Week 3, Day 5
The Falling Away Begins
Dear Grandkids,
Using the chart below, contrast the organization of the churches in the New Testament with the modern organization of the Catholic Church.
John Francis Noll was a Catholic bishop in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from 1925 to 1956. He started a popular newspaper for Catholics called Our Sunday Visitor in 1912. People have called him “one of the most important Catholics of his time.” He wrote a small book called Catholic Facts. On page two, he said, “The author has felt for a long time that a book of ‘Catholic Facts,’ vest-pocket size, was an urgent need, both for the better instruction of the Catholic who maintains that he ‘has no time,’ and for the enlightenment of non-Catholics. This little volume has been the result.” On page 27, he said, “If the Church today be not…identical in belief, in government, etc., with the primitive Church, then it is not the Church of Christ” (Noll, 1923).
Do you agree or disagree with Mr. Noll? Explain your answer.
The following video reviews this week’s studies.