Romans 16:16, Church of Christ or Catholic Church?

Catholic defenders claim that the phrase "churches of Christ" in Romans 16:16 refers to the Catholic Church. Is the claim TRUE?


Let us see...

New International Version (©1984)
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.
New Living Translation (©2007)
Greet each other in Christian love. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.
English Standard Version (©2001)
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
New American Standard Bible (©1995)
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
International Standard Version (©2008)
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of the Messiah greet you.
Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
Invoke the peace of one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of The Messiah invoke your peace.
GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Greet each other with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you.
American King James Version
Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
American Standard Version
Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Salute one another with an holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you.
Darby Bible Translation
Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the assemblies of Christ salute you.
English Revised Version
Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you.
Webster's Bible Translation
Salute one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
Weymouth New Testament
Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the Churches of Christ send greetings to you.
World English Bible
Greet one another with a holy kiss. The assemblies of Christ greet you.
Young's Literal Translation
salute one another in a holy kiss; the assemblies of Christ do salute you.
source: bible.cc

The verse said: "Greet one another with a holy kiss, all the CHURCHES OF CHRIST greet you" it doesnt say the "Roman Empire or the One holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church" greet you, because that is impossible, want to know why?

In Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary in the same website here is what stated:

"...Though the care of all the churches came upon him daily, yet he could remember many persons, and send salutations to each, with particular characters of them, and express concern for them. Lest any should feel themselves hurt, as if Paul had forgotten them, he sends his remembrances to the rest, as brethren and saints, though not named. He adds, in the close, a general salutation to them all, in the name of the churches of Christ."

In the name of the churches of Christ it is said, and not in the name of the Roman Catholic Church. In 110 A.D we all know that St. Ignatius invented the name "Catholic Church" and the official name only created in 1870:

“In 1870, at the Vatican Council, the name ‘Roman Catholic Church’ was proposed, but it was rejected. The bishops assembled unanimously decided upon this official name: ‘The Holy Catholic Apostolic Roman Church’” Discourses on the Apsotle’s Creed, Rev. Clement Crock, p. 191

The book of Romans was likely written in A.D 56-58 long after the name of the Catholic Church was created:

Date of Writing: The Book of Romans was likely written A.D. 56-58. source: gotquestions.org

So, it is IMPOSSIBLE that Romans 16:16 will say "All the Catholic Churches greet you".


Catholic Church is the Church of Christ?

Let us see...

“This question poses itself with great urgency today. Does the claim of the Catholic Church to be the true Church of Christ still make sense? Is this claim, endorsed in the document of Vatican II, the last remnant of ecclesiastical pride…? For several reasons the Church’s claim to unicity has become a very difficult issue on our day. What are some of these reasons?

In the first place the traditional apologetical arguments in favor of the Catholic Church’s uniqueness are generally no loner regarded as valid. We cannot offer a strict historical proof that the Catholic Church is in essential continuity with the Church of the New Testament.” Gregory Baum, Faith and Doctrine a Contemporary View [New York: Paulist Press], pp. 91-92


“…Few historians would suggest that this continuing self-identity of the Church can be demonstrated historically. When for instance, we look at the profound change that occurred in the early Church when the monarchial episcopate replaced other forms of apostolic ministry, we realize that we cannot “prove” that throughout this change the Church remained identical with herself.” (p.92)

Church of Christ cant be the Catholic Church!

Let us read some interesting articles:

1. Is the Catholic Church the Church of Christ?
On this topic one can read apparently contradictory statements by theologian Avery Dulles.

Today, according to The Times Picayune (TP), Dulles said: “Many think the Council taught that non-Christian religions could offer a path to salvation. Rather …. they all have fatal flaws. The one true religion exists in the Catholic Church.” According to The Washington Times (WT) Dulles also stated: “The greatest post-Vatican II misunderstanding is that the Church gave up her claim to be the only way to salvation.”

Anyone who quickly reads these statements reaches the conclusion that Cardinal Dulles is talking about the Catholic Church and is defending the dogma extra Ecclesia nulla salus [outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation]. Hence, for this reader the Cardinal appears as a strong conservative and perhaps even a traditionalist. This conclusion, however, is not as objective as it appears from the first reading.

There are two problems involved with this statement. One is to know what Church Dulles is talking about. Another is to know if he in fact was defending the mentioned dogma. In my first question I will deal with the former, and in my second question with the latter.
When Cardinal Dulles affirmed that “the one true religion exists in the Catholic Church,” was he saying that the Catholic Church is the true religion? Or was he stating that there would be another religious entity broader than the Catholic Church existing somewhere else and sharing a part of its plenitude with the Catholic Church?

If one goes back to read what Dulles defended in the past, an interesting clarification enters the picture. Twenty-three years ago addressing the same topic, Dulles published the article “Ecumenism: Problems and future possibilities” for a book of collected works by various authors published in Italian: Toward the Church of the Third Millennium [Verso la Chiesa del Terzo Millennio, Brescia: Queriniana, 1979]. In that article he wrote:
“The Church of Jesus Christ is not identified with the Roman Catholic Church. Certainly, it subsists in Roman Catholicism, but it is also present in various ways and in various degrees in other Christian communities in so far as they are also faithful to that which God initiated in Jesus and they obey the inspiration of the Spirit of Christ” (pp. 108-9).
If today Fr. Dulles still defends the same thesis that the Church of Christ is different from and broader than the Catholic Church, then his recent statements to the TP and WT should be understood as referring to this strange “Church of Christ.” If the reader is interested in knowing what is behind and who supports this “Church of Christ” he can refer to my recently released Animus Delendi II, part II, chapter II. This “Church” would encompass Catholics, Protestants, and Schismatics. Then, when Cardinal Dulles said that “the one true religion exists in the Catholic Church,” he would not be defending that the Catholic Church is the true religion, but that she shares the “true religion” that would exist elsewhere. It would be a Jesuit twist in a way of presenting the words to give the impression that he was defending a conservative position.

Also, when he stated that “many think the Council taught that non-Christian religions could offer a path to salvation. Rather …. they all have fatal flaws,” he would not be referring to Protestant and Schismatics, as a quick reading might suggest. These people would have open access to Heaven, since they would be included in the “Church of Christ.” Actually Dulles would be referring to Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. That is to say, he would be dealing with an entirely different reality than what appears in the first reading. If this is the case, then he would be playing a trick: a subtle progressivist thesis is presented in a way that gives the impression that he is defending the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church, but actually he is defending the opposite.

If Cardinal Avery Dulles would have used these hermeneutic ruses to appear conservative to his audience, then one would be dealing with a crafty sophist instead of a respectable teacher.

How can the dilemma be resolved? Without rushing to make a judgment, I choose the direct method. I respectfully place my question to him here:

Could Your Eminence be so kind as to clearly answer this question: Do you still defend what you wrote in 1979 about the Church of Christ? Id est, do you still defend that there is a Church of Christ different from and broader than the Catholic Church?

source: traditioninaction.org

Another one:

"The Church of Christ and Catholic Church"
With the support of numerous statements of the Magisterium, it was customary for Catholics prior to the Second Vatican Council to defend the thesis that they belonged to the "one, true Church" founded by Jesus Christ himself. For them, the Nicene confession of faith, "We believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church" referred unambiguously to that Christian community which was united in faith and obedience with the Bishop of Rome, the successor of St. Peter.
Since the celebration of the last Council, this sense of Catholic self-identity has been challenged and even denied. It is asserted that the Church of Christ and the Catholic Church are not the same reality. The Council, which used both expressions, namely, "Church of Christ" and "Catholic Church," is claimed to have drawn a distinction between the two, thereby indicating that they are not one and the same. In speaking of the society founded by Jesus himself, the Council referred to the "Church of Christ" and confessed that this "is the only Church of Christ which we profess in the Creed to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic."¹
It is, however, nowhere stated that this unique Church of Christ is the Roman Catholic Church, nor is it affirmed that Jesus founded the historical reality which we know as the Catholic Church — at least so it is claimed. While teaching, indeed, that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, the Council explicitly recognized the right of other Christian bodies to be called "Churches," thus giving authoritative confirmation to a use of language which was long-standing and consistent, at least in respect to the separated Churches of the East, i.e., Eastern Orthodoxy.
The bishops at Vatican II, furthermore, formally admitted that the Christian Churches and Communities separated from the Catholic Church have been and are being used by the Holy Spirit as "means of salvation"² for those who belong to them.
Now it must be admitted that we are faced with three facts concerning the teaching of Vatican II about the Church of Christ and the Catholic Church: first, the assertion that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church; second, the admission that at least some Communities not in union with the Catholic Church are truly Churches; third, the recognition that such Churches and even other ecclesial Communities serve as "means of salvation" in the effectuation of God's redemptive plan in Christ. Since Vatican II did not give us an elaborated ecclesiology, theological reflection is left to give an integrated picture of its teaching, keeping in mind the three facts just mentioned.
That theological picture has developed in some authors in the following way. The one Church of Christ, founded by him, now perdures or subsists in various forms or manifestations, each of which retain—to a greater or lesser degree—the essential ecclesial characteristics willed by the Lord. No one of the various forms can claim exclusive identity with the Church of Christ — which now exists like some kind of Platonic form, which variously informs different communities. De facto, the unique Church founded by Christ now exists in different and separated bodies, although not necessarily in equal degrees.
The consequences of such a view are manifold. Among the more important may be cited the diminishment in appreciation of the Church's unique role as means and sacrament of salvation, and the necessity of the Sacraments and of sacramental grace. Questions have been raised about the true ecumenicity of those Councils held since the division among Christians became a fact, particularly about the Councils of Trent and Vatican I.

The missionary activity of the Church has likewise suffered, being reduced at times in theory and in practice to no more than efforts to better the temporal social, political and economic situation of peoples. Efforts for conversion among non-Christians and for the bringing of non-Catholic Christians as individuals into full communion with the Catholic Church have been adversely affected.

source: catholicculture.org

If the Catholic Church is really the Church of Christ, it will mean that Christ and apostles teaching still upholds by the Catholic Church, but if the doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church changed and contradicts what was written in the bible, then clearly it CANNOT BE and WILL NOT BE the original church founded by Christ.

Are these doctrines taught by Christ and the apostles? You judge.

200 AD	Immersion of infants who are dying, but considered sinless. (Tertullian V.12)
250 AD	North Africa region is first to practice infant baptism and reduced the age of baptism from minors to all newborns. This is opposed by other regions.
257 AD	Baptism by sprinkling for adults instead of immersion first used as an exception for those on sick beds, but it caused great dispute.
300 AD	Prayers for the dead
320 AD	Special dress code of the clergy in worship
325 AD	At the general council of Nice, 325, it was proposed indeed, probably by the Western bishop Hosius, to forbid entirely the marriage of priests; but the motion met with strong opposition, and was rejected.
325 AD	The date for Easter was set.
379 AD	Praying to Mary & Saints. (prayers of Ephraim Syrus)
385 AD	In the West, the first prohibition of clerical marriage, which laid claim to universal ecclesiastical authority, proceeded in 385 from the Roman church in the form of a decretal letter of the bishop Siricius to Himerius, bishop of Tarragona in Spain.
389 AD	Mariolatry begins with Gregory Nazianzen, who mentions in a eulogy, how Justina had besought the virgin Mary to protect her virginity.
400 AD	Impossibility of apostasy or once saved always saved, (Augustine XII.9)
416 AD	Infant baptism by immersion commanded of all infants (Council Of Mela, Austin was the principal director)
430 AD	Exhalation of Virgin Mary: "Mother of God" first applied by the Council of Ephesus
502 AD	Special dress code of the Clergy all the time.
500 AD	The "Habit" of Nuns (Black gowns with white tunics)
519 AD	Lent
526 AD	Extreme Unction
593 AD	The Doctrine of Purgatory popularized from the Apocrypha by Gregory the Great
600 AD	First use of Latin in worship (Gregory I)
Beginning of the Orthodox/Roman Catholic church as we know it today in its present organization.
607 AD	First Pope: Boniface III is the first person to take the title of "universal Bishop" by decree of Emperor Phocas.
608 AD	Pope Boniface IV. turns the Pantheon in Rome into a temple of Mary ad martyres: the pagan Olympus into a Christian heaven of gods.
670 AD	Instrumental music: first organ by Pope Vitalian
709 AD	Kissing of Pope Constantine's feet
753 AD	Baptism by sprinkling for those on sick beds officially accepted.
787 AD	Worship of icons and statue approved (2nd council of Nicea)
787 AD	Rome (Latin) and Constantinople (Greek) part ways and begin the drift towards complete split, resulting in two denominations emerging in 1054 AD.
965 AD	Baptism of bells instituted by Pope John XIII
850 AD	Burning of Holy Candles
995 AD	Canonization of dead saints, first by Pope John XV
998 AD	Good Friday: fish only and the eating-red meat forbidden
1009 AD	Holy water
1022 AD	Penance
1054 AD	Roman Catholic church breaks away from the Orthodox church
1054 AD	Roman Catholics officially embrace instrumental music, Orthodox reject instrumental music down to the present time.
1079 AD	Celibacy enforced for priests, bishops, presbyters (Pope Gregory VII)
1090 AD	Rosary beads: invented by Peter the Hermit
1095 AD	Instrumental music
1190 AD	Sale of Indulgences or "tickets to sin" (punishment of sin removed)
1215 AD	Transubstantiation by Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council
1215 AD	Auricular Confession of sins to priests instituted by Pope Innocent III, (Lateran Council)
1215 AD	Mass a Sacrifice of Christ
1217 AD	Adoration and Elevation of Host: ie. communion bread (Pope Honrius III)
1230 AD	Ringing bells at Mass
1251 AD	The Scapular, the brown cloak worn by monks invented by Simon Stock
1268 AD	Priestly power of absolution
1311 AD	Baptism by sprinkling accepted as the universal standard instead of immersion for all, not just the sick. (Council of Ravenna)
1414 AD	Laity no longer offered Lord's cup at communion (Council of Constance)
1439 AD	Purgatory a dogma by the Council of Florence (see 593 AD)
1439 AD	Doctrine of Seven Sacraments affirmed
1480 AD	The Inquisition (of Spain)
1495 AD	Papal control of marriage rights
1534 AD	Order of Jesuits founded by Loyola
1545 AD	Man-made tradition of church made equal to Bible (Council of Trent)
1545 AD	Apocryphal books added to Bible (Council of Trent)
1546 AD	Justification by human works of merit
1546 AD	Mass universally said in Latin (see 600 AD)
1547 AD	Confirmation
1560 AD	Personal opinions of Pope Pius IV imposed as the official creed
1864 AD	Syllabus Errorum [Syllabus of Errors] proclaimed that "Catholic countries" could not tolerate other religions, (no freedom of religion), conscience, separation of church and State condemned, asserted the Pope's temporal authority over all civil rulers (Ratified by Pope Pius IX and Vatican Council) condemned
1870 AD	Infallibility of Pope (Vatican council)
1908 AD	All Catholics should be christened into the church
1930 AD	Public Schools condemned by Pope Pius XII (see 1864 AD)
1950 AD	Sinners prayer, invented by Billy Sunday and made popular by Billy Graham. (Some Catholics now use this)
1950 AD	Assumption of the body of the Virgin Mary into heaven shortly after her death. (Pope Pius XII)
1954 AD	Immaculate conception of Mary proclaimed by Pope Pius XII
1995 AD	The use of girls in the traditional alter boy duties
1996 AD	Catholics can believe in Evolution (Pope John Paul II)

source: bible.ca