Pulling the thread

Pontius Pilate looked Truth right in its eyes and didn’t even know it. Jesus Christ proclaimed that He is The Truth.  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me. (John 14:6)

Truth is not subject to personal feelings. How you or I feel about something has nothing to do with whether or not it is true. Likewise, whether or not we understand the answer to a mathematical formula does not change the correct answer, 2+2=4 no matter how we may feel about it.

Like the atheist clinging to his own feelings, blinded to the truth of God entirely; so too is the Protestant clinging to his own feelings, partially blind to the fullness of  Jesus Christ found in his bride-the Church. “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior” (Eph 5:23) Both are heretics, the latter closer to the truth but still not quite there. A bride can only have one spouse, and Christ founded one Church. The Church has as its source (God the Father), Its founder (God the Son), Its soul (God the Holy Spirit).

God, in order to redeem his people, sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world. Jesus who never wrote a single thing could have gone straight to the cross had God chosen. Instead, he spent 3 years gathering Apostles whom he would instruct to teach others, promising them to be guided by the Holy Spirit not to fail in their passing on of his eternal truth.  This is called Apostolic Succession.

The role of apostolic succession in preserving true doctrine is illustrated in the Bible. To make sure that the apostles’ teachings would be passed down after the deaths of the apostles, Paul told Timothy, “What you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). In this passage, he refers to the first three generations of apostolic succession—his own generation, Timothy’s generation, and the generation Timothy will teach.

The Church is Universal (Catholic), it is for all people, for all times and for all things; “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:18-20)

From its founding to today, men quarrel about doctrine, the early Christians however, had no problem in determining what was true doctrine, they traced the claims being made to the Apostles.

Martin Luther, a Catholic monk, faced with both personal difficulties and abuses with the leaders of the Church, began to pull on the loose thread in the blanket of  One, Holy, Universal and Apostolic Church. His movement, commonly referred to as the “reformation, was in fact no reformation at all and a lie. A reformation implies the church was being restored to an original state that existed previously, Luther’s teachings, however, had never been taught before. There was no Apostolic teaching to go back too, only Luther’s own ideas which resulted in a brand new theology. What Luther actually did was start a revolution.

Thousands have followed in Luther’s footsteps, pulling the thread further and further, now left holding one piece, one shred of truth, making themselves the author of truth. Denying long-held doctrines, and creating their own theology has resulted in thousands of new Christian denominations, each one staking a claim to the same the Holy Spirit Christ promised his one Church; and each claiming to teach the same eternal truth. Even if perhaps Luther had it right, what he taught can not be found today in one cohesive body, bits and pieces are scattered all over the battlefield of the revolution he started 500 years ago, a revolution that has not ended. Today there are over 30,000 different denominations and that number grows each day.

Logic tells the reasonable man truth does not contradict itself, since God is truth itself and his son Jesus revealed that truth to man, only one Church can possess the fullness of such truth and cannot lie. A lie always contains a certain amount of truth, 2+2= 3 is just a little less than the truth of 4, and 2+2=5 is just a bit more than the truth of 4. The unreasonable man clings to his own feelings, grasping a portion of truth unwilling to move towards the whole truth, in deference to his feelings.

Jesus said his Church would be “the light of the world.” He then noted that “a city set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5:14). This means his Church is a visible organization. It must have characteristics that clearly identify it and that distinguish it from other churches. Jesus promised, “I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). This means that his Church will never be destroyed and will never fall away from him. His Church will survive until his return.

Jesus Christ, God himself, sees the world as it truly is, there is no confusion. His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church proclaim that truth as he promised it would.