Church of Christ

"We believe that Jesus intended to leave behind a functioning church (the Gates of Hell would not prevail against it, He promised)" - that is your belief that the Roman Catholic Church is the functioning church left behind but that is not the truth. Check the history of the Roman Catholic Church. It became fully organized as such only in the year 606. "Jesus appointed him to be the head of this Church" - this is never true. Matthew 16:18 is the very big problem of the Roman Catholic Church insisting that Peter is the Rock. Rock never referred to Peter. The Rock is the Christ. If you know the Bible, you know where to find the word Rock and pls study them very well and you will find out that it is not Peter. The Rock is mentioned many times in the Old Testament. The Israelites when they were in the wilderness became thirsty but there was no water. God instructed Mouses and he struck the Rock and water came out. The Israelites drank from the Rock. Could that be Peter? Never. The sacraments are in the Catechism, not in the Holy Bible. The Catechism is the one which is followed by the Roman Catholic Church, not the Holy Bible. Good if you know how to find verses in the Holy Bible. Ask other Catholics and if they were not able to attend Bible studies conducted by sectarian groups or someone taught them, they don't know how to find verses. The priests do not teach the Catholics how to find verses and they do not conduct Bible studies because they teach the Catechism if ever they assemble to study. All Christians are part of the body of Christ - very true. The problem is Catholics are not Christians and therefore Catholics are not part of the body of Christ. "I am a Roman Catholic." Do you understand that? That's what you said. I say "I am a Christian." Do you realize the difference? "We baptize infants." This is one proof that the Roman Catholic Church does not follow the Holy Bible. There is never a single instance in the Holy Bible that an infant was baptized. "We recite the Nicene Creed and the Lord's Prayer during every Mass." These are not in the Holy Bible. "And we have Communion during every Mass." - not in the Holy Bible also. "the Catholic Church is the true apostolic church in the line of Peter" - Peter was an apostle, never a Pope. "and that our Church possesses a fullness of truth, as well as an old and rich history." This is only as far as the truth of the Catechism is concerned, not "Thy Word is truth" which is the Holy Bible.

"I got pretty uncomfortable when I saw a video of the guy who started this chain of churches proclaim that it was his goal to convert the entire world to Christianity." Guy who started this chain of churches - you might be referring to another group and not the Church of Christ. We are not under any guy or any human being for that matter. We are under the head of the Church of Christ - no other than our Lord Iesous Christ who is in heaven. We follow the Holy Bible and that binds us all members of the Church of Christ. We are all on the same level, no brethren higher than the other. There are elders in each congregation, or minister, but still he has authority only with his functions as such. We follow the Holy Bible and therefore force or compulsion towards conversion is not applied. We do preach the Word of God but we do not compel anybody to believe. Preaching is a way of God to call His children so preaching is necessary that the other members of the flock who are not yet in the fold may hear and come to the flock which is the Church of Christ. Here is a link to some congregations of the Church of Christ in the United States: http://www.tcofchrist.org/linkcongregations.htm However, a link to a website does not mean an endorsement of the content of the site. We urge you to continually check content against the Holy Bible. Like working in a field of ripened grain, to be be of value, the grain must be separated from the chaff. Have a good harvest: keep the grain, dump the chaff. I have to repeat: We are not forcing anybody to believe God and the Holy Bible as the Word of God and to be converted. All of us have the free will and freedom of choice. May God bless you.

It is most definitely the same. There was a very influential elder at one of the largest Churches of Christ named Kip McKean. Many of the teachings the CoC uses were introduced by him, such as having prayer partners, checking everything against the Bible, using the NIV, etc. He later went on to form the International Churches of Christ, which broke off from the CoC. For a several years, the CoC spread around much of his writings and videos and talks, and most of the churches that sprang up in the 70's and 80's were under his indirect influence. He was the one that said he wanted to convert the world. Then, as now, the churches operated mostly autonomously, but still used the same version of the Bible, the same teachings, the same belief in the necessity of baptism, the same everything. I'm sure you've had nothing but good experiences with your church, as many have. However, there have been many that haven't and it's okay for them to share their experinces too.

It's not because of Kip that I'm not Christian. It's because I don't think any being capable of creating an entire universe would have us buy into any religion. If I am to believe in a god, it will be one that does not judge, does not punish, and allows true freewill rather than a coerced choice. I also don't believe that such a being would make things so black and white as having only the options of heaven or hell after you die. The Christian theology simply doesn't make sense to me, and that's okay. Besides, if god would send me to hell for using the brain he gave me, then he was never worth my worship. A truly loving god would understand and would feel no need to punish.

Yes, Antioch is a name of a place where the followers of Christ were firstly called Christians. You may want to check the congregations in the U.S. http://www.tcofchrist.org/linkcongregations.htm There are also links there for congregations around the world if you are not from America. Antioch is not the right group. I hope that you look for the group that fits the Holy Bible. I have checked everything and I found it to be the Church of Christ.