Roman Catholic Claim
FOUR MARKS OF THE TRUE CHURCH
If we wish to locate
the Church founded by Jesus, we need to locate the
one that has the four chief marks or qualities of
his Church. The Church we seek must be one, holy,
catholic, and apostolic.
The
Church Is One (Rom. 12:5, 1 Co. 10:17, 12:13,
CCC 813–822)
Jesus established only one Church, not a
collection of differing churches (Lutheran, Baptist,
Anglican, and so on). The Bible says the Church is
the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:23–32). Jesus can
have but one spouse, and his spouse is the
Catholic Church. |
Christian Response
This contradiction of
the Roman Catholic apologist is glaring. Earlier we noticed
that the Roman Catholic religion is described as one
of many ‘Christian’ churches. Here the claim
is made that Jesus established only one Church. How
can Jesus have established only one Church when it
is alleged: “Among the Christian churches,
only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus?
Again, it is claimed that every other Christian church
is an offshoot of the Catholic Church” (italics mine)
Something has to give here. If Jesus only established ONE
CHURCH and that ONE CHURCH is the Roman Catholic religion,
how can there be “other Christian churches”?
Here is the folly of Rome.
We agree that Jesus established only ONE CHURCH. Where we
disagree is that this ONE CHURCH is the BODY OF CHRIST.
Also, we do not believe that Rome and her doctrines are
a part of this Body. Furthermore, Rome must make up her
mind. How can she label other churches Christian
while at the same time maintaining that she is the ONLY
CHURCH that Jesus established?
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