True Church?? (Catholics only please)?

Question

Do Catholics believe they are the true church? Scriptural proof only.

Answer 1

If we wish to locate the true Church founded by Jesus, we need to locate the one that has the marks of his Church.

1. The Church Is One (Rom. 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:13)...

Rom 12:5 so we the many are one body in Christ, and each one members of one another.

1Co 10:17 For we, the many, are one bread and one body; for we are all partakers of that one bread.

1Co 12:13 For also by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free, even all were made to drink into one Spirit.


2. The Church Is Holy (Eph. 5:23–27, Rev. 19:7–8)...

Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,
Eph 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,
Eph 5:27 that He might present it to Himself as the glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints.

By his grace Jesus makes the Church holy, just as He is holy. This doesn’t mean that each member is always holy. Jesus said there would be both good and bad members in the Church (John 6:70), and not all the members would go to heaven (Matt. 7:21–23).
But the Church itself is holy because it is the source of holiness and is the guardian of the special means of grace Jesus established, the sacraments (Eph. 5:26).


3. The Church Is Universal (Matt. 28:19–20, Rev. 5:9–10)...

Mat 28:19 Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.

Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals, for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
Rev 5:10 And You made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign over the earth.


4. The Church Is Apostolic (Eph. 2:19–20)...

Eph 2:19 Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
Eph 2:20 and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,


Lets see what scripture says about the Church that Christ started...

Many Christians will state fervently that the Bible is the source of truth, but the Bible refutes this belief...

1Ti 3:15 But if I should delay, that you may know how you ought to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.


Jesus assured the apostles and their successors, the popes and the bishops...

Luke 10:16 "He who listens to you listens to me, and he who rejects you rejects me"


Jesus promised to guide his Church into all truth...

Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak. And He will announce to you things to come.


So, we can have confidence that his Church teaches only the truth.

Jesus established only one Church, not a collection of differing churches.

Mat 16:18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Man cannot account for this. The Church has remained one, holy, universal, and apostolic—not through man’s effort, but because God preserves the Church he established (Matt. 16:18, 28:20).
He guided the Israelites on their escape from Egypt by giving them a pillar of fire to light their way across the dark wilderness (Exod. 13:21). Today he guides His church in the same way.

The Bible, sacred Tradition, and the writings of the earliest Christians testify that the Church teaches with Jesus’ authority. In this age of countless competing religions, each clamoring for attention, one voice rises above the rest:


The Catholic Church...


Among all the Christian churches, only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The Protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. (Most of today’s Protestant churches are actually offshoots of the original Protestant offshoots.)
Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The line of popes can be traced back, in unbroken succession, to Peter himself. This is unequaled by any institution in history.

Think about this for a while and pray about it...

Then Christ will lead you to the truth...

Answer 2

Yes, and the existence of the New Testament itself proves it, as Catholics were the ones who collected, preserved, canonized and distributed the NT.

Also, everything the Bible teaches is Catholic teaching. You can't really separate the two (though I suspect you may have been taught -- erroneously -- that Catholics do not follow Scripture. Rest assured, friend, we DO!).

And, Matthew 16:13-19 describes Jesus building His Church upon Peter, our first pope, and there has been an unbroken succession of leaders since then.

Answer 3

Oh, I guess I posted under the wrong question. Hold on.


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I am a Catholic, and many of us feel we are the "True Church", but I disagree.

I have a very unique outlook on religion, in that I fell that all religions are "right" to some extent.

The way I see it, we are not smart enough to understand God when He speaks to us, so different people hear His voice different ways, and that explains the different religions.
Therefore, each religion is technically based on the Word of God, just in different ways, so a good follower of any religion is OK.

Answer 4

I do believe it has the fullness of truth. when Jesus said to Peter, "on this rock I will build my Church".