Can anyone prove that the Roman Catholic Church is not the true Church?

Question

Can anyone provide Hard evidence that the Catholic Church is not the true Church of Jesus Christ?

Answer 1

No. There is NO hard evidence. Christ established One Church, not many. The is only One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Ignatius of Antioch
"Be not deceived, my brethren: If anyone follows a maker of schism [i.e., is a schismatic], he does not inherit the kingdom of God; if anyone walks in strange doctrine [i.e., is a heretic], he has no part in the passion [of Christ]. Take care, then, to use one Eucharist, so that whatever you do, you do according to God: For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup in the union of his blood; one altar, as there is one bishop, with the presbytery and my fellow servants, the deacons" (Letter to the Philadelphians 3:3–4:1 [A.D. 110]).


Justin Martyr
"We have been taught that Christ is the first-begotten of God, and we have declared him to be the Logos of which all mankind partakes [John 1:9]. Those, therefore, who lived according to reason [Greek, logos] were really Christians, even though they were thought to be atheists, such as, among the Greeks, Socrates, Heraclitus, and others like them. . . . Those who lived before Christ but did not live according to reason [logos] were wicked men, and enemies of Christ, and murderers of those who did live according to reason [logos], whereas those who lived then or who live now according to reason [logos] are Christians. Such as these can be confident and unafraid" (First Apology 46 [A.D. 151]).


Irenaeus
"In the Church God has placed apostles, prophets, teachers, and every other working of the Spirit, of whom none of those are sharers who do not conform to the Church, but who defraud themselves of life by an evil mind and even worse way of acting. Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and all grace" (Against Heresies 3:24:1 [A.D. 189]).

"[The spiritual man] shall also judge those who give rise to schisms, who are destitute of the love of God, and who look to their own special advantage rather than to the unity of the Church; and who for trifling reasons, or any kind of reason which occurs to them, cut in pieces and divide the great and glorious body of Christ, and so far as in them lies, destroy it—men who prate of peace while they give rise to war, and do in truth strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. For they can bring about no ‘reformation’ of enough importance to compensate for the evil arising from their schism. . . . True knowledge is that which consists in the doctrine of the apostles, and the ancient constitution of the Church throughout all the world, and the distinctive manifestation of the body of Christ according to the successions of the bishops, by which they have handed down that Church which exists in every place [i.e., the Catholic Church]" (ibid., 4:33:7–8).


Clement of Alexandria
"Before the coming of the Lord, philosophy was necessary for justification to the Greeks; now it is useful for piety . . . for it brought the Greeks to Christ as the law did the Hebrews" (Miscellanies 1:5 [A.D. 208]).


Origen
"[T]here was never a time when God did not want men to be just; he was always concerned about that. Indeed, he always provided beings endowed with reason with occasions for practicing virtue and doing what is right. In every generation the wisdom of God descended into those souls which he found holy and made them to be prophets and friends of God" (Against Celsus 4:7 [A.D. 248]).

"If someone from this people wants to be saved, let him come into this house so that he may be able to attain his salvation. . . . Let no one, then, be persuaded otherwise, nor let anyone deceive himself: Outside of this house, that is, outside of the Church, no one is saved; for, if anyone should go out of it, he is guilty of his own death" (Homilies on Joshua 3:5 [A.D. 250]).


Cyprian of Carthage
"Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress [a schismatic church] is separated from the promises of the Church, nor will he that forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is an alien, a worldling, and an enemy. He cannot have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother" (The Unity of the Catholic Church 6, 1st ed. [A.D. 251]).

"Let them not think that the way of life or salvation exists for them, if they have refused to obey the bishops and priests, since the Lord says in the book of Deuteronomy: ‘And any man who has the insolence to refuse to listen to the priest or judge, whoever he may be in those days, that man shall die’ [Deut. 17:12]. And then, indeed, they were killed with the sword . . . but now the proud and insolent are killed with the sword of the Spirit, when they are cast out from the Church. For they cannot live outside, since there is only one house of God, and there can be no salvation for anyone except in the Church" (Letters 61[4]:4 [A.D. 253]).

"When we say, ‘Do you believe in eternal life and the remission of sins through the holy Church?’ we mean that remission of sins is not granted except in the Church" (ibid., 69[70]:2 [A.D. 253]).

"Peter himself, showing and vindicating the unity, has commanded and warned us that we cannot be saved except by the one only baptism of the one Church. He says, ‘In the ark of Noah a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. Similarly, baptism will in like manner save you" [1 Peter 3:20-21]. In how short and spiritual a summary has he set forth the sacrament of unity! In that baptism of the world in which its ancient wickedness was washed away, he who was not in the ark of Noah could not be saved by water. Likewise, neither can he be saved by baptism who has not been baptized in the Church which is established in the unity of the Lord according to the sacrament of the one ark" (ibid., 73[71]:11).

"[O]utside the Church there is no Holy Spirit, sound faith moreover cannot exist, not alone among heretics, but even among those who are established in schism" (Treatise on Rebaptism 10 [A.D. 256]).


Lactantius
"It is, therefore, the Catholic Church alone which retains true worship. This is the fountain of truth; this, the domicile of faith; this, the temple of God. Whoever does not enter there or whoever does not go out from there, he is a stranger to the hope of life and salvation. . . . Because, however, all the various groups of heretics are confident that they are the Christians and think that theirs is the Catholic Church, let it be known that this is the true Church, in which there is confession and penance and which takes a health-promoting care of the sins and wounds to which the weak flesh is subject" (Divine Institutes 4:30:11–13 [A.D. 307]).


Jerome
"Heretics bring sentence upon themselves since they by their own choice withdraw from the Church, a withdrawal which, since they are aware of it, constitutes damnation. Between heresy and schism there is this difference: that heresy involves perverse doctrine, while schism separates one from the Church on account of disagreement with the bishop. Nevertheless, there is no schism which does not trump up a heresy to justify its departure from the Church" (Commentary on Titus 3:10–11 [A.D. 386]).


Augustine
"We believe also in the holy Church, that is, the Catholic Church. For heretics violate the faith itself by a false opinion about God; schismatics, however, withdraw from fraternal love by hostile separations, although they believe the same things we do. Consequently, neither heretics nor schismatics belong to the Catholic Church; not heretics, because the Church loves God; and not schismatics, because the Church loves neighbor" (Faith and the Creed 10:21 [A.D. 393]).

"[J]ust as baptism is of no profit to the man who renounces the world in words and not in deeds, so it is of no profit to him who is baptized in heresy or schism; but each of them, when he amends his ways, begins to receive profit from that which before was not profitable, but was yet already in him" (On Baptism, Against the Donatists 4:4[6] [A.D. 400]).

"I do not hesitate to put the Catholic catechumen, burning with divine love, before a baptized heretic. Even within the Catholic Church herself we put the good catechumen ahead of the wicked baptized person . . . For Cornelius, even before his baptism, was filled up with the Holy Spirit [Acts 10:44–48], while Simon [Magus], even after his baptism, was puffed up with an unclean spirit [Acts 8:13–19]" (ibid., 4:21[28]).

"The apostle Paul said, ‘As for a man that is a heretic, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him’ [Titus 3:10]. But those who maintain their own opinion, however false and perverted, without obstinate ill will, especially those who have not originated the error of bold presumption, but have received it from parents who had been led astray and had lapsed . . . those who seek the truth with careful industry and are ready to be corrected when they have found it, are not to be rated among heretics" (Letters 43:1 [A.D. 412]).

"Whoever is separated from this Catholic Church, by this single sin of being separated from the unity of Christ, no matter how estimable a life he may imagine he is living, shall not have life, but the wrath of God rests upon him" (ibid., 141:5).


Fulgentius of Ruspe
"Anyone who receives the sacrament of baptism, whether in the Catholic Church or in a heretical or schismatic one, receives the whole sacrament; but salvation, which is the strength of the sacrament, he will not have, if he has had the sacrament outside the Catholic Church [and remains in deliberate schism]. He must therefore return to the Church, not so that he might receive again the sacrament of baptism, which no one dare repeat in any baptized person, but so that he may receive eternal life in Catholic society, for the obtaining of which no one is suited who, even with the sacrament of baptism, remains estranged from the Catholic Church" (The Rule of Faith 43 [A.D. 524]).

Answer 2

The Roman cult did not even get started until 300 yrs after The Church was commissioned by Christ.... there is absolutely no evidence for their claim to Apostolic succession... Historical fact... fully documented in detail... go to any good university library and do the research.

The Roman papists are not The Church..... The Church is The Only Church and Jesus The Christ is The Head... not any pope..... nor are the Baptists, the Adventists, the Lutherans, or any other of the ones claiming the title "Christian", The Church

The Church is made up of all of those of The True Christian Faith.

All who come to God in The Way He prescribes will receive His free gift of Salvation. those become part of The Body of The Church of which Jesus The Christ is The Head. Those are the ones of The True Christian Faith. Only those of The Church will enter Heaven

Answer 3

You have no real proof that it is the Church that Jesus wanted to have established. I look at Peter and Paul, two different men with two vastly different messages. Peter and Paul had differences and didn't always get along. If Peter is in fact the first Pope and the founder of Christ's Church then why is there so much emphasis on Paul? How do you know or anyone else for that matter what Jesus wanted to have carried forth no matter what religion you are? It may have been the first established Church but it may have nothing to do with Christ. I'm not meaning to offend so sorry if I do. Many blessings
Former Catholic, now Buddhist

Answer 4

Well since Peter had signs and wonders following him and the Catholic church usually doesn't, and since Peter did not wear priestly robes and act all dignified and get "ordained"..........but instead just stood up and preached under the annointing of the Holy Ghost to 3000 people who got saved that day...........and since Jesus told Peter the church would be built on him and we see that Peter did not count rosary beads or pray to Mary........I would say the Catholic church is not the church established by Jesus Christ.
I would say it's a church "made without hands" just as Jesus said it would be! And there will be no iniquity found in the church of Jesus Christ built by the Holy Spirit and whoever is greatest will be servant of all not parading around like they are all important like the Pope does. I'm sure I"ll get hate mail for this. .........don't care. Praise be to Jesus Christ alone who is worthy to be praised.

Answer 5

The true church baptizes converts in the Name of Jesus Christ. This is an important part of salvation. See Acts 2:38.
The catholic church baptizes in titles, not the name.

The true church was birthed on the day of Pentecost after the resurrection.
The catholic church did not come into being until the Nicene Council around 325 AD

The true church worships Jesus Christ, and has Him as their Mediator.
The catholic church has put Mary in that position.

'Nuff said

Answer 6

Yes. Jesus commanded that we call no one father.

Mat 23:9 And call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven

The Roman Catholic church requires people disobey Jesus and obey the church instead. Kinda obvious. One of those cute little "duh" questions which only go further to prove that the church also discourages people from obeying Jesus yet another way..which is to STUDY the scriptures ..so we will know what JESUS taught.

for the thumbs down person.. Jesus said to follow Jesus. The church is not your Jesus. If the church IS your Jesus ..then guess what.. you are following nothing but yourself... a sinner..and Jesus said follow NO sinner such as yourself because that is the blind leading the blind into the ditch.

Follow Jesus .

Answer 7

Crusades, inquisition, sexual misconduct in its ranks, Marian worship, shall I go on? The real tragedy here is that the bad behaviour of the Catholic Church is said to apply to all Christians according to the atheist faction when the fact is the Church leadership is not very Christian at all.

Answer 8

Whatever evidence we provide you will refuse to accept as conclusive or real, so why bother.


I'll just quote Jesus: "By their fruit shall you know them .. A good tree CANNOT bring forth evil fruit." And the fruits of the Catholic Church have been evil, unless you think the eradication of Classical Civilization, the Inquisition, and the Crusades were morally spotless.

OPUS DEI is a Fascist organization involved in subversion.

Answer 9

The Roman catholic church is all about punishment, no tolerance, or understanding, and all the "good" Roman Catholic sheep are taught to never question anything especially their religion they are brainwashed into believing. Moronism (Mormonism) is the same way but it's a cult.

Canonization of Popes in the Church of Rome strikes me as simply a reprise of the practice of deification of Caesars in ancient Imperial Rome.

After the collapse of the Republic, imperial Caesars became routinely added to the pantheon of Roman gods (usually after the politician in question was safely dead), making them available for worship by the populous. Certainly, it added to the authority of sitting Caesars, since by implication they were potential gods themselves. Small wonder, it became a custom of the "old boys club" of Caesars.

A similar custom seems to be emerging within the papacy--declare your predecessor a saint, and your successor will show you the same courtesy after you pass). God is too distracted with all His godly doings to be bothered with identifying saints to the living--so He leaves it to the Church, his personal secretary, to do so on his behalf (after the candidate has passed, and no longer potentially threatens the hierarchy, of course).

This latest papal canonization is exposing a long-concealed conceit of the Church--that it prefers to think that it can elevate someone into sainthood, more than merely diagnose that someone is a saint. This became clear when the criteria for recognizing someone as a saint were openly set aside in the present case (in the past, conformity to the criteria was simply fabricated, so the conceit could remain concealed).

So, it is that conceit itself, as well as the moldering Pope, that is being elevated.

Of course, this will not concern the pious laity. They're just happy to have another saint to petition to intercede with God on their behalf. The laity might be gullible, but it is always practical.

The notion of "saint" among Catholics is a reinvention, it seems to me, of the old Roman notion of demigods (meaning, in this case, lesser gods).

The human individual who is regarded as having attained this distinction has been adjudged to have achieved such a high order of holiness that they merit worship, much as if they were gods themselves. Initially, discussion about sainthood was over how to diagnose the condition, and the conversation was open to reasoned debate (usually between scholars, both secular and religious). But it was not long before discussion of the issue was seized as the exclusive prerogative of the priesthood. The question ceased to be about diagnostics, and became about the range of the power and privilege of the priesthood - in other words, it became less a matter of recognizing merit, than of awarding merit.

In modern usage, the term has become a facile honorific. Anyone who leads a reasonably ethical life, and is thought so highly of that they are idolized, is sometimes, carelessly, described as saintly. The question of whether any of the individuals pictured are deserving of worship is ludicrous. Certainly none of them are any more deserving than anyone else (in fact, I would argue that no being, natural or supernatural, is deserving of our self-abasing ourselves).

The modern day Roman Catholic church has nothing to do with actual Christianity and instead has more in common with the Ancient Roman religion.

The majority of Roman Catholics around the world who have any sort of intelligence have left the Roman Catholic church in droves and became spiritual, found a new faith, or become Atheist or Agnostic. These intelligent people know how to think for themselves, and know that the Roman Catholic church has been rotten to the core for centuries and still is today.

Answer 10

UMMM the fact that there are so many others?


Try the fact that the Catholic Church DECIDED which gospels it (the men in charge - nb MEN) would allow people to read supressing anything that didn´t agree with their agenda.

OK, just go with the agenda. Religion shouldn´t have an agenda.

Answer 11

As you can see from their answers there is no Hard proof. They are blind to the truth. Christ told us that there would be a great falling away. Here it is.

The Lord be with you Opus Dei