How much influence did Rome have over Christianity?

In my lifetime I have only had the pleasure of attending Catholic service on a handful of occasions. What I did see in my short time attending, were small yet subtle differences. Later, I would see even more differences regarding the catholic church portrayed on television and wondered about how those differences came to be. Like for instance, how is it that they practice giving “confession” in their churches and we didn’t in ours? Or why did the priests and nuns practice celibacy and abstain from sex when that was not a requirement to reach heaven? Also, what was the purpose of the Pope and the papacy? I didn’t understand how it came to be that they were able to make person a “saint”? I was also confused as to whether priests are really able to perform exorcisms. What book are they reading that teaches that?!

Then as an outsider trying to understand, it seemed as if the priests had a ranking system, but why?? Were any of these things written in the Bible, and why is this only found in Roman Catholicism? Again, an avalanche of questions bounced around in my head. Thus, leading me to dig deeper into the origins of Christianity and what caused it to be what it is today. 

After looking into it further, it would seem that the actions taken by Rome in the years to follow the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, would make them the official authors of Christianity. This may seem obvious to some, being that Jesus was crucified under Roman authority. However, the origin of our faith often gets misconstrued due to so much of it stemming from Jewish and middle eastern influence. The undertones of that alone confused me as a child, to the point where I truly did not know where Judaism ended and Christianity began. So, after doing a little research I was able to break down a few things that got us to where we are today.

So, in many ways the Catholic church is the oldest living relic of Rome itself. Even within the papacy of the Vatican, there are those who still speak the Roman language of “Latin” to this day. Therefore, it only makes sense that their mark upon the faith is so strong. To put things in perspective, Rome played a part in the following:

1. The crucifixion of Jesus, 30-33 CE (Pontius Pilate)
2. The creation of the apostolic church & the first texts of the New Testament, 30-100 CE (Peter and Paul throughout Rome)
3. Peter is martyred & succeeded by the “Bishop of Rome”, 64-67 CE (under Emperor Nero)
4. Christians face persecution, and the church develops a new structure of priests, bishops, and deacons, 100-313 CE (Early Roman Church fathers)
5. The “Edict of Milan” legalizes Christianity, 313 CE (Emperor Constantine)
6. The “Council if Nicaea” formed which would later decide what texts the Bible would consist of, 325 CE (Emperor Constantine)
7. Christianity becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire, 380 CE (Emperor Theodosis I)
8. The Bishop of Rome now officially called “The Pope” is recognized as the highest ranking bishop in the western church, and the “Council of Chalcedon” affirms Rome’s primacy among all bishops, 451 CE (Roman Authority)
9. Rome falls politically, resulting in the Pope gaining more power, and monasteries preserve learning and history while spreading Christianity throughout Europe, 476 CE
10. The Papacy’s authority reaches to England and beyond, 590-604 CE (Gregory the Great)
11. Pope Leo III and Charlemagne create “The Holy Roman Empire”, 800 CE
12. The Pope endorses and authorizes the “Knights Templar” during a series of crusades against Islam 1096-1272 CE
13. Theology & Cathedrals flourish, Rome becomes the unquestioned center of western Christendom.

Now from this point forward there will be several splits in the Catholic Church. “The Great Schism”, the split between the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church that occurred in 1054 CE, and of course the Protestant reformation led by Martin Luther in 1517. After this, basically every other denomination of Christianity was derived from the protestant church. You see, once it split once…well what’s to keep it from splitting again? It is at this point where we get into how things were set up for myself and many others here in America. 

Now knowing all of this, one can’t help but wonder whether or not Christianity is really as popular as it is because of the will of God, or the political ambitions of men. It seemed to be the last stronghold of a dying empire. The main thing that I learned however, was the true difference between the beliefs of the Catholics as opposed to the other denominations.

You see, one of the main differences is that Catholics place the church above the Bible, while the rest of us under the protestant beliefs, place the bible above the church. I never knew this. I always thought that all Christians shared the belief that the Bible was the undisputed word of God. Well apparently, that’s not the case. After hearing about all these differences, it was hard to believe that it could even be considered the same religion!

After I thought about it for a while though, it started to make sense. Especially after learning the history of the Roman Catholic Church, it became clear. Their origins stretch back before the bible, (New Testament) was created. They standardized the entire system of Christianity. The bible, the church, the positions within it, the rituals, and the sacraments. Hell, they even crucified Jesus Christ himself! It’s hard to get more official than that! No other denomination of the Christian faith can claim such authenticity.

This is why they can have practices like taking vows of celibacy for priesthood, confessing to a priest, practicing exorcisms, making people saints, and so on, that aren’t in the bible, because they don’t place the bible at the same level of authority that the rest of us do. Their authority is placed in the church itself to adhere to the will of God.

Therefore, it raises a profound question….were they right? It’s hard to tell the source of your faith that they are wrong by using the very texts that they published for you. So, I leave this open to the audience. What do you think? Should the church be placed above the bible or not? Let me know what you think.

-J.G. Robinson