From a Protestant perspective, Catholicism was far from being the first Christ-based religion. In fact the whole reformation fiasco that took place in the ~1400-1600s was a reactionary movement that sought to return to older, original representations of the faith as portrayed in the time of the New Testament’s writing. This movement was fueled by a critical thinking process that spurred a return to the original texts of the religions, and a realization that Catholicism had much in both its rituals and its canon that was nowhere spoken of in the original ethos of the faith.