Before There Was "The Church," There Was History

A short text has been making the rounds in religious circles, presenting what it calls a straightforward historical argument: that one single, unbroken Church — founded by Jesus Christ Himself — has existed from the first century to the present day, and that history's finger points unmistakably toward Rome. The argument sounds reasonable, even compelling, on first reading. But on closer inspection, nearly every claim it makes either distorts history, makes unjustified logical leaps, or simply assumes the very conclusion it purports to prove. This article addresses those claims one by one.