List of Protestant Historians Who Acknowledge the Catholic Church as the Historical Early Church

 

 

These are respected Protestant scholars—not Catholics—who openly affirm that:

• The Catholic Church is historically continuous with the early Christian Church

• The early Church was sacramental, liturgical, and episcopal

• Catholic doctrines did not come from paganism

📘 (A) J. N. D. Kelly — Anglican Scholar

Author of Early Christian Doctrines (classic textbook used in Protestant seminaries).

✔ States that early Christianity had:

• bishops

• Eucharistic sacrifice

• apostolic succession

• Marian devotion

• prayers for the dead

✔ None of these came from paganism.

📘 (B) Jaroslav Pelikan — Lutheran Scholar (later Orthodox)

Author of the 5-volume The Christian Tradition.

✔ Calls the early Church “catholic” and sacramental.
✔ Refutes Hislop’s pagan-origin claims.
✔ Shows continuity from Apostles → bishops → Catholic Church.

📘 (C) Alister McGrath — Evangelical Theologian

Author of Christian History: An Introduction.

✔ States early Christianity was liturgical and sacramental.
✔ Affirms Catholic structure existed by the late 1st–2nd century.

📘 (D) F. F. Bruce — Evangelical Biblical Scholar

✔ Affirms apostolic succession existed very early.
✔ Shows no evidence of pagan influence.

📘 (E) Craig Keener — Pentecostal Scholar

✔ Acknowledges early Christian worship was rooted in Judaism, not paganism.

📘 (F) Ralph Woodrow — Former Hislop believer

✔ Wrote The Babylon Connection?
✔ Demonstrates Hislop’s work is historically false.

📘 (G) Philip Schaff — Protestant Church Historian

Author of History of the Christian Church.

✔ Calls early Christianity “catholic”
✔ Shows that liturgy, bishops, creeds, and sacraments developed from within the Church, not from paganism.

These are mainstream Protestant academic authorities—not anti-Catholic pamphleteers.

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Comparison: Catholic Practices vs. Alleged Pagan Origins (and What History Actually Shows)

This is the core of the “Catholic = pagan” accusation.
But here is the scholarly clarification:

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🔵 A) Mary = Ishtar or Semiramis? → ❌ Historically False

Claim: Mary devotion borrowed from Ishtar/Semiramis.
Reality:

• Semiramis was not a goddess, but a historical queen

• No evidence Jews or early Christians mixed pagan goddess worship

• Marian doctrines developed from:

  • Scripture (Luke 1–2)

  • Jewish honor for the mother of the Messiah

  • Early Christian typology (New Eve, Ark of the Covenant)

Protestant scholars (Pelikan, Kelly) confirm Marian theology is biblical + Jewish, not pagan.

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🔵 B) Eucharist = Mithraism or Pagan Feasts? → ❌ Impossible

Facts:

• The Eucharist begins with the Last Supper (A.D. 30).

• Earliest Christian writings (Didache, A.D. 50–70; Ignatius, A.D. 107) show Eucharistic worship before Mithraism even reached Rome.

Protestant scholars (McGrath, F. F. Bruce) confirm Eucharist is rooted in Passover.

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🔵 C) Saints = Pagan gods? → ❌ False

Pagans worshipped gods.
Christians honor saints as:

• holy humans

• servants of God

• intercessors (not deities)

Evidence:

• Jews honored holy ancestors (Abraham, Moses, prophets)

• Jews prayed to angels (Tobit 12:12–15)

Christian practice continued Jewish traditions—not pagan worship.

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🔵 D) Statues = Idolatry? → ❌ Not historically true

• God commanded statues in the Temple (cherubim, oxen, lions)

• Early Christians did not worship images; they used them for teaching

• Catholic use of statues comes from Jewish sacred art, not pagan idols

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🔵 E) Sunday worship = Sun God? → ❌ Wrong

Christians worshiped on Sunday because:

• Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday

• The Apostles broke bread on Sunday (Acts 20:7)

• The early Church called it “the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10)

This started 100–200 years before Roman sun cults influenced the Empire.

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📌 Summary of the Comparison

Most claims of pagan origins come from:

❌ 19th-century speculation
❌ Alexander Hislop’s Two Babylons
❌ Anti-Catholic pamphlets

Not from actual history.

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Timeline Showing the Continuity from Apostles → Early Church → Roman Catholic Church

This timeline shows how the Catholic Church developed directly from the Apostles.

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📜 1st Century (A.D. 30–100)

Jesus & Apostles

• Jesus establishes the Church (Matt. 16:18)

• Apostles appoint bishops and elders (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5)

• Eucharistic worship (1 Cor. 10–11)

• Church discipline (Matt. 18)

• Peter and Paul martyred in Rome under Nero

Documents:

• New Testament

• Didache (A.D. 50–70): Eucharist, bishops, confession

• Clement of Rome (A.D. 95): authority of Rome recognized

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📜 2nd Century (A.D. 100–200)

The Church becomes visibly Catholic

• St. Ignatius of Antioch (A.D. 107) uses the word “Catholic Church.”

• Martyrdoms continue under pagan Rome

• Structure of bishop → priests → deacons universally recognized

• Early creeds and liturgy appear

• Strong belief in Eucharist as real presence

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📜 3rd Century (A.D. 200–300)

Catholic identity is fully visible

• Baptismal rites

• Eucharistic prayers

• Apostolic succession lists recorded

• Church Fathers: Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen

• Rome’s leadership widely acknowledged

Still persecuted by pagan Rome.

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📜 4th Century (A.D. 300–400)

The Church becomes legal

• Edict of Milan (A.D. 313): Christianity legalized

• First Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325): Catholic bishops define the Creed

• Augustine, Athanasius, Ambrose—Catholic bishops

• Canon of Scripture finalized in Catholic councils (Hippo 393, Carthage 397)

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📜 5th Century onwards

The Church with:

• Pope

• bishops

• sacraments

• liturgy

• creeds

is clearly the same Church rooted in the Apostles.

This is the Roman Catholic Church.

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⭐ Final Summary

✔ The Catholic Church is historically the same Church founded by the Apostles.

✔ Protestant historians themselves affirm this.

✔ Claims of pagan origins come from disproven 19th-century ideas, not actual history.

✔ Catholic practices trace back to Judaism and the early Church, not paganism.

 

IF YOU ARE A DEVOTED CATHOLIC AND HAPPY TO DEFEND YOUR FAITH, YOUR SUPPORT TO CONTINUE OUR MISSION TO DEFEND THE CATHOLIC FAITH REALLY MATTERS!

 

 

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