Who Founded Your Church?: A Chronology of the Foundations of Christian Churches and Biblical Answers to Protestants False Accusations Against the Catholic Church

By James Calasara

Father James Calasara was born in the Philippines on July 6, 1934. After serving his Diocese as priest he joined the military as Chaplain. He was Chaplain of the Philippine Navy, became the first Philippine Marines Chaplain, worked in Guam as Diocesan Priest and joined the United States Army as Chaplain. He served two great allied countries, the Philippine and the United States of America as soldier, priest and educator. In 1966 Father James retired from the US Army with the rank of Major. In 2002 when the war in Iraq broke out he was recalled to active duty. Fr. James awards include the Army Commendation Medal (two oak leaf cluster), National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbons, US Airborne, Philippine Parachutist Badge and Philippine Marines Long Service Medal. He made his own golf course, The El Padre Golf and Country Club in Dixon Missouri. He is a professional golf instructor and a member of the United States Golf Teachers Federation. In November 2003 he played the Golf Teachers Cup. Some of the books he wrote are: The Fighting Priest, Jokes for Everyone, The Holy Land Memories of a Pilgrim, and Christianity in Poetry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 12, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493165896

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Copyright © 2014 by Fr. James Calasara.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4931-6588-9

                eBook            978-1-4931-6589-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Rev. date: 03/07/2014

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Contents

PART ONE - The Church

Introduction Making Religion Mon(k)ey Business

1 Churches, Churches, Everywhere

2 Prelude to Men Making Churches

3 Christ Founded His Church

4 Perpetual Commission To Teach

5 Commission To Govern

6 Commission To Sanctify

7 The Church The Body of Christ

8 The Four Marks Of The True Church

9 The Catholic Church Is One

10 The Catholic Church Is Holy

11 Stigmata, Miracles, Signs That The Church Is Holy

12 Miracles Of The Eucharist

13 Statues Of Mary Bleeding And Shedding Blood Of Tears

14 The Catholic Church Is ‘Catholic’ Or Universal

15 The Catholic Church Is Apostolic

16 Apostolic Succession

17 The Primacy Of Peter

18 Testimonies From Fathers Of The Church

19 Did Peter Have A Successor?

PART TWO - The Bible

20 Who Made The Bible?

21 The Need To Form The Bible

22 Traditions And The Bible

23 Without The Catholic Church There Is No Bible

24 Bible Warns Against False Prophets

25 Bible Alone Sola Scriptura Not The Basis For Faith

26 Faith Alone Sola Fides Cannot Save You

27 The Tragedy Of The Bible

PART THREE - Men-Made Religion

28 Reformation, Protestantism

29 Men Start Making Churches

30 Anglican Church

31 Presbyterian Church

32 The Episcopal Church

33 Baptist Church

34 Congregationalist

35 Methodist

36 Quakers

37 Adventist Church

38 Salvation Army

39 Jehovah Witnesses

40 The Church Of Christ Made In The Philippines

PART FOUR - The Seven Sacraments

41 Sacraments In General

42 The Sacrament Of Baptism

43 Infant Baptism

44 Baptism By Effusion Or Immersion

45 The Sacrament Of Confirmation

46 The Sacrament Of Confession

47 The Sacrament Of The Anointing Of The Sick

48 The Sacrament Of Holy Orders or Priesthood

49 The Sacrament Of Matrimony

50 The Sacrament Of The Holy Eucharist

PART FIVE - False Accusations Against Catholics

51 Why Pray To Saints for Intercession?

52 Biblical Bases On The Veneration Of Saints

53 Veneration of Relics

54 ‘Souls Sleeping’ Theory, A Farce!

55 Catholics Worship Idols?

56 The Sign Of The Cross

57 Purgatory In The Old and New Testament

58 Can We Call A Priest ‘Father’?

59 Why Priests Don’t Marry?

PART SIX - Mary

60 Mother Mary

61 Mary Mother Of God

62 Immaculate Conception Of Mary

63 The Assumption Of Mary Into Heaven

PART SEVEN - More Questions About The Catholic Teachings

64 Repetitious Prayers

65 The Rosary

66 Fasting And Abstinence

67 Divorce And Remarriage

68 Homosexuality, Gays And Lesbians

69 Scandals In The Church

70 Salvation In The Past, Present And Future

71 Indulgences What Are They?

72 Judgment Day

73 Hell

74 Heaven

75 Protestant Preachers Coming Back To The Catholic Church

76 History of Christina Churches In a Nutshell

PART ONE

The Church

Introduction

Making Religion Mon(k)ey Business

When I opened my television set at about 8:30 in the morning of February 8,2007, my attention was caught by a preacher preaching about what he calls the biblical cycle number 7. He said that number 7 is repeated is repeated 635 times in the Bible. (I don’t know what version of the bible he was using, because the Nelson’s Complete Concordance of the New American bible says that number 7 is repeated 442 times only. Maybe he was including all the number 7s also in the pages of his own version of the Bible. He was preaching from a television station in Hawaii.

I did not hear everything what he said about the number seven, but when my attention was captured, I immediately started writing down everything that captured my curiosity. We are in the 7th year of the 20th century, he said. The number 7 means completed, finished, wholeness and done. Here he quoted the Book of Revelation: I heard a loud voice speaking from the temple to the 7 angels, ‘go and pour out the 7 bowls of God’s fury upon the earth… And in chapter 16 and 17, he quoted: "The 7 angels poured out their bowls into the air. A loud voice came out of the temple from the thrown saying, ‘It is done’.

Other number 7’s that I heard were: God works in categories of 7. God created the world in 7 days. This is the historical 7th year of 2000. The economy rises every 7 years and goes down every 7 years. He also mentioned about the 7 priests and the 7 trumpets. Abraham offered 7 bullocks and 7 rams and received 7 times more than he offered. When Christ was asked: How many times will I forgive my brothers, 7 times? Christ answered: Not 7 times, but 70 times 7. Job suffered for 7 years and was rewarded 7 times as much.

Therefore, he concluded; if you sow 77 dollars a month for ten months to this ministry, that seed will grow 7 times more for you. Pick up the phone now. Pick up the phone! We have operator waiting for you. Put 77 dollars on the altar of the sacrifice and you will receive 77 times more. Pick up the phone!

I could not swallow this kind of preaching. The preacher is obviously fooling the innocent people. This is taking advantage of the desire of the people to study more about the Bible and to learn more about Christianity. People are starving to hear the word of God. And here is this preacher who is abusing this starvation of the people.

I picked up the phone. Hello, how can I have a copy of that sermon of the preacher who just finished preaching about the cycle number 7? The operator answered: Hold on I will give you to the one who knows about it. Can I help you? she said. Yes, I answered, I like to have a copy of that sermon the preacher just preached about the cycle number 7. Which preacher? she asked again, the one with the gray hair? Yes. That’s the one, I said. Okay, which one do you like? a cassette, a VHS, or a CD? I said: a hard copy would be good Okay, but you have to pay $40.00 for that. In a flash of humor I said: Oh, $40.00 only? I thought I would pay $77.00, so I will be rewarded 77 times more. Anyway, thank you. And I hanged up the phone.

This is what I mean when I say that these bible Christian preachers are making religion money, monkey business. They use the Bible and religion in anyway possible to make money. This preacher, I’m sure he knows that he is just fooling the people. This is just one example of this moneymaking business. This is a clear and outrageous abuse of the thirst of the people who wants to be closer to God through the Bible.

For a moment I wondered what I would do. My mind was in a mixed emotion of distaste for that preaching I heard and pity for the people victimized by these kinds of preachers. I shut off the television and pondered for a while. Alone, in the silence of my living room, my eyes were focused to a crucifix hanging above my television set. Words were not spoken, but I can hear loud and clear the voice of the Lord in my dialogue with him.

Lord: Write!

Me: What will I write, Lord?

Lord: Use the mind that you have.

Me: I have no time!

Lord: What do you mean; ‘I have no time?

Me: I’m going to play golf.

Lord: "The weather is bad, you can’t go out now. You tell me you have no time,

But you are wasting your time now. Write!"

Me: I’m lazy. I don’t like it.

Lord: It’s not whether you like it or not, but what I would like you to do.

Me: "If I write something against those hypocrites, I mean, those bible preachers

In the television, they will hate me. I have Protestant friends and they will disown Me."

Lord: That’s nonsense! This will be the third time I tell you. Write!"

Me: Are you commanding me, Lord?

Lord: Do you know how much I suffered for you?

(I look at the crucifix more intensely. I see his crown of thorns, his hands and feet Bleeding, the would in his side, like speaking to me, his arms outstretched, like Embracing me saying: This much do I love you. I could no longer resist. I went To my computer room and started writing. This is why this book was written.)

Other intention I do not have, than to open the mind of the people and let them think hard or what is happening now. Men made sects or denominations are spreading and sprouting without control. Of these man-made sects or they call Christian churches, you will see all kinds of names they get from the Bible. For example: Born Again Church, Christ Walking on the Water Church, Victory Church, etc.etc.etc.

Beware of these unscrupulous preachers who St. Luke says: are filled with rapaciousness and evil. These are the preachers of whom St. Matthew is giving a stern warning: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Mat7: 15)

1

Churches, Churches, Everywhere

In a small city where I live, the City of Dixon, Pulaski County, in the State of Missouri, there are more than two dozens Bible Christian churches. To name some of then: Assembly of God, Burnet Christian Church, The first Baptist Church, Free Will Baptist Church, High Point Church of God, Freedom Church, Lighthouse Worship Center, Living Word Worship Center, Santee Church, Shepherd Baptism Church, Church of Christ, Victory Hill Baptist Church, First Church of God, Kenner Church of God, United Methodist Church, Church of the Nazarene, First Pentecostal Church. If you notice, there are some of these churches that have the word ‘first’ like, the First Baptist Church, The First Church of God, The First Pentecostal Church. I feel like the churches are still growing and expanding, though I Have not seen nor heard yet of any Second Baptist Church here in Dixon, nor have known of a Second Church of God, nor Second Pentecostal Church here or anywhere else. Have you ever heard of a Second City Bank? Or have you ever known that there is a Second National Bank? I’m sure you didn’t, and so did I.

This sounds like a series of things that are still to come, like the movie, The First Apocalypse, The Second Apocalypse, The First World War, The Second World War. Every one of these churches is claiming to be the true church. If they mean that the church is a group of people worshiping God one in his own way, then they could be right, everyone of them in his or her own conceptual way. But if they mean that their church is the true church founded by Christ as an institution, then it is wrong. The argument is simple: The true Church of Christ must be the Church founded by Christ during the first Christian era. This being the case that your church did not come into existence until the sixteen century. Therefore, you church is not the true church of Christ.

Can you swallow that pill? It is hard to do so, but you have to, because how can Christ found His Church when he was gone more than two thousand years ago? Your church and all other churches that you have seen and heard, except the Catholic Church are offspring, byproducts or descendants of the church of the Reformation of the sixteen-century. Christ founded only one church upon the ‘rock’, Peter.

Not one of these churches that we see now can historically prove that it is the one founded by Christ. The Catholic Church existed even before the Bible. It is the Catholic Church that made the Bible. Al the other churches are coning from the Bible. If these Bible preachers believe in the Bible, then they should first believe in the Catholic Church, which is the only one that can say with authority that the Bible is the Word of God. The mother of all these messed up confusion of churches now is the Reformation and Protestantism who introduced the false doctrine of ‘private interpretation of the Bible.

In the following articles, I will show you the chronology of the foundations of Christian Churches and I wish that you op0en your eyes and your mind, because you cannot gamble with eternity. Salvation might be impossible for a person who fully knows that Christ founded His Church, and consciously still does not want to be a member of that Church.

2

Prelude to Men Making Churches

If you open your television set on a Sunday morning, you will see about half a dozen preachers standing before a podium, on the stage or before the