The following is a brief excerpt from my book, The Roman Catholic Church: A Divine Institution or a Human Invention?
GOD has revealed that, once the Jews in general rejected the Messiah/New Covenant, which was then embraced by the gentile world (Acts 13:46), the One Church of Christ would have its center in Rome. To NO OTHER local church does God reveal these distinctions and attributes:
(1.) In the letter to the Romans (1:8) it is revealed that the faith of the Roman Church is proclaimed throughout the whole world.
The inspired qualification, “throughout the whole world” from this verse should remind us of the meaning of the word “catholic,” which means world-wide or universal. In Greek, the latter half of the verse is “kataggelletai en holo to kosmo.” The “kata” and “holo” part eventually became the word “catholic.”
Thus the Church of Rome and the concept of “catholic” are immediately associated in the beginning.
(2.) The Roman Church is “filled with ALL knowledge” (Rom.15:14), because she is to teach ALL nations (Matt.28);
(3.) All the [local] churches of Christ salute the Roman Church (Rom.16:16) -a sign of prominence and respect.
(4.) God will crush Satan under the feet of the Roman Church (Rom.16:20) -a symbol of authority.
Remember, to NO OTHER local church are any of these attributes given. Thus the one Church of Christ,
- whose faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world,
- who is filled with all knowledge,
- whose pre-eminent authority is recognized by all the other local churches, and
- under whose feet God will crush Satan, is both Roman and Catholic.
Clearly, God has revealed this in His written Word, and made this connection for a significant reason.
Therefore when the Lord Jesus says to listen to the Church (Matt.18:17), He can only mean the one Church that He founded: the Catholic Church with its center of authority in Rome.
