BeethePeace said:
Further, Peter, who did not celebrate Ostara, aka Easter, or recognize a Trinity, was not the first pope if the Roman's Catholic church. Emperor Constantine was!
Lol. That's a laugh and a half. Constantine was never a Bishop, ergo he was never Pope. He was Emperor.
The first three Popes, or Bishops of Rome, after St. Peter, were St. Linus, St. Anacletus and St. Clement. Even secular historians know this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popes#1st_century
You can consult any Secular Encyclopedia, including the Encyclopedia Brittanica, to learn the above. In this Internet Age, Wikipedia is your friend. Scholars, even those Protestant scholars who are not completely Anti-Catholic, have known these facts for centuries.
The
succession list of bishops in the apostolic see of Rome of the first two centuries as provided by Philip Schaff (volume 2, page 166, History of the Christian Church) is --
- St. Peter (d. 64 or 67)
- St. Linus (67-76)
- St. Anacletus (76-88)
- St. Clement I (88-97)
Philip Schaff was a renowned Protestant Historian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Schaff Agree or disagree, these are the facts.
There are Church Historians of the 2nd century, long before Constantine, who mention these historical points as well known events.
The site you linked to is Anti-Trinitarian. No wonder it is against the Catholic Church, which has always taught the Holy Trinity, and against Constantine, who was a believer in the Divinity of Christ. Constantine, btw, didn't cause the Bishops to decide anything. All he did was end the persecution, and help the Bishops gather at the Council of Nicaea. The Bishops, many of whom had suffered persecution for the Faith, drew up the Nicene Creed, in the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., to defend the Divinity of Christ, against Arius who denied it. Those who followed Arius in denying Christ's Divinity were called Arians and founded the Arian denomination.
Regarding the Trinity, it is taught by Christ Himself in Mat 28:19:
"Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
St. Augustine commented: "O Lord God, we firmly believe that You are a Trinity. For Truth (Jesus) would never have said "Be Baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" unless You were a Trinity. He said Name and not names, for the Three Persons are One God. Neither would He have commanded us to be baptized into One Who was not Lord God, so each Person is the Lord God". These theological arguments were completely irrefutable, and the Arians couldn't answer them. Trinitarian Theology prevailed.
We already had these debates earlier in Church History, and we won them. Arianism practically disappeared for a 1000 years. Even Luther and Calvin were against it, though they mention some already began to deny Christ's Divinity. Finally, the JW group revived it.
I'll get back to the rest later. God Bless.