Was the Catholic Church founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine?

Question

If this is true, why did Constantine move the Imperial Capital from Rome to Constantinople? This is not fanciful history, but historical fact. If Constantine founded the Catholic Church, would he had not moved the Holy See to Constantinople? Would not the Bishop of Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) today be the Pope?

I am really curious about this.

Thanks for your answers. All opinions are welcome.

Elizabeth, I have studied Church History extensively, which is why I know Constantine did not found the Catholic Church. The Great Schism of 1054 had nothing to do with Constantine, but everything to do with the Bishop of Constantine not wanting to fall under the authority of the Bishop of Rome.

Duh 2, I draw your attention to Acts 11:26: "...and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." So much for your fanciful history.

Pastor Art, thank you for your thoughtful reply. However, I disagree with your assertion that in the 800's (yes, I do know that is the 9th Century) that the Five Patiarchs were of equal standing and authority. I draw your attention to the Council of Constantinople in 381 which declared "The Bishop of Constantinople shall have the primacy of honour after the Bishop of Rome..."

You must also consider a number of heresies, including those of the Nestorians and Monophysites, with the adherents claiming legitimate patriarchs. and the mustlim conquests of Syria and Egypt further isolating the christian communities and each staking claim to a patriarchy.

See also the Eighth General Council of Constantinople, of 869, where Photius was excommunicated for failing to recognize the authority of the Bishop of Rome?

Historically, the letters of saints Irenaeus, Ignatius of Antioch, and Victor written in the years 95, 107, and 189 respectively, clearly affirming the Primacy of the Pope.

Answer 1

No, he did not 'found' the church. He did play a major part in bringing the Roman Catholic Church, AND because of his initial actions, later the Eastern Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox into the forfront of power. Of course the Roman Catholic Church is a hand me down from Crete where Paul had condemned a group of self-proclaimed believers calling themselves CRETIANS. This is th origin of 'christian', a derogatory term. The true believers were never called 'christians'. It was a false accusation being used at the time. They were calling true believers idiots and liars, with such a term.

In 313 ad he was responsible for religious 'freedom' within the Roman Empire. He soon developed a means to conglomerate many of the various factions into one with his Council of Nicea. This condemned teachings taught by the true faith and opted for paganized customs to be brought in by even greater measure than had already been accomplished.

Edit: Called 'christians' by who?? The false accusers!
So much for your extensive church history studies.

Answer 2

In a world that is over 4 billion years old do people honestly believe that God just got around to religion 2,000 years ago? The first, original and complete word of God "Krishna" is the Vedas and were given with Sanatana Dharma at the beginning of creation. Why is there no ordinary man as founder of Hinduism like in the rest of the so called religions that came later? It is because God "Krishna" founded it!

Answer 3

How is it possible that people can buy into the ridiculous idea that the Catholic Church didn't begin until after 300 AD?

Christ’s Church is Catholic. Catholic comes from a compound of two Greek words: “kato” = according to, and “holos” = the one. Christ’s Church is for all, and all are one: the Body of Christ. It is like speaking the name “Jesus”: Christ’s name was Yeshua, not Jesus. But we say Jesus because it came to us through the Greek language, which is what the New Testament was written in. The same goes for the word “catholic”.

Was Christ’s Church hierarchical? Yes. He chose twelve apostles, made Peter the leader, and gave them authorities that all the other disciples did not have. Later, in the book of Acts, the hierarchy develops further. The apostles appoint Deacons (greek - diakonos ), Priests (greek - presbyteros ), and Bishops (greek - episkopos), and each have different duties. It is the same today in the Catholic Church


A good read is Eusebius of Caesarea's “Historia Ecclesiastica” (Church History) written BEFORE the year 325 AD. In it, he traces not only the successors of Peter (the bishops of Rome) but also the successors of the other apostles. He was much closer to the time than we are, as are the other early Christian writers.

The fact is that only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.) Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing.

Answer 4

Definitely not. The emperor merely legalized Christianity. The Catholic Church was alive and well and expanding long before Constantine was born. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 105 to 107 that where you find the faithful gathered, and the bishops presiding over the sacred meal, there you will find the Catholic Church. This thing about him founding the church is a fundamentalist fantasy. They try to convince people that they were here first, and the catholics forced them into hiding until the reformation.

Answer 5

To the first question, no.

Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of the empire. He moved the capital to Constantinople for political reasons. The people in the East were posing a threat to the empire. Constantine wanted to be closer to keep an eye on them, plain and simple.

About the patriarch of Constantinople, that is a different story. Political reasons began to appear between both parts of Christianity. The East was under the influence of the Greek culture, and the West under the Roman one.

After the fall of the West roman empire, the civil authorities were different, which made things more difficult, until finally there was a split, or schism between both that persists today

Answer 6

Where do people get their history--Chick comics?

In 313 Constantine announced toleration of Christianity in the Edict of Milan, which removed penalties for professing Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians) and returned confiscated Church property.

In 324, Constantine announced his decision to transform Byzantium into Nova Roma and on May 11, 330, he officially proclaimed the city the new capital of the Roman Empire. The city was renamed Constantinople, The City of Constantine, after Constantine's death in 337. It would remain the capital of the Byzantine Empire for over a thousand years, a reign interrupted only briefly by its 1204 sacking and occupation in the Fourth Crusade, until it finally fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_I

The Catholic Church was authorized, founded, and staffed by Jesus about 33 AD. Jesus appointed Peter to lead the Church (Matt 16:18). Even sola scriptura protestants can see the Church at work in Acts I (appointment of a new apostle, Matthias) and Acts 15 (Jerusalem Council rejects the imposition of Jewish piety laws on new converts).

The history of the Church is well documented:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm
Those interested in the details of each papacy can click the links at the NewAdvent site. There was 32 popes before Constantine legalized Christianity with the Edict of Milan.

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 7

No.

And it wasn't founded by Jesus either.

The RCC was founded after Constantine, and didn't take its present form until 1054.

Remember that in the 9th century, that is the 800's, there were five equal Bishops running the church of the ancient world and sometime in the 9th century the Bishop of Rome got cocky and arrogant and sinful and started to assert the supremecy of Rome over the other four Bishops.

Those Bishops are also referred to a the Five Patriarchs.

In the early Middle Ages, the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church was ruled by five patriarchs: the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem; these were collectively referred to as the Pentarchy. Each patriarch had jurisdiction over bishops in a specified geographic region.

Then in about the 800's the original five started to claim supremecy over the others and started to ex communicate the others.

This is the real beginning of what we know today as the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

No one used the title of Pope, referreing to himself until sometime in the 600's.

After 1054, the Biship of Rome began to re-write history claiming that the Peter was the first Pope and that the Roman Catholic Church is THE church Jesus founded.

While simultaneously the Orthodox Churches felt that they were the "original" church and by the way, Orthodox means Original. So the area covered by the four Patriarchs split from Rome with Rome and Constantinople claiming to be the "One True Church".

All a bunch of ego centric power hungry politicians and probably at that time very few of them were really Christians.

So in 1054 the Eastern churches just went their own way and let Rome go its own way and do its own thing.

Since then Rome has tried to re-write history showing itself to be the "church Jesus founded" but that's just a story the politicians running the church started to control the people.

I've asked a friend of mine, who was raised 35 years as a Roman Catholic, who the first Pope was and I'll try to let you know when he calls me back.

No the first Pope wasn't Peter, the first Pope lived in the 600's sometime.

The guy I'm calling the first Pope was the first one to use the Title of "Pope" during his own lifetime.

I have a five page Microsoft Word document which was written by my friend, the one writing the book, and I'll send it to anyone who asks.

I'll need your regular E-mail address to send it since its too large to send any other way.

Because I disagree with the RCC view of history I'll now be accused of hating Catholics, which is not the case. I love Roman Catholics and I want to see them come to a knowledge of the truth, trusting directly in Jesus instead of trusting in a man made human organization on earth.

Pastor Art

Edit: Constantine did not declare Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Yet so many still believe this today. Some of the people who have answered this question state it as if it was fact. Its not.

In the Edict of Milan, 313 AD, he declared that it was OK to be a Christian and that it was no longer considered treason to worship Jesus as the only God. That made Christianity one of 3 or 4 hundred officially recognized religions in the Roman Empire.

See links below:

Answer 8

The Catholic Church and itsRoman see of Peter were already 300 years old before Constantine and if one cares to examine the teachings of the Pre-Constantinian Catholic Orthodox Christian Church,he or she will find how Catholic the ancient church was

Answer 9

Well, there you go, using real history again!!

Jesus Christ Himself founded the Catholic Church.

John 20:22 - the Lord "breathes" on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins. The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord "breathes" divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place.

Answer 10

You are correct. Constantine did not found the Roman Catholic Church or the Papacy. Constantine only visited Rome twice as Emperor. Once (as Caesar) at the battle of the Milvan Bridge, and once (as Augustus) to snub the Roman aristocracy.