The "debate" is about the Biblical truth that there is ONLY one church - but NOT the kind you seem to associate with that word. The Body of Christ, the church - which is the called out assembly - consists of all those who have received Jesus Christ, believed on him and been born again into the family of God. They have also been indwelt with the Holy Spirit - who God gives to all who have received Christ. That Holy Spirit is called the "earnest of our inheritance" which means we are sealed with the stamp of belonging to God and he indwells those that are his.
This "history" that you are so confident of is not as cut and dried as you have been led to believe. The Reformation came about precisely because the Catholic Church had left the orthodox faith found in Scripture especially that we are saved by grace through faith apart from works. I can provide you with many links to scholarly articles explaining what happened and you SHOULD know the truth. This link will take you to some of those articles. You owe it to yourself to know what is the truth and not just rely on others to tell you what it is. The link is http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2010/04/historical-roots-of-reformation-and.html. God bless you.
we agree “there is ONLY one church” and if it is the Church Jesus established, it must have existed UNIVERSALLY, at all times from 33ad to the present.
there are those that teach the Church was “apostate” and left the orthodox faith. ( Joseph Smith agrees with this and we have the Mormons because of this thinking )
let’s use one doctrine to see who is “apostate” and who isn’t.
the Bible is clear, baptism causes the following:
1. remission of sins
2. receiving the Holy Spirit
3. being placed “into Christ”
this is the biblical, orthodox Faith this UNIVERSAL CHURCH has taught since receiving the doctrine from the Apostles.
the Bishops at Nicea in 325ad, after tremendous persecution from Rome had ended, gathered to defend the divinity of Jesus and state they believed in “one baptism for the remission of sins.
this is what all of Christendom believed until the 16th century, when some began to teach baptism is done after salvation as an act of obedience.
now, EVERYONE SHOULD know the truth.
what say you BB, is baptism for the remission of sins or an act of obedience that has nothing to do with salvation?
let’s see who holds the orthodox Faith and who never had it.