What was the earliest critique of the practices of the Catholic church?

Answer 1

Many people have put forward critiques of the catholic church. The most famous is by Martin Luther when he nailed 95 theses on the chapel door at the University of Wittenburg in 1517. This is not to say that this was the earliest, there are no doubt items that are lost so are not available for inclusion
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Catholic AnswerThe most famous "critique" of the Catholic Church was the 95 Theses of Martin Luther. These were a very mixed bag, some of them are, remarkably, orthodox theology, while others are pure nonsense having nothing to do with reality. The are remarkable in that they were supposedly produced by a man who supposedly taught theology before entering the Augustinian Order and yet they show a very limited understanding of theology as it was understood at that time, and for centuries before then.

Answer 2

Catholic AnswerThe earliest heresy was the Circumcisers who maintained that you had to be circumcised to be saved. They were almost current with the Gnostics who believed that matter was evil. Both heresies were from the first century.

The most famous "critique" of the Catholic Church was the 95 Theses of Martin Luther. These were a very mixed bag, some of them are, remarkably, orthodox theology, while others are pure nonsense having nothing to do with reality. The are remarkable in that they were supposedly produced by a man who supposedly taught theology before entering the Augustinian Order and yet they show a very limited understanding of theology as it was understood at that time, and for centuries before then.

Martin Luther's 95 Theses