Catholic Apologetics on Catholic Truth - True Church
1. Why do Catholics claim their church is the True Church?
Because it is. The Catholic Church is the only Church that corresponds exactly to the exact religion established by Christ. The True Christian religion is that religion which:
a) was founded by Christ personally;
b) has existed continuously since the time of Christ;
c) is Catholic, or universal, in accordance with Christ's command to teach all nations in the world;
d) demands that all members admit the same doctrine;
e) excercises divine authority over her subjects, since Christ said that if a man would not hear the Church he would be as a heathen.
Only the Catholic Church can claim:
a) to have been founded by Christ personally. All other churches disappear as you go back through history. Christ said "Thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church". Only the Catholic Church can rightfully claim, and historically prove, to have been built on Peter, the chief of the Apostles;
b) to have existed in all the centuries since Christ;
c) that every one of her members admits exactly the same essential doctrines;
d) to be Catholic, or universal, in her beliefs;
e) to speak with a voice of true authority in the name of God.
2. Protestant principles demand that the Catholic Church is wrong in these claims.
Protestants must say the Catholic Church is wrong or else why are they Protestant? Yet they must also admit that not one of their denominations has any right to claim that it itself is the True Church.
3. Where does it say in Scripture that Christ founded any such system as a church?
Matthew 16:18: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church." Christ terms His Church a kingdom, which in turn supposes some organized authority. The explicit steps in the establishing of such a hierachy are clearly seen in Scripture. Christ chose certain special men: "You have not chosen Me; but I have chosen you." (John 15:16). He gave them His own mission: "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." (John 20:21). This commission included His teaching authority: "Teach all nations...whatsoever I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:12-20). He gave them His power to sanctify: "Baptising them..." (Matthew 28:19), forgive sin "Whose sin you shall forgive, they are forgiven..." (John 20:23), and offer sacrifice "Do this in remembrance of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:24). He gave them His legislative, or disciplinary power: "He who hears you, hears Me, and he who despises you despises Me." (Luke 10:16), "Whatsoever you bind on earth, shall be bound also in Heaven." (Matthew 18:18), "If a man will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen." (Matthew 18:17). The Apostles certainly exercised these powers from the beginning: "They were all persevering in the doctrine of the Apostles." (Acts 2:42). St. Paul himself did not hesitate to ex-communicate the incestuous Corinthian in 1 Corinthians 5:3-5. And he wrote to the Hebrews "Obey your prelates, and be subject to them." (Hebrews 14:17).
4. The True Church was built upon Christ, not Peter.
The Catholic Church does not claim that Peter was the principle foundation of the Church. Christ said "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church". Christ is the principle foundation of the Church, but the first rock laid upon the principle foundation, the secondary foundation, is Peter. The Church that is in communion with Peter and his succesors is the genuine Church built upon the foundation of Christ.
5. Christ said "Upon this rock", meaning Himself, not Peter.
In John 1:42 we find Christ saying to Peter "Thou art Simon...thou shalt be called Cephas, which is interpreted Peter." There are several instances of name changes in the Bible, and each time someones name was changed it meant that person was to take on a special mission. Christ had a special purpose in changing Peter's name to Cephas, or rock. That purpose was manifested later in Matthew 16:18 "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church." Peter's name was Simon and Christ changed it to Peter, which in the original Aramaic language is Kepha. Kepha in Aramaic is the word for "rock" or "stone", which was never used as a proper name in that language. Therefore what Christ was really saying is "Thou art Mr. Stone, and upon this stone I will build My Church." Christ could not possibly be referring to Himself in this text when using this word in this way.
6. Protestants are taught that it is not possible for any human being to locate the True Church, that it is invisible.
That idea is not supported by Scripture, and it is not consistant with a loving God who wants us all to be saved. Why would Jesus go to the trouble of founding a Church so that we may be saved, and then hide it? God doesn't play "hide-and-seek" with our eternal salvation, saving only those who happen to stumble into the right Church. He gives us all an equal chance. He gave us His Church to show us the way, and likened it to a city set upon a hill which "cannot be hidden". The True Church, the Catholic Church, is visible to all except those who refuse to see it.
7. Matthew 13:44 says the True Church is hidden.
Mathew 13:44 is not talking about the nature of the Church, but of the zeal one should have while searching for it. And the treasure spoken of was certainly visible when the digger came across it.
8. One religion is as good as another.
Common logic tell us this is unsound. There is perhaps some good in every religion, however, some good is not enough. Religion is not good enough in the eyes of God unless it is founded by God, has all of God's teachings, and has all that is necessary to lead all people to a holy life, and thus to heaven. There are literally thousands of Protestant congregations, and none of them believe exactly the same thing. Ask any two Protestant preachers how they interpret a passage of the Bible and you will get two different answers. They can't both be right. The Holy Spirit is not a Spirit of confusion. How do you know which is right? Christ in His Wisdom forsaw the rise of false Christs and substituted forms of professing Christianity and endowed His Church with certain notable characteristics to help us know which church is the right one.
9. Then what are the characteristics of the True Church, and how does the Catholic Church match them?
The characteristics of the True Church are unity, holiness, Catholicity, and Apostolicity.
The Catholic Church has unity because all Catholics, everywhere, in all times, believe the same basic truths, obey the same laws, receive the same Sacraments, and are all united under the authority of the Pope, the bishops, and priests. Some Catholics dissent from officially taught doctrines, the Church's official teachers, the Pope and the Bishops united with him, have never changed any of the Church's doctrine. As time goes by the Church comes to understand those doctrines more deeply, but it never understands them to mean the opposite of what they once meant.
The Catholic Church is holy because its founder, Jesus, is holy, it teaches a holy doctrine, it gives its members what is needed to lead a holy life, and thousands of its members, from every walk of life, every race, and every period of history have become saints.
Catholicity means "universal". Christ told His apostles to make disciples of "all nations" (Matthew 28:19-20). The Catholic Church is for all people of all nations and all times and teaches all the doctrines of Jesus.
Apostolicity means having a direct line to the Apostles in its history and in its authority. Only the Catholic Church has a direct, legitimate connection with the Apostles. Christ appointed His apostles to be the first leaders of the Church, and their successors were to be its future leaders. The apostles were the first bishops, and there has been an unbroken line of Catholic bishops faithfully handing on what the apostles taught the first Christians in Scripture and oral Tradition, which includes the bodily Resurrection of Jesus, the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, the sacrificial nature of the Mass, the forgiveness of sins through a priest, baptismal regeneration, the existence of purgatory, Mary's special role, the doctrine of apostolic succession itself, and much more. Early Christian writers prove the first Christians were thoroughly Catholic in belief and practice and looked to the successors of the apostles as their leaders. What these first Christians were taught and believed is still taught and believed by the Catholic Church. The Bible, sacred Tradition, and the writings of the earliest Christians testify that the Catholic Church teaches with Jesus' authority. No other church can make that claim.
10. If the Catholic Church is so holy, why are there unholy people, including priests, in it?
Unholy people, including priests, in the Catholic Church does not make the Catholic Church unholy. Christ predicted that sinners would be found in the True Church when he told of bad fish in the good net, weeds growing among the wheat. Bad Catholics, including priests, are those who are not living up to the teachings of the Church. Bad Catholics can be accounted for without injuring the holiness of the Church, but canonized Saints cannot be accounted for without admitting to that holiness. Catholics that are bad are bad in spite of their Church, not because of it. There is not a single dogma the Catholic Church teaches which does not tend to confirm in its members the will to serve God. In terms of moral laws, no one can keep the laws of the Catholic Church and not be a better person for it. No one sincerely joins the Catholic Church without desiring a loftier standard of living, and no one leaves the Catholic Church except for a lower standard. The Catholic Church has labored like no other to lift men and women above the natural and sensual, fighting for purity of morals, the holiness of marriage, and the rights of God and conscience in every department of life. Outward respectability and mere humanitarianism can never, in the eyes of the Church, replace that true supernatural virtue and charity which demand that the daily personal, domestic, and social life of a Christian must be inspired by love of God. Anyone who says God doesn't belong in their professional lives are wrong, God made everything, He belongs everywhere. People who leave the Church do not leave because they found the Church untrue, but because they have been untrue to their own obligations.
11. The Catholic Church was holy at one time, but it became corrupt, that's why Protestantism began.
Anyone who truely believes that is calling Christ a liar because he said He would be with His Church until the end of time (Matthew 28:20), and He also promised "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). As stated above, there can be corrupt people in the Church, but the Catholic Church Itself cannot be corrupt, and it cannot teach error. The Bible calls the Church the Body of Christ, and if the Church became corrupt or taught error it could be rightly said that Christ was corrupt or teaching error.
12. Protestant churches are at least as holy as the Catholic Church.
Protestantism does not preserve Christian standards intact. Articles of faith have been thrown out, mortification and fasting are not required, the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, with their consequent inspiration of monastic life, are ignored. Protestant leaders excuse, and even approve, laxity in moral practice, allowing such things as abortion, gay sex and gay "marriage". There is nothing equivalent to canonized Saints in Protestantism, they don't have the authority from God to do so. Many of the Sacraments of Christ are not even acknowledged by Protestantism, while the heart has been torn out of its worship by the loss of Christ's Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. The Protestant Bible is missing 7 books that God wants included. The Protestant clergy are not trained in moral law, and therefore cannot advise the laity as they should. The prevalent Protestant notion of "Believe in Christ and be saved" tends of its very nature to lessen the sense of necessity of personal virtue. After all, even Satan "believes" in Christ.
13. Protestants believe that Christian doctrine was kept pure as long as the Apostles lived, but errors crept in after their death.
That is an error in both fact and doctrine. The Apostles complained of errors, not in the Church, but of individual Christians even in their own days. By claiming errors crept in after the Apostles death Protestants assert that 1)-Christ failed to preserve His Church as He stated He would in Matthew 28:20, 2)-that the Holy Spirit did not remain with her as was promised in John 14:16-17, and 3)-that the gates of hell did prevail against her, which Jesus promised would not happen in Matthew 16:18. In claiming the Catholic Church fell into error Protestants are claiming that Christ could not do what He claimed He would do, which means Jesus could not be God and all Christians, Protestant and Catholic, are wasting their time believing in Him.
14. You cannot tell me the Catholic religion is carried out today in accordance with the quite simple teachings of Jesus.
The Catholic Church does not differ from what you call the "simple teachings of Jesus", although they are not as simple as you suppose. The Catholic Church teaches all that Christ taught, whether His teaching was explicit or implicit. The Catholic Church exists just as Christ would have her exist. There may have been secondary developments during the ages, but they were all foreseen and approved by Christ. After all, Christ established a living Church, and a living Church grows. Christ likened His Church to a seed, which grows and develops into a tree with blossoms and foliage, but that growth does not interfere with the trees continuity from, and identity with, the original seed. This growth proves that the Catholic Church is not dead and stagnant.
15. Jesus doesn't care what church we go to, as long as we go to SOME church.
This is related to the "one religion is as good as another" argument and, like that argument, this one isn't true either. Jesus established ONE Church, gave His authority to that ONE Church, and wants ALL people to belong to that ONE church. Christ wants one Christian faith: "One Lord, one faith, one Baptism" (Ephesians 4:5) and also "There will be one flock, one shepherd." (John 10:17). All references to "the Church" in the Bible apply only to the Church that Jesus founded, that is, the Catholic Church. Protestant churches do not have the authority to teach in Jesus' name, nor do they have the authority to give His grace to the world. Only Catholics have the opportunity to obtain all the blessings of Christianity.
16. The constantly changing laws of the Catholic Church prove that its principles are man-made.
The Catholic Church's constitution and essential principles of faith, worship, and discipline were given to Her by Christ and cannot be changed. However, as stated before, the Catholic Church is a living organization. She has special disciplinary laws that can be enacted at special times to meet special needs without any constitutional change of the religion. At the Reformation however, men left the Catholic Church and set up their own new constitutions, and their sects can rightly be called man-made religions.
17. The Catholic Church is a false religion, it is Satan's Church.
That claim is ludicrous. Everything the Catholic Church teaches is the exact oppsite of what Satan wants us to believe. The Catholic Church tries to lead people to God, Satan tries to lead people away from God.
18. The fact that the Catholic Church has lasted for over 2000 years does not prove its truth.
That is true, but that fact considered in light of her teachings, moral obligations, and obstacles does. Indefectibility can be claimed as a proof for the Catholic Church alone. She demands humility, mortification, rigid duty, and subjection to God, things human nature dislikes. Protestantism abolished most of the things difficult for human nature, and is content with a more or less sentimental religion. No pagan religion has demanded the consistent virtue demanded by the Catholic Church. Reasons can be found for the life of non-Catholic religions, and for their death, but no natural reasons can be found for the continued vitality of the Catholic Church despite her difficult doctrines, and her enemies within and without. The protection of God alone can account for the persistence of the Catholic Church.
19. How can you claim the Catholic Church has God's protection when it has been led by bad Popes?
Bad Popes prove the protection of God. He preserved His Church in spite of the personal iniquity of those men. The Church does not claim that the Pope can do no wrong. He will have temptations just like other men, and he has free will to resist those temptations or consent to them. The Pope must save his soul just like anyone else. He is not going to be preserved from sin in spite of himself. Heaven must be earned, and every person must have his own struggle to be good and save his soul. The Pope is not, and has never claimed to be, impeccable. God endows the Pope with infallibility not for his own sake, but for our sake, so he can tell us with certainty what we must believe and do in order to save ourselves. Whether the Pope lives up to it himself is quite another matter and his own business. It is quite possible to give excellent advice and not live up to it yourself.
20. The Catholic Church will have to part with many of its doctrines in deference to modern thought if it is to last until the end of time.
The Catholic Church is living today precisely because she has always refused to part with her doctrines. The heresies of the centuries parted with the doctrines of the Catholic Church in deference to human opinions, and they died in turn through the ages. Protestantism is dying today because of this (approval of gay sex, gay "marriage", abortion). Christian doctrines are offensive to modern thought today only because modern thought has ceased to be Christian, and the Catholic Church refuses to cease to be Christian. Modern thought is chiefly the result of not thinking. Its authors are only too prone to ignore evidence and take that to be true which they would like to be true. Anyone who is serious about their Christianity should make an effort to find out what the early Christians really believed. The events recorded in the New Testament would be best understood by those who were living within the first few hundred years of when those books were produced. Protestants will be distressed to find that the religion the early Church Fathers adhered to is very different from what they are practicing in their Protestant churches today, and even more distressed to find that the religion of the Church Fathers is identical to present day Catholicism.
©Copyright 1999-2004, Catholic Truth
SOURCES
Jerusalem Bible
Handbook of Christian Apologetics
The Holy Bible as translated from the
Latin Vulgate
Catholic Defenders Of The Faith
A Catechism for Adults, 1990 revised edition
A New Catechism of the Catholic Faith
Pocket Catechism, St. Joseph Edition
True Church Quizes to a Street Preacher, by TAN Books and publishers, Inc.
The Teachings Of The Church Fathers, by John R. Willis, S.J.