In the first century of the common era, a most unusual event took place. In a small Jewish village called Bethlehem, God became a man in the person of Jesus, the Messiah of Prophecy. Jesus had a mission, which was to bring salvation to those of every tribe and tongue, both Jew and Gentile, who would accept his plan of salvation. Those who were saved by Jesus were added by him to the Church which he founded. Today there are many Churches claiming divine origin. These are the denominations, Catholic and Protestant, which have corrupted the message of Christ and are leading too many people astray.

There is only one true Church of Christ. Jesus said, "I will build my Church," (Matt. 16:18) not many Churches or denominations. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:4 that there is "one body," which is the Church. He speaks of "the Church of the living God" in 1 Timothy 3:15. The book Catholic Facts, a papist publication, states that "if (a Church) be not identical in belief, in government, etc., with the primitive Church, then it is not the Church of Christ." With this statement I agree wholeheartedly. It is my goal to demonstrate that the Church of Christ, of which I am a member, is the only true Church and that the Roman Catholic Church is a false and apostate Church.

This is a most unusual opportunity with which I have been blessed. Few are given the chance to peer into the future and see what is to become of them. Far fewer are given the opportunity to debate with their future selves over the Internet! Obviously, I am surprised and quite dismayed at the peculiar notion that, in a mere two years, I am to be a Roman Catholic preparing for the Romanist priesthood. I hope in this debate to avert that possibility.

Before I begin with the evidence, I should pause for a moment to comment on the resolutions. My opponent has suggested in his resolution, which I am denying, that the Church of Christ is a "Protestant denomination." In a very qualified sense, I suppose I am a Protestant, inasmuch as I am not a Catholic and I do protest the wrongs of the Roman Church. On that, I stand with the members of the denominations in agreement. However, the Church of Christ is not a denomination. The word "denomination" suggests that Christians are divided into separate but equal groups. I find in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 such sectarianism condemned. The Church of Christ is not a denomination, but simply the collective group of all true Christians. We in the Church of Christ prefer to avoid the term "Protestant" as well. Our origin is not in the failed reformatory movements of ages past, but in Jesus Christ. A true Christian is not a "Protestant,"but simply a Christian.

Jesus laid down for humanity the conditions for salvation. Men and women, regardless of age, race, class, language, etc., who accept those conditions and submit to the will of God become Christians. A Christian is a disciple of Christ (Acts 11:26), one who follows the Lord. Only one who truly follows the commands of the Lord is a disciple, and only a true disciple is a Christian. Notice these words from Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.'" People who do not truly follow the will of God, no matter how sincere they are, are not true disciples, but evildoers. Only true disciples are Christians, and only Christians make up the Church of Christ.

How does one become a Christian? First of all, one must hear the gospel. (Rom. 10:17) Having heard the gospel, one must believe in it. (John 3:16) The believer who repents of his sins (Acts 2:38) and confesses his faith (Acts 8:37) is to be baptized. Baptism is a sort of ritual washing, in which a believer is entirely immersed in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that "whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:16) Peter tells us that "baptism...saves" us. (1 Peter 3:20) On the day of Pentecost, it was after the converts were baptized that "the Lord added" to the Church. (Acts 2:47)

This plan is very simple. It is offered to mankind by God's grace. Yet, too many people have attempted to "improve" God's plan of salvation. The Bible teaches that baptism is necessary for salvation. Those who teach otherwise have chosen an alternate plan of salvation which does not make one a true New Testament Christian. Others have replaced true baptism, which is immersion, with pouring or sprinkling. God's Holy Word knows of no such innovations. Indeed, those who practice pouring are not practicing baptism. I may call a cow a dog, but a cow it remains. Still others have tried to administer their so-called sacraments to infants who, because of their age, are incapable of hearing the gospel, believing in it, repenting of their sins, and confessing their faith. These poor misguided souls often live their lives falsely thinking they have been baptized. But the letter of the Law is clear, and the God of Wrath will destroy these poor souls in the everlasting inferno. Ignorance is no excuse in matters of faith, and Hell is warming up.

The Church founded by Jesus Christ, therefore, consists of true Christians, who believe in Jesus and have been baptized by immersion for the remission of their sins. I ask my opponent, in which Church do these Christians exist? Will he dare suggest with a straight face that these men and women are Roman Catholics? They are Christians. They call themselves Christians as did their brothers in Antioch (Acts 11:26). They need no name but the name of Christ, and they need no Church but the Church of Christ.

Under the Law of Moses, the Jews were ministered to by a sacrificial Levitical priesthood. Jews did not go directly to God with their prayers and sacrifices, but relied on the priests. One of the beautiful things about the advent of the Church is that the holy priesthood was conferred on all Christians. The New Testament Church of Christ knows of no "sacramental" ordination of an elite class of clergy. The apostle Peter says to all Christians: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) In the Church of Christ, no one stands between the true priest, the Christian, and his God, save the "one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Tim. 2:5,6)

The Church founded by Jesus claims him alone as its head. (Eph. 5:23,24) Jesus is the head and the Church is the body. His universal Church, which consists of the saved in heaven and the faithful on earth, is not represented on the earth by any one large corporate entity. The Church is not an institution, but simply a collection of saved individuals. Individual congregations of Christians, known as "churches," are independent. (Rom. 16:16) The Bible knows of no one man or group of men which have binding authority over the Church as a whole. Instead, each individual congregation of Christ's true Church is guided by its own leaders. These leaders are known as "elders," "bishops," and "pastors." (The three titles are interchangeable and refer to the same office, Acts 20:17, 28; 1 Pet. 5:2-4, 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Heb. 13:17.) Assisting the elders are servants known as "deacons." (1 Tim. 3:8-13) This is the organization of the one true Church, and I affirm with 100% confidence that it is my Church, the Church of Christ which some mistakenly label a "Protestant denomination," which is organized in the Biblical way. I eagerly await any attempt by my opponent to argue that the Roman Catholic Church, with her pope, priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, patriarchs, pastors, and so forth, is organized in the way laid out so clearly by the Lord Jesus.

The Church founded by Jesus Christ had only one authority, the Word of God. That Word, which was partially revealed through the ages by the prophets, was fully revealed in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. (Heb. 1:1,2; John 1:14) He entrusted this message to the twelve apostles, who were guided by the Holy Spirit into all truth. (John 16:13) This message was recorded in the ensuing decades into the 27 books of the New Testament. The apostle Paul tells us that the Scripture is our only guide. "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16)

In 1952, Mr. Eldred Stevens, a gospel preacher, debated Roman Catholic Dr. Eric Beevers. Time and time again in the debate, Mr. Stevens challenged the priest to deal with this passage of Scripture. The Catholic Church teaches and practices many things which are not taught in Scripture, yet still claims to be the true Church. This passage must have been quite an enigma for Dr. Beevers. The inspired writer clearly shows that the only authority in religion is the Bible. Dr. Beevers never dealt with this passage--he never even tried. Why? I think it's very obvious. The Scriptures equip men and women for every good work. If a thing is not in the Bible, it is not a good work. The Roman Catholic Church makes no pretense about it--it never claims to follow the Bible alone. The Church of the first century, however, did follow the authority of the 27 books of the New Testament alone. Twenty centuries later, the Church of Christ continues to follow the divine pattern. "Sola scriptura" is the ancient way of saying it. In the language of the day, we speak where the Bible speaks and where it is silent, we are silent. How will my opponent handle this passage? Doctrines and practices which take their authority from papal declarations and ecclesiastical traditions can not be good works!

Roman Catholics like to claim that their Church dates back to Christ and the apostles. We have established from Scripture, however, that the Church founded by Jesus Christ is identical with the so-called Protestant denomination, the Church of Christ. In looking at the history of the Church, we will find that the Roman Catholic Church did not exist before the seventh century.

Even during Biblical times, the Church of Christ had to deal with sinful influences which tried to corrupt her. In Acts 20:29-31, the apostle Paul warns the Miletians and Ephesians: "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears."

The apostle Peter gives a similar warning: "There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who ransomed them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their licentious ways, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled." (1 Peter 2:1,2)

Historian Robert H. Brumback describes the advent of this Catholicizing apostasy: "As this apostasy developed, human philosophy and paganism crept into the church and it became difficult for the church to preserve the simplicity of the gospel, the purity of the worship and the form of government that existed in the church in the beginning.

"Practices that were unauthorized by God's Word began to be added to worship. The Lord's supper became the object of a ritualistic ceremony that included with it the teaching that Christ's sacrifice was enacted with every observance of this institution.

"The first change in the government of the church was an easy one to make. When difficulties arose in the small congregations the older congregations were called upon to assist in correcting such matters. Groups of elders would come together in solemn assembly to render a decision. One elder would be selected to preside over the meeting. He was called the bishop." (1)

The bishops enjoyed monarchical authority in the churches, claiming that they received their authority through "apostolic succession." As Eldred Stevens points out, "an apostle was a witness...Witnesses don't have successors." (2) This false doctrine allowed the Church, which grew more and more institutional, to claim authority outside the New Testament. What followed in the ensuing centuries was truly tragic. As we will see momentarily, true Christians vanished, as the hordes of apostates were farmed for the fires of eternal Hell. Brumback remarks that "apostasy developed, the authority of the Word of God was rejected, an ecclesiastical hierarchy began to form by which the church was swept into a midnight of darkness where it remained for twelve hundred years." (3)

As time progressed, new doctrines were added to make the Church more appealing to the pagans. Purgatory, the idea of a second chance of salvation after death, began development in the third century under the influence of Origen. At this same time, the elders of the Church assumed the title of "priest," robbing the Christian faithful of their dignity as the true priests of the Church of Christ.

Baptism began to be practiced by sprinkling and pouring, and was administered to infants. From this point forward, it became increasingly more difficult to be a true Christian. The flood gates of false doctrine opened when Constantine the Great, Emperor of Rome, became a "Christian." David W. Bercot relates what became of the Church under Constantine: "As Constantine began passing laws to ‘Christianize' Roman society, the distinction between Christians and non-Christians became blurred. In the past, there had been little to attract anyone to the church other than a genuine faith in God. Fair weather converts were ferreted out as soon as it came time to carry their crosses. Unregenerated persons in the church were a small minority. But now that Christianity was socially rewarding, people began flocking into the church in hordes. Already spiritually weak, the church was simply unable to assimilate such a large mass of new ‘converts.' Before long, the name ‘Christian' became a meaningless description...One of the immediate effects of the church's friendship with the world was that it began adopting the world's methods." (4)

Pagan rituals were brought into the Church to please the pagans. Feast days of pagan gods were turned into Church feasts, such as Lent, Easter, and Christmas. Pagan gods were replaced by patron saints, as members of the Church began directing their prayers and worship to heroes of the faith, abominably deified. Idols and altars were built to angels, saints, and characters whose very existence is questioned, like St. Christopher. The old pagan mother goddess religions influenced the Church to bestow honors on Mary of which she is undeserving. A celibate hatred of marriage caused Mary to be proclaimed a "perpetual virgin." She was proclaimed the "Mother of God." Later developments have caused her to be revered as sinless, as the Queen of Heaven, and, most blasphemously, as the Co-Redemptrix.

The practice of sacramental confession developed in these years. When the truth was taught that all Christians were priests, the faithful brought their sins to God for forgiveness. With the development of an elite clerical priesthood, now enjoying riches and honor from the imperial government, people were forced to go to the priest, who arrogated to himself the right to forgive sins. In the confessional, the priest sits in judgment over the penitent, asking him or her humiliating questions about his or her most private affairs. Historian J. W. Shepherd describes the confessional:

"Thus we see that they make the priest the judge of the soul, and that in the confessional he sits instead of Jesus Christ and that he can keep the sins of any man bound upon him, or loose them according to his discretion...

"Many of the questions of the confessional are too horrible to quote. Were I to do so I would lay myself liable to prosecution by the Government authorities. But every question put by the priest must be answered by the penitent on the peril of damnation; he sits instead of Christ, the penitent is confessing to God, the voice of the priest is Immanuel's; it is the Almighty that is addressing the trembling penitent...The confessional is the most odious espionage ever invented by cunning despots...It turns priests into odious receptacles for the accumulated stench and nastiness of all the foul corruptions of thousands, making them the sons of the Man of Sin, ready bearers of the iniquities of whole communities. Yes it is a withering curse, a cruel tyranny, without one redeeming quality." (5)

One of the worst corruptions of the apostasy was the development of Catholic Eucharistic doctrine. While the Bible clearly teaches the Lord's Supper represents the Body and Blood of Christ, medieval Catholicism invented the sick notion that the bread and wine are sacramentally transformed into Jesus himself. This notion implies cannibalism and forces idolatry, as Catholics are forced to worship bread and wine. It was first suggested in the early ninth century by Paschasius Radbert. Says Shepherd: "At first the doctrine was repugnant to the cultivated, but it was broached in a rude age, and the monks favored it; the materialistic character of European thought assisted it, and gradually it had a host of friends and was prepared to frown down all opposition." (6) The ghastly notion of transubstantiation became Catholic doctrine in the 1200's, at the Lateran Council.

The pinnacle of apostasy was the development of the papacy. As bishops gained power, five stood out as "patriarchs:" Rome, Constantinople, Ephesus, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The Bishop of Rome, influenced by his city's political primacy, began to insist on a spiritual primacy. Popes Leo and Gregory both practiced their ministries

with nearly supreme authority, but rejected the title "universal bishop." In 606 AD, Boniface III accepted the title, and forced all other bishops to submit. This led to the split of the Eastern bishops in 1054. Papal power surged through the ages, as they claimed both spiritual and temporal authority. In 1859, the Catholic apostasy peaked (so far) with the declaration of the Vatican Council that the pope is infallible.

Beginning in the sixteenth century, many became fed up with the Roman Catholic Church. Men such as Martin Luther and John Calvin saw that the Catholic Church was nothing like the Church you can read about in the Bible. They wanted to restore the true Church, but in their efforts they were unwilling to part with Romanist baggage. They also, while rejecting false Catholic doctrines, invented doctrines of their own, such as salvation by faith alone. Rather than restoring the Church of Christ, they formed new denominations. This is the origin of Protestantism.

In the nineteenth century, sincere men such as Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Barton Warren Stone decided that they had had enough with denominationalism. Their Presbyterian and Baptist backgrounds proved to them that sectarianism was futile, and only a way to damnation. Anxious to escape the eternal fire and to offer others their first chance to do so in centuries, these men went on a crusade to convince people to go back to the first century standard of faith: the New Testament. Those who were willing to do so accepted true baptism and formed churches of Christ. Today, I write as one blessed to be part of one of those churches of Christ. The Church of Christ today stands on the same foundation as the apostolic Church. The Roman Catholic Church is nothing like the Church of the first century. I invite all who are willing to submit to the will of God to leave the Catholic Church and become true Christians.