Which One Is the True Church? A Look at Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Claims

I have spent hours on end listening to Protestant apologists debate Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox apologists over the question, "Which one of these is the true Church?" Among these three groups are found the oldest historical roots of Christendom (the kingdom of Christianity). Almost everything connected to Christianity over the last 2,000 years since Christ — the Church Fathers, the councils — can all be traced back to these three distinct groups of people who have, and mostly still do, claim sole authority from Christ on earth.

The Great Schism of 1054 saw the head of the Roman Catholic Church and the head of the Christian Center of Constantinople excommunicate each other, splitting what was, at the time, widely accepted as the one true Christian Church — the kingdom of Christendom. From 1054 AD forward, the Eastern Church leadership condemned everyone outside their organization to hell, and the Roman Catholic Church in the West, through the voice of the Pope, also called "the Vicar of Christ," condemned everyone outside their organization to hell as well. In 1517, a Catholic priest named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses — a publication criticizing the Catholic Church of his day — to a church door in Germany, and what we call "the Great Reformation" had officially begun.

Facts That Cannot Be Refuted

There are a few facts about these schisms — these "Church splits" — that cannot be refuted.

First, they all condemned the others to hell. Each claimed, by all intents and purposes, to be the one true Church headed by Jesus Christ. The Reformers believed they were leaving "Mystery Babylon," as described in Revelation 17–18. Martin Luther even wrote a book about the Catholic Church keeping the people of God in "Babylonian captivity."

Second, all of these organizations had their own hierarchy. If you were a Roman Catholic priest, you were not ordained to minister in an Orthodox or Protestant church, and the same was true in reverse for Orthodox and Protestant clergy. Each organization maintained its own separate and distinct hierarchical clergy.

Third, all of these organizations, when given political power, killed those who opposed their Church hierarchy. When Roman Catholics ruled in government, they burned Protestants alive and built horrific torture chambers to carry out unspeakable acts against their perceived enemies. When Protestants ruled parts of Europe, they too killed their perceived enemies — read the diaries of George Fox for an account of this. Eastern Orthodoxy, conquered by the Ottoman Empire, had little political power for centuries, but the present-day war between Russia and Ukraine remains deeply tied to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Today there are literally thousands of schisms among these three groups, so that we now mostly debate how many different organizations exist within Christendom — each claiming, to some degree, to be the one true Church. We have thousands of "only true Churches" competing with each other for the title.

Who Gives These Organizations Their Authority?

All of these institutions — tax-exempt organizations — are led by a hierarchy of men, most of whom graduated from man-made colleges of higher learning called seminaries. These men were approved and ordained by a council of men who were themselves ordained by other men. The only unapproved men in any Christian denomination are its founders, since by definition no one existed yet to approve them.

The Roman Catholic Church resolves this problem by claiming that St. Peter was its founder, making the organization founded by Christ himself. But we know this isn't accurate — Peter was crucified upside down. He never wore flowing robes with jewels and crowns, and he never called himself "the Vicar of Christ." The Eastern Orthodox Church relies on the claim that it is the oldest, pointing to its veneration of the saints and the Church Fathers as proof of being the one true Church. The Protestants, formed in the 1500s, claim authority through the words of various Church Fathers, but primarily through scripture — hence the phrase "Sola Scriptura," meaning "Scripture alone." (I should note that I was raised in a long line of Protestant churches, both charismatic and non-charismatic.)

Let's look at the authority each organization uses to tell the average person, "Obey us, or go to hell":

• The Roman Catholic Church says: "Obey us, because the Pope is the representative of Christ, a successor of the Apostle Peter. The Pope has the infallible right to interpret scripture and to decree, define, and mandate all Christian practice."

• The Eastern Orthodox Church says: "Obey us, because we are the oldest, and our Church council — our Patriarchy — is infallible. The Patriarchy of Eastern Orthodoxy has the infallible right to interpret scripture and to decree, define, and mandate all Christian practice."

• The many Protestant organizations say: "Obey us, because we rely only on scripture as the infallible Word of God." Yet when faced with the reality that Protestant organizations disagree on many points, Protestants loosely define doctrinal boundaries to create a wide tent of inclusion — what's often called being "within the pale of orthodoxy." This allows them to condemn and separate from any Protestant group whose teaching falls outside those boundaries.

Protestants also distinguish between a visible local church, which holds real authority, and an invisible, worldwide church that has no accountability to anyone — because it exists only in the imagination of the typical Protestant believer; after all, it's invisible. When you examine where real authority lies within Protestantism, you find — as I have throughout my life — that Protestants ultimately rely on intelligence and reputation among themselves to interpret scripture "accurately." It's not unusual to see Protestants debating each other while pointing out one another's ignorance, citing Greek and Hebrew, and placing high value on academic titles like "Doctor."

A Statement That Cannot Be Refuted

Now that I've laid out facts most of you already know — facts that aren't really debatable — let me explain why I'm writing this, and what I'm about to say that no religious leader, from any organization ever founded in the name of Christianity, could refute. I'm completely serious. I challenge anyone reading this to a debate — Godlogic, David Wood, Gavin Ortlund, Mike Winger, Ruslan, Wes Huff — did I miss anyone who'd like to be included?

Here is the statement: God is not saving the Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, or any of the thousands of Protestant organizations. He is not the head of any organization — God is saving individuals.

I'd point to a key statement from Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 11:3: "The head of every man is Christ." All authority belongs to Christ, and Christ is the head not of a church building, not of man-made hierarchical organizations, but of his ecclesia — the called-out ones. "Where two or three are gathered together in his name, he is there in the midst." If we have fellowship with one another, our fellowship is truly with Christ, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us of all sin.

Here is why this concept is foreign to the religious leaders of our day, and why it would never work for the average full-time minister: when you raise the value of "every man" whose head is Christ, you lower the value of big religion's clergy class. Many a religious businessman would fight that idea to the death, because at the end of the day, it's all about money and power. Tell me I'm wrong.

These organizations — every last one — have blood on their hands. As scripture says: "And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth" (Revelation 18:24). Mystery Babylon is made of iron mixed with clay — the image in Daniel 2, representing the Roman Empire mixed with the people of the Lord, the clay shaped by the Potter. Martin Luther was right that the Roman Catholic Church was Mystery Babylon, keeping the people of the Lord in captivity — he simply failed to lead the people of the Lord out of her, as he claimed to do. Throughout history, whenever a religious group gained political power, persecution of dissenters and bloodshed always followed. You cannot mix iron and clay; it doesn't work. (Note: I'm not saying God cannot use these organizations — after all, the king of Babylon is called a servant of the Lord, even though that king is none other than Lucifer himself. In Isaiah 14, Lucifer sits in the congregation on the sides of the north, declaring himself head of the Church.)

The Trap of Religious Authority

I'm struck by this reality: the scribes and Pharisees of our day — the religious leaders of our time — are caught in a snare, stuck in a trap. They debate among themselves over which religious organization holds the mantle of Christianity, the authority, the claim to be the sole representative of Christ on earth — even "the Vicar of Christ" — only to find that none of them actually hold such a mantle or authority.

"God is not saving organizations; he is saving individuals." I'll debate any serious person on this subject. It's a bit like debating a Calvinist on how the house got there — they spin their wheels swinging at the wind, until a child stands up and says, "Sirs, the house isn't there." Or if it is there, is it well-built? Is it built on Jesus Christ, or is it built on sand? No wonder Jesus said to the religious leaders of his day, "You strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." What I'm saying is so straightforward that I don't even need to be a trained debater — I can simply follow the words of Jesus:

"But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." (Matthew 10:19–20)

Showing up to a debate unprepared? Actually trusting the Lord to guide my words? I would certainly be destroyed, wouldn't I? That's a risk I'm willing to take.

The Snare Foretold in Scripture

Let me show you this trap as it's described in scripture — set, according to the wisdom and counsel of the Most High God, in Isaiah 28:

"Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken." (Isaiah 28:1–13)

Perhaps as you read this, you still don't fully grasp it — that's all right; it may take time to understand the depth of this truth. Remember: the Roman Catholic Church says, "The Pope determines the Word of God." The Eastern Orthodox Church says, "The Orthodox Patriarchy determines the Word of God." And the Protestants say, "Scripture is the Word of God, as interpreted by our approved scholars." Recall that John Calvin said, "Unless the man behind the pulpit is approved by us, what he speaks is not the Word of God, even if it is true." Every one of these claims — these authorities, these mantles — is full of holes to the simplest of believers who have made Christ their head alone. These claims are shameful. They have no grounding. They would almost be laughable, if they weren't so sad. It's a trap for the spiritual drunkards of Ephraim.

My Apology: What Is True and Just

Now let's talk about what is true and just — found in the deep wisdom of God, and something I've said many times. This is my apologia, my claim — one that no organization on earth can make today. Not the Pope. Not Billy Graham. Not the Eastern Patriarchy. It's a claim only an individual whose head is Christ can make.

My apology goes something like this: God is a God who hides his truth from the wise of this world — the professionals, the highly educated, the intellectually elite — and instead gives his truth to little children, to those whose wisdom begins with the fear of God. This fear is not taught by the precepts of men (Isaiah 29), but is a holy fear found only by the grace and mercy of God — indeed, a great treasure for those who find it.

I am crucified with Christ; I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Christ is my head. This is how you will know the spirit of error from the spirit of truth: he who hears me — and everyone like me — hears Christ; he who does not hear us does not hear Christ. "They went out from us to demonstrate that they were not a part of us." He who says he loves God yet hates his brother is a liar, and the truth is not in him. "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, and his testimony makes wise the simple. I am not under the law of Moses, which was only a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but under the law of the Lord, having my soul converted, so that I love what he loves and hate what he hates. As I live and have my being in Christ, the Word of God is revealed to me by the Holy Spirit, who lives in me, so that I will fall short in no good thing. I live in Christ, I am sustained in Christ, and I am built up in the most holy faith — only by the grace and mercy of God alone, the captain of my salvation.

Conclusion

Much more could be said, brothers and sisters: God is saving individuals, not organizations. Organizations will all grow worse, heading toward judgment — but the individuals who put their trust in the Lord will not be put to shame. They themselves will become a company of kings and priests — not the kings and priests promoted by big organizations, but those known by their fruit. No murderer will inherit the kingdom of God. God is saving individuals — not religious organized businesses.

Can you prove me wrong?

— Brother Robert Begnaud The Straightway Church (not the organization — the blog) Babylon Rescue (additional website)