"Upon this rock I will build my church."
Christ wanted us to be one.
“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?” 1 Cor 1:10-13
Let’s pause for moment and think about what this means.
We are to be “perfectly united in mind and thought”. What does this mean to you? Let’s assume it means to believe exactly what Christ taught. Christ is “the Way.” Not one of many ways. If Christ came to bring us salvation, don’t you think He would have put in some mechanism to make sure we know “the Way?”
This mechanism could not have been the Bible. We can’t even agree on what the meaning of the word “is” is, as in “This is my Body”, let alone all the difficult passages of the Bible.
We cannot be one if everyone brings his own version of the Truth. Substitute Luther for Appollos, or Calvin for Paul, or King Henry for Cephas, and you see that the “new” religions and interpretations of scripture that sprang from the reformation are anti-scriptural, and by extension, against the command to be “perfectly united in mind and thought.”
The mechanism had to be a single, visible Church with teaching authority.
Or do you really believe Christ wanted 20,000+ versions of “the Way?”
No, I don't. But it doesn't then follow that Christ, were he to come back today and look at the churches, would find the Way expressed most purely in the Roman Catholic Church. I'm not going to join what I believe to be a somewhat misguided church because it presumes to date itself to St. Peter.
Notice I said "somewhat misguided," not non-Christian. And that's a lot more credit that many Catholics on FreeRepublic give non-Catholics. I've been told straight out, on this forum, that I'm not a Christian. Why? Not because of what I believe or don't believe regarding the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but simply because I'm not Catholic.