Sola Scriptura - Scripture Alone

[Grafted In]

Can you understand, though, that there is no one true church. I don't care how far back you want to look, the idea of one true church when referring to denominations is fallacy. Whether you want to call those who split from one of the early churches as separated from the True church or whatever, no particular denomination is the one true church established buy Jesus Christ.
How is it that the wisdom of man has such a firm hold on believers that they actually consider their brand of church is the one and only true church.
Why. can't. Christians understand. That. The. CHURCh OF. JESUS. CHRIST. IS. NOT. AN. ORGANIZATION. WITH. LAWS. AND. RULES. AND. DOCTRINES. THAT. MUST. BE . Adhered. To. To. Belong. To. The. Body. Of. Christ?
Can't you grasp even a tiny bit of that Truth ?

Sola fide and free will be danged. No one organization has a corner on salvation.

For ANY group of believers or ANY denomination to think otherwise is man's wisdom. Period.
I don't care how many books by the early "fathers" you have read, the church as established by Jesus Christ can be found everywhere in any church building or not within any building.
The Church of Christ lives in the hearts of those who have trusted in the sacrifice offered to the Father by His Son, Jesus Christ.
All else is vanity
All else is pride
All else is the wisdom of man
All else is foolishness
All else is an offense to the cross

 

[Thursday]

Can you understand, though, that there is no one true church.

Absolutely false.

Jesus started ONE Church. He gave this Church leaders. He gave the leaders his authority to teach, to bind and loose, and to forgive sins. He promised this Church the guidance of the Holy Spirit into all truth in the future and also said that he would be with them until the end of the world

 

[Albion]

Absolutely false.

Jesus started ONE Church. He gave this Church leaders. He gave the leaders his authority to teach, to bind and loose, and to forgive sins. He promised this Church the guidance of the Holy Spirit into all truth in the future and also said that he would be with them until the end of the world

Yes, but that's a reference to the whole church. He didn't found any particular denomination, whether the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, the Greek Orthodox Church, or any other. They all developed later in time anyway.

You're right that certain features of Christ's church (the clergy, the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, etc.) are referred to in the New Testament, but no denominations.

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

As to individuals in the church of God we all have our own responsibility to not follow blindly.

 

[Grafted In]

So, as a non-traditional believer I am on my way to hell?
If you will please understand my frustration , such thinking is nothing but pride. " I belong to the early traditional church, therefore I am above those who are not. They are simply uneducated, ignorant, unlearned."
Can't you see the carnal pride and erogance of that thinking?
I'm not picking on anyone in particular.
I simply cannot understand how that point is lost on so many. The Church of Jesus Christ is the entirety of born again Christians wherever they may be or not be. Whether alive or dead.

 

[Thursday]

Yes, but that's a reference to the whole church. He didn't found any particular denomination, whether the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, the Greek Orthodox Church, or any other. They all developed later in time anyway.

You're right that certain features of Christ's church (the clergy, the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, etc.) are referred to in the New Testament, but no denominations.

He founded ONE Church, which is the Catholic Church. Only the Catholic Church can trace its beginning to the apostles.

 

[mark46]

So, as a non-traditional believer I am on my way to hell?
If you will please understand my frustration , such thinking is nothing but pride. " I belong to the early traditional church, therefore I am above those who are not. They are simply uneducated, ignorant, unlearned."
Can't you see the carnal pride and erogance of that thinking?
I'm not picking on anyone in particular.
I simply cannot understand how that point is lost on so many. The Church of Jesus Christ is the entirety of born again Christians wherever they may be or not be. Whether alive or dead.

You have two issues, neither of which are the topics of this thread. But that's fine. We've been guilty of hijacking.

WHO GOES TO HEAVEN
Obviously, the clear answer is that we don't know. Jesus will make that choice. However, we all seem to have opinions. And yes, some traditional Christians believe that only they (with limited exceptions) will go to heaven. And many denominational types think that Catholics and other traditional Christians (with limited exceptions) will go to hell. IMHO, neither of these is the teaching of the Jesus.

What is Church? What is church?
Most of us believe in the body of Christ to included all believers; we call this church. Many of us also believe in the doctrine of the Church. This doctrine includes the understanding that Scripture doesn't speak for itself. It only exists because the Church chose which of the hundreds of volumes would be included. The teachings of Jesus were handed down to the apostles and from the apostles to communities of believers. Traditional Christians have different understanding about the visible Church. However, we think that it is unreasonable to think go Scripture without community. In the first three centuries (as Paul and John tell in Scripture itself), there were many, many groups that called themselves Christians, with very different beliefs. Without the visible Church and decisions at Nicea and Constantinople, the Christianity we have today would not exist. The differences in today's denominations are relatively small. After all, we are all accept the Creeds. However, the early Church had many, many others who did not.

 

[Charlie7399]

He founded ONE Church, which is the Catholic Church. Only the Catholic Church can trace its beginning to the apostles.

I guess the Orthodox didn't get the memo.

 

[Thursday]

I guess the Orthodox didn't get the memo.

The Orthodox and Catholics were all part of the same Church for nearly 1000 years.

 

[Grafted In]

He founded ONE Church, which is the Catholic Church. Only the Catholic Church can trace its
beginning to the apostles.

If you say so.

 

[Thursday]

If you say so.

I do. I'm a convert to Catholicism. Most Christians in the world are Catholic.(1.25 billion), which makes sense give that it is the oldest Christian Church. Jesus only started one Church, men started the rest.

 

[Charlie7399]

The Orthodox and Catholics were all part of the same Church for nearly 1000 years.

But you said only the Roman church can "trace its begginings to the apostles". I think we have a problem.

 

[Charlie7399]

I'm a convert to Catholicism.

Ah, convertitis. Got it.

 

[Thursday]

But you said only the Roman church can "trace its begginings to the apostles". I think we have a problem.

That was a mistake on my part. This is also true of the Orthodox. I tend to lump them in with the Catholic Church when debating protestants.

 

[mark46]

I guess the Orthodox didn't get the memo.

Nor did the Assyrian Church, the Oriental Church, Anglicans, Methodist, Lutherans and Reformed.

Curiously, I think that the doctrine of a visible Church (as well as the universal body of Christ) is critical to understanding and practicing our faith. I say this even though we all disagree with regard to what we understand the visible Church to be.

And Anglican theologian once suggested a way of think of this, unacceptable to almost all traditional communities. He suggested that we have one visible Church with branches (schisms) over the ages. There is but one root and stem, Jesus Christ.

 

[Charlie7399]

That was a mistake on my part. This is also true of the Orthodox.

Alrighty, no problem.

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

I do. I'm a convert to Catholicism. Most Christians in the world are Catholic.(1.25 billion), which makes sense give that it is the oldest Christian Church. Jesus only started one Church, men started the rest.

You will keep believing that for as long as you deny the church that God claims and replace it with the one that man made. I agree with this post by this catholic if in fact that is what was meant

Curiously, I think that the doctrine of a visible Church (as well as the universal body of Christ) is critical to understanding and practicing our faith. I say this even though we all disagree with regard to what we understand the visible Church to be.

And Anglican theologian once suggested a way of think of this, unacceptable to almost all traditional communities. He suggested that we have one visible Church with branches (schisms) over the ages. There is but one root and stem, Jesus Christ.

 

[mark46]

The Orthodox and Catholics were all part of the same Church for nearly 1000 years.

And the Anglicans, Methodists, Lutheran and Reformed for 1500 years.

 

[Thursday]

You will keep believing that for as long as you deny the church that God claims and replace it with the one that man made

Jesus only started one Church, and it wasn't after the Reformation.

It was in 33 AD.

 

[Thursday]

And the Anglicans, Methodists, Lutheran and Reformed for 1500 years.

Wrong. Those Churches explicitly rejected the Church Jesus started.