What happened to the church Jesus built when the Apostles died?

Answer 1

According to tradition, a hierarchy of bishops, elders, and deacons with the successor to Peter (now called "The Pope") at the top. The first of these bishops, elders, and deacons were probably selected by the apostles, but by the time all the apostles died the system was self sustaining.

Answer 2

First, the reader should understand that the institution Jesus referred to as 'His Church' (see Matthew 16:18) is not an earthly building or some form of physical institution. No, His Church of God was then and remains to this day 'the called out ones' (see John 6:44, 65) or the assembly of Jesus' spiritually transformed and faithful followers. In Scripture they are called 'his little flock' (Luke 12:32).

Immediately after Jesus' ascension back to heaven, His chosen Apostles 'went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs" (see Martk 16:20).

Though Jesus promised that HIs Church would never die out (see Matthew 16:18 again), and today there are nearly 2 billion who claim to be part of Christianity which is a divided religion with hundreds of denominations and various schisms. Additionally, through the millennia, some branches have assimilated many non-biblical traditions - be they philosophical, cultural or religious - into the teaching of Jesus and His Apostles spawning even more variations of beliefs.

During the 1st Century AD, 'false christs and false prophets' began to deceive people as Jesus warned (see Mark 13:22 and 2 Corinthians 11:3, 13 and Matthew 7:14-16). This continued and grew in number until a counterfeit Christianity was born as Paul warned (Acts 20:29-31; Galatians 1:6-7). The biggest changes began in Rome during the 4th Century as many historians have written about. Here is a truthful excerpt from the popular, book/movie, 'The Da Vinci Code,' pages 232-233:

"In 325 A.D., he [the Roman Emperor Constantine] decided to unify Rome under a single religion. Historians still marvel at the brilliance with which Constantine converted the sun-worshipping pagans to Christianity. By fusing pagan symbols, dates, and rituals into the growing Christian tradition, he created a kind of hybrid religion that was acceptable to both parties. The vestiges of pagan religion in Christian symbology are undeniable. Egyptian sun disks became the halos [in religious art]. The pre-Christian God Mithras [had his birthday celebrated] on December 25. Even Christianity's weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans .Originally, Christianity honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagans' veneration [of the] day of the sun. To this day, most churchgoers attend services on Sunday morning with no idea that they are there on account of the pagan sun god's weekly tribute - Sunday."