The Protestant Religions Are False. There Is Only The One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church.

The Protestants invented a doctrine called Sola Scriptura, which basically teaches that Christianity should be "based on the Bible."

There are a few logical problems with this, however.

1.) It was the Church that decided which books are canonical. By accepting the books of the Bible and in that order, you implicitly accept Church authority. Martin Luther removed some books of the Old Testament. (Yes, Catholic Bibles have are longer.) He also almost removed 2 Peter and James from the New Testament because he felt that they contradicted his novel ideas of Christianity. Why don't you Protestants develop your own Bible canon, since you don't believe in the Church's spiritual authority? A lot of early Christians included the Didache in their canon, for instance. Some considered the epistles of the Bishop Ignatius as scripture, as well.

2.) If you read all the earliest church fathers (the so-called "Apostolic Fathers") you'll see that the Church has been clearly catholic since the beginning. Do you know what catholic means? It comes from the Greek katholicos, which means 'universal.' Ignatius was the first to call it that in 107 AD on his way to martyrdom. By the way, Ignatius was a disciple of and ordained by the Apostle John. Two other of John's disciples whose writings survive are the Bishops Polycarp and Clement. (It's interesting to note that Clement, the 4th bishop of Rome, wrote a letter in approx. 96 AD to correct the teaching of the Phillipines. Ignatius also described the church at Rome as "presiding in love" over all churches.)

3.) What do you think the earliest Christians did without a New Testament?! The only "scripture" that existed was the Old Testament. When Paul was writing his epistles to various churches, there literally was no NT yet! Christianity is a communal thing; they would be baptized into the church by the bishop, who was the spiritual leader of a particular flock and, according to Ignatius, ought to be obeyed "as the Lord Himself."

The reason why the NT doesn't directly address the structure of the church is because it wasn't necessary. All the Christians Paul was writing to would have known about the sacraments, apostolic succession, etc. (Although, these things are briefly alluded to here and there throughout the NT.) Imagine a US Congressman writing a letter to another Congressman. Would he need to spend a few paragraphs outlining the structure of the federal government? No, because it's understood that the Congressman already knows that there exists a Congress and a president and a court system. It was the same thing with the NT writers. However, Ignatius offers a rare glimpse into early Christian life by extolling the virtues of key catholic aspects of the church. He talks about the importance of the celebration of the Eucharist, the "beauty" of how the bishop and presbyters, along with the faithful, together contain the fullness of the church when celebrating the Eucharist. He talks about the importance the apostolic succession and the need to be wary of those who wish to cause division by disregarding the bishop's holy authority. There's a lot he talks about this sort of stuff, actually, and you would do well to read his and other Apostolic Fathers' writings online.

Polycarp was called upon to settle an interesting dispute in Rome. There was an early group of heretics who wanted to disregard the bishop of Rome, claiming that, because he didn't personally know the Apostles, he had no authority over them. Polycarp, who was a disciple of John, travelled to Rome. When the heretics saw him, they were in awe. They asked him what they should do. Polycarp's answer? Obey the bishop.

In the early church, the union of the faithful to the bishop was of ultimate importance. It was believed that, outside of this sacred bond, there could be no union with Christ because Christ established His church as both a spiritual body AND a visible gathering centered around the mystery of the Eucharist. According to Ignatius, Jesus ordained the Apostles as bishops the night of the Last Supper. From the beginning, the church was a VISIBLE community run by the Apostlea and the ones whom they annointed as bishops. This succession of bishops (apostolic succession) continues to this day.

Martin Luther even felt guilty about protesting the Catholic Church because he knew all this. This is why, when he created the Lutheran Church, he sought to maintain the "ancient traditions." The only reason why many Protestants today (like the evangelicals) have none of this is because they took the false doctrine of Sola Scripture to its logical extreme, as well as the fact that most are completely ignorant of Christian history prior to the Protestant Reformation.

But, according to countless early church fathers, "replicating" the church is not good enough. Even if bishops decide to form their own church and celebrate the sacraments, without the ecclesiastical unity there is nothing. So important and vital is this unity with the Church that, without it, no heretics or schismatics or pagans can share in eternal life. Even if someone who had knowingly rejected the true faith sheds their blood for Christ, his sacrifice is meaningless. Salvation does not exist outside of the Church, and all who end up receiving life will do so through the Church, because the Church is the Body of Christ. (That's not to say that a non-Catholic can't be saved, or that a professing Catholic will automatically be saved. It just means that anyone who receives life will through the Church.)

Jesus said you'll know a tree by it's fruit. Look at the fruits of Protestantism. In a mere five hundred or so years, you have thousands of sects with zero sense of doctrinal agreement or spiritual authority. The faulty notion of Sola Scriptura has led millions to arrogantly become their own teachers, prophets and popes. A house divided can't stand. The ever-increasing discord of Protestantism is contrary to God's Will. It's absurd, but Protestants are so used to it that they have to invent novel ideas about the church being an "invisible community" who share "any doctrines" they want. It's absolutely absurd and the work of Satan, who plants the seeds of confusion and dissent.