Are Catholics really the first Christians?

Answer 1

In one sense, yes, in another, no. The early chuurch was known as the catholic church (with a small 'C' as 'catholic' simply means 'universal'. So the first universal Christian church would have been 'catholic'. However, since then the Roman Catholic Church some believe, has moved far away from the early Christian church both in practise (in the extra liturgy of the mass, priestly celibacy, rejection of women's priesthood, papal infallibility and so on) and in belief (the introduction of purgatory, over adulation of Mary etc). So in this sense it can be argued that the present Catholic church is no longer the same church as the earliest Christian Church and cannot be regarded as the first Christians. There is, however, a movement both in the Roman Church and in protestant denominations (like the Anglicans) to move back towards the practices of the early church.

Answer 2

Yes, Catholicism is the first Christian religion. All other religions that call themselves Christian have split from the Catholic Church over the years or split from other denominations of Christianity that had split from Catholicism.

Answer 3

Yes. The modern Roman Catholic Church was once the only branch of Christianity, so it was simply referred to as Christianity. In 1054, it was divided into the east and the west. In the west, between 1520 and the present, Protestant groups have been breaking off, and the remaining original Church became known as the Roman Catholic Church to distinguish it from Protestant groups.

Answer 4

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Catholic AnswerAll Christians are Catholics by definition. If you are talking about the whether the two words mean the same thing: yes, except that the Second Vatican Council has pointed out that there are Christians by baptism who are not full members of the visible Church due to one or another failings (for instance a person who is baptized and raised as a protestant, if they have been baptized and believe in Our Blessed Lord is technically a Christian, although not a visible member of the Catholic Church-the Church teaches that he would be a Catholic and participate in the Church in a limited and crippled manner). All Christians were Catholics until the split with the Orthodox in the eleventh century, the Orthodox remain Catholics with valid baptism and valid sacraments, but, again, in a crippled manner.