Looking for true church

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Kengo19 said:
Hello, Ive recently begun a religious search trying to find what i feel is the true church of God. I am posting this in different religions forums hoping hoping i might find an answer. I know if I ask what is the right church everyone is going to say their own is. So I thought what would be the right question to ask and i came up with this.
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 Why do you believe your church is the true church that god intends us to follow?

 How did you came to the conclusion that your church is the true Church?
Thank you for you time and may God Bless you all.
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The Catholic Church is the only Church founded by Christ. Her teachings go all the way back to Christ, over 2,000 years, with Apostolic succession.

You are correct, in that everyone will say their own religion is the true religion. So ask God to give you the truth. He will. 👍
 
The true church has four signs - it is one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
 
I came ot the Catholic Church from a Protestant background via Orthodoxy. Historically, the truth is either in the Orthodox or Roman Catholic Churches. No other “church” today has a starting date before the 16th century - this is a historical fact. As to determining between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, it came down to the Pope for me.

Jesus founded His Church on Peter(Matthew 16:18). Therefore to be part of the true Church, one must be in communion with the sucessor of Peter, the Pope of Rome. Orthodoxy will claim that Rome broke away from Constantinople in 1054, but historically Rome has always been the center of Christian unity, Therefore in reality Constantinople broke away from Rome.

As a final proof I would encourage you to research the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church against the Bible. DO this with a priest. Protestants will claim that Rome isn’t Biblical, but it is. On Baptism, Confession, the Sacrament of healing (spoken of in James), faith and works, The Pope, etc. Modern Protestantism on the other hand is ironically getting farther and farther from the teachings of the Bible. For one they deny ALL the sacraments or teach them as symbols. Too many other ways to enumerate.

God be with you on your journey!🙂
 
The New Testament is based on the teaching of the Catholic Church who wrote it. The Church was nearly 400 years old when she chose 27 of her own writings, canonized them, and named them the New Testament. At the same time, she canonized 46 writings of the Greek Septuagint, inherited from Jesus and the Apostles, and named them the Old Testament. Her entire collection of sacred Scripture she named Tá Biblia, the Little Books, in English, the Bible.

All other ecclesial communities (there is only one Church, founded by Christ) are based on their founder’s interpretation of the Bible. There are thousands of these denominations with conflicting and competing doctrines, all claiming to have a lock on the truth, yet no two of them agree about what the Bible means.

Read Where We Got the Bible, by Henry Graham, a former Protestant clergyman, free and online:

catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/wbible.htm

Jim Dandy
Ex-Southern Baptist, ex-agnostic, ex-atheist, ecstatic to be Catholic
 
josephback said:
I came ot the Catholic Church from a Protestant background via Orthodoxy. Historically, the truth is either in the Orthodox or Roman Catholic Churches. No other “church” today has a starting date before the 16th century - this is a historical fact. As to determining between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, it came down to the Pope for me.

Jesus founded His Church on Peter(Matthew 16:18). Therefore to be part of the true Church, one must be in communion with the sucessor of Peter, the Pope of Rome. Orthodoxy will claim that Rome broke away from Constantinople in 1054, but historically Rome has always been the center of Christian unity, Therefore in reality Constantinople broke away from Rome.

As a final proof I would encourage you to research the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church against the Bible. DO this with a priest. Protestants will claim that Rome isn’t Biblical, but it is. On Baptism, Confession, the Sacrament of healing (spoken of in James), faith and works, The Pope, etc. Modern Protestantism on the other hand is ironically getting farther and farther from the teachings of the Bible. For one they deny ALL the sacraments or teach them as symbols. Too many other ways to enumerate.

God be with you on your journey!🙂
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Nice post. Welcome home :tiphat:
 
Some excellent answers above. Here is my prsonal reasoning for remaining Catholic.

Here is a quick test to find out:

We believe in God. God is perfect and does not lie.
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Living Son of God. Christ is perfect and does not lie.
We can misunderstand Christ; we can reject parts of what Christ taught and did.
But our limitations do not make Christ wrong and does not justify setting up our own Church.

So what did Christ say and do? Do we understand it enough to accept HIS Church? Paraphrasing:
  • I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.
  • Thou art Peter and upon THIS rock, I will build MY Church.
  • Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven.
  • Holy Euchraist - This IS My Body. This IS My Blood. Do THIS in rememberance of Me. {{The power to change bread and wine was given to HIS apostles who have handed it down. This power cannot be assumed by others. In fact many who believe in Christ do not believe that bread and wine can be changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. But that is what Christ did and Christ, being God, does not lie.}}
  • Receive the Holy Spirit, Who’s sins you shall forgive are forgiven. Who’s sins you shall retain are retained. {{Christ gave His Apostles the power to forgive sins on His first visit to them after He rose form the Dead.
  • I will send you the Holy Spirit and He will remind you of all I have taught.
Many disagreed with Christ when He was on earth. Some even killed Christ. ( Well at least tried, but Christ rose from the Dead.) Many disagreed with His Apostles then and to this day. Some even killed them. Even to this time.

Some in the Church were confused and looked to Peter to make the call. Even St Paul looked to Peter as the head of the Church Christ established.

Is the Church Christ established perfect? No. It is made of imperfect human beings. BUT and it is a important but, on the matter of Faith and Morals, when the Pope speaks with that special authority Christ gave Peter, the Pope’s pronouncements ARE what Christ wants for us.

We may misunderstand; we may not want to accept and comply. We may protest and become a Protestant. But that would be our weakness and our sin. Our imperfections do not make Christ or His Church wrong, and do not justify setting up our own church.
 
Jim_Dandy said:
The New Testament is based on the teaching of the Catholic Church who wrote it. The Church was nearly 400 years old when she chose 27 of her own writings, canonized them, and named them the New Testament. At the same time, she canonized 46 writings of the Greek Septuagint, inherited from Jesus and the Apostles, and named them the Old Testament. Her entire collection of sacred Scripture she named Tá Biblia, the Little Books, in English, the Bible.

All other ecclesial communities (there is only one Church, founded by Christ) are based on their founder’s interpretation of the Bible. There are thousands of these denominations with conflicting and competing doctrines, all claiming to have a lock on the truth, yet no two of them agree about what the Bible means.

Read Where We Got the Bible, by Henry Graham, a former Protestant clergyman, free and online:

catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/wbible.htm

Jim Dandy
Ex-Southern Baptist, ex-agnostic, ex-atheist, ecstatic to be Catholic
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The fouders of protestantism crafted well made hte idea that it is the Bible their authority. try to tell them otherwise it is very dificult.
 
After studying the Holy Bible and coming to believe in God and in Jesus Christ, I started reading other Christian writings from the first and second century, the Apostolic Fathers (Didache, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, etc.) and Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. I figured the more familiar I was with the early Church the easier it would be to recognize that Church today. The more I read, the more I came to believe that the true Church of Christ subsists fully in today’s Catholic Church.
 
As for me the Church is more than a religious society whose purpose is the worship of God, more than a society different from all others because it was founded by God, more than a depository of grace and revealed truth. The Church herself is supernatural in her nature and essence, since she is the Body of Christ, living with the life of Christ himself, with a supernatural life. From the “fullness of Christ” (Collosians 2:9 ff) all his members are filled, so that the Church herself is “the fullness of him who is wholly fullfilled in all.”(Ephesians 1:23) Hence the mystery of the Church is the very mystery of Christ himself.
 
cargau said:
While I respect your journey and your quest for truth, I might suggest that you might be approaching this from the wrong angle.

Faith is a gift. It is not something we automatically recieve at birth like a set of lungs or a kidney. God endows us with this gift and helps us to nurture this gift like a gardener waters her plants.

My advice is for you to go to the source of Truth. Sit before a tabernacle or in Adoration and tell Jesus that you need guidance, assuance and above all, faith. Let him lead you rather than you trying to blaze a trail. When you feel that quiet peacefulness and joy, you will know that you are right where God wants you to be.

The Holy Spirit is amazing. When you open your heart to his prodding, you, too will be amazed. This post is a beautiful start to a walk you will never forget.

Post again in a month, six months or a year and let us know how it is going.

May God bless your journey abundantly
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I agree with cargau, time the before a tabernacle or in Adoration is the best starting point. Do all the research you feel is necessary and let no one individual or group tell you which is right or wrong for you. Pray, pray, and pray some more, listen for the Holy Spirit to guide you to where you need to be. If that happens to be in the Catholic Faith, the Lutheran Faith, Methodist Faith, or so on, that is where the Holy Spirit will lead you.
 
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Creator of Heaven and Earth
And in Jesus Christ
His only Son, Our Lord
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit
Born of the Virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
Was crucified, died and was buried.
On the third day, he rose again
He ascended into Heaven
and is seated at the right hand
of God, the Father Almighty.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Catholic Church,
the Communion of Saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.

peace
 
wisdomseeker said:
The fouders of protestantism crafted well made hte idea that it is the Bible their authority. try to tell them otherwise it is very dificult.
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You’re right about that! Most Protestants think Christianity is based on the Bible, but history proves that it was based on the oral teaching of the Apostles and that the Apostles’ teaching – which they learned from Christ and taught without error – has been transmitted through the centuries without error by the Catholic Church. The Church was founded by Christ (Mt 16:18-19), who remains with her always (Mt 28:20), and is guided and protected by the Spirit (John 14:16-18, 16:12) to this day and always, according to the promises of Christ. Knowing the history of the Church – and the history of the Bible – is the key.

Jesus didn’t leave us a book; He left us the Church as our teacher. The Church produced the book when she was nearly 400 years old. IMHO instead of arguing the interpretation of Bible verses, we should teach them history – but they are not always willing to listen…

Peace, Jim Dandy
Former Protestant
 
Kengo19 said:
Hello, Ive recently begun a religious search trying to find what i feel is the true church of God. I am posting this in different religions forums hoping hoping i might find an answer. I know if I ask what is the right church everyone is going to say their own is. So I thought what would be the right question to ask and i came up with this.

Why do you believe your church is the true church that god intends us to follow?

How did you came to the conclusion that your church is the true Church?

Thank you for you time and may God Bless you all.
Click to expand...
I haven’t read all the posts so someone may have answered it the way I will. The way to know which is the true church, you have to look at the 4 Marks of the Church: One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. It’s One because Jesus is One. The church is in unity - it is one because Christ started one church. It’s Holy because it has produced saints (holy People) in every generation since Christ. It’s Catholic, which means universal, because it has been in every country in the world. It’s Apostolic because it started with the apostles and the faith has been passed down to every generation. If you read the Early Church Fathers, you will see what they believed and practiced in the first 7 centuries after Christ. This will point you to the Catholic Church.

Ask yourself this question about any other denomination: Can you name one leader or person of the Christian Faith that would back any other denominations doctrine from 100ad to say 1000ad? The only non-catholic denomination where you could find anything would be in the Orthodox Faith. Nothing exists in all the other denominations. Would Christ let His people not know the faith for 1500 years when the Revolution started with Luther? I don’t think so.

edit: Regarding the exception of the Orthodox, they were in and out of unity with us until 1054ad when they broke for good. Some say later. There are many reasons and they can be explained. The rise of Islam and other reasons divided us.
 
Another good argument is one that the late Bishop Fulton Sheen made. Here it is from ourcatholicfaithdotorg:

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. … the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness…"
 
josephback said:
Another good argument is one that the late Bishop Fulton Sheen made. Here it is from ourcatholicfaithdotorg:

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. … the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness…"
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👍👍
 
Go to the Catholic Church and start RCIA. I assure you that you will also be convinced of the truth of Catholicism as I and many others was.
 
josephback said:
Another good argument is one that the late Bishop Fulton Sheen made. Here it is from ourcatholicfaithdotorg:

If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words, I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches of the world today, He must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world. Look for the Church that is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our Lord was accused of being ignorant and never having learned. Look for the Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of Devils. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because he called Himself the Truth. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its members love as they love Christ, and respect its voice as the very voice of its Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly, it is infinitely loved and infinitely hated as was Christ Himself. … the Catholic Church is the only Church existing today which goes back to the time of Christ. History is so very clear on this point, it is curious how many miss its obviousness…"
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Good post. Various religions/denominations/sects may be hated by the world as well (JWs, Islam, Mormons) but no one generates more hatred than us and on all of those counts too.

Yay! … ?:ehh:
 
Kengo19 said:
Hello, Ive recently begun a religious search trying to find what i feel is the true church of God. I am posting this in different religions forums hoping hoping i might find an answer. I know if I ask what is the right church everyone is going to say their own is. So I thought what would be the right question to ask and i came up with this.

Why do you believe your church is the true church that god intends us to follow?

How did you came to the conclusion that your church is the true Church?
Click to expand...
There are a few things that we know that can help us discern what Church Jesus Christ founded.:
  1. It was built by Jesus Christ himself (Matt 16:18) which means that the “true church” must be about 2000 years old.
  2. Jesus only built ONE church (Matt 16:18).
  3. The Church which Jesus Christ founded is the one to whom He revealed and who declared and decreed which books are to be contained in the New Testament. Pope Damasus I A.D. 382.
  4. Jesus handed His Authority to His Apostles (Mat 28:16-20), therefore His Church must be able to trace it’s chief pastors back in a direct line of succession to The Apostles.
We also have a solid knowledge of who and when other churches were founded. You may find this enlightening:
If you are of the Catholic faith, Jesus Christ founded your Church in the year A.D. 30.
If you are Lutheran, your religion was founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk in the Catholic Church, in 1517.
If you are Anabaptist, your religion was founded by Nicholas Storch and Thomas Munzer in Germany in 1521.
If you belong to the Church of England (Anglican), your religion was founded by King Henry VIII in the year 1534 because the pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to remarry.
If you belong to the Mennonites, your church was started in 1536 by Menno Simons in Switzerland.
If you are a Calvinist, Jon Calvin started your belief system in 1555 in Switzerland.
If you are a Presbyterian, your religion was founded when John Knox brought the teachings of John Calvin to Scotland in the Year 1560.
If you are Unitarian, your group developed in Europe in the 1500s.
If you are a Congregationalist, your religion branched off Puritanism in the early 1600s in England.
If you are a Baptist, you owe the tenets of your religion to John Smyth, who launched it in Amsterdam in 1607.
If you are Dutch Reformed, Michaelis Jones founded your church in New York in 1628.
If you are a Methodist, your religion was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1744.
If you are an Episcopalian, your church came from England to the American colonies. It formed a separate religion founded by Samuel Seabury in 1789.
If you are a Campellite Christian Church, your religion was started by Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone at a revival held at Bushy Creek around 1836.
If you are a Mormon (Latter-day Saints), Joseph Smith started your church in Palmyra, N.Y. in 1830.
If you are Seventh Day Adventist, your religion was founded by Ellen Whitein 1844 in Washington, New Hampshire.
If you worship with the Salvation Army, your sect began with William Booth in London in 1865.
If you are a Christian Scientist, you look to 1879 as the year your religion was founded by Mary Baker Eddy.
If you are a Jehovah’s Witness, your religion was founded by Charles Taze Russell in Pennsylvania in the 1870s.
If you’re Church of Christ, your church broke of from the Campellites in 1906.
If you are Pentecostal, your religion was started in the Topeka, Kansas in 1901 by Charles F. Parkham
If you are Assemblies of God your church grew out of Pentecostalism in 1914 in Hot Springs, Az.
If you are a member of Four-square Gospel, your church was started by Aimee Semple McPherson in L.A. in 1917.
If your Church of Christ, your church broke of from the Campellites in 1906.
If you are Calvary Chapel, Chuck Smith founded your church in Costa Mesa, Ca, 1965
If your organization is “evangelical nondenominational Christian” your group started in the 1970s by a group of protestant ministers.

May The Holy Spirit be with you and give you His Godly Wisdom in your search for The Truth of Jesus Christ.

Yours in Christ.
 
A slight correction:

Assembly of God was founded in 1914 in Hot Springs, Arkansas (AR), not Az (Arizona).
 
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