Transcript
0:00did you know that the foundation of the
0:01Catholic Church might not be what you
0:03were always taught you may have been
0:06told that it began with a man named
0:07Peter the Apostle of Jesus but what if I
0:11told you that the real story is much
0:13deeper and in some aspects even
0:15contradictory what you are about to
0:18discover might change not just your
0:20understanding of religion but of History
0:23itself who decided that Peter should be
0:25the leader of the church was it Jesus
0:28directly or was it a agreement among his
0:31followers imagine this a group of
0:34scattered persecuted men meeting in
0:36secret and laying the foundations of
0:38what would become one of the most
0:39powerful institutions in the world How
0:42likely is it that all this emerged from
0:44a single moment or a single person the
0:48answer might surprise you think about
0:50this for a moment the Catholic Church
0:53which today has more than 1 billion
0:54faithful began amid oppression and Chaos
0:58Rome was a hot bed of Pol iCal power the
1:01worship of pagan gods and the constant
1:03threat of persecution the followers of
1:06Christ not only struggled for their
1:07faith but also to survive in a hostile
1:10world how did they go from being a
1:13marginalized group to becoming the
1:15official religion of the Roman Empire
1:18this wasn’t a stroke of luck much less a
1:20miracle it was a carefully woven
1:23strategy let me tell you something you
1:25probably never heard before the Catholic
1:27Church did not come into being overnight
1:30nor was it the result of a direct Divine
1:32mandate it was the product of decades
1:35even centuries of human decisions from
1:38its early clandestine meetings to the
1:40councils that defined its doctrines each
1:42step was marked by conflicts debates and
1:45sometimes decisions that challenged the
1:47original teachings of Christ what
1:49motivated these men Faith power or a
1:53mixture of both let’s explore this
1:55together the Apostle Peter known as the
1:58first pope played a Central role but did
2:01he really think about establishing a
2:03church the scriptures tell us that Jesus
2:05said you are Peter and Upon This Rock I
2:08will build my church but is that enough
2:11to affirm that Peter was the founder
2:13what did Jesus mean by Church a building
2:16an institution or something completely
2:19different the words of Jesus have been
2:22interpreted in such different ways that
2:24they have caused divisions over the
2:26centuries here’s the Striking part the
2:28Bible never mentions a Catholic Church
2:31per se in fact the term Catholic meaning
2:34Universal didn’t appear until years
2:36after the apostles deaths it was
2:39Ignatius of Antioch around the year 107
2:42after Christ who first used this word to
2:44describe the christian community so if
2:47the original Apostles didn’t use this
2:49term who decided the church should be
2:51called that and why to understand this
2:55we need to go back and analyze the early
2:57years of
2:58Christianity imagine a re revolutionary
3:00movement led by fishermen tax collectors
3:02and outcasts trying to spread a message
3:05that went against the cultural and
3:06religious Norms of the time the
3:09persecution was brutal Christians were
3:11executed in Roman Arenas deemed Heretics
3:15and enemies of the state how did this
3:17marginalized group go from being hunted
3:20to gaining the favor of Emperors this is
3:23where Constantine the Great comes into
3:25play Constantine’s conversion to
3:27Christianity in the 4th century was a
3:29turning point but wait don’t think it
3:32was purely an Act of Faith Constantine
3:35was a strategist a man who understood
3:37the power of religion to unify a
3:39fractured Empire in the year 313 after
3:43Christ he issued the edict of Milan
3:46which legalized Christianity and ended
3:49the
3:50persecutions however his interest in
3:51religion wasn’t entirely altruistic
3:54could it be that he used Christianity as
3:56a political tool to consolidate his
3:58power the foundation of the Catholic
4:00Church as we know it today began to take
4:03shape at the Council of niia in the year
4:07325 here Christian leaders met under
4:10Constantine’s supervision to debate
4:12fundamental questions was Jesus
4:15completely Divine completely human or a
4:18mix of both these decisions not only
4:21defined Christian theology but also laid
4:24the foundations for an institution that
4:26would dominate politics culture and
4:29spirituality
4:30for
4:31centuries but make no mistake this was
4:34not a clean or orderly process there
4:36were betrayals internal disputes and in
4:39some cases violence many Christians who
4:42disagreed with the decisions made at
4:44these councils were persecuted by their
4:46own Brethren can you believe that the
4:48same followers of Christ who had once
4:51been persecuted by the Romans began to
4:53persecute each other this shows that the
4:56creation of the Catholic church was not
4:58just a matter of faith
5:00but also of power and control and here
5:03arises a disturbing question how much of
5:06what we consider Catholic today truly
5:08comes from the original teachings of
5:10Jesus and how much was shaped by
5:12political and human decisions over the
5:14following centuries this is not a
5:16critique but an invitation to reflect
5:19have you ever wondered why certain
5:21doctrines are the way they are or why
5:23certain books were included in the Bible
5:25While others were discarded the answers
5:28to these questions might surprise you
5:30more than you imagine this story is far
5:32from over and what comes next delves
5:35even deeper into the Mysteries and
5:36challenges that defined the early
5:38centuries of
5:40Christianity are you ready to continue
5:42this journey and discover truths hidden
5:44in plain sight did you know that some
5:46key early Christian texts were almost
5:48lost forever many people don’t realize
5:51that before the Bible as we know it was
5:53compiled there were dozens of gospels
5:56letters and accounts competing to define
5:58the Christian faith
6:00now imagine this Christian leaders from
6:02different parts of the Roman Empire each
6:05with their own ideas and traditions
6:07Gathering to decide which writings would
6:09be considered the word of God and which
6:11would be discarded or even condemned who
6:14were these people and what criteria did
6:17they use to make such significant
6:19decisions the answer is part political
6:22part theological and completely
6:24surprising what happened in the early
6:26centuries of Christianity was not a
6:29simple election based on
6:31spirituality it was an ideological
6:33battle that determined which version of
6:35the faith would Prevail and did you know
6:38there were Christians who believed in a
6:40completely different God from the one we
6:42know today groups like The gnostics saw
6:45faith in a radically different way they
6:48believed that secret knowledge not Blind
6:50Faith was the key to connecting with the
6:53Divine some even thought the god of the
6:55Old Testament was an inferior tyrannical
6:58figure different from the loving father
7:00that Jesus taught about imagine the
7:03impact if those ideas had triumphed the
7:06Council of nishia which we mentioned
7:08earlier not only aimed to Define who
7:10Jesus was but also to silence these
7:13dissenting voices many texts considered
7:16heretical were deliberately destroyed
7:19some only came to light centuries later
7:21such as the Gnostic Gospels discovered
7:23in nag hamadi in
7:261945 these texts offer a completely
7:29different View of the early years of
7:30Christianity one in which diversity of
7:33thought was the norm rather than the
7:35exception what happened to eliminate
7:37that diversity and more importantly what
7:41does this mean for the faith we know
7:42today let’s talk about Peter and his
7:45supposed Primacy in the church while
7:48Catholic tradition holds that he was the
7:50first pope historical evidence is much
7:52more ambiguous in the book of Acts Peter
7:55plays an important role but is never
7:58described as the absolute leader in fact
8:01at the Council of Jerusalem a key event
8:04in early Christianity it seems that
8:06James the brother of Jesus held a more
8:09prominent position so where does the
8:12idea that Peter was the rock upon which
8:14the church was founded come from this is
8:17where a mix of theological
8:18interpretation and institutional
8:20construction comes into play can you
8:23imagine that one of the church’s pillars
8:26might be based more on tradition than on
8:28Direct historical evidence another
8:31intriguing aspect is the role of Rome
8:33why did it become the center of
8:35Christianity when Jesus lived and died
8:37in Jerusalem the answer is deeply rooted
8:40in Roman Imperial politics Rome was not
8:43only the Empire’s Capital but also a
8:45symbol of Universal Power by
8:48establishing its base there the Catholic
8:50Church sought not only Spiritual
8:52Authority but also political legitimacy
8:55this explains why the early popes worked
8:57hard to consolidate their power in the
8:59the city and extend their influence to
9:01other regions but it wasn’t a smooth
9:04path the development of the Catholic
9:06church was filled with internal
9:09conflicts did you know there were times
9:11when up to three different people
9:12claimed to be the legitimate Pope
9:15simultaneously these episodes known as
9:17the Western Schism or the three popes
9:20crisis are a reminder that the church
9:23although Divine in its ideals has always
9:25been made up of human beings with
9:27ambitions and weaknesses how did they
9:30reconcile these power struggles with the
9:32message of humility and service preached
9:34by Jesus that is a question that
9:36continues to spark debate today finally
9:40consider the impact of Constantine’s
9:42conversion to Christianity although he
9:44officially adopted the faith he
9:46maintained Pagan practices until the end
9:48of his life he was even baptized on his
9:51deathbed which has led many to question
9:54whether his conversion was genuine or
9:56merely a political act what do you think
10:00do you believe a strategist like
10:01Constantine would adopt Christianity
10:03purely out of Faith or did he use it as
10:06a tool to unify a divided Empire what is
10:09clear is that thanks to him Christianity
10:12went from being a persecuted Faith to a
10:14favored religion something that forever
10:17changed the course of
10:19history now let’s return to a key
10:21question who really created the Catholic
10:24Church while Peter and the apostles laid
10:27the foundations it was the council
10:29Emperors and leaders of later
10:31generations who shaped it it was a long
10:34process filled with difficult decisions
10:37political compromises and internal
10:39struggles but this does not diminish the
10:42greatness of what they achieved the
10:44Catholic church with all its flaws and
10:46contradictions has shaped the history
10:48culture and spirituality of billions of
10:50people finally I want to leave you with
10:53a reflection the Catholic Church as we
10:56know it today is not just the product of
10:58one moment one person but the result of
11:01centuries of evolution struggle and
11:03Faith it reminds us that even the
11:05greatest and most powerful institutions
11:08have their roots in the dreams doubts
11:10and decisions of human beings like you
11:12and me what do you think now that you
11:16know all this do you believe the church
11:18is more Divine more human or a perfect
11:21mixture of both.
