STORYHow Constantine’s 4th-Century Religious Revolution Turned Persecuted Christianity Into The State-Backed Roman System That Became The Catholic Church

The origins of the Roman Catholic Church are not found in Peter preaching at Pentecost, Paul writing to the churches, or the apostles planting local assemblies under the authority of Jesus Christ. The New Testament church began in the first century as a spiritual body of born-again believers saved by grace through faith. The Roman Catholic system, as a centralized, hierarchical, sacramental, state-favored religious institution, began taking recognizable shape in the 4th century, when professing Christianity was forcibly joined to the power structure of the Roman Empire in what can only be described as a hostile corporate takeover. Cue the...