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Preach it, sister.

Even Peter says this....

Acts 4:11-12 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Catholicism is not mentioned once in the NT. Retroactively claiming that the word *church* by default means *Catholic church* is just wishful thinking on the part of Catholics and nothing more than a power grab by Catholicism, trying to justifying it using Scripture.

Why someone would want to replace following Christ Himself for a man or organization is beyond me.

That I may gain Christ.......

Amen!!!!! Your words INSTANTLY had this hymn in my mind...

And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

2
’Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love Divine!
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

3
He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

4
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

5
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Catholicism is not mentioned once in the NT.

Oh, honestly...! Neither is Protestantism, Lutheranism, "altar calls", "the sinner's prayer", "accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior", and hosts of other things to which you probably wouldn't object. Are you seriously objecting to the fact that the word "Catholic" isn't in the NT?

Retroactively claiming that the word *church* by default means *Catholic church* is just wishful thinking on the part of Catholics and nothing more than a power grab by Catholicism, trying to justifying it using Scripture.

I understand that that's your opinion. Your task, now, is to prove it, and not simply assert it (which is ironic, given that you're using it to accuse the Catholic Church of the same thing).

All other Christian groups can be traced to an origin which comes *centuries* after the time of the Apostles... except for the Catholic Church. Since Christ assured us that He would establish a Church, and that the gates of Hades would not prevail against it, we can assume that His Church has perdured through 2000 years, and that all other, more recent, "churches" are not the original one built by Christ. That's one key reason why I think the Catholic Church is the true Church.

Re: St. Peter's proclamation in Acts 4: where, in the Catechism, can you find any teaching which suggests that anyone is saved by a Name OTHER than that of Christ? EVERYTHING comes from Christ--the intercessory power of the Saints, the authority of the Blessed Virgin (as Queen-Mother of the King of Kings), the intervention of St. Michael the Archangel, the authority of the keys to the Kingdom given to St. Peter. When you say that Christ is our only Savior, you're quoting the Catechism, though you may not know it (or like it).

You really need to attack the Catholic Church AS the Catholic Church, and not as a hodge-podge of fairy-tale stories which you may've inherited from anti-Catholic tracts, preachers, friends, etc.; anything else is just a straw man.