The Historical "Black Hole"...

The word "History", is in reality, "His-Story"!

Has "His-Story" ended?
Yes, "His-story" about the growth of His Church did end after the last verse in the book of Acts was written and it did not begin again until 1521 when the Protestant revolt started!
That is what we are told to believe by some non-Catholics, but NOT by GOD.

Others try to tell us that His-story ended when the Book of Revelation was finished. However, there were one or two documents written over that 1400+ year period until 1521, and they believe, "If I can use (twist) them to my advantage, I'll do so", say some anti-Catholics. "If I cannot use them, then they simply do not exist", the same anti-Catholics say.

Did "His-Story" really end with the completion of the last book of the Bible, or do the events of "His-Story" march on and accumulate unbroken and unfettered throughout all time?

Well what does Holy Scripture say about the "end of His-Story"?
"But when he, the Spirit of Truth, has come, he will (future tense) teach you all the truth. For he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he will hear he will speak,
AND THE THINGS THAT ARE TO COME HE WILL DECLARE TO YOU."
John 16:13
Holy Scripture clearly says that His-Story will continue into the future.
How far into the future? Let us examine another verse.
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I have commanded you; and behold,
I AM WITH YOU ALL DAYS, EVEN UNTIL THE CONSUMMATION OF THE WORLD."
Matthew 28:19-20
Verse 20 means, "He will be with us every day in every century until the end of time with no gaps".

Does that sound like a time limit has been imposed by GOD on "His-Story"?
No time limit was imposed by GOD, but a time limit was imposed by man, according to some anti-Catholics, since they have created a veritable "Black Hole" of "His-Story" from the time the last book of the Bible was written about 95-100 A.D., until 1521, a period of over 1420 years.

If something is not in the Bible, then I will simply reject it. That is the false thinking of some non-Catholics.
What does Holy Scripture say regarding "everything is in it"?
"Many other signs also Jesus worked in the sight of his disciples,
WHICH ARE NOT WRITTEN IN THIS BOOK."
John 20:30
"There are, however, many other things that Jesus did; but if everyone of these should be written, not even the world itself, I think, could hold the books that would have to be written."
John 21:25

Some questions for those who refuse to believe anything, if they cannot find it in the Bible. Tell me then, how can you find answers to these questions?
1. Show me in the Bible the list of inspired books in it? If you cannot find such a list then how do you know the book you call the Bible is the Bible?
2. Show me in the Bible where the word "Trinity" is defined? If you cannot find the word in the Bible, then why do you believe in the doctrine? From where did the word "Trinity" come?
3. Same question for the word "Incarnate"?
4. Show me in the Bible where the Bible tells you that all the books within it are inspired?
5. Show me in the Bible where Jesus said what Luke said He said in this verse?
"...and REMEMBER the WORD of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'." Acts 20:35
6. Show me in Scripture the reference of Matthew 2:23 that "he shall be called a Nazarene"?
7. Show me in Scripture the reference of Matthew 5:43 that "you shall hate your enemy"?
8. Show me in Scripture the reference of 2Timothy 3:8 that "Jamnes and Mambres resisted Moses"?
9. Tell me, where did your Bible come from? Documents please?
10. Since you believe all Scripture is inspired, then show me where the Bible excludes the Gospel of Peter and the Gospel of Thomas? Can't find it? Then why are these books not in your Bible?
11. Show me the verses which say the Bible claims to be the sole authority for Christians in matters of faith and morals?

As you can clearly see, the Bible is far from complete. Some very important questions simply cannot be answered with Scripture alone. Some of these are examples of Apostolic Tradition, for which we are commanded to keep by WORD or by letter in 2Thessalonians 2:15. Apostolic tradition is quite removed from man-made tradition.
Now, where would you go to find the answers to the questions I have just put forth?
Will you just simply ignore the questions and prefer to have no answers?
Or do you honestly want to seek the truth?

What have we learned from Holy Scripture so far?
1. That Scripture says "His-Story" will continue until the end of time, and with no gaps whatsoever.
2. That Scripture says that learning will continue until we have been taught all things.
3. That Scripture says, and shows us that everything is NOT within its pages.

What then, is this "Historical Black Hole"?
It is the 1420 plus years of "His-Story" from the time of the finishing of the Book of Revelation, until Martin Luther came along and started the Protestant Reformation. These 1420 years are filled with genuine historical documents that are suppressed by the leaders of most of the 33,800* non-Catholic ecclesial communities.
*World Christian Encyclopedia, April 2001, a Protestant publication.

What do these leaders of the 33,800 ecclesial communities tell, or refrain from telling their flocks?

1. They do not teach their subjects that genuine historical documents for this time period even exist.
2. There are literally thousands of historical documents written by hundreds down through the ages.
3. The documents are available for all to see, "But there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known." Luke 12:2
4. If any of their subjects find that these documents do exist, they are told not to read them.
5. They are told that they will become corrupted if they do read them. Their subjects are purposely kept in "Spiritual Darkness".
6. The truth is, however, that whoever reads these documents will find the real truth for themselves and not what someone else just tells them is the truth.
7. We are all obligated to search for the truth (1Timothy 2:4). Since truth is a person (John 14:6), if you have not searched for the truth, then you have not found the truth, and thus you have not found the person who is GOD.
You cannot find the fullness of truth by ignoring 1420 years of His-Story.
"For they have not received the love of truth that they might be saved. Therefore GOD sends them a misleading influence that they may believe falsehood, that all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but have preferred wickedness."
2Thessalonians 2:10-12

Who, or what, is this misleading influence? Holy Scripture gives us the answer to this question...

"For the WRATH of GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness
OF THOSE MEN WHO IN WICKEDNESS HOLD BACK THE TRUTH OF GOD."
Romans 1:18

Some of the various authors of genuine historical documents are:

Josephus (Flavius Josephus 37-101 A.D.) was a Jew and a Jewish historian. He wrote many books about Jewish history from their very beginnings until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.. His writings are valued by scholars, as some of what he wrote is the only source for several of the historical events. He also dated the events which very few writers in the early times did. In his book XVIII, chapter 3, he wrote of Jesus Christ:
"About this time lived Jesus, a man full of wisdom, if indeed one may call Him a man. For He was the doer of incredible things, and the teacher of such as gladly received the truth. He thus attracted to Himself many Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. On the accusation of the leading men of our people, Pilate condemned Him to death upon the cross; nevertheless those who had previously loved Him still remained faithful to Him. For on the third day He again appeared to them living, just as, in addition to a thousand other marvelous things, prophets sent by God had foretold. And to the present day the race of those who call themselves Christians after Him has not ceased."
Evodius was the first Bishop of Antioch, and he is credited with being the first person to call the followers of Christ, "Christians", as shown in Acts 11:26. See Eusebius, book 3, chapter 22.
Saint Ignatius (35-107), the second Bishop of Antioch wrote a letter to the Smyrneans in 107 A.D..
In this letter is recorded the first known use of the words "Catholic Church"...
Paragraph #8
"You must all follow the lead of the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed that of the Father; follow the presbytery as you would the Apostles; reverence the deacons as you would God's commandment. Let no one do anything touching the Church, apart from the bishop. Let that celebration of the Eucharist be considered valid which is held under the bishop or anyone to whom he has committed it. Where the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not permitted without authorization from the bishop either to baptize or to hold an agape; but whatever he approves is also pleasing to God. Thus everything you do will be proof against danger and valid."

Some non-Catholics teach that the Catholic Church did not even come into existence until the Emperor of Rome,
Constantine, issued the "Edict of Milan"* in 313 A.D..
How then, can they explain this letter of Saint Ignatius written over 200 years earlier?
Here is an additional sampling of titles of writings** where the Catholic Church is mentioned by name, and with all of them penned before 313 A.D.:

Martyrdom of St. Polycarp 16:2. J77,79,80a,81a, 155 A.D.
Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 7:17:107:3. J435, 202 A.D.
Cyprian, Letter to Florentius 66:69:8. J587, 254 A.D.
Lactantius, Divine Institutions 4:30:1. J637, 304 A.D.

*The "Edict of Milan", available on the Internet for all to see, did not "start" the Catholic Church, but merely allowed the open existence of Christianity. It allowed Christianity to continue without fear of Roman persecution. Prior to this event, Christians were persecuted mercilessly by both the Romans and the Jews, and they had to practice the faith underground, and in secret.
Read the "Edict of Milan" for yourself and you will see the truth of what I said.
**The "J" numbers refer to Jurgens book set, "The Faith of the Early Fathers".
All of the writings listed above are available on the Internet for free.
Saint Justin the martyr (105-165), is recognized as the "First Christian Apologist".
He wrote extensively in the defense of the early Church.
Saint Irenaeus (140-202), wrote a monumental volume entitled "Against Heresies" which scholars use to this day. Yes, there were heretics then also, and right from the very beginning of Christianity.
Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea (263-339), is called, "The Father of Church History", and wrote 10 volumes of the history of the Catholic Church. His His-Storical writings span the time period from before the birth of Jesus Christ until about 330 A.D.. He quoted some of the writings of Josephus.
Saint Athanasius (295-373), Bishop of Alexandria. Read about how he championed the Church against the heresy of Arianism. In his Festal Letter #39, which he wrote in 367, is a list of the New Testament Canon, which just a few years later was accepted by the Church.
Saint Jerome (341-420), was the person who gave the world the first Bible with both Old and New Testaments, the "Latin Vulgate" in 404. The Vulgate is the official Bible of the Catholic Church to this day. Saint Jerome, as a great defender of the Catholic Church has many other outstanding writings to his credit.
Saint Augustine (354-430), one of the greatest writers in defense of the Catholic Church of all time. He wrote hundreds of documents and mentioned the Catholic Church by name over 300 times.
His "Confessions" is considered to be one of the most outstanding works ever written.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), was one of the greatest Christian thinkers of all time. His monumental "Summa Theologica" embraces practically every facet of Christianity. In it he presents the objections to Christian doctrine and then gives the supporting arguments. His "Summa" is widely used by serious scholars and is considered to be one of the greatest writings of all time.
This is only a small sampling of the plethora of genuine historical documents written by early Christians, and these writings are available for everyone to study.
A comprehensive list of genuine historical documents with many different writers and covering many subjects, can be seen here. There are URL's posted in that file, that will allow you to find these writings and see for yourself the wealth of genuine historical documents that are just a click away.
There are also voluminous writings of Christianity by Roman, Greek, Jewish and other authors of the time, such as Pliny, Tacitus, and the Jewish Talmud.
How can anyone who is serious about their salvation afford to ignore these treasures from the past?

"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
John 8:32

Half of the Truth is no truth at all.
How then, can you get the full truth if you ignore 1420 plus years of genuine historical documents?

Cardinal John Newman, a convert from Anglicanism said it best in regards to historical documents:
"To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant."

That is the real reason why non-Catholic ministers and elders tell their flocks to ignore the "Black Hole" of "His-Story". You see, there is absolutely nothing written about the 33,800 ecclesial communities during this 1420 year period, as none of them existed then, but there are plentiful writings of Christianity and of the Church which Jesus Christ founded. "His-Story" flowed from century to century with no "gaps" whatsoever. The only "Historical Black Holes" which exist, are those in the minds of some who choose to ignore 1420 plus years of historical writings, and, as mentioned earlier from Romans 1:18, "...who in wickedness hold back the truth of GOD."

Do you ignore the history of your country? No? Then why do you ignore the history of Christianity? Christian history is of much greater value for you, as it will gratuitously profit you in your quest for eternal salvation.

"What is it that has been? The same thing that shall be. What is it that has been done? The same thing that shall be done. Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: Behold this is new; for it has already gone before in the ages that were before us. There is no remembrance of former things; nor indeed of those things which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance with them that shall be in the latter end."
Ecclesiastes 1:10-11

So why would anyone want to ignore the former things? We can profit enormously from what has been accomplished by millenniums of ancestral writings by thousands of others who went before us. One of the worlds great scientists was asked how he was able to accomplish so much in his lifetime.
He replied, "It was because I stood upon the shoulders of giants".
Could he still have soared as he had done, by ignoring the scientific giants that lived before him?
Wouldn't the same logic also apply to us regarding the theological giants who lived before our time?

Those who ignore history fail to profit from its good deeds, and are doomed to repeat its mistakes.
No one should allow themselves to be dragged into the "Black Hole" of spiritual darkness.

"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and are not practicing the truth. But if we walk in the light as He also is the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin."
1John 1:6-7

"Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you,
that you shall not do the office of priesthood to me."
Hosea 4:6
©
Written by Bob Stanley, May 7, 2001
Updated March 14, 2003

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