anyone know a site that describes what the Christian curch was like before Rome started the Catholic church?

Question

Most of the information I find is about The Roman church. I am interested in the earliest information such as where they worshiped before Constantine made Christianity more accepted and how they lived

Answer 1

www.watchtower.org

Answer 2

First, a word of warning from Cardinal Newman - "To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant."

If you're willing to risk it, I would echo what others have already said; read the early Church Fathers. I would also recommend some of the secular historians and chroniclers that lived in that period. However, the Church they describe is the Catholic Church and there's just no way to get around that.
If you delve in and still manage to not become Catholic, at least you'll have the answers to a lot of annoying little questions. You know the questions - what happened to Saturday Sabbath?, where did the concept of the Trinity come from?, etc. But you might have to give up on Sola Scriptura, because these things aren't explicitly defined in the bible. They are not in contradiction to the Holy Bible and in fact the Bible backs them up in one way or another. Since I never was a very good Protestant, that was an easy one for me to give up, but my wife took it pretty hard. BTW, our family still reads the Bible and rather than being diminished by our acceptance of Holy Tradition, it is even more esteemed.

Anyhow, as to where the early Christians worshipped. For a while, Jews who followed Christ continued to worship in the Temple. Saul and some others who didn't much care for that worked hard at driving them out. And then of course the Romans destroyed the Temple. As for the early gentile believers before the persecutions began, I don't honestly know. They would not have wanted to go to their local pagan temple.
During the centuries of persecution, Christians were obviously not usually able to build churches as we think of them. They worshipped in homes and other private or secluded places. And as a Church that was built up and expanded by the blood of the martyrs, it was only natural to worship in the catacombs and other burial places.

I hope that helps a little and I hope that you find the information you're looking for. Remember that knowledge is good but wisdom is better.

+May the peace of Christ be with you.+

Answer 3

There was no named church before the Roman Catholic but if if you read the first part of the book of Acts you wil find out how the Christain church began.For A denomination is not A church the People are the church.

Answer 4

+ Catholic +

The Church has referred to itself as the “Catholic Church” at least since 107 AD (about 10 years after the last book of the New Testament was written), when the term appears in the Letter of St. Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans:

"Wherever the bishop appear, there let the multitude be; even as wherever Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church."

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ignatius-smyrnaeans-hoole.html

We do not know how long they had been using the term "Catholic" before it was included in this letter.

All of this was long before the Council of Nicea and the Nicene Creed from 325 A.D. which states, "We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church."

+ Roman +

The term "Roman" Catholic is rather recent.

The new Anglican Church in England started using the term “Roman” in the 1500s as one of many ways of demeaning and demonizing Catholics.

Catholics accepted this late coming adjective without too much protest. Today “Catholic” and “Roman Catholic” are interchangeable terms. Both terms are even used in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

To add a little more confusion, some apply the term “Roman Catholic Church” only to the Latin Rite Catholic Church, excluding the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches that are in full communion with the Pope, and are part of the same Church, under the Pope.

Eastern Rite Catholic Churches include:

Alexandrian liturgical tradition
+ Coptic Catholic Church
+ Ethiopic Catholic Church

Antiochian (Antiochene or West-Syrian) liturgical tradition
+ Maronite Church
+ Syrian Catholic Church
+ Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

Armenian liturgical tradition:
+ Armenian Catholic Church

Chaldean or East Syrian liturgical tradition:
+ Chaldean Catholic Church
+ Syro-Malabar Church

Byzantine (Constantinopolitan) liturgical tradition:
+ Albanian Byzantine Catholic Church
+ Belarusian Greek Catholic Church
+ Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church
+ Byzantine Church of the Eparchy of Križevci
+ Greek Byzantine Catholic Church
+ Hungarian Greek Catholic Church
+ Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
+ Macedonian Greek Catholic Church
+ Melkite Greek Catholic Church
+ Romanian Church
+ Russian Byzantine Catholic Church
+ Ruthenian Catholic Church
+ Slovak Greek Catholic Church
+ Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

The term “Roman” neither increases nor decreases the faith, hope and love of the Catholic Church.

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 5

the catholic faith was well established before constantine made christianity(catholicism as catholics are the first christians) more acceptable, constantine played no role in church teachings/doctrines etc.

i suggest you locate the writings of the early church fathers,from the book of acts on is another prime example of the worship,liturgy and teachings for the early christians.
try also
http://www.catholiceducation.org/index.html

hope this helps and god bless.

Answer 6

Wow .........what a misconception of your view of the Catholic Church !

THE CHURCH was founded by Christ

He speaks of His Church as a sheepfold, in which there is but one shepherd, that is the head of all. And the sheep are made to follow his voice, "Other sheep I have who are not of this fold." One fold, you see. He speaks of His Church as of a kingdom, in which there is but one king to rule all. And He speaks of His Church as a family in which there is but one father at the head. He speaks of His Church as a tree, and all the branches of that tree are connected with the trunk, and the trunk with the roots, and Christ is the root. The trunk is Peter and the Popes, the large branches are the bishops, the smaller branches the priests, and the fruit upon that tree are the faithful throughout the world. The branch, says He, that is cut off from that tree shall wither away, produce no fruit, and is only fit to be cast into the fire, that is, damnation.

Answer 7

Read the early Church Fathers.

Answer 8

Well you could start with Acts. Also have you read Eusebius?You might check some of the historical research by Dr Paul Maier He teaches hidtory and written a lot about early christianity.

Answer 9

Rome did not start the Catholic Church, Jesus did. You can read about the Catholic Church in the book of Acts in the Canonical Scriptures. You can also read the works of the ante-Nicene fathers to get a clear understanding of the faith delivered to all by christ.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 10

I believe the Roman Catholic Church was the first official church that was founded.

Answer 11

There were no such thing as a church in Roman/pre-Constantine times: Most people were Pagans or worship the Goddess or doesn't belong to any religions.