[quote]To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.[/quote]
noted St. John Henry Newman once upon a time - himself brought up as an Anglican before 'crossing the Tiber' to Rome.
He didn't mean that all Protestants aware of history must by some rule become Catholic, but more an observation that the Church is intimately bound up in historical reality (and, from the point of view of conversions, that Christian history fundamentally argues against protestantism, and many protestants who study history, including himself, may in time come to realise that the Catholic Church is the 'true' Church - the Church which Christ himself founded and entrusted to St. Peter.
[quote]Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [i]Matt. 16:18[/i][/quote]
One of Jesus's under-appreciated aspects, incidentally, is his fondness for puns and sarcastic jokes: both Πέτρος in Greek, or כֵּיפָא [Kepha{s}] in Aramaic, means ‘rock’: St. Peter’s original name was Simon. (Witness also the Lord's famous comment about rich men and eyes of needles).
Anyway - [i]extra Ecclesiam nulla salus[/i] - outside the Church there is no salvation. This is because in a very real sense, the Church IS salvation.
As Catholics, we are, in the words of St John Paul II, "part of a building, that has the Apostles and Prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself for its cornerstone."
[quote]I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. [i]Matt. 28:20[/i][/quote]
The Church [i]is[/i], according to the providential plan of God. Centuries and millennia have passed, but Holy Church continues to be [i]the[/i] Church of the risen Christ.
As Catholics some of us might disagree from time to time, from huge matters (the implications of the Second Vatican Council), to small ones (is the wine cruet of the right size?), but there is an essential and fundamental unity in Catholicism alone, a unity in Christ, in the men and their successors he himself chose to feed his sheep, until he comes again.
I remain an Evangelical of the Anabaptist tradition. I have looked at the Catholic and the Orthodox traditions and find them very wanting. My salvation is in Christ alone and not in any human institution. He who knit me together in my mother's womb is more than capable of maintaining my salvation. (It is by Grace I am saved) Grace being the Gift of God. It is not me or the church I attend or the communion I partake in. It is God alone.
Of course Jesus’ little joke has been misunderstood. The word Petros means a ‘stone’. The word Jesus used for ‘rock’ Petra means a huge cliff. It was n the rock ofPeter’s confession ‘You are the Messiah’ not on Peter thatJesus was going to build his church. Salvation does not lie in the church but in Christ. We become part of the church because we are in the Messiah
@Speedyman I don't really wish to get into a debate over it, but the prominence given to Peter among the Apostles would suggest he was a rock of both sorts!
He was obviously one of the leaders of the apostles but then so was James the Lord’s brother according to St Paul. Peter wasn’t the rock Jesus built in church on otherwise we have a very poor church if it were built on a man who is so fallible as Peter. Jesus is the foundation of the church by his death and resurrection@Persephonee
@hippyjoe1955 On the contrary Acts shows that the Apostles and other early Christians continued regular communal prayer, and attended at the Temple in Jerusalem (and synagogues elsewhere, presumably). We tend to assume that they led, and should lead, by example. If they went 'to church' or met as 'a church', believing it important for salvation and for the worship of God, so must we.
Moreover we are called by Scripture (presumably any reference to sacred tradition would fall on deaf ears!) to put our faith into practice. If we truly believe in God, his very existence demands worship. We can worship God alone, but how much more fitting to unite as a community to do this?
Of course we must go to church!
St Ignatius wrote to the Magnesians, round about the year 100:
[quote]As therefore the Lord did nothing without the Father, being united to Him, neither by Himself nor by the apostles, so [b]neither do anything without the bishop and presbyters[/b]. Neither endeavour that anything appear reasonable and proper to yourselves apart; but [b]being come together into the same place, let there be one prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope, in love and in joy undefiled[/b]. There is one Jesus Christ, than whom nothing is more excellent. Therefore [b]run together as into one temple of God, as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ[/b], who came forth from one Father, and is with and has gone to one.[/quote]
We might debate where the emphasis, on 'going to church' as a physical place, and 'meeting as a church' of fellow Christians, might be placed, but one is absolutely called by the Church Fathers from the earliest times to meet together (and after of course the end of the persecutions, Christians could set aside public buildings for this).
@Persephonee Gathering for prayer and communion is part of the Christian faith but it does not mandate any one institution as arbiter of said practice. One does not need the blessing of a bishop to conduct communion since that is something that Jesus Himself instituted. There are requirements and qualifications but being mandated by a catholic bishop is not one of them. Likewise baptism. Proclaiming the Gospel (which the catholic church doesn't do) Baptism and communion are the only things the church is mandated to do.
@Persephonee Thank you for your informed and thought-out answer to my question. In my opinion, "church" means "totality of all Christians". That's why the church is the [u]body[/u] of Christ. Salvation is not restricted to a subset of this body. Thank you again 🌸
