The Catholics claim to be the first century church. Why have they deviated so far from the Bible?

Catholics can't possibly be the first century church. After Jesus ascended into heaven, Peter preached the first sermon and it was God who put the words in Peter in Acts 2:38. God told us what we must do in order to be saved. We must also pray to God through Jesus. The Catholics do not do anything God has commanded us to do. They even have a second Bible when God tells us that the one Bible is enough and we should not add to it or take away from it .

You have it exactly backwards. Don't get me wrong, but what I'm saying is what came first, the Church or the Bible? Your question contains the assumption, on the face of it, that the Bible came first. But it didn't. In Islam, this would make sense because it is entirely based on the Qur'an, which was entirely written by the founder of the religion. So the book came first. But the Christian Church didn't start that way.

The rest of this is going to look like I'm Catholic, but I'm not and never have been. I just know church history, that's all. And history is the key to understanding how things are as they are.

The Catholic Church is a direct successor to the original Church, which of course didn't even start with a Bible, just teachings and traditions. It only put the Bible together 400 years later as a set of useful writings.

What Protestants have done is to ditch the traditions and keep only the Bible, even removing seven books they disagree with. But the Bible was never intended to teach everything, only to be a supplement to tradition. From a historical perspective, that's how to look at it. The Catholics had and still have tradition plus Bible. Cut out the tradition and you're like a ship that has cut its anchor. It's now free to float in any old way.

The Reformation had a good point to it, in that the Catholic Church had become corrupt and money-grabbing, particularly by sale of indulgences - pay for one and you would get less time in purgatory on your way to heaven. As the saying goes, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It was too closely identified with government. It was time for a reaction against it and a return to the faith as it should be. The Church should be a CHURCH! When it gets secular power too it all goes wrong, because people aren't perfect. This is exactly the point about banning "establishment of religion" in the First Amendment to the US Constitution. Where you have "established" religion in a society like ours, religion dies off because it starts to look more like the top people's club than a faith. This is certainly true of England, and the Founding Fathers were well aware of that. At one point in England it was impossible to get a university education unless you were a member of the Established Church, and that's why the University of London started - so nonconformists could study for degrees too.

The reaction came with Martin Luther nailing up his 95 theses on the church door in Wittenberg. The Catholic Church, to its eternal discredit, responded by kicking him out. OK then, thought Luther, I'll form my own Church. What the Pope SHOULD have done is take the criticisms on board and enter into a debate. But in medieval Europe, forget that.

But in junking tradition, Luther threw the baby out with the bathwater. No wonder there are thousands of different kinds of Protestants, all different in some little way and yet all consistent with the Bible. This is fairly typical of political revolutions too - most go too far the other way. If you know anything about the French Revolution, you will certainly appreciate that.

Another little point... if you believe in the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible, does that not cut out the possibility that God can still speak to us today? He spoke to prophets, and why can't he still do it now? In Catholic tradition, that is still possible, because the Bible is not everything. Of course you have to be careful that a new revelation from God really IS one. No wonder that even though Vatican I stated that the Pope is infallible, every Pope since except one has taken care not to make any "infallible" pronouncement. The only so-called infallible pronouncement that has ever been made is on the Assumption of Mary, which hardly matters very much on the practicalities of being a Christian.

It is true, they claim to be the original Church organized by Christ, however, I agree with others here, they were not Catholic until years after the Apostles were all gone from the Church. In fact the Catholic Church, in my opinion is an apostate Church. I do not say this lightly, the fact is Christ chose 12 living Apostles and gave them the Keys of the Priesthood, which allowed them (Apostles) to seal on earth, ordinances, such as Baptism and receiving the Gift Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by those who held the Priesthood and also have them sealed in heaven. However, when the Apostles were killed, the Keys of the Priesthood were taken from the earth. And the Catholic Church never replaced the Apostles, therefore they became an apostate Church. That doesn't mean they are not sincere, but sincerity isn't always truth! As I see it.

I think it is the other way around. Why have so many Protestants deviated from the Bible and Christian Tradition? The Eucharist for instance is detailed in the Bible. Jesus himself says "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you". All Christians understood this to mean the Eucharist and took it literally. Yet, many Protestants say it is only symbolic. But, you can't find anyone who taught that it was only symbolic until the Protestants came on the scene. Oh, there was one guy in the 11th century but everyone called him a heretic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlxU7h1_w8

When you say that Catholics added something, how do you know that it wasn't you that subtracted something or missed something from the Christian faith? After all the Catholic Church has been around a lot longer than your church. In fact if you can find any church that has been around longer than the Catholic Church please let me know as I may want to join it.

"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us."

- 2 Th 2:15

Because they are NOT the 1st centuryt church.Roman catholicism did not come until 325 A.D. when Constantine decided to merge all religions into 1.He took different factions of christianity that had some elements of paganism in them and merged them with other pagan religions.He was a sun god worshiper tilt he day he died. He made roman catholicism the "STATE RELIGION"and it was forced on the populace of rome. The true church is found in the book of acts.

And this is about the silliest objection one can make since it contradicts Jesus express teaching that the Faith would develop.

A once bitter anti-Catholic (he became a Catholic later) solved that

"Development of doctrine is a term used by John Henry Newman and other theologians influenced by him to describe the way Catholic teaching has become more detailed and explicit over the centuries, while later statements of doctrine remain consistent with earlier statements."

They claim to be the first church, but words a are cheap. the word CHURCH never did mean a building but was the congregation of believers !

The fact that the Catholic church as deviated so far from the bible is because as 1 John 5:19 says, "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one"

So it is not suprprising that he controls the counterfeit religions of this world !

THOSE WHO WORSHIP THE TRUE GOD

People of many races, ages, and circumstances following the way of true worship

base their teachings on the Bible

worship only Jehovah and make his name known

show genuine love for one another

accept Jesus as God’s means of salvation

are no part of the world

preach God’s Kingdom as man’s only hope

See

Are all religions pleasing to God?

http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-teac...

Satan.

1Tim 4:1 But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, 4:2 through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron; 4:3 forbidding marriage [priests] and commanding to abstain from foods [meat during Lent] which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

Have the protestant cultists eliminated the Gospel of Matthew and he Book of Acts from the Bible now, too?

1) The Catholic Church existed before the Bible did. We wrote the Bible, and it was never intended to be the sole teaching.

2) Jesus gave authority to the Church, with Peter as its leader. Included was the authority to make doctrine. The authority is established here:

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The 15th chapter of Acts gives an example of how that authority was used.

3) The expiration date on the Church's authority is when the Lord returns, and not before.

4) Whoever rejects Christ's Church rejects Him and the One who sent Him. Do not presume you will get many more warnings.

Luke 10:16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

They haven't. They have some added rituals but the largest and oldest Christian church is based squarely on the Bible. All Christian churches have deviated from the Bible. A religion using Biblical laws and rules would be impossible in the 21st century.