You wrote:
“Your ending point is agreeable to me. Obviously though I see the RC church as the sect.”
And to see the Catholic Church - the Church from which Protestant sects left - as a sect is a sign of ignorance.
“And I don’t think you should trust yourself to a sect, or a church, per se, but to Christ Himself;”
The Church is Christ’s Body. Christ acts through it. The Church is Christ’s Bride.
“always acknowledging He is the head of the church and we should indeed be members of His church.”
But you’re not members of His Church. You’re in a man-made sect.
“Actually, His headship of the church is a point of contention between RCs and Protestants, as you probably know - the Catholic church says the pope is the head of the church; the Protestants say Christ is the head of the church.”
You’re wrong - and I am not surprised to see a sectarian spreading error. The Church clearly teaches that Christ is head and cornerstone of the Church. It also teaches that Christ appointed St. Peter and his successors to lead the Church on earth. If you’re going to tell me that Catholics deny Christ’s headship of the Church by having an earthly leader of the Church while still acknowledging Christ as head of the Church then you’re probably a hypocrite because I bet your sect has an earthly leader or leaders too. And I also bet you never even thought of that.
And just to prove you wrong, here is what the Catechism teaches:
“Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, precedes us into the Father’s glorious kingdom so that we, the members of his Body, may live in the hope of one day being with him for ever.”
“792 Christ “is the head of the body, the Church.” He is the principle of creation and redemption. Raised to the Father’s glory, “in everything he [is] preeminent,” especially in the Church, through whom he extends his reign over all things.”
“669 As Lord, Christ is also head of the Church, which is his Body. Taken up to heaven and glorified after he had thus fully accomplished his mission, Christ dwells on earth in his Church. The redemption is the source of the authority that Christ, by virtue of the Holy Spirit, exercises over the Church. “The kingdom of Christ [is] already present in mystery”, “on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom”.”
“747 The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of the Holy Trinity’s communion with men.”
“2045 Because they are members of the Body whose Head is Christ, Christians contribute to building up the Church by the constancy of their convictions and their moral lives. The Church increases, grows, and develops through the holiness of her faithful, until “we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.””
“1348 All gather together. Christians come together in one place for the Eucharistic assembly. At its head is Christ himself, the principal agent of the Eucharist. He is high priest of the New Covenant; it is he himself who presides invisibly over every Eucharistic celebration. It is in representing him that the bishop or priest acting in the person of Christ the head (in persona Christi capitis) presides over the assembly, speaks after the readings, receives the offerings, and says the Eucharistic Prayer. All have their own active parts to play in the celebration, each in his own way: readers, those who bring up the offerings, those who give communion, and the whole people whose “Amen” manifests their participation.”
“1119 Forming “as it were, one mystical person” with Christ the head, the Church acts in the sacraments as “an organically structured priestly community.” Through Baptism and Confirmation the priestly people is enabled to celebrate the liturgy, while those of the faithful “who have received Holy Orders, are appointed to nourish the Church with the word and grace of God in the name of Christ.””
And there are about 8 other pages worth of quotes like that. Anti-Catholics could often cure themselves of their ignorance and bigotry if they just opened up the Catechism and looked at it for themselves. They seem unable to do such an open minded and impartial and charitable thing, however. Their hearts and minds seem small.
“And to see the Catholic Church - the Church from which Protestant sects left - as a sect is a sign of ignorance.”
Well, I could say that to see the errant members who clung to incorrect doctrine and practice, while the faithful abandoned such things, is a sign of ignorance, couldn’t I?
“The Church is Christ’s Body. Christ acts through it. The Church is Christ’s Bride.”
Agreed.
“But you’re not members of His Church. You’re in a man-made sect.”
I think you are in the man-made sect. I appreciate that your quotes show that official RC doctrine is, that the Pope is just the VISIBLE head of the RC church.
Here, we run into problems, where we find the Pope and/or the church taking on the role of God, for instance:
“163. What is meant by the infallibility of the Catholic Church?
By the infallibility of the Catholic Church is meant that the Church, by the special assistance of the Holy Ghost, cannot err when it teaches or believes a doctrine of faith or morals.”
And so we see that the church, with a nod to the Holy Ghost, can not err, according to your catechism. But inerrancy is an attribute of God alone, actually.
Faithful Protestants do not believe any of their leaders are infallible. We do indeed accept their authority over us, and submit to them as long as they submit to Scripture. But we know from Scripture than men are not infallible. It is pretty obvious. Peter’s denial of Christ! Peter, who is supposed to have been the first pope - denied Christ three times. Was he the visible head of the church at that point? I hope not.
Now I don’t mean to beat up on Peter. His repentance was genuine and Jesus clearly forgave him. But his denials are a good example of how even “popes” can commit the most grievous errors.
There are many quotes from the Baltimore catechism which are true. I don’t deny it. But there are portions where the church slides into the place of God rather completely, and from there comes the errors commonly debated between Protestants and Catholics.