* What I wonder is if you realize that that means the Catholic Church must be the Church Christ sent and that all others are just man-made creations. *
As a Presbyterian (like many other Protestants), we say the Apostles Creed - “I believe in one catholic and apostolic church ...” (I understand catholic has the broader meaning of universal.)
Ephesians 4:4 - says there is one body.
Christ only has one church - believers He has called out to Himsef. The labels we all give ourselves are man-made.
you are reasonable and very Christian and this statement is very correct.
If you hold to the Nicene Creed, anything beyond that is a family discussion, not an inter-family argument.
You wrote:
“As a Presbyterian (like many other Protestants), we say the Apostles Creed - “I believe in one catholic and apostolic church ...” (I understand catholic has the broader meaning of universal.)”
Alright, let’s start there. Where was the Presbyterian church in the first century? Where was Presbyterian doctrine in the first century? If it wasn’t there, then can it be universal? If it isn’t universal, should you as a Christian believe in it?
“Ephesians 4:4 - says there is one body.”
Yes. And when was that one body established? Can those who disagree on the most basic of Christian doctrines - such as how we are saved - be in the same body when that body is freely chosen by its members?
“Christ only has one church - believers He has called out to Himsef. The labels we all give ourselves are man-made.”
Maybe the labels we give are man-made, but is the Church then man-made? No. It is Christ-made. Are all so-called churches Christ-made? Wouldn’t that mean all had been established in the first century? Is that the reality?