I was raised a very devout Catholic but now I call myself a Borne Again Heathen. Gonna stay that way.

Moosetrot

My friend ,you're going to have to go down a rabbit hole a little bit to find out those answers. Outside of scripture, I'd invite you to get a copy of the Complete Works of the Church Fathers . I hope you have an e-reader because its over 55,000 pages long. It'll contain the writings of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp , who were both taught by the Apostle John , along with Justyn Martyr , Clement of Rome and many others.

So along with reading Scripture , I'll cross reference it with The Complete Works of the Church Fathers. The answers are complete. Another good one is "The Didache" . It's a first century Greek manual on how a Church is to conduct itself and how to worship.

All that said, keep in mind that a printed Bible was pretty uncommon for the greater part of Christianity. So they HAD to rely on other media .

To reiterate, when my then to-be wife asked me to convert, I told her I would ; but I was going to pick it apart. And I tried.

Cool story. Lol

The Catholic and Orthodox Churches, along with the Church of the East, have maintained Apostolic Succession and therefore their sacraments are mutually valid.

Christ prayed at the Last Supper, “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me”. Christ instituted the Catholic Church and called his believers to be one. The Catholic Church is the “one” roof under which we His sheep take refuge, why would I ever follow the teachings of a “reformed” denomination which departed from Mother Church? The Catholic church’s infallibility and over 2000 year history of tradition and apostolic succession offers so much for us weary souls who are in such need of Christ’s mercy and forgiveness. Praise Him for giving us his bridegroom the Church on this Earth to serve as our refuge and means for grace in this troubled world.

Amen

Infallible? Have you paid attention to your pope's? They sure aren't Infallible.

The Church ! My man, the Church.

Have you ever considered renouncing you're citizenship due to politics/actions of our government ? Why should I renounce my faith over the same ?

Christ’s vicar on Earth, the Pope, come and go throughout the ages as they are mortal men who pass away as we all will, hopefully waiting for Christ’s second coming. Some have been given the title of “Great” and canonized as Saints… others not so. But the Catholic Church remains, steadfast for over 2000 years through many generations of men, as it is infallible- the Church itself. We believe it will never cease to exist for it is Christ’s Church and the Holy Spirit intercedes on Her behalf providing divine protection.

How can a religious organization be infallible when it's done so many evil things? You know where of I speak. We call the bible infallible because it's true. But your organization hasn't remained in the truth. It's been a mix of good and evil.

I think the same can be said of any denomination.

I think that's the point PA is making.

But what can't be disputed is that Christianity began with the Catholic Church. The first time ' Catholic ' was uttered was used by St Ignatius of Antioch around 100 AD. A disciple of St John. You all should really read his writings .

A Church 2000 years in the making. You don't think there wouldn't be scandal over 2 millennia ? We've only been a country for 250 years. Look at us. No shortage of. In 250 years, we've now have Constitutional scholars( Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama) who can't accept what " shall be not infringed" means.

I'll take Ignatius, Polycarp, and Clement's take any day over Pastor Bob's at the Cowboy Church any day of the week.

Go back to the roots.

None of you will, but I'd invite you to.read " The Jewish Roots of the Eucharist " and "The Jewish Roots of Mary". Its available through Amazon. We can't deny that Christianity came up through Abraham Judaism, and the author will.show you verse by verse why it's all there.
But it will challenge how you think.

… can’t deny Islam didn’t either

… I am neither of Jewish or Arab ancestry (Semitic)

… so make a case why I should follow an offshoot of their religions ?

You can absolutely deny.Islam. That's an easy prove. Didn't even come about until somewhere around 600 AD.

… Islam is an offshoot of Judaism it acknowledges most of the people in the Old Testament… Abraham and the like … as does Christianity… the prophet is just different

Categorically very different. They still deny Jesus as God, even though the book of Isaiah prophesied that he would b, "shall be called Emmanuel meaning God is with us". I

They deny that.

Interestingly enough when we Catholics refer to ," Mary , Mother of God" , protestants get butt hurt over that term there's scriptural reference for it . " Mother of Emmanuel, God is with Us".

And bro , I'm into the " bourbon hours". I'm past.my cognitive time functioning. Lol