Jesus Made One Church.

[MC Just]

Jesus made only One Church

Matthew 16:18

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my CHURCH, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. Not Churches

It’s obvious in this verse that Jesus only created ONE Church.

Then why are there 33,832 different churches claiming to be that church? It’s because they came from the original Church, by splitting away from it. They have separated themselves from the ONE body of Christ. But this major split didn’t occur until the 1500’s when Martin Luther started his “De-Formation” from that time on all kinds of people were creating their own churches, based on Martin Luther’s version of the Bible. The truth is one; therefore the 33,832-protestant churches are false, because they cannot all be right. There can only be one Church that contains the fullness of Christian Truth.

Ignatius of Antioch

"For as many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop. And as many as shall, in the exercise of penance, return into the unity of the Church, these, too, shall belong to God, that they may live according to Jesus Christ" (Letter to the Philadelphians 3 [A.D. 110]).

"For where there is division and wrath, God does not dwell. To all them that repent, the Lord grants forgiveness, if they turn in penitence to the unity of God, and to communion with the bishop" (ibid., 8).

That’s a quote from the Early Church. Paul warned about Division and those who cause division in the New Testament. The Catholic church is not Divided it is completely united worldwide It is One Church.

The Church is one. Unity is its prime characteristic. Whatever else the Church may be, it is one -- visibly one, unmistakably one, incontrovertibly one.

St. Augustine follows St. Cyprian, and uses his metaphor with excellent effect against the Donatists.

"The Catholic Church, which as St. Cyprian says, 'stretches her branches in the richness of exuberance over the whole earth,' endures everywhere the scandals of those who, through the fault of their grievous pride, are cut off from her, some in one place and some in another....For where they fall there they remain, and in the place where they are severed there they wither away; whence the Church herself from which they are cut off is spread even through those lands where those broken branches lie each in its own region." And again: "Wherever heretics exist there is also the Catholic Church; but the reverse is not true, that wherever the Church exists there is also any particular heresy. Whence it is evident enough which is the tree that spreads its branches over the whole earth," (here he quotes St. Cyprian again) "and which are the broken branches that have no vital connection with the root, but lie and wither each in its own place." Even the people of Africa could have told us what was meant by the figure of the vine and the branches; for their great Bishop taught them to sing a psalm against the Donatists, one of the closing stanzas of which runs thus:

Come, brethren, if you wish to be engrafted in the vine;

We grieve to see you lie thus cut off from it.

Number your bishops from the very Chair of Peter,

And in that list of Fathers trace the succession.

This is the Rock against which the proud gates of hell do not prevail.

I. THE CHURCH IS ONE

"The sacred mystery of the Church's unity" (UR 2)

813 The Church is one because of her source: "the highest exemplar and source of this mystery is the unity, in the Trinity of Persons, of one God, the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit."259 The Church is one because of her founder: for "the Word made flesh, the prince of peace, reconciled all men to God by the cross, . . . restoring the unity of all in one people and one body."260 The Church is one because of her "soul": "It is the Holy Spirit, dwelling in those who believe and pervading and ruling over the entire Church, who brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful and joins them together so intimately in Christ that he is the principle of the Church's unity."261 Unity is of the essence of the Church:

What an astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one Logos of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one and the same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to call her "Church."262

814 From the beginning, this one Church has been marked by a great diversity which comes from both the variety of God's gifts and the diversity of those who receive them. Within the unity of the People of God, a multiplicity of peoples and cultures is gathered together. Among the Church's members, there are different gifts, offices, conditions, and ways of life. "Holding a rightful place in the communion of the Church there are also particular Churches that retain their own traditions."263 The great richness of such diversity is not opposed to the Church's unity. Yet sin and the burden of its consequences constantly threaten the gift of unity. And so the Apostle has to exhort Christians to "maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."264

815 What are these bonds of unity? Above all, charity "binds everything together in perfect harmony."265 But the unity of the pilgrim Church is also assured by visible bonds of communion:

- profession of one faith received from the Apostles;

-common celebration of divine worship, especially of the sacraments;

- apostolic succession through the sacrament of Holy Orders, maintaining the fraternal concord of God's family.266

816 "The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it. . . . This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in (subsistit in) the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him."267

The Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism explains: "For it is through Christ's Catholic Church alone, which is the universal help toward salvation, that the fullness of the means of salvation can be obtained. It was to the apostolic college alone, of which Peter is the head, that we believe that our Lord entrusted all the blessings of the New Covenant, in order to establish on earth the one Body of Christ into which all those should be fully incorporated who belong in any way to the People of God."268

Edited September 8, 2003 by Mc-Just†

[Unshackled]

The church of the first century was known as "The Way" and in no way distinguished itself as any thing but followers of the teachings of Jesus. Could it possibly be in 330AD when Emperor Constantine realised that he could not contain this unexplainable growth of "Christians" despite Roman persecution that he declared that Christianity was to be the official religion of Rome. Would we possibly consider this political intervention and distortion of the truth to have polluted the original design of Christ? Is this where the title "ROMAN" Catholic church was first uttered? Mmmm!

[Robyn]

Matthew 16:18

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my CHURCH, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. Not Churches

and didn't he also say

Go into all the world and preach the good news (John 16:15 or 15:16)

I could milk more out of that but sleep is calling...

CHURCH... have you ever thought of Jesus' church in terms of family...for example, in one family, there are people with different gifts, talents, personalities, dreams and goals...but they're still part of the family. They could live in different houses and towns, drive different cars, but they still belong together...

[cmotherofpirl]

The church of the first century was known as "The Way" and in no way distinguished itself as any thing but followers of the teachings of Jesus.  Could it possibly be in 330AD when Emperor Constantine realised that he could not contain this unexplainable growth of "Christians" despite Roman persecution that he declared that Christianity was to be the official religion of Rome. Would we possibly consider this political intervention and distortion of the truth to have polluted the original design of Christ? Is this where the title "ROMAN" Catholic church was first uttered? Mmmm!

nope.

THe church was well established long before Constantine.

All he did was stop killing christians, because he had a vision from God.

Making it legal didn't change it.

[cmotherofpirl]

and didn't he also say

Go into all the world and preach the good news (John 16:15 or 15:16)

I could milk more out of that but sleep is calling...

CHURCH... have you ever thought of Jesus' church in terms of family...for example, in one family, there are people with different gifts, talents, personalities, dreams and goals...but they're still part of the family. They could live in different houses and towns, drive different cars, but they still belong together...

THat works up to a certain point.

But when members of the family walk away, and say we aren't family anymore. When their children are raised estranged and isolated are they still family?

If they go so far off the deep end for many years are they still family?

A middle aged woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience. Seeing God she asked "Is my time up?"

God said, No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days

to live."

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a facelift, liposuction, and a tummy tuck. She even had someone come in and change her hair color. Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well make the most of it. After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded, "I thought you said I had another 40 years? Why didn't you pull me from out of the path of the ambulance?"

God replied, "I didn't recognize you."

[jasJis]

The church of the first century was known as "The Way" and in no way distinguished itself as any thing but followers of the teachings of Jesus.  Could it possibly be in 330AD when Emperor Constantine realised that he could not contain this unexplainable growth of "Christians" despite Roman persecution that he declared that Christianity was to be the official religion of Rome. Would we possibly consider this political intervention and distortion of the truth to have polluted the original design of Christ? Is this where the title "ROMAN" Catholic church was first uttered? Mmmm!

Unshackled,

Every knee shall bow to the name of the Lord.

Constantine bowed.

If Constanine had his way, we'd be the Constaninople Catholic Chruch, it would not be the Roman Catholic Church. Check with your history teacher.

Mmmm?.

[MC Just]

The church of the first century was known as "The Way" and in no way distinguished itself as any thing but followers of the teachings of Jesus.  Could it possibly be in 330AD when Emperor Constantine realised that he could not contain this unexplainable growth of "Christians" despite Roman persecution that he declared that Christianity was to be the official religion of Rome. Would we possibly consider this political intervention and distortion of the truth to have polluted the original design of Christ? Is this where the title "ROMAN" Catholic church was first uttered? Mmmm!

If you are implying that Constantine created our Church and that he was the first pope, than you are ignorant and need to back away from all that Protestant rhetoric. History, Honest history that is tells us what really went on. See all the Popes below, they ruled the Catholic church way before Constantine was even in existance. We have writings, from the first couple of centuries that prove those accusations wrong, Peter and Paul founded the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. Not Constantine. "Roman" Catholics were underground and hiding from Persecution, until Constantine, stopped the Persecution by legalizing it.

St. Peter (32-67)

St. Linus (67-76)

St. Anacletus (76-88)

St. Clement I (88-97)

St. Evaristus (97-105)

St. Alexander I (105-115)

St. Sixtus I (115-125)

St. Telesphorus (125-136)

St. Hyginus (136-140)

St. Pius I (140-155)

St. Anicetus (155-166)

St. Soter (166-175)

St. Eleutherius (175-189)

St. Victor I (189-199)

St. Zephyrinus (199-217)

St. Callistus I (217-22)

St. Urban I (222-30)

St. Pontain (230-35)

St. Anterus (235-36)

St. Fabian (236-50)

St. Cornelius (251-53)

St. Lucius I (253-54)

St. Stephen I (254-257)

St. Sixtus II (257-258)

St. Dionysius (260-268)

St. Felix I (269-274)

St. Eutychian (275-283)

St. Caius (283-296)

St. Marcellinus (296-304)

St. Marcellus I (308-309)

St. Eusebius (309 or 310)

St. Miltiades (311-14)

St. Sylvester I (314-35)

There is a valid answer to all accusations and debates brought against the Catholic church, in fact all debates are actually beaten before the Protestants even throw them out there. You can't debate with truth and expect to win. You may win against a certain person, on the Catholic position but you do not win against the Truth that we posess. You'll learn that when you convert and God reveals it all to you. It's obvious the Catholic church is the one Church that Christ created, given the facts that so many ignorant people try to undermine it. Tell me what do all the protestant denominations all have in common other than their personal interpretations of scripture? "Protest-ing" the Catholic church. My poin is you are in no position to judge the Catholic Church, we are united unlike Protestantism and Jesus says "A house divided against itself will not stand" Jesus built his Church on Rock not Sand. "

"Come, brethren, if you wish to be engrafted in the vine;

We grieve to see you lie thus cut off from it.

Number your bishops from the very Chair of Peter,

And in that list of Fathers trace the succession.

This is the Rock against which the proud gates of hell do not prevail. "

Edited September 9, 2003 by Mc-Just†

[yiannii]

AMEN to that! B)

[PedroX]

MC-Just,

I noticed that all of those early Popes are Saints, this jogs an old memory loose. Am I right in thinking that all Popes before Constantine were Martyrs? I'm sure I read that some where. I just remember thinking that it made a really compelling case for the Catholic Church: The Romans thought these men were important enough to kill, maybe they really were the head of the Church.

peace...

[cmotherofpirl]

I think most of them were.

[Aloysius]

The church of the first century was known as "The Way" and in no way distinguished itself as any thing but followers of the teachings of Jesus.  Could it possibly be in 330AD when Emperor Constantine realised that he could not contain this unexplainable growth of "Christians" despite Roman persecution that he declared that Christianity was to be the official religion of Rome. Would we possibly consider this political intervention and distortion of the truth to have polluted the original design of Christ? Is this where the title "ROMAN" Catholic church was first uttered? Mmmm!

the protestants made up the term "Roman Catholic"

we just accepted it since the city of Peter where his successor is is Rome.

it's kinda like yankee doodle. They were makin fun of us with a song, and now it's like a big patriotic song.

[Paladin D]

the protestants made up the term "Roman Catholic"

we just accepted it since the city of Peter where his successor is is Rome.

it's kinda like yankee doodle.  They were makin fun of us with a song, and now it's like a big patriotic song.

That's interesting, so originally we were (and still are) labeled "Catholic Church"?

[JP2Iloveyou]

That's interesting, so originally we were (and still are) labeled "Catholic Church"?

Yes. You must remember that the term "Roman Catholic" describes only one branch of the Catholic Church. There are many other separate rites within the Church such as Byzantine, Syro-Malabar, Coptic, Ethiopian, and Maronite among others.

[skuba steve]

It’s obvious in this verse that Jesus only created ONE Church.

Henry Ford started the Ford company....they haven't been just making model T Fords for 100 years.... the original ones got old and irrelevant and new models have been created, models that cater for the needs of the modern driver.

There have been hundreds, thousands of different models over the last hundred years, but they are all still Fords aren't they?

It's funny how Jesus was always relating the Kingdom of Heaven to things in everyday life when he spoke.

And now that we're on the topic of denominations...I was learning at bible college last night that we are at the beggining of the age of Post Denominational Churches...

if you do your research you'll find that the worlds largest, fastest growing churches are simply evangelical, charasmatic churches that are going crazy about spreading the gospel...they don't belong to any one organisation but are just a body of people thay believe in the same God...

this is the future of the church.... it's not long before we won't have denominations to cling to, there will be no tradition or doctrine to protect us...we will all be a part of the united body of Christ....

there are churches in 3rd world countries planting churches in America and Australia and all the developed nations because they can see a need for us to find the truth that they have.

[Dave]

Henry Ford started the Ford company....they haven't been just making model T Fords for 100 years.... the original ones got old and irrelevant and new models have been created, models that cater for the needs of the modern driver.

There have been hundreds, thousands of different models over the last hundred years, but they are all still Fords aren't they?

It's funny how Jesus was always relating the Kingdom of Heaven to things in everyday life when he spoke.

Look at it this way, Steve -- the Ford Company produces Fords, and it always has. It has never produced Chryslers, Pontiacs, Mercedes-Benzes, etc. Model type is irrelevant.

In the same way, the Catholic Church has evolved for 2 millennia just like the Ford Company, but it has NEVER become something opposite of what it was supposed to be.

And now that we're on the topic of denominations...I was learning at bible college last night that we are at the beggining of the age of Post Denominational Churches...

if you do your research you'll find that the worlds largest, fastest growing churches are simply evangelical, charasmatic churches that are going crazy about spreading the gospel...they don't belong to any one organisation but are just a body of people thay believe in the same God...

this is the future of the church.... it's not long before we won't have denominations to cling to, there will be no tradition or doctrine to protect us...we will all be a part of the united body of Christ....

there are churches in 3rd world countries planting churches in America and Australia and all the developed nations because they can see a need for us to find the truth that they have.

But the Catholic Church isn't a denomination; it's the TRUTH. And these post-denominational churches don't have the full truth because they reject the authority of the Holy Father. I pray for the day when the Body of Christ will be one; however, that will be when all Protestants become Catholic -- members of the Church Jesus founded.