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From Answers.com:

"Baptist successionism is the theory that there exists an unbroken chain of churches that have held the beliefs (though not always the name) of the current Baptist churches since the time of Christ. This theory is most commonly associated with Landmark Baptists, though not exclusively. Some Primitive Baptists, Regular Baptists and United Baptists hold a similar view. This view is distasteful to Catholics and Protestants who trace their origins through the Catholic Church. Much of the evidence that supports this theory has been lost or never existed. It is also impossible to disprove because it only requires the existence of at least one single church (could be as small as two or three people) during any particular point in history to be true. Adding to the problem is the fact that many of the groups that held the beliefs that Baptists now hold suffered great persecution by governments, as well as Catholics and Protestants alike. If these churches existed, as Landmark Baptists claim, the historical records required to prove the theory many never have existed."

So, there is a "hypothetical" Church with alleged ties to the first Christians with no concerete evidence for it and then there is the Catholic Church with an overabundance of historical data and writings proving their connection to the original 12 Apostles, to whom Christ bestowed the Church.

Unless you want to wear a tin-foil hat to Church, you would probably be safer to believe the latter, don't you think?

Catholic suppression of anything that does not support their beliefs is proof that they have something to hide. If the Catholics were the only true church, why did they slaughter other Christians throughout history? Why did they (and you) fear the other Christians?