Church Authority

Let’s say that 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’s decided to have an abortion, and failing to convince her he 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 a differant 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?

Where can I find the pillar and bulwark of the truth?  Where can I find this Church who received the promise of being guided into all truth by the “Spirit of Truth” (John 14:16)?   Which church is the one who received the power to bind and loose infallibly by being guided into ALL truth by the Holy Spirit?  Where can we find this Church that was founded by Jesus Christ Himself?

Since we know that the Church Christ built cannot officially teach on faith and morals something as true when it is false because what that Church binds on earth is also bound in heaven (see Matt 16:19 and Matt 18:15-18).  My job then is to determine which church is teaching the truth not by what I think is true, but to determine which church Jesus is talking about founding when He says in Matthew 16:18 that “upon this rock I shall build my church”.

 

This Church should:

A) Claim to teach infallibly in matters of faith and morals.  (Matt 16:19 and Matt 18:18)

B) Claim to be THE church founded by Jesus Christ. 

C) and to be at least 2,000 years old

And, as seen in today’s reading…

D) Have a succession of individuals in possession of the keys of His kingdom for those 2000 years (Mat 16:19).

Only the Catholic Church can make these claims and be supported through historical records. 

Jesus commanded us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  Studying and searching seems to be part of the equation of loving God.  But in 1 John 4:7 we learn that to love Him is to know Him.  And we know Him by knowing the truth since Jesus is the Truth (John 14:6).  Loving God with all your mind involves studying and searching for the truth.  Jesus being the truth means that one way to love God is to know the truth.  And to truly accept this truth is to live by this truth.

 

God Bless

Nathan