Why the Catholic church?

Question

Why do so many believe that the catholic church is the first and true church? They do not hold fast to the true teaching of the Bible.

If it was not for Jesus there would be no Christians.

Answer 1

I respectfully disagree.

The Catholic Church does hold fast to the teachings of the Bible. But these teachings are taken from looking at the Bible as a whole and not verse by verse.

For example, verse by verse we would be advocating the death penalty for all kinds of crimes including a son or daughter who curses his father or mother. (Exodus 21:17)

But looking at the Bible as a whole, God who is love and wants the redemption of all can easily be seen. Therefore the Church cindemns almost all cases of capital punishments. She does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives.

However in today's modern society, the capability of rendering the offender incapable of doing harm - without definitively taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically non-existent.

+ Sources of Doctrine +

Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

The Catholic Church does not use Holy Scripture as the only basis of doctrine. It could not. The early Catholic church existed before and during the time that the New Testament was written (by Catholics).

There were hundreds of Christian writings during the first and second centuries. Which New Testament writings would become official was not fully decided until about 400 AD.

Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit was guiding the early church (and is guiding the church today) to make the correct choices about things like:
+ The Holy Trinity (which is also only hinted at in the Bible)
+ Going to church on Sunday instead of Saturday (which is actually directly against one of the Ten Commandments)
+ The Communion of Saints
+ Which writings include in the New Testament?

Things that are even more modern like
+ Slavery is bad. Slavery is never declared evil in the Bible. This was one of the justifications for slavery in the Confederate States.
+ Democracy is good. The Bible states that either God should be the leader of the nation like Israel before the kings or kings should be the leader, "Give to Caesar that which is Caesar's." This was talked about a lot during the American Revolution.

This second source of doctrine is called Apostolic Tradition and never contradicts Holy Scripture that is looked at as a whole.

Do Christians who do not allow the continuing guiding force of the Holy Spirit to make their beliefs more and more perfect, still endorse slavery as Colossians 3:22 commands, "Slaves, obey your human masters in everything"?

We instruct you, brothers, in the name of (our) Lord Jesus Christ,to shun any brother who conducts himself in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us. (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions, just as I handed them on to you. (1 Corinthians 11:2)

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

If there was no Jesus Christ, then there would be no Catholic Church. If there was no Catholic Church there would be no New Testament and no other Christian religions that run around trying to convert other Christians to their way of thinking. So many Christian sects completely ignore these facts and believe the only way to Jesus Christ is through their Christian interpretation. of the Bible - so much so that the Catholic Church, with all it's failures, is the first Christian Church.
Who are you to pretend to understand the Truth more-so than
other church's take on the interpretation of the Bible. Do you play Beatles' vinyl back words to find some awe inspiring truths?
The Catholic Church grew from, in the beginning, a sect of Jews following the lead of the Apostles and Jesus Christ.
A lot of what I see is contradictory in the Bible about, whether or not to worship Jesus or to worship God or to worship - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Answer 3

It's not a matter of believing. It's historical fact.

The Catholic Church is the original church set down by Jesus Christ. History proves this.

"They do not hold fast to the true teaching of the bible."

History also proves that the Christian bible used by all Christians today came from the Catholic Church. This, too, is historical fact.

God bless.

Answer 4

Please don't be so illiterate of history.


Christ has established a Church.

All Protestants acknowledge, too, that he has established only one Church, only one Church. For whenever Christ speaks of His Church, it is always in the singular.
Bible readers, remember that He says, "Hear the Church," not hear the churches. "I have built My Church upon a rock," not My churches.




He speaks of His Church as a sheepfold, in which there is but one shepherd, that is the head of all. And the sheep are made to follow his voice, "Other sheep I have who are not of this fold." One fold, you see. He speaks of His Church as of a kingdom, in which there is but one king to rule all. And He speaks of His Church as a family in which there is but one father at the head. He speaks of His Church as a tree, and all the branches of that tree are connected with the trunk, and the trunk with the roots, and Christ is the root. The trunk is Peter and the Popes, the large branches are the bishops, the smaller branches the priests, and the fruit upon that tree are the faithful throughout the world. The branch, says He, that is cut off from that tree shall wither away, produce no fruit, and is only fit to be cast into the fire, that is, damnation.

There are now three hundred and fifty different Protestant churches in existence, and almost every year one or two more are added. Besides this number, there is the Catholic Church.

It is evident no church can be the Church of Jesus except the one that was established by Jesus.

Historical fact admitted by all. He lived on earth thirty-three years. That was about nineteen centuries before our time. That is the time Christ established His Church on earth. Any Church, that has not existed this long, is not the Church of Jesus Christ, but is the institution or invention of some man, but not of God, not of Christ.

The history of all nations, of all people, bears testimony that the Catholic Church is the oldest and the first. It is the one established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Answer 5

Pastor Billy says: but holding fast to the true teachings of the bible would of course make you a Catholic. I think you need to study all of Christianity from a 2000 year understanding not just a last 50 year understanding with Franklin Graham

additions:

for Nicole, the crusades were a response to Islamic aggression, be glad they occurred if not for those early Christians Europe would have been completely overrun by Mohammedanism fanatics and no one would have been Christian at all.

for Viki, re the church as a building please see the following link below you deny the buildings and the sacred artwork and the pilgrimage shrines because you deny history and have been taught to recreate history, to enter into asort of revisionism. A challenge for you... find me a Protestant bible from any century prior to the Protestant Reformation some 1600 years after Jesus Christ. Find me an example of a Protestant church from the 10th century. You reject the physical stones of the church because you have no history.

http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AieRZSTtHnS6LrWocxtYebkh4wt.?qid=20061201230747AACuIfg

Answer 6

The Catholic Church is the First Christian Church. It exists for 2000 years and has a rich mystical history. Thousands of people have studied it, served it and died for it.

On the other hands you have the little Churches that have existed for not even 300 years. They bend the rules when ever they want to serve their followers and their Grand Master appears on TV every Sunday selling Jesus Christ on DVD.

The Catholic Church teaches the New Testament. It's made through time it's own commandments such as not eating meat on Good Friday. They are additional to Jesus Teaching not modifying the teaching.

Answer 7

Why do so many people believe that every word of the Bible should be taken literally? I have some criticisms of the RCC myself, but "not hold[ing] fast to ... the Bible" isn't one of them. How could the RCC be Bible-based when the Bible didn't even exist in its present form when the RCC was founded? And, for that matter, why did Protestants feel they had a right to REMOVE certain books from the Bible? (Compare a Protestant and a Catholic Bible, and you'll see that the Protestant Bible has some books "missing" from the Old Testament.)

If you're really going to hold fast to the Bible in all things, then you have to believe that the number pi is exactly 3 (see First Kings, Chapter 7), which is clearly ridiculous. Personally, I think God arranged to have that put in there on purpose, just to let reasonable people know that Biblical literalism makes no sense.

Answer 8

Traditionally, it is taught that it was founded by Peter - as he was supposed to lead the church. Therefore, it would make it is the first and true church as before Catholicism, there was nothing else for Christians. As for us not holding to the true teachings of the Bible, why bother with that? Does any church? The term rapture is not a Biblical Term. It was added by a British pastor in the late 1800s. It seems that neither of our faiths is 'true' any longer. I don't understand why you seem to pick at small details. God surely doesn't care, and you shouldn't either. As long as we are worshiping God, the details shouldn't matter. The thing that makes us Christian is Jesus. Nothing else is important.

Answer 9

"what is the house looking thing under the crucifix at the front of the church called that the pastor puts the communion crackers in after communion? what is it called?" First, the bread is not in the form of crackers, but are called hosts. The "house looking thing" is called a tabernacle. "what is the long prayer that everyone says during mass that everyone knows the words to? is that the sinners prayer?" There are many prayers that everyone says together. If it is at the beginning of the Mass and speaks about sins, it is probably the Confeitor. i noticed there were 2 offerings. The first one was just envelopes or pieces of paper and the 2nd was obviously money. was the first one prayer requests? on the crucifixx there was a banner that said INRI. what does that mean? " I noticed there were 2 offerings. The first one was just envelopes or pieces of paper and the 2nd was obviously money. was the first one prayer requests?" Sometimes there is a second collection for a special project. I believe that last weekend was a special collection for Peter's Pence - a collection to support the charitiable projects of the Vatican. "on the crucifixx there was a banner that said INRI. what does that mean?" INRI is an acronym for Iesus Nazorean Rex Iudea - which is latin for Jesus of Nazoreth, King of the Jews - this is the "crime" that Jesus was charged with. Feel free to contact me with any other questions

Answer 10

After much soul searching, prayer and reading, I have come to a conclusion that "the full truth of the christian message" is to be found ONLY in the Catholic church. In the past I used to participate in any christian church. However, I always experieced so many inconsistencies in the faith and worship of my fellow "brothers in christ" especially protestants. I have nothing against them whatsoever, in fact most of my friends are "saved...born again" christians and I can testify that most of them seek,love and serve God with a sincere heart. What lead me to such soul searching is a deeper and more profound quest for a true christian message.There is indisputable historical and biblical evidence to support the faith and belief in the Catholic church.However,many non-catholics take a "superficial and critical assessment" of the basic doctrines and so do not come to the full appreciation of the Catholic claim. I realised this and so the reason for my decision. Discuss with me.