The Catholic Church IS the ONE TRUE CHURCH

This is what we believe. The Apostles are the foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:19-20), and Peter had a certain primacy over the other Apostles. I never said the Apostles are not the foundation of the Church but Peter has supreme authority over them so it is better to say He is the foundation of the Catholic Church for he is Peter the Rock. My opponent said "The only independent source we have to compare to is the Bible." Where is that in the bible? You cannot show me. The Catholic Church does not follow the bible ALONE ! One way you couldve proved the church wrong was to show that we are to follow the bible alone but nowhere in the bible does it tell us to do this. My opponent said "The Catholic Church is founded on bishops." Correction: The Catholic Church was founded on ST.Peter(an apostle and a bishop) My opponent says "upon his death, the apostles were no more, hence the foundation was no more." Question for my opponent: Why would Jesus would give this tremendous authority to St. Peter and not intend for it to be passed on? Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. (Matthew 16:18) but if this authority was lost because of the death of the apostles, we are also lost and are sheep without a shepherd. John 14:16 tells us Jesus will not leave us orphans but if he has left us without a shepherd we are orphans. Jesus knew St. Peter would be die therefore, Christ must have intended the office of Peter to last until the end of time. My opponent said " Pro asks for a definition of witness that I have provided several times. Acts 1:21-22: "21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." I meant EXACT definition. The definition of witness is "A person who sees an event, typically a crime or accident, take place." You quote from Acts 1:21-22 which reads "one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection". Your interpretation is (I guess) that they must have been present at the resurrection of our lord but ST.Paul, ST.Timothy, and ST.Titus were apostles but were not present at Christ's resurrection. All three of them were chosen. My opponent said "I assert that the teachings we must hold on to are the teachings of scripture."This is not what the passage says. My opponent says "Pro assumes that the Holy Ghost is leading the Catholic Church. This point begs the question that the Catholic Church is true to prove that it is led by the Holy Ghost. Any other reference to discerning truth by the Holy Ghost only leads to individual, subjective perception, and cannot be used as a conclusive argument in this debate." The Catholic Church is historically the Original Church therefore the Catholic Church is the Church which the gates of hell shall not prevail against. (Matthew 16:18) The Catholic Church is the Church that is the body of Christ. (Colossians 1:18) The Catholic Church is the Church that the Spirit of Truth will guide to the Truth. The Catholic Church is the Church that is called the bride of Christ. (Ephesians 5:22-33) The Catholic Church is the PILLAR AND GROUND OF THE TRUTH. (1 Timothy 3:15) The Catholic Church is the Church of Jesus Christ and is therefore, the ONE TRUE CHURCH ! In Closing... These are quotes from the Early Church Fathers who agreed that the Catholic Church is the ONE TRUE CHURCH and most of these Fathers lived in the early times. The four marks of the Church are her Unity, Holiness (Sanctity), Catholicity, and Apostolicity. "These four essential characteristics, proper to the Catholic Church alone, visibly manifest to the world that she is the true Church of Christ." (Catholic Dictionary) "He has said to her [the Church], 'Go and teach all nations...I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.' These words explain the intentions of Jesus Christ. The Divine Master wants His Church to be in the world the instrument for the salvation of souls. This is so much His desire that to the Church alone, to the exclusion of all other organizations, He has entrusted the care of guiding souls to their final supernatural beatitude. It is certainly His will that His Church should fulfill in the world the office of an organism necessary for the salvation of the world." (Fahey) "It is clear to everyone who knows the Gospel that the care of the whole Church has been committed to the blessed Peter, chief of the apostles." (Pope St. Gregory I the Great, Doctor of the Church, c. 595 A.D.) "Reckon up the priests form the days that Peter sat, and in their ancestral ranks note who succeeded whom; for that is the rock over which the gates of hell shall never prevail." (St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church, 4th century A.D.) "It is clear that this Church [of Rome] is to all churches throughout the world as the head is to the members, and that whoever separates himself from it becomes an exile from the Christian religion." (Pope St. Boniface I, 422 A.D.) Here is a timeline of when some of the other "churches" where founded. These churches could not have been founded by Christ for they were founded later on and by man. I hope oneday there will be UNITY between these church. Thank You. Church Year Established Founder Where Established Catholic 33 Jesus Christ Jerusalem Orthodox 1054 Schismatic Catholic Bishops Constantinople Lutheran 1517 Martin Luther Germany Anabaptist 1521 Nicholas Storch & Thomas Munzer Germany Anglican 1534 Henry VIII England Mennonites 1536 Menno Simons Switzerland Calvinist 1555 John Calvin Switzerland Presbyterian 1560 John Knox Scotland Congregational 1582 Robert Brown Holland Baptist 1609 John Smyth Amsterdam Dutch Reformed 1628 Michaelis Jones New York Congregationalist 1648 Pilgrims and Puritans Massachusetts Quakers 1649 George Fox England Amish 1693 Jacob Amman France Freemasons 1717 Masons from four lodges London Methodist 1739 John & Charles Wesley England Unitarian 1774 Theophilus Lindey London Methodist Episcopal 1784 60 Preachers Baltimore, MD Episcopalian 1789 Samuel Seabury American Colonies United Brethren 1800 Philip Otterbein & Martin Boehn Maryland Disciples of Christ 1827 Thomas & Alexander Campbell Kentucky Mormon 1830 Joseph Smith New York Methodist Protestant 1830 Methodist United States Church of Christ 1836 Warren Stone & Alexander Campbell Kentucky Seventh Day Adventist 1844 Ellen White Washington, NH Christadelphian (Brethren of Christ 1844 John Thomas Richmond, VA Salvation Army 1865 William Booth London Holiness 1867 Methodist United States Jehovah's Witnesses 1874 Charles Taze Russell Pennsylvania Christian Science 1879 Mary Baker Eddy Boston Church of God in Christ 1895 Various churches of God Arkansas Church of Nazarene c. 1850-1900 Various religious bodies Pilot Point, TX Pentecstal 1901 Charles F. Parkham Topeka, KS Aglipayan 1902 Gregorio Aglipay Philippines Assemblies of God 1914 Pentecostalism Hot Springs, AZ Iglesia ni Christo 1914 Felix Manalo Philippines Four-square Gospel 1917 Aimee Semple McPherson Los Angeles, CA United Church of Christ 1961 Reformed and Congregationalist Philadelphia, PA Calvary Chapel 1965 Chuck Smith Costa Mesa, CA United Methodist 1968 Methodist and United Brethren Dallas, TX Born-again c. 1970s Various religious bodies United States Harvest Christian 1972 Greg Laurie Riverside, CA Saddleback 1982 Rick Warren California Non-denominational c. 1990s various United States