(See bolded part)
You are not all correct there:
The General Baptists were influenced by the Anabaptists, but the Particular Baptists were basically believer's baptism, religious liberty Independents.
On point #1: No disagreement here. καθολικός (katholikos), meaning "universal".
On point #2: The evidence I've found thus far would suggest that they did. Perhaps not in their current form though. The Roman rite might not have developed until later. Again... I must defer to someone like ThinkingStuff on those details.
Perhaps it would be nice to start another thread to discuss some interesting historical research. What say you? TS? Others?
I'm not sure that you are right, but I'll take correction.
I've read this once or twice, but never studied it and don't care, nor had any other need enough to really retain it.
The bolded part is inconsequential to the thought of the post though.
And I know you weren't addressing that.
would say that the early Church was seen as "Universal/catholic" NOT in the sense as the RCC sees itself, but as the Community of believers in yeshua as Lord!
And they would be wrong, as the "official" RCC came into power under Constatine, and developed the papacy as way to keep power in Empire out of emperor hands only!
Ummm, I think a lot of the Papacy's causation was the Church had grown so big, that you had to have bishops over the bishops.
So rather than a bishop being over a 1/4 of the world and too over taxed to handle all they should be involved in, you had bishops over bishops.
So a bishop would "rule" ;) North America and have 42 bishops under him administering his leadership.
And, having a leader over that group of leaders, would be akin to James at the Council of Jerusalem.
SOMEONE has to lead the group.
Jesus says if your right hand or right eye causes you to sin get rid of it.
That is to show people how serious he is about our not sinning.
I stopped sinning with my eyes and hands, so I am not getting rid of them.
Do you hear Jesus saying he is speaking in a hyperbole?
Do you hear Jesus saying he does not really mean to sound so serious?
Why is it you cannot imagine anyone stopping sins?
Why is that?
Could it be because you have not changed one single bit but you still call yourself a Christian?
Jesus says to obey him and that he will reveal himself to those who obey him.
It is not too hard to figure out if Jesus revealed himself to you or not.
They ahve local church leaders.
Nothing like a bishop over the local church leaders, in baptist denoms.
Methodists and lutherans aren't much like the baptists at all.
They are liturgical, or close to it, and that's heresy to most baptists.
Too dang cat'lik.
The churches that Timothy and Titus trained leaders for had leaders.
But Timothy and Titus were over those leaders.
That is not totally correct:
Constantine's Edict of Milan in 312 proclaimed universal religious freedom in the Roman Empire. In 313, Constantine ordered that anyone who had confiscated property from the Christian Church during the persecutions of the previous decades must return it immediately to the same churches and pay compensation for any damages. But this only applied to the largest and best organised Christian group, who had adopted the term "Catholic" - it did not apply to other Christian groups that followed Gnostic Christianity.
Constantine had family connections to the Christian Church but, more importantly, he saw orthodox Christianity as serving his interests as a uniting force in the Empire.
It was just like today, a consolidation of political power, very little to do with faith.
On top of that, at this point in time, the RCC did not exist (praise the Lord), so the RCC really has no claim to that act.
About as much claim as the RCC has to Peter.
That being said, from the doctrine that evolved from the RCC, it is obvious that political power was much more a motive than faith in Jesus Christ.