Which came first, Catholics or Protestants?

Question

My husband says that Catholics are the true first religion of the New Testament. Ive never heard this before.

I thanks everyone for their input and thoughts. Since I am searching for the "true" answer, I need to put this question to a vote. THanks!!!!

Answer 1

catholics came before the protestants. protestantanism started in the 1520s-ish with martin luther. they were 'protesting' the way that the catholic religion was being led.
the "first true religion" part is questionnable. catholicism is the first organized christian church, but before that there were different version of christianity.

Answer 2

While Catholics existed centuries before Protestants, it is not true to say that the original New Testament believers were Catholic. It is simply completely false. A Catholic is someone who follows the Pope. There was no Pope in the New Testament, nor for long after it. The early Christians were not Catholic, so your husband is wrong.

Answer 3

Roman Catholics came before Protestants.

Jesus founded the Church on Peter as the first pope to succeed him, and the current pope of the Roman Catholic Church today can authentically trace the source of his authority all the way back to Peter. Catholicism is older, and all other sects of Christianity came about after Martin Luther first nailed his list of 95 protests to a church door in the Middle Ages.

Your husband is correct in thinking that Catholics are the first sect of Christianity-- although there are millions of different points of view that disagree with mine.

Answer 4

Well... Catholicism and the Greek Orthodox church were the first doctrines of the new testement. There were also churches called gnostics that used all parts of sacred texts including books that werent included in the bible

Catholicism took overall control during the crusades and the purges of the arab world where a Catholic general overwhelmed the Greek cities and took over.

Protestant religions didnt come about until Martin Luther nailed a list of complaints onto the door of a church (might have been st peters... but Im not positive) After that it spiralled out of control

So yes, your husband is right

Answer 5

Catholics

Answer 6

Your husband's mis-assumption is that which ever came first must be the right one. That in itself is illogical. (For instance, apply that same logic to: Which came first -- Democrats or Republicans? Would anybody say that which ever one came first is the correct political party? No way!) Both Catholics and Protestants trace their history back THROUGH Christ to the Creator God of the Old Testament. Hence, neither came first. The distinction between Catholic & Protestant began in the early 16th century. At that time some Christ-followers spoke out against various non-biblical theological doctrines held by the church at Rome. (Not the least of which was that at that time you could pay money to the church, which they gladly accepted, to "buy" a deceased family member's salvation into heaven. That was a hard thing to find any justification (pardon the pun) for in the in the Bible.) The followers who sought to make these reforms in the church by determining theological doctrines solely by what God's Word says, (which makes a lot of sense to me anwyay), became known as Protetsants.

Answer 7

Not even close. Saint Peter became the first Pope (Around 35AD) and the Protestant Reformation wasn't until 1517 when Martin Luther famously nailed his "95 Theses" to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.

Plus, the Protestants broke off from the Catholic Chruch so it wouldn't make much sense if the Proestants came first.

Here is a link to more information if you want.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation

Answer 8

Catholics came before Protestants whether they can be called the first true religion of the New Testament will cause to much of an argument for me to debate.

Answer 9

Please, where have you lived until now ? In a cave ?
Of course they are. You should know that protestants appeared in the middle ages, around the XIII century, but they gained recognition in the XVI century, when Martin Luter began with his ideas. Later, many princes saw here the opportunity to deny obedience to the Pope and become themselves the chief of their own church, like king Henry VIII did. Old henry wanted a divorce to marry his lover Anne Boleyn, and since the Chuch said no, then he separated from the Catholic church and declared that he , the king, was the chief of the english church, condition that remains today.
Of course, this was EXTREMELY convenient for the kings, because the only authority that could keep the kings in a leash was the Catholic church. With protestantism, the protestant kings became themselves their only lords and masters. They combined the authority of church and state together in themselves. All the power to themselves. Not bad, eh ?

Answer 10

Catholicism was legally recognized by the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox split in 1054 AD. Martin Luther started the Protestant revolution in about 1521 AD.

The Catholics can claim the best line of direct succession from Peter. It is not abundantly clear however that Peter was the Bishop of Rome or that the subsequent Bishops of Rome were meant to be his successor. In the first few centuries, there was no clear understanding of leadership and Christians were mostly trying to remain hidden to avoid death.

When all the Apostles were killed, there is no clear indication of who was meant to fill the role that was left vacant by Peter's crucifixion. Roman Catholics claim it is the Bishop of Rome. Eastern Orthodox believe it was the Patriarch of Alexandria that deserved the title and this is the person who seemed to preside over most of the early Ecumenical councils.

Answer 11

Jews are the true first religion. Catholics came along later, and protestants *protested* against the catholic church, hence the name.

If you look in your bible, new testament and old, they only mention jews and so called pagan religions. Catholics and Protestants aren't mentioned at all, nor is the pope. All that was invented later.

I guess the Bible forgot to mention the catholic "true first religion".