Chatterbox: Down to Earth

Ok, it might sound like I'm trying to start a religious argument here, but I promise I'm not. I was just reading Beginning Apologetics 1: How to Explain and Defend the Catholic Faith and I found something maybe some of you would find interesting. Some of this is copied from the book (is that ok?). I am not trying to prove anyone wrong, or win an argument or anything like that. I only wanted to share this information with some Christians. The question in the book was, "How do we determine which is the Church founded by Christ?" This is the answer from a Catholic point of view. Well, first of all, we need to go back in history to the time of Christ. Its doctrines must be the same as those of the Apostolic Church; and its leaders must be able to trace their authority back to the Apostles. Thus, history, Apostolic doctrines, and Apostolic authority are the sure guidelines for determining which Church Jesus founded. Only the Catholic Church meets these requirements.

History. Any objective history book will show that only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Christ. No Protestant (Protestant, meaning Christian, but not Catholic) denomination found today existed before 1517 A.D.

Apostolic Doctrines.  The early Church Fathers are our indispensable link to Apostolic Christianity. Their writings tell us what the first Christians believed. A careful study of the early Church Fathers shows that they all taught distinctively Catholic doctrines.

Apostolic Authority. The Bible and Sacred Tradition are very clear that Christ left a Church that would be governed by a hierarchy of bishops, presbyters, and deacons with the successor of St. Peter as the head. Only the Catholic Church has had such a governing hierarchy that can trace its authority--in an unbroken succession-- back to the Apostolic authority established by Christ Himself.

 So, that's just something to think about.

-Mary Jo