Sure it can . . .
Acts 9:31 talks about how the Early Church grew throughout the region. The language used here describes the
Catholic Church:
“Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace and thus was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church increased in numbers.”
According to
Strong’s Greek Concordance – the verse is translated as:
“The true Church throughout all Judea . . .”
Here is the phrase in
Greek:
η μεν ουν εκκλησια καθ ολης της ιουδαιας
The Catholic Church gets its name from the
GREEK for
“according to the whole” and
“universal” -
εκκλησια καθ ολης, which is pronounced
“ekklesia katah-holos”.
Εκκλησια (ekklesia) -
A gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly; CHURCH
Καθ (katah) -
Through out, according to
Ολης (holos) -
All, whole, completely
"Ekklesia Kata-holos" =
CATHOLIC CHURCH.
The church is the whole body of NT believers, living and dead. Not the RCC.
- Jesus gave the Church supreme Authority on earth and whatever it ordains on earth is also ordained in heaven (Matt. 16:18-19, 18:15-18, Luke 10:16, John 16:12-15).
The church is built a on Petra (Christ, not Petros (Peter)
- He gave Peter the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and Supreme Authority (Matt. 16:18-19, John 21:19-25).
He was talking to all the apostles, not just Peter.
There's not a single reference or deferral to Peter in all the bible.
- He gave the leaders of His Church the power to forgive sins in His name (John 20:21-23).
Not said.
- Jesus instituted the Eucharist and claimed over and over again that it was His actual Body and Blood (John 6:25-69).
Not how the Bible describes it.
Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 - New International Version
- The Office of Bishop is a SUCCESSIVE office (Acts 1:20).
It is a local church office, not a denominational hierarchy.
Gee, I've only
scratched the
surface - but it sounds
REALLY Catholic to me . . .
Then you need hearing aids.