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Thanks for sharing! Here are a few additional things to consider concerning the words:
- “Catholic” is first used by Ignatius ~107 AD so it’s a fairly early term and can be a great term to describe all true followers of Christ
- The “church” in the Bible sometimes refers to all true followers (the “whole” church) but much more commonly refers to individual congregations (note Jesus’ use of the plural “churches” the last time the term is mentioned (Revelation 22:16)
- Various other terms predate the term “Catholic” like the “way” (Acts 9:2, 22:4) and, actually, “Christian” (Acts 11:26)
Catholic church can be a great term to describe all believers everywhere, but is it a de facto proof that the Catholic Church (the entity) is the one true form of following Jesus because it’s a superior term? No. Several terms pre-date it and are actually used in the Bible.
Rather than basing evaluation of what you believe on word associations, abridged history, or the unpleasantness of division—test what you believe to be true against the word of God.
For example, what did Jesus have to say about:
• Venerating Mary (Luke 11:27–28)
• The Role of Tradition in Interpreting Truth vs. The Role of the Word of God (Mark 7:1–13)
• Conducting service in languages people did not understand (1 Cor 14:19)
These are some of the real challenges to Catholicism that people are concerned with. These are not quickly resolved, but it is necessary to wrestle with these texts and indeed all Scripture. I hope that you, and all of us in here, will be like the man who built his house on the rock—the man that hears and does the word of God. Our solid foundation is hearing and acting on God’s word. (Matthew 7:24–27)
Let me know if I was mistaken on any accounts or misrepresented anything. Hope this is helpful!
Sounds good!
Continued:
“There is not and never was such a religion as ‘Christianity.’ There is and always has been the Catholic Church, and the various heresies arising from the rejection of some of its doctrines.“
I used to not believe this thinking at all but just go by yourself or with your family and see how reverent, discipline, masculine, holy, elegant a Traditional Latin Mass offered by the FSSP or SSPX is. The experience brings you to God.
You have to admit, 400 years ago, your ancestors were either Catholic or Atheist, if they were Christian. We were united as Christendom and we were a force to be reckoned with.
Dont think the current state of Christians is a mess?
Look at my old denomination of the Methodist, they are splitting right now due to Men and their own interpretation.
Totally agree.
I'd sure love to see the Scriptural basis for this.
A2: what do you think created scripture? Catholic tradition between the disciples. Tradition came before scripture.
In the spirit of their being only one church I agree. However, by practice this argument falls apart. Today people don't associate the catholic church as representing all Christians but by its practices. In the Bible there is only one church composed of every believer of Jesus Christ. The only differentiator noted in the new testament is location. Letters were written to the church in Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, 7 churches (Revelations 1:22), etc.
Are some catholics Christians and/or godly absolutely yes. However, as a whole does catholicism and its practices today represent the teachings and practices of Jesus Christ and the New Testament? There are no verses that support the practice of confessional booths and every believer today can go to Jesus who continually intercede for us (Heb 7:25 but Chp 7-8 all good context). There are no verses with any instance of infant baptism (although my understanding is that the practice began during the bubonic plague with good intentions due to high infant mortality rates). Also there is no biblical support for the worshiping and prayers to different saints as designated by the catholic church. That's not even taking into the matter of the papal hierarchy and the pope whose voted into office.
With that being said, I want to say that I love all Christians and don't have any personal vendetta against catholics as there are flaws that you can point out within any denomination. I personally enjoyed the writing of brother Lawrence who wrote "the practice of the presence of God" and also some of madam guyon's songs and autobiography.
💯
Simply put, God's salvation is far beyond religion/church affiliation. When a sinner repents and receives Jesus as both Savior and Lord they receive eternal life and the promised Holy Spirit to dwell in them and guide them. Jesus can save as early as infant to one's dying last breath and to say He is unlimited by time but is limited by simple church nomenclature is unbased.
Does the church study and teach the Holy Bible scriptures?
Do they believe in the one triune God?
Do they believe Jesus is the Christ/Messiah the ONLY way to salvation and eternal life with the one true living God YHWH?
Do they believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
There are many other criteria that can be added but these are some critical points.
Agree with BCG, The problem to me is we look outwardly for a denomination or pastor to save us but don’t search the scripture ourselves or seek the source. We individually need to carry our OWN cross, seek our OWN salvation with fear and trembling. Once we do that we can test the spirits and see who is of God we can start finding believers to fellowship with. Or by Gods grace we can find people that help us through study to see for ourselves. I cant hide by the denomination or my mother and fathers prayers if I don’t repent on my OWN. These are all tough things for a lot of us to grasp because we don’t spend time alone. Either we spend time alone now and work on our relationship with Christ or deal with the troubles later.
I would recommend all to listen to Dr. Taylor Marshall on youtube or facebook. He was a firmer Episcopalian priest who converted to Catholicism.
Disagree. The one true church has Jesus himself as the high priest and, as Deloitte 1 stated, it goes far, far beyond religion. It’s far greater than Rome of any one denomination, and yet far more discreet. The church will be revealed at Christ’s second coming, don’t worry, all confusion will be settled then. Until then, the most important thing is to repent, turn to Christ, and live a life worthy of Him, no matter what you call your current church home is. This is the simple message Jesus, John the Baptist, and the Apostles taught.
“While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.””
Matthew 12:46-50 NIV
Only the one who does the Will of God will see heaven, we can argue all day about what the true religion is but the truth is unless you understand the parables and prophecies of the NT and Revelation you won’t know what God has prepared for us when he returns. Then you must ask yourself do you believe in the Bible? If yes then read rev 22:18-19. We should be focused on Jesus coming back and what we need to do to be prepared. DM me if you ever want to do Bible study.