Protestant Historian Set a 107 AD Trap... It Backfired

From Totus Catholica

The 107 AD Letter That's IMPOSSIBLE for Protestants to Explain A reformed historian set out to prove the Reformation recovered true Christianity, but the evidence forced him to become Catholic. Dr David Anders found bishops, baptismal regeneration, and the Real Presence in documents written 70 years after the Resurrection. John Calvin himself dismissed certain early writings as forgeries precisely because they sounded too Catholic - modern scholarship has vindicated those texts. If the Catholic Church really corrupted Christianity, we should see a dramatic shift somewhere in history. But the opposite is true: the closer you get to the apostles, the more Catholic it looks. 📌 The Point: The earliest Christian writings outside Scripture - penned by men who knew the apostles personally - sound undeniably Catholic in their core convictions about authority, sacraments, and salvation. 📖 Core Sources Ignatius of Antioch (martyred c. 107 AD): Third bishop of Antioch, succeeding St. Peter; direct disciple of Apostle John; wrote seven letters while travelling to Rome for execution (authenticity acknowledged even by Protestant scholars after centuries of debate) Letter to the Smyrnaeans - First recorded use of phrase "Catholic Church" in Christian literature (barely 70 years after Christ's resurrection): "Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be... wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church" No one should baptise or celebrate Eucharist without the bishop's approval; those who deny "the Eucharist is the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins" incur death in their disputes.

Described the three-tiered church structure (bishops, presbyters, deacons) as essential to authentic Christianity - not inventing novelties, but passing on what he received from the apostles John Calvin's response - Declared these letters forgeries because they contradicted his Presbyterian ecclesiology and Eucharist theology; modern scholarship vindicated their authenticity, exposing Calvin's dismissal as wishful thinking Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180 AD): Work: Against Heresies - "Truth is found nowhere else but in the Catholic Church, the sole depository of apostolic doctrine" Emphasised Apostolic Succession - heresies refuted by examining the perpetual succession of bishops in churches founded by apostles Explicitly connected saving faith to the Church and sacraments, not faith alone Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD): Even Protestant reformers claimed him as a theological ancestor, but Dr Anders discovered that Augustine articulated "nothing less than the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification" Grace transforms the believer; baptism regenerates; Eucharist nourishes unto eternal life; faith works through charity Embraced devotion to saints - scholar Peter Brown demonstrated this was integral to ancient Christianity, not pagan corruption Catholic Teaching: CCC 1992 - Justification is not merely a legal declaration, but a true transformation of the soul; conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith; conforms us to God's righteousness, making us inwardly just Early Church understood Romans as excluding works of Mosaic law before faith in Christ, not all works; faith as entrance to life of Church, sacraments, and Spirit - means of grace, not a substitute Seven sacraments rooted in apostolic tradition; baptism of infants to cleanse original sin; absolute belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist; episcopal organisation through apostolic succession Scripture: Matt 16:18 - Christ's promise that "the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church" - if the entire Church apostatised within decades and remained in error 1500 years until Luther, this becomes a failed prophecy 📺 Chapters 0:00 - Reformed Historian Forced to Become Catholic by the Evidence 2:37 - Ignatius of Antioch (107 AD): Disciple of John, First Use of "Catholic Church" 4:13 - Irenaeus of Lyons (180 AD): Apostolic Succession & Catholic Church as Sole Depository 4:41 - Augustine of Hippo: Even Protestants' "Ancestor" Taught Catholic Doctrine 5:27 - What This Means for Salvation and the Church (CCC 1992) 7:38 - Objections: "They Were Fallible," "Diversity Existed," "Later Corruption" 9:38 - Conclusion: Three Truths That Emerge from this investigation 🌐 Connect 📿 https://totuscatholica.org/rosary 🌍 https://totuscatholica.org/ ✉️ https://totuscatholica.org/contact 🔍 https://catholicexaminationofconscien...