Catholic Church has unbroken line of Apostolic Succession from Popes back to Peter!

catholic365.com ^ | 7/7/2015 | Shaila D Touchton

[Morgana]

Catholic Church traces its origins back to Jesus Christ himself. Jesus Christ established a church nearly two thousand years ago. (1 Timothy 3:15)

He said he will build one church not multiple churches. He said “Upon this Rock I will build My church." (Matthew 16:18) and "There shall be one fold and one shepherd." (John 10:16).The Holy Spirit will guide the Church.( John 16:13) through Apostles(Acts 4:8).Jesus Christ is the truth, then the Church which He founded and guides has all truth (John 14:6).If all denominations claiming to bible based churches all those 38,000 denominations teach and preach differently for what they believe it to be right ,taking part of the scriptures not harmonizing with scriptures from genesis to revelation.

Jesus gave authority to the Apostles. John 20:21 says “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." Simon Peter, also known as Cephas (John 1:42), was one of the first followers of Jesus Christ. one of Jesus' closest friends, an apostle(Matthew 10:2, 1 Peter 1:1), and a “pillar” of the church (Galatians 2:9).Jesus said to him” Thou art Peter; and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:16-18). In John 1:42, Jesus changes the Apostle Simon’s name to Cephas, or Peter, a name which means “Rock”. Jesus himself made Peter his earthly successor as the leader of His newly created Church and gave authority to apostles to rule and teach in the church( Matthew 28:20). In Acts 15:7, Peter said, "Brethren, you know that in early days GOD made choice among us, that through 'MY MOUTH' the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe."

Ephesians 2:18-22 says 18 Through Christ we both come to the Father by the power of one Holy Spirit. 19 So you are no longer strangers and outsiders. You are citizens together with God's people. You are members of God's family. 20 You are a building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation. Christ Jesus Himself is the most important stone in the building. 21 The whole building is held together by Him. It rises to become a holy temple because it belongs to the Lord. 22 And because you belong to Him, you too are being built together. You are being made into a house where God lives through His Spirit.

Catholic Church has its roots in history, its origins with Jesus and the apostles. While the first Protestant church was established less than 500 years ago in Germany by Martin Luther in 1520.And there after many new denominations gave birth till today. The one true Church established by Christ is the Catholic Church. Many churches which claim to be Christian have broken away from the one true Church established by Jesus Christ. These churches were founded by men who had no authority from God to found a church.

Jesus tells Peter 3 times to feed his lambs(John 21:15-18) and was told to “strengthen brethren” (Lk 22:32) and that He would make fishers of men(Matthew 4:19). The authority of Peter has been passed down for 2000 years by means of the papacy.

In (Matthew 28:20 )Jesus promised to be with His Church until the end of the world and He promised that He would not leave us orphans( John 14:18)

The Catholic Church is built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the Chief Cornerstone. In Him the whole structure is fitted together and grows into a temple holy in the Lord.( Ephesians 2:20-21).

Conclusion :Anti-Catholic churches(Protestant churches) are missing too many things, they are missing seven books(Sirach, Tobit, Wisdom, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and Baruch, as well as longer versions of Daniel and Esther that are found in the Old Testament used by Catholics, but are not in the Old Testament used by Protestants),they do not have true Apostolic Tradition which can be tracked back to Jesus Christ, missing five of the seven Sacraments, missing all of the Saints and their wonderful works., Missing blessed Communion every week, their worship is not holy and they have Human founder.

[Catsrus]

You miss the entire meaning of what the “church” is. It’s a spiritual church - the bride of Christ and doesn’t have a denomination name over it. The Pope is NOT the apostolic successor of Peter. The church is comprised of born-again believers in every denomination - not just ONE. Read Revelation where Jesus addresses the churches. Notice the believers were addressed by the city where they worshipped and He addresses the believers in each group. Read your Bible!!!

[Catsrus]

I forgot to add that the ROCK is Jesus Christ, and he was addressing the fact Peter made a profound statement that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and only knew this by the Holy Spirit. You have to read one Scripture in light of another to get the meaning - or just read the verses before and after the statement.

[Dallas59]

Reasons why the Apocrypha does not belong in the Bible

Catholics and Protestants disagree regarding the exact number of books that belong in the Old Testament Scriptures. The dispute between them is over seven books, part of what is known as the Apocrypha: 1 and 2 Maccabees, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon), Baruch, Tobit, Judith, and additions to Daniel and Esther.1 However, there are a number of reasons why the Old Testament Apocrypha should not be part of the Canon or standard writings of Scripture. Rejection by Jesus and the Apostles

1. There are no clear, definite New Testament quotations from the Apocrypha by Jesus or the apostles. While there may be various allusions by the New Testament to the Apocrypha, there are no authoritative statements like "thus says the Lord," "as it is written," or "the Scriptures say." There are references in the New Testament to the pseudepigrapha (literally “false writings”) (Jude 14-15) and even citations from pagan sources (Acts 17:22-34), but none of these are cited as Scripture and are rejected even by Roman Catholics. In contrast, the New Testament writers cite the Old Testament numerous times (Mt. 5; Lk. 24:27; Jn. 10:35) and use phrases such as "thus says the Lord," "as it is written," or "the Scriptures say," indicating their approval of these books as inspired by God.

2. Jesus implicitly rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture by referring to the entire accepted Jewish Canon of Scripture, “From the blood of Abel [Gen. 4:8] to the blood of Zechariah [2 Chron. 24:20], who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation (Lk. 11:51; cf. Mt. 23:35).”

Abel was the first martyr in the Old Testament from the book of Genesis while Zechariah was the last martyr in the book of Chronicles. In the Hebrew Canon, the first book was Genesis and the last book was Chronicles. They contained all of the same books as the standard 39 books accepted by Protestants today, but they were just arranged differently. For example, all of the 12 minor prophets (Hosea through Malachi) were contained in one book. This is why there are only 24 books in the Hebrew Bible today. By Jesus' referring to Abel and Zachariah, He was canvassing the entire Canon of the Hebrew Scriptures which included the same 39 books as Protestants accept today. Therefore, Jesus implicitly rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture.

Rejection by the Jewish Community
3. The "oracles of God" were given to the Jews (Rom. 3:2) and they rejected the Old Testament Apocrypha as part of this inspired revelation. Interestingly, Jesus had many disputes with the Jews, but He never disputed with them regarding the extent of the inspired revelation of God.2

4. The Dead Sea scrolls provide no commentary on the Apocrypha but do provide commentary on some of the Jewish Old Testament books. This probably indicates that the Jewish Essene community did not regard them as highly as the Jewish Old Testament books.

5. Many ancient Jews rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture. Philo never quoted the Apocrypha as Scripture. Josephus explicitly rejected the Apocrypha and listed the Hebrew Canon to be 22 books. 3 In fact, the Jewish Community acknowledged that the prophetic gifts had ceased in Israel before the Apocrypha was written.

Rejection by many in the Catholic Church
6. The Catholic Church has not always accepted the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha was not officially accepted by the Catholic Church at a universal council until 1546 at the Council of Trent. This is over a millennium and a half after the books were written, and was a counter reaction to the Protestant Reformation.

7. Many church Fathers rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture, and many just used them for devotional purposes. For example, Jerome, the great Biblical scholar and translator of the Latin Vulgate, rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture though, supposedly under pressure, he did make a hurried translation of it. In fact, most of the church fathers in the first four centuries of the Church rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture. Along with Jerome, names include Origen, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Athanasius.

8. The Apocryphal books were placed in Bibles before the Council of Trent and after but were placed in a separate section because they were not of equal authority. The Apocrypha rightfully has some devotional purposes, but it is not inspired. False Teachings

9. The Apocrypha contains a number of false teachings (see: Errors in the Apocrypha). (To check the following references, see http://www.newadvent.org/bible.)

The command to use magic (Tobit 6:5-7). Forgiveness of sins by almsgiving (Tobit 4:11; 12:9). Offering of money for the sins of the dead (2 Maccabees 12:43-45).

Not Prophetic
10. The Apocryphal books do not share many of the chararacteristics of the Canonical books: they are not prophetic, there is no supernatural confirmation of any of the apocryphal writers works, there is no predictive prophecy, there is no new Messianic truth revealed, they are not cited as authoritative by any prophetic book written after them, and they even acknowledge that there were no prophets in Israel at their time (cf. 1 Macc. 9:27; 14:41).

[Religion Moderator]

Source?

[freedom6178]

AMEN!

[Alex Murphy]

Conclusion :Anti-Catholic churches(Protestant churches) are missing too many things, they are missing seven books(Sirach, Tobit, Wisdom, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and Baruch, as well as longer versions of Daniel and Esther that are found in the Old Testament used by Catholics, but are not in the Old Testament used by Protestants),they do not have true Apostolic Tradition which can be tracked back to Jesus Christ, missing five of the seven Sacraments, missing all of the Saints and their wonderful works., Missing blessed Communion every week, their worship is not holy and they have Human founder.

Oh look it's another hate-filled anti-Protestant thread!

[Fiji Hill]

The one true Church established by Christ is the Catholic Church. Many churches which claim to be Christian have broken away from the one true Church established by Jesus Christ. These churches were founded by men who had no authority from God to found a church.

What about the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, started by the apostle Mark? This and other early churches in the Middle East, Ethiopia, India, Britain and elsewhere were never under the authority of the Bishop of Rome and thus were not part of the Roman Catholic Church.

[Catsrus]

King James Bible
And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. I Corinthians 10:4

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 3:11.

[c-b 1]

You are correct, and your correction is also correct.

[Drango]

Conclusion :...(Protestant churches).... their worship is not holy ...

Yawnnnnnn

[BlueDragon]

Source?

It appears to me to have come from carm.org.

[SubMareener]

All that matters for those of you who are left behind is to remember this: DON’T TAKE THE MARK OF THE BEAST!

[PetroniusMaximus]

How is the current pope, Pope Marx, a successor to Peter in any way, shape or form???

[Catsrus]

The Catholic Church was split into two at one point - the East and the West. Constantine was head of the church and made it the official religion and thus called the headquaters, Constantinople. Read the history!

[Salvation]

List of All Popes

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1) St. Peter (33-67)

2) St. Linus (67-76)

3) St. Cletus (76-88)

4) St. Clement 1 (88-97)

5) St. Evaristus (97-105)

6) St. Alexander I (105-1l5)

7) St. Sixtus I (1l5-125)

8) St. Telesphorus (125-136)

9) St. Hyginus (136-140)

10) St. Pius I (140-155)

11) St. Anicetus (155-166)

12) St. Soter (166-175)

13) St. Eleutherius (175-189)

14) St. Victor I (189-199)

15) St. Zephyrinus (199-217)

16) St. Callistus (217-222)

17) St. Urban I (222-230)

18) St. Pontian (230-235)

19) St. Anterus (235-236)

20) St. Fabian (236-250)

21) St. Cornelius (251-253)

22) St. Lucius I (253-254)

23) St. Stephen I (254-257)

24) St. Sixtus I1 (257-258)

25) St. Dionysius (256-268)

26) St. Felix I (269-274)

27) St. Eutychian (275-283)

28) St. Caius (283-296)

29) St. Marcellinus (296-304)

30) St. Marcellus I (308-309)

31) St. Eusebius (309)

32) St. Miltiades (31l-314)

33) St. Sil Vester I (314-335)

34) St. Mark (336)

35) St. Julius I (337-352)

36) Liberius (352-366)

37) St. Damasus I (366-384)

38) St. Siricius (384-399)

39) St. Anastasius I (399-401)

40) St. Innocent I (401-417)

41) St. Zosimus (417-418)

42) St. Boniface I (418-422)

43) St. Celestine I (422-432)

44) St. Sixtus III (432-440)

45) St. Leo I (440-461)

46) St. Hilarus (461-468)

47) St. Simplicius (468-483)

48) St. Felix III (483-492)

49) St. Gelasius I (492-496)

50) Anastasius II (496-498)

51) St. Symmachus (498-514)

52) St. Hormisdas (514-523)

53) St. John I (523-526)

54) St. Felix IV (526-530)

55) Boniface II (530-532)

56) John II (533-535)

57) Agapitus I (535-536)

58) St. Silverius (536-537)

59) Vigilius (537.555)

60) Pelagius I (556-561)

61) John III (561-574)

62) Benedict I (575-579)

63) Pelagius II (579-590)

64) St. Gregory I (590-604)

65) Sabinian (604-606)

66) Boniface III (607)

67) St. Boniface IV (608-615)

68) St. Adeodatus (615-618)

69) Boniface V (619-625)

70) Honorius I (625-638)

71) Severinus (640)

72) John IV (640-642)

73) Theodore I (642-649)

74) St. Martin I (649-655)

75) St. Eugene I (654-657)

76) St. Vitalian (657-672)

77) Adeodatus II (672-676)

78) Donus (676-678)

79) St. Agatho (678-681)

80) St. Leo II (682-683)

81) St. Benedict II (684-685)

82) John V (685-686)

83) Conon (686-687)

84) St. Sergius I (687-701)

85) John VI (701-705)

86) John VII (705-707)

87) Sissinius (708)

88) Constantine (708-715)

89) St. Gregory II (715-731)

90) St. Gregory III (731-741)

91) St. Zacharias (741-752)

92) Stephen II (752-757)

93) St. Paul I (757-767)

94) Stephen III (768-772)

95) Hadrian I (772-795)

96) St. Leo III (795-816)

97) Stephen IV (816-817)

98) St. Paschal I (817-824)

99) Eugene II (824-827)

100) Valentine (827)

101) Gregory IV (827-844)

102) Sergius II (844-847)

103) St. Leo IV (847-855)

104) Benedict III (855-858)

105) St. Nicholas (858-867)

106) Hadrian II (867-872)

107) John VIII (872-882)

108) Marinus I (882-884)

109) St. Hadrian III (884-885)

110) Stephen V (885-891)

111) Formosus (891-896)

112) Boniface VI (896)

113) Stephen VI (896-897)

114) Romanus (897)

115) Theodore II (897)

116) John IX (898-900)

117) Benedict IV (900-903)

118) Leo V (903)

119) Sergius III (904-91l)

120) Anastasius III (91l-913)

121) Lando (913-914)

122) John X (914-928)

123) Leo VI (928)

124) Stephen VII (928-931)

125) John XI (931-935)

126) Leo VII (936-939)

127) Stephen VIII (939-942)

128) Marinus II (942-946)

129) Agapitus II (946-955)

130) John XII (955-964)

131) Leo VIII (963-965)

132) Benedict V (964-966)

133) John XIII (965-972)

134) Benedict VI (973-974)

135) Benedict VII (974-983)

136) John XIV (983-984)

137) John XV (985-996)

138) Gregory V (996-999)

139) Silvester II (999-1003)

140) John XVII (1003)

141) John XVIII (1004-1009)

142) Sergius IV (1009-1012)

143) Benedict VIII (1012-1024)

144) John XIX (1024-1032)

145) Benedict IX (1032-1044)

146) Silvester III (1045)

147) Benedict IX (1045)

148) Gregory VI (1045-1046)

149) Clement II (1046-1047)

150) Benedict IX (1047-1048)

151) Damasus II (1048)

152) St. Leo IX (1049-1054)

153) Victor II (1055-1057)

154) Stephen IX (1057-1058)

155) Nicholas II (1059-1061)

156) Alexander II (1061-1073)

157) St. Gregory VII (1073-1085)

158) Bl. Victor III (1086-1087)

159) Bl. Urban II (1088-1099)

160) Paschal II (1099-1118)

161) Gelasius II (1118-1119)

162) Callistus II (1119-1124)

163) Honorius II (1124-1130)

164) Innocent II (1130-1143)

165) Celestine II (1143-1144)

166) Lucius II (1144-1145)

167) Bl. Eugene III (1145-1153)

168) Anastasius IV (1153-1154)

169) Hadrian IV (1154-1159)

170) Alexander III (1159-1181)

17l) Lucius III (1181-1185)

172) Urban III (1185-1187)

173) Gregory VIII (1187)

174) Clement III (1187-1191)

175) Celestine III (1191-1198)

176) Innocent III (1198-1216)

177) Honorius III (1216-1227)

178) Gregory IX (1227-1241)

179) Celestine IV (1241)

180) Innocent IV (1243-1254)

181) Alexander IV (1254-1261)

182) Urban IV (1261-1264)

183) Clement IV (1265-1268)

184) Bl. Gregory X (1272-1276)

185) Bl. Innocent V (1276)

186) Hadrian V (1276)

187) John XXI (1276-1277)

188) Nicholas III (1277-1280)

189) Martin IV (1281-1285)

190) Honorius IV (1285-1287)

191) Nicholas IV (1288-1292)

192) St. Celestine V (1294)

193) Boniface VIII (1294-1303)

194) Bl. Benedict XI (1303-1304)

195) Clement V (1305-1314)

196) John XXII (1316-1334)

197) Benedict XII (1335-1342)

198) Clement VI (1342-1352)

199) Innocent VI (1352-1362)

200) Bl. Urban V (1362-1370)

201) Gregory XI (1371-1378)

202) Urban VI (1378-1389)

203) Boniface IX (1389-1404)

204) Innocent VII (1404-1406)

205) Gregory XII (1406-1415)

206) Martin V (1417-1431)

207) Eugene IV (1431-1447)

208) Nicholas V (1447-1455)

209) Calixtus III (1455-1458)

210) Pius II (1458-1464)

211) Paul II (1464-1471)

212) Sixtus IV (1471-1484)

213) Innocent VIII (1484-1492)

214) Alexander VI (1492-1503)

215) Pius III (1503)

216) Julius II (1503-1513)

217) Leo X (1513-1521)

218) Hadrian VI (1522-1523)

219) Clement VII (1523-1534)

220) Paul III (1534-1549)

221) Jules III (1550-1555)

222) Marcellus II (1555)

223) Paul IV(1555-1559)

224) Pius IV (1560-1565)

225) St. Pius V (1566-1572)

226) Gregory XIII (1572-1585)

227) Sixtus V (1585-1590)

228) Urban VII (1590)

229) Gregory XIV (1590-1591)

230) Innocent IX (1591)

231) Clement VIII (1592-1605)

232) Leo XI (1605)

233) Paul V (1605.1621)

234) Gregory XV (1621-1623)

235) Urban VIII (1623-1644)

236) Innocent X (1644-1655)

237) Alexander VII (1655-1667)

238) Clement IX (1667-1669)

239) Clement X (1669-1676)

240) Bl. Innocent XI (1676-1689)

241) Alexander VIII (1689-1691)

242) Innocent XII (1691-1700)

243) Clement XI (1700-1721)

244) Innocent XIII (1721-1724)

245) Benedict XIII (1724-1730)

246) Clement XII (1730-1740)

247) Benedict XIV (1740-1758)

248) Clement XIII (1758-1769)

249) Clement XIV (1769-1774)

250) Pius VI (1775-1799)

251) Pius VII (1800-1823)

252) Leo XII (1823-1829)

253) Pius VIII (1829-1830)

254) Gregory XVI (1831-1846)

255) Pius IX (1846-1878)

256) Leo XIII (1878-1903)

257) St. Pius X (1903-1914)

258) Benedict XV (1914-1922)

259) Pius XI (1922-1939)

260) Pius XII (1939-1958)

261) Bl. John XXIII (1959-1963)

262) Paul VI (1963-1978)

263) John Paul I (1978)

264) John Paul II (1978- 2005)

265) Benedict XVI (2005-2013)

266) Francis (2013-)

[Salvation]

#16 is from Catholic 101

[Fiji Hill]

The Catholic Church was split into two at one point - the East and the West. Constantine was head of the church and made it the official religion and thus called the headquaters (sic), Constantinople. Read the history!

But there were Christian churches beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire that were not under Constantinople's authority such as the one in India whose founding is credited to Thomas the apostle.

[Catsrus]

I feel sorry for Catholics who swallow hogwash as truth because they do not read the Bible for themselves, but, like the MSM, spew the Catholic talking points. I am not to judge whose heart is or isn’t right with God - regardless of which group they belong to. However, when they distort so much of the truth - then one has to wonder about their salvation. It’s so easy to be born - again - just repent of your sins - and ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No man can wash away our sins, nor can they be erased by confessing them to another human being. We must come to the cross and ask Jesus for forgiveness. Now, there is a Scripture that says - confess your sins one to another - but, that’s a different subject for a different day. Jesus said - “You MUST be born again - and that is a spiritual rebirth. It isn’t an option if you want to get into heaven - he says You MUST!!!

[Catsrus]

That may be, however, we are discussing the Catholic Church.