Which Church is the TRUE Church of God - Catholics or Mormons?

Question

Clearly, when Jesus Christ was on the Earth He taught only ONE faith and established ONE church. What He preached during his earthly ministry was HIS Gospel, devoting His life to accomplish the will of His Father.

It's very obvious that Jesus wouldn't teach to join just ANY church...He would want His brothers and sisters to join HIS Church. But which one is it?

The only Churches that currently have any leg to stand on are the Catholics and the Mormons, primarily because they both claim to be established by the Divine inspiration of God. Both claim to hold the Holy Priesthood Authority, or the right to act in the authority of God, a gift that the Lord gives unto His children but ONLY if they're worthy to receive it. Of course, this Priesthood is only carried by men, or the Sons Of God, in order to use to bless their family members and friends. The gift wouldn't do any good if the worthy male commits sin because then the Spirit of God will have left that individual.

Some of you who have responded question my rationality behind why Christ taught ONLY one faith...let me refer you to this scripture...Christ makes it PERFECTLY clear:
Ephesians 4:4-5
4] There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
[5] One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

The second question I've received most is what makes me think Christ established a Church. Once again, let me refer you to this scripture that makes it very simple:
Matthew 16:28: And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

So clearly, there is only ONE true Church. Christ built up His Church during His earthly ministry but once Christ and all of the Apostles died, man began to argue over what Christ TRULY taught and they began to establish their own churches and distort the Lord's teachings. Therefore, there HAD to be a restoration of the Gospel. Refer to Acts 3:19-21 to see.

A "false religion" is a Church that DOESN'T teach its members to follow and abide by the teachings of Christ. A "false religion" is also a Church that doesn't FOLLOW-UP on its members to make sure that they are doing so.

The Scriptures are a navigational guide that Heavenly Father provides to His children if they feel they are getting lost along the way.

Of course man can influence man. A mother and father can tell their child what is right and wrong, but there are always going to be friends of that child who try and pull them astray or influence them otherwise.

That's exactly how it is with religion. Christ taught ONE FAITH, ONE CHURCH, ONE BAPTISM. Once He died, people influenced one another of what THEY felt was truly right.

There are a gazillion different translations of the Bible now and a Church at every street corner preaching a different message. Do you truly think in your hearts that this is what Christ wanted? Why don't you pray about it and ask Him yourself?

Answer 1

Jesus Christ founded only one Church and that happens to be the Catholic Church. It is only this Church which can prove a direct line of succession from St. Peter to the present pope.
The Catholic Church will last till the end of the age
Matthew 16,18-20 - "And so I tell you Peter; you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my Church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven."
Matthew 28,20 - "And teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."
Infallible authority from God to teach with certitude.
John 14,25 - I have told you this while I am still with you. The helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you."
John 16,13 - When, however, the Spirit comes who reveals the truth about God, he will LEAD YOU INTO ALL TRUTH."
The Church of the Living God
Timothy 3,15 - "But if I delay, this letter will let you know how we should conduct ourselves in God's household, which is the Church of the living God, THE PILLAR AND FOUNDATION OF TRUTH."
Holy tradition and continuity
Hebrews 13,7
"Remember your former leaders, who spoke God's message to you. Think back on how they lived and died, and imitate their faith."
Have a blessed and peaceful day

Answer 2

The "one body" is the church that still teaches the "one faith". (Ephesians 4:3-6) The body is the church (Ephesians 1:22-23).

"The faith... was once delivered for all saints" (Jude 3) "The faith" is the same as "the gospel". We are to preach no other gospel other than the one Paul and the other apostles preached (Gal. 1:6-9).

The Catholic church has changed through the years. It no longer teaches the same things it did in times past. It has changed away from the original message and doctrine. It, therefore, is not the same as the church of the Bible.

The Mormon church teaches that later day revelations have been given. This contradicts the passage above that the faith WAS once delivered for all. They also teach things not found in the Bible, therefore they are not the one church of the Bible either.

You are right that the Bible does not teach that we are to "join the church of our choice". Those who are saved, are "added" to the church by God (Acts 2:47). So which church does he add them to?

At the time of Acts 2, there was only one church. No denominations existed. The only church was the one Christ built, and purchased (Matt 16:18, Acts 20:28).

This church still exists. God said this church would last forever.

Since many have left the doctrine of this church, they need to return to the Bible to restore this church in our communities. We should leave behind all man-made doctrine and just speak where the Bible speaks, be silent where the Bible is silent, do Bible things in Bible ways, and call Bible things by Bible names.

Notice the unity Paul begged for! In 1 Corinthians 1:10, he said, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." This does not sound like modern demonationalism!

Hebrews 13:8-9 says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines..." Jesus does not change, and our doctrine should not change either.

The church of the Bible will use the scriptures for its doctrine, for reproof, to correct error, and to instruct its members. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

It is not necessary for a church today to trace its history throughout the years to the first centruy. Many claim they can do that, but while they may have started with the correct church, they have since changed their doctrine so that they now are a different church. Instead of tracing our years past to the church of the Bible, we need to trace our present doctrine to the Bible! We should have a "thus saith the Lord" for all we do and teach (Col. 3:17)! If you are"teaching as doctrine the commandments of men", this makes your worship vain, or useless in God's eyes (Matt. 15:9)

Suppose baseball is no longer played and thousands of years from now someone finds a baseball rule book. If that person follows those rules, without altering them, then he is not playing a new game, but he is playing baseball. If that person alters the rules, then he is no longer playing the original game, but a new game.

The Bible is the "rule book" for the church. If you follow the Bible, then you are a Christian, nothing more, nothing less. The only church the Bible creates is the church Christ built.


If you would like to know more about that church, please contact me, or watch the 6 lesson videos on the web-site link below.

Thank you for the good question!

Answer 3

God came in the flesh 2,000 years ago. That is when He established His Church on earth. Obviously then His Church can only be one which can clearly demonstrate a historical record back to the first century. And just as obviously, that can be no Church other than the Holy Catholic Church, for which historical records are available in every century, right back to the apostles. All others are recent manmade institutions, drawing from the truth of the Catholic Church to a greater or lesser extent, but also teaching modern traditions of men devised by their respective human founders.

Answer 4

Churches, Synagogues, Mosques are places of worship on earth. Before Jesus came "down from heaven" (John 3:13) as the Messiah or Prophet, civilizations before had their own gods or none at all. Jesus the Son of God was crucified and then risen, he is the Sufferng Servant who gives "his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 29:28). The time will come for him to judge the living and the dead. While sin may take the Spirit of God from an individual. Salvation will be granted to all meaning from the first to the last man, are there not many rooms in the house of God.

Answer 5

Don't listen to the losers who say neither...

It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (as you call us, Mormons). The real priesthood is split into two groups, the Aaronic Priesthood, held by all worthy church member men age 12 and up, and the Melchizedek Priesthood, given to worthy Aaronic Priesthood holding men sometime after their 18th birthday and before their mission at 19. You are right, the priesthood doesn't do good for an unworthy member. We use the priesthood for the benefit of all who are in need of blessings from it and have the faith that it will help them.

Answer 6

I'm sorry but the LDS church is not a Christian church. The members might be but the church is not. In my opinion there is no "only true church". The Mormons say they have it, the Jehovah Witnesses say they have it and the Catholics say the same. The truth is, it's none of them. Any church that preaches God's word from the Bible, is he's church. Any church that teaches you to draw closer to Jesus Christ, is his church. Any church that wants you to have a relationship with Jesus, is his church. If you go to church on Sunday and all you learn about is some prophet and not Jesus, it's not his church

Answer 7

Roman Catholicism is #1 in the major branch of Christianity



Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect, and shares many religious texts with Judaism, specifically the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament (see Judeo-Christian).

There is a diversity of doctrines and practices among groups calling themselves Christian. These groups are sometimes classified under denominations, though for theological reasons many groups reject this classification system.Christianity may be broadly represented as being divided into three main groupings:

1) Roman Catholicism: The Roman Catholic Church, the largest single body, includes the Latin Rite and totals more than 1 billion baptized members.

2) Eastern Christianity: Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, the 100,000 member Assyrian Church of the East, and others with a combined membership of more than 300 million baptized members.

3) Protestantism: Groups such as Anglicans, Lutherans, Reformed/Presbyterians, Congregational/United Church of Christ, Evangelical, Charismatic, Baptists, Methodists, Nazarenes, Anabaptists, Seventh-day Adventists and Pentecostals. The oldest of these separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century Protestant Reformation, followed in many cases by further divisions.

Estimates of the total number of
Protestants are very uncertain, partly because of the difficulty in determining which denominations should be placed in this category, but it seems to be unquestionable that Protestantism is the second major branch of Christianity (after Roman Catholicism) in number of followers.

Answer 8

I was born and raised in the Catholic Church. And I also converted to the LDS church for a few years so I've experienced both.

I have since converted back to Catholicism. I simply feel more comfortable there and feel the spirit there profoundly.

Neither is absolutely true. I would say that the Catholic Church is MORE true than any other religion on earth.

I must warn you that if you chose to join the LDS church, be careful! Be sure to study the religion outside of what the missionaries teach you. They are imfamous for teaching you only about Protestant-friendly doctrines of their church, and then waiting until you are a "full-fledged" member to teach you of their controversial doctrines.


And to rebute what many other people have posted... The Catholic church hasn't added to Christian doctrine, Martin Luther and all the other "reformers" have TAKEN AWAY from the beauty of pure religion. They have perverted Christianity into the fanaticism that we see today in the US.

You are right to know that Protestantism is the farthest from true Christianity.

Answer 9

Jesus didn't teach to join a church at all. God doesn't want "churches". God wants people. God wants love. So every person is able to have a connection with God if they want. Every believer is part of His church. A group of people who love and believe in God and Jesus Christ could be a "church". It's not a specific "religion". That's religion and it is man-made.

Answer 10

I must agree with (romns_1_1...). He seems to have the Truth nailed on the head. GOD gave us the BIBLE to measure exactly what we are supposed to be doing in worship and in life. HIS Standard is the only standard for living in this world. Time and people will change but HIS WORD is not to change. We were told NOT to add to or take from HIS WORD. IT is interesting to me that the LDS and Catholic members seem to think that everything needs to change to make our FATHER happy. HE sent CHRIST to spread HIS WORD so that all may be saved. That WORD will not change. The Church of CHRIST that I attend follows HIS WORD exactly as it is written and has not attempted to change what we are doing to make any person more important than CHRIST. HIS WAY is the WAY that we are to be following not man's way. Have a great day!
Eds

Answer 11

Mormon beliefs are totally inconsistent with those of Catholicism.

Jesus founded one church, and he also promised that the gates of hell would never prevail against it. He also promised to stay with it until the end of the age.

Jesus never mentioned Joseph Smith, or any of the strange doctrines he claims to have discovered.

Furthermore, God does not support the teachings of false prophets, and all of the LDS prophets have been proven to be false.

Stick with the original Catholic and universal church. The men who govern it are far from perfect, but it contains all of the original truths which were handed down to it by Christ and the apostles, as well as the real and substantial presence of Jesus Christ..

You can't do any better than that.