Discussion: Is the Holy Roman Catholic Church the only true Christian church?

With the death of the Pope John Paul II, and as a former Catholic who is interested in these sorts of things, I have been recently studying the history of the Catholic Church to examine its claims of being the one true Christian church and adherence to its doctrines being the only path to salvation. Without any personal attacks or unfounded shots, I would like to open up a discussion with interested parties such as LSUSupaFan, Gman_113, rickyd, mesquite tiger and any other Catholics on this site as to the validity of the aforementioned claims.

I would like to open by saying that I hope all of us are willing to follow Christ and His Holy Spirit wherever He might lead us, whether that be into the Catholic Church or into, for lack of a better word, Protestantism.

TO MARTIN AND ANYONE ELSE WHO WISHES TO SABOTAGE THIS DISCUSSION: YOU'RE NOT INVITED! :hihi:

 

So you're not catholic but you are starting a thread and inviting only catholics to participate in it?

Fascinating.

 

fascinating? he's simply wanting a catholic's view.

no different than when I want an informed football opinion which automatically excludes TRA and ISL.

 

I find the idea of the Catholic church being the one "true" Christian church to be exceedingly laughable. I'm will not denigrate anyone's beliefs in this area, but I strongly disagree that the Bible instructs us to communicate through the church (priest up to Pope) as the means to speak with God. Just a fundamental disagreement I have.

 

sabotage time.

any church can claim to be whatever they want. who is gonna prove them wrong? where is the measuring stick that determines the "real" church? the whole thing is faith and interpretation. i can claim that only i know what real christianity is, and that it was revealed to me by god, and you cannot really argue that i am wrong. thats the negative side of believing in magic, it isnt based on anything but whatever the particular person you are dealing with has made up or believes. you can say or do anything, nothing is based on reality.

 

My personal belief (and I believe it is the one espoused by The Church today) is that if you are the best person you can possibly be...be you a Buddhist, Jew, Moslem, Hindu, Christian, Shintoist....whatever...you will find your way to Heaven. The teachings of Christ are universal...it doesn't matter what kind of tag you put on them.

As far as the "true" Christian church goes, I believe that the Catholic Church is the original church left on Earth and entrusted to St. Peter by Jesus Christ.
Most of the Protestant faiths are offshoots of this original Church in response to the occasional abuses, excesses, and yes, failings of the human beings entrusted with running it. I, in no way, view these Churches as any less Christian than Roman Catholicism...but rather, merely as different sects if you will, of the same original faith. As a Roman Catholic I view the Pope as the successor to St. Peter, and thus the head of Christianity, worldwide. However, this is MY faith...and I can understand how those who don't adhere to the same faith can view him otherwise...and I respect that.

 

Actually, the measuring stick is the Bible. If you choose to not believe in the Bible, then obviously this doesn't apply and the discussion would be moot. But people do believe in the Bible, and have different interpretations of it, so clearly the discussion is (and should be) on going.

 

For the interests of discussion I ask that those who aren't even Christian not involve themselves. Sadly some here aren't mature or respectful enough to comply with that request.

 

Like who?