the date of 1aster. *f you want to look up a couple of books on the subCect of the primacy of the ,oman See in the early Church, * suggest 6Desus, !eter and the Eeys6 by :utler, (ahlgren and 0ess, and 6Fpon This ,ock6 by Stephen ,ay. #lso 3illiam #. DurgensG 6Faith of the 1arly Fathers6 is a must5 have. So to conclude, there is overwhelming evidence that the primacy of ,ome was recogni4ed for the earliest times. #ttempts to make the 1mperor Constantine the first pope, simply because he called the Council of $iceae "which wasn+t even the first general council of the Church, this being the Council of Desusalem in %A #(, cf. the :ook of #cts, chapter. .') or that he made Christianity the state religion of the ,oman empire, are historically ludicrous. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Previous | Next | Back to Messages Save Message Text

Check 2ailCompose

Search 2ailSearch the 3eb

[New Folder]