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Who or What is the Bride of Christ?

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The Bride of Christ. Who or what is the Bride of Christ? Protestants often object to the historical and Biblical evidence that the Catholic Church is the Church Christ started and therefore the Bride of Christ.

Many have been taught by their pastors that Bride of Christ is any and every church that confesses in Jesus Christ, and that the Bride of Christ is synonymous with the "Body of Believers." I.E., since all Christians make up the "Body of Believers," this is somehow then the "Bride of Christ."

This idea is not only Unhistorical, but it is also UNBiblical. Historical Christianity has never taught that those outside the Catholic Church are part of the Bride of Christ. And the Holy Bible never teaches this either. In fact the phase "body of believers" is itself: UNBiblical. The Bible teaches that Christ started but One Church with One set of beliefs.

"There is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God." (Eph 4:4)



Although the phrase "Body of Believers" is unbiblical, the Holy Scriptures do speak of the "Body of Christ." (Romans 12:4, 1 Corinthians 12:18) Yet the "Body" of Christ and the "Bride" of Christ are one and the same. The Body of Christ is the Church Christ founded, just as the Holy Scriptures tell us.


Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Colossians 1:24

The Bride of Christ is the Church he established in Matt 16:16-19. The Church is an entity. It is not a building and it is more than the sum of its members. For the members in time will die, but the Church will not. The Church is a living entity created by Christ to prevail against the "Gates of Hell" (Matt 16:16-19), to "Teach all nations" and persevere until the "End of Time." (Matt 28:20). The members were not given this gift. Christ's Church: the Bride of Christ, was given this gift. God calls this Church:


"The Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth" 1 Tim 3:15.


He calls not the members of the Church the "pillar and foundation of truth," but his Church itself. Therefore Biblically, the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ are the same thing.

What then is the "Body of Believers?" The body of believers is an unbiblical and unhistorical man made idea used to classify all those who believe in Jesus Christ. More precisely, it connotes those who not only believe, but those who actually follow his teachings and have accepted the grace of Jesus Christ to live their faith.

Many Protestant pastors teach their churches that the Catholic Church is not the Bride of Christ because it was not the Church Christ started in 33AD. Many erroneously teach that the Roman Emperor Constantine created the Catholic Church in the 4th century or some other such story. Denying the Biblical and historical origins of the Catholic Church is akin to saying the Holocaust never happened. It is that far out of touch from the archives of Christian, Jewish, Roman and other secular historical records to include the Holy Bible.

The Holy Bible tells us that Christ started the Catholic Church in Matt 16:16-19. Christ himself said:



"And I say that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it, I give you the keys to kingdom of Heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and what ever you loosen on earth will be loosened in Heaven." Matt 16:16-19.



Regardless of who one believes the "Rock" is or what the "keys" mean, Christ started his Church on this day. In the first century there was but one Church with one set of beliefs. Yes, the Bible speaks of many Christian Churches through out the known world, (Church in Corinth, Church in Rome, Church in Thessalonia, etc.), but they all professed the same faith and the same Universal creed. "The Apostle's Creed" In fact the Apostle's Creed states:



"…we believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the dead and life ever lasting."



Do you believe in the " Communion of Saints?" Do you believe in the Holy Catholic Church? Or are you at odds with your earliest Christian Creed and therefore at odds with historic Christianity itself?

Since the NT Bible consisted of rare scrolls and were not all combined into one book until the 4th century, if you wanted to be a Christian in the early Church, you professed belief in the Apostles Creed. If you could not embrace this creed, you were outside the Church. The early Christians were Creedal Christians. They all had the same faith. They did not embrace 1000s & 1000s of contradictory doctrines/Statements of Faith as Protestant churches do today. They believed the Catholic Faith, the same Faith the Catholic Church embraces today (the Universal Faith. In Greek Catholic means Universal). If you don't believe any of these Christian truths, do as the Bible commands us and:



"Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
Test this claim at the following link:

" Click here: 3rd Unanswered Challenge for Protestant Theology: Is Catholic theology Apostolic? Name one doctrine that isn't, name one doctrine the early Church believed that the Catholic Faith no longer does."

The first written record of Christ's Church being called "Catholic" was the year 110 AD. This means it no doubt was called Catholic orally before 110AD. St. Ignatius of Antioch, student of the Apostle John wrote:
"Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there; just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church" (Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2 [A.D. 110]).
" Click here for more early Christians use of the title: Catholic Church."

 

The Greek word for Universal is Catholic. The Universal/Catholic Church had and still has but one Faith. One Catechism for the worlds 1 Billion Catholics. Truly a Universal Church and the ONLY Christian Church present in the first 1000 years of Christianity. Yet many Protestant pastors teach that the Church and the first pope was created in the 4th century. Below is a link to the Britannia encyclopedia listing the popes from St. Peter in 33AD to Pope John Paul II. This is from a secular Encyclopedia. The same encyclopedia that will describe the Holocaust of the Jewish people in W.W.II.

The following site lists all 263 popes from 33AD-Present. Here are but 24 of them.
" Click here for the list of Catholic Popes from 33AD-present from encyclopedia Britannia" http://www.britannia.com/history/resource/popes.html

2000 Years of Catholic Popes (33AD-Present)
First Century

St. Peter (c.33-67 AD)
Linus (67-76) (see 2 TIM 4:21)
Anacletus (76-88)
Clement (88-97)
Evanstus (97-105)


Second Century


Alexander I (105-115)
Sixtus I (115-125)
Telesphorus (125-136)
Hyginus (136-140)
Pius I (140-155)
Anicetus (155-166)
Soter (166-175)
Eleutherius (175-189)
Victor L (189-199)
Zephynnus (199-217)

*break*

Twentieth Century

Pius X (1903-1914)
Benedict XV (1914-1922)
Pius Xl (1922-1939)
Pius Xll (1939-1958)
John XXIII (1958-1963)
Paul Vl (1963-1978)
John Paul I (1978-1978)
John Paul II (1978- )



Did Christ start the Catholic Church? He had to, for there was no other Church in existence. There was no other Church at the time and there would be no other Christian Church for the next 1000+ years. Clearly, the Catholic Church is the only Christian Church with a direct link to Jesus Christ. Every other Christian body makes their link though the Catholic Church.

This might not be what you have been taught by your pastor, but they are the facts of history and the Holy Bible. If Christ proclaimed that the "Gates of Hell" would never prevail against his Church (Matt 16:16-19) and he would be with it until the "End of Time" Matt 28:20, where is this church Christ started if it is not the Catholic Church? Since there was only one Christian Church for the first 1000+ years of Christianity, what was the belief system of this Church if it was not Catholic? And if this church died and it no longer exists, was Christ in err when he said the "Gates of Hell" would not prevail against it? How could he be with it until the "End of the World" if it died or became Apostate? To deny Christ started the Catholic Church is no different from denying the Holocaust. It's the same denial of Christian history and common logic.




Who then is the Bride of Christ?

For a Protestant church to claim title to the "Bride of Christ" in a Biblical sense, a Protestant would have to embrace one of two scenarios.

1. That Christ has multiple Brides. Or
2. That Christ has only One Bride, yet this bride has multiple personalities/theologies/statements of faith.

Protestant Scenario #1. The Bible doesn't say the Bride of Christ is any believer or Christian group that believes anything they desire about the Gospel of Christ. Yet this is what many Protestants have been taught. That what ever their pastor teaches them about the Gospel of Christ, automatically classifies their church as the Bride of Christ. Even though this "Bride of Christ" believes many doctrines that the "Bride of Christ" down the street *disavows*. How many Brides does Christ have? Christ is not a polygamist. He is not Mormon. There is only one Bride of Christ. Christians have only one wife. As does God, his One Church. The Church the early Christians called the: ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH. "(Nicene Creed)"

The Bible never speaks of a "Body of Believers" being the "Bride of Christ." This is an UNBiblical idea since the term "Body of Believers" is not even in the Bible. The Bible never says that Christ has multiple Brides. I.e. 1000s of difference churches all believing a different Gospel than the others yet still all claiming the title of: "Bride of Christ". The Bible speaks of the Bride of Christ, not Brides of Christ.

Protestant Scenario #2. Is there "One Bride" yet she believes different ideas/theologies/doctrines?
The Bible never says that even though different Protestant churches believe contradictory doctrines they all somehow constitute collectively the "Bride of Christ." This idea would place the "Bride of Christ" with multiple personalities/ideas/beliefs. Essentially a schizophrenic Bride. This is just not supported by the Holy Scriptures, or by Christian history. The Holy Bible tells us that Christ started ONE Church, with ONE set of beliefs. And those not in his Church are outside the Bride of Christ which is the Body of Christ which is his Church:

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. Colossians 1:24



The Apostles Paul repeats twice in Gal 1:8-9:
"As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed."



Are believers who are outside the Bride of Christ Christians? It depends on how far outside there are. E.G., The "Jesus Only" Pentecostals deny the Trinity. A fundamental tenant of Christianity. As do the Mormons, and the J.W. These are not Christian organizations. There are many other believers who deny the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist (communion) the saving power of Baptism (considering it a mere symbol), etc., etc. It is up to God to decide their fate. Are they Christian? Not if you deny the Trinity or the divinity of Christ or his resurrection. Are the others? Yes, but as Christians, God commands us to follow his True Gospel. And if these beliefs were invented only a few hundred years ago, how could the Apostles have taught these ideas. It's like the light bulb, Thomas Edison invented it in the 19th century, and to say the Apostles taught Protestant theology is like saying the Apostles wrote scripture by electric lights. It's impossible. To follow Christ is to follow his teachings. To belong to his Church. Why would he bother commissioning his Church if he didn't want you in it? I hope this helps, let me know what you think.

"Early Christian teaching on Salvation outside the Church"

Find out who authored Protestant theology and in what century at:
"Click here: The Origins and Authors of Protestant Theology."

If this article was of interest to you, please visit the following link for 10 questions for the earnest believer: " Click here: 10 SOBERING QUESTIONS FOR THE ERNEST BELIEVER: Discover the verses most likely not underlined in your Bible and often overlooked in Protestant churches and seminaries"

Please email me with your questions, objections or comments.

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