Of course you are a denomination, nothing more.
You say so.
Tracing apostolic succession means what? Paul’s churches wouldnt have necessarily been able to, so what does that mean? Other Catholic churches other than the RCC can, so what does that mean? Ordination is to come from God, is it not?
You know scripture. But, when you cherry-pick, remember that each cherry has a pit.
More devotions to Christ? You mean mroe words and rituals? Well, we know what Jesus felt about that, now dont we?
Well,
you certainly do! Tell us, please! Do you have Christ in the Flesh in your church? Not in printed form, squeezed between the covers, but in the Flesh. Tell us about your contemplative prayers. Tell us about your Adoration. Tell us about your church’s martyrs. Tell us about your Saints.
Yes, the apostolic success gives authority for YOUR sacraments, it means little outside of your denomination.
It is a genuine shame that the Sacraments which Christ instituted mean little or nothing to you. If what Christ did means so little, how much can Christ Himself mean?
Big guns? Bring them. I have not twisted Scripture in the least. The Greek is the Greek. You have formulated an entire Papal structure on what, one verse out of four Gospels?
Pardon me, but the authority of the Catholic church was instituted by Christ and is well documented in the Gospels, in Acts and all of the writings of the early church fathers. You have drunk deeply of the well of anti-Catholic bigotry.
The 2,000 year old church is a product of its founder, Jesus Christ. He gave unprecedented power to the Apostles, knowing what they would do with it. Are you wiser than Christ? You appear to have done little outside of second-guessing our Lord.
Yes, you are right, you DONT want to go there. God is not to be contained in your little box. The Gospels speak very differently.
Yes, they apparently tell you to disregard Paul; to disregard Peter; to disregard all of the twelve, to disregard all of the the early Bishops and fathers of the faith, as well as any form of continuity in your church. The gates of hell have not, and will not prevail against the Catholic church. Luther took his best shot. He’s dead. She’s still there. Satan in all of his forms has taken his best shot. He has been rebuffed. She’s still there.
IMO, you love the concept of Christ. It’s His reality that troubles you.
If you want to do the world a favor, bring the Protestant world together, then come back and we’ll talk. Word.