But is this how it was understood at the time of the Apostles? Were there disagreements between the disciples? If so, how did they resolve it? One need not look any further than verses 1 and 2 of the Book of Acts, chapter 15. It says:
“ 1
Certain people came down from Judea to
Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according
to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 This
brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and
Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem
to see the apostles and elders about this question.”
One set of Christian teacher
were telling new converts that they are to be circumcised first if one was to
be saved. The other set, Paul and
Barnabas, told the converts that circumcision was unnecessary. Who were the converts to believe when
confronted with conflicting teachings?
The converts sent both groups to Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem
The first followers went to
the Church when disputes arose between believers to settle the matter because
that’s how Jesus told the Apostles to do it.
He told them try to settle the matter between themselves but if they
couldn’t, they were to go to the Church.
The buck stops at the Church.
Here is how Jesus put it. When
one sins against another (separating oneself from the Body of Christ is a grave
sin against the whole body), they are to:
“If your brother sins, go
and point out his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you
have won him over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so
that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three
witnesses.’ If he still refuses to listen, tell it to the church; and if he
refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax
collector.” (Mat 18:15-17)
These verses show us that the
Church that Christ builds must have a visible aspect to it because there is no
way two individuals in a dispute can go to all believers in Christ (all
Christians) when so many believe contradictory doctrines. Paul tells us in his first letter to Timothy
that some will abandon the faith by believing false doctrines and therefore
instructs Timothy to go to the Church, the One True Church
And because Jesus promised us
that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church in Matthew 16:19
means that His Church will never teach false doctrines. If His Church did teach a false doctrine as
true then that would put the faithful at peril of losing the faith (1 Tim
4:1). His Church could never do that
since it would go against its very nature of being the upholder and defender of
the truth (1 Tim 3:15).
Let’s use a concrete example
to clarify what I’m saying. Let’s say my
cousin comes to me one day and tells me that his wife is pregnant and she feels
she isn’t ready for a child right now.
She decided to have an abortion, and failing to convince her and
following Scripture my cousin comes to me with another friend to try to
convince her not to have the procedure.
But she still wants an abortion.
My cousin then goes to his church (which is Catholic) for help. Now, since the Catholic Church teaches that
absolutely, abortion is wrong, we know the church will tell her that she
shouldn’t have an abortion. But she just
goes to her church (one of many possible ones who do teach that abortion is a
personal choice and can even be redemptive).
So now we have come to an impasse, which church are we to listen to? Which church is actually teaching the
truth? You see how the idea of His
Church being only a conglomeration of all believers prevents us from knowing
the truth with certainty? His Church
must have a visible entity so that all may know the truth of what He teaches. And His teachings are made known to us in its
fullest form through His Church because only His Church has been given the
promise of being led into ALL truth (John 16:13).
The only Church which has had
a physical presence throughout the centuries beginning in the first century up
to today’s councils is the Catholic Church.
All these councils, 21 in all beginning with the council at Jerusalem
found in Acts 15, are teaching doctrinal truth because we know that His Church
is the pillar and defender of the truth.
We can know this Church is the Catholic Church by simply going through
the writings and declarations inside the documents produced by these councils
were written by Catholic Bishops and ratified/approved by the Pope. When it
comes to doctrinal matters, either of faith or morals, we are to accept the Catholic
Church’s doctrinal teachings whether we like them or not, whether they are easy
to follow or not because they are the truth.
Isn’t it a great blessing to
be able to go to an authority that can guide and correct our wayward ways by
identifying the truth in a sea of confusing and conflicting ‘truths’? Thank you Lord for giving us a sure fire way
of knowing the truth!
God Bless
Nathan
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