JESUS CHRIST guaranteed permanence of His Church, the Catholic Church The Catholic Church was founded by Christ who appointed Peter as its head, and upon him as upon a rock Christ built His Church. He guaranteed it permanence by promising that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:17-19), and that He would be with it “all days even to the consummation of the world”(Mt 28:19-20). History shows how faithfully Christ has kept His promise, for the Church today exists in all countries the same in doctrine as it came from its Founder’s hands. It has a membership of more than 1,200,000,000 – at least 150% more than the combined membership of more than 40,000 Protestant sects around the globe. In contrast, Protestant denominations were all founded by men, fifteen and more centuries after Christ had established His Church. They were founded not only without His approval but in direct violation of His command to preserve the unity and integrity of the Faith He had established. As all those denominations were founded upon the quicksand of private judgment, they have had no permanence but have changed and split into numerous bickering divisions so that no founder would recognize the creed that now bears his name. The Catholic Church lovingly invites the members of those creeds to return to their Father’s House, to renew their worship before the altar at which their forbears worshipped and prayed for fifteen centuries and more. Thus there will be “one faith, one baptism… one fold and one shepherd” (Eph 4:3-6; Jn 10:16), in accordance with the express wish and command of Jesus Christ our Lord (Jn 17:17-23 ).
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:58:21 +0000