The Gospels did not start the Church. Rather, the Church started the Gospels. The Church did not come out of the Gospels. Rather, the Gospels came out of the Church. The Church preceded the New Testament. The early Christians did not come to believe in Jesus because the Gospels recount the story of Him. Rather, the early Christians wrote down the stories of Jesus because they already believed in it.
The Church already believed and her members set down much of these beliefs and traditions in what we call the Gospels.
See —->
Luke 1:1-4
The "Catholic Church"
is explicitly stated in the New Testament as the Church founded by Christ. In Acts 9:31, it states:
Αἱ μὲν οὖν
ἐκκλησίαι καθ᾽ ὅλης τῆς Ἰουδαίας καὶ Γαλιλαίας καὶ Σαμαρείας εἶχον εἰρήνην οἰκοδομουμέναι καὶ πορευομέναι τῷ φόβῳ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ τῇ παρακλήσει τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐπληθύνοντο
The word "Catholic" comes from two Greek words:
--->
καθ (katah) - Meaning throughout; according to
--->
ολης (holos) - All; whole; completely
Εκκλησια (ekklesia) - A gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly; church
Thus, "
ekklesia kata holos" = The Catholic Church
(In English, the "Catholic Church" is a proper noun, hence it is capitalized. The entire New Testament was written in majuscule letters as there were no minuscule letters in Greek until well toward the end of the first millennium.)
Incidentally, St. Luke is the only one who wrote a conclusion to the Gospel with his Acts. The book of Acts details the Church's growth from Pentecost
and concludes with the arrival of the faith in the city of Rome, from whence it would go out to all the world.
St. Paul affirming ---> "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you,
because your faith is proclaimed in all the world." (
Romans 1:8) Of no other Church or ancient Christian See is this said.