The Acts Church

I was listening to a Christian radio station the other day (in the week following Easter) and I heard an interesting comment by the K-Love DJ.  They were talking about what it would have been like to live during the time of Jesus.  That it would have been exciting to see the empty tomb.  Before I get to the quote, I must interject that while it would have been nice to witness the extraordinary events of the resurrection, I don't think it would have been a good time to live at all... Christians celebrated Mass underground not just for fear of persecution, but fear of death!  We live very comfortable, naive lives now, especially here in the US.  I digress...

Back to the quote.  The guy said, "How cool would it have been to be part of the 'Acts Church'?"  This took me back for a moment.  The Acts Church? Did he mean that it would be cool to be part of the Church that Jesus founded?  If so, this is a very interesting admission from a protestant radio station.  Jesus didn't say "don't forget to read my book!"  He founded a Church, which I suppose they are calling the Acts Church, from the book, The Acts of the Apostles.  Moreover, what if that Church still existed?  I wonder if protestants have ever thought about this.  Did the Acts Church survive?  If so, how would you tell?

I have heard people on the radio say that the Church that is "closest to the scripture" will be the real, true, Church.  However, I think a better measure would be that of "closest to the Acts Church."  There are two things are important to note here.  First, in the Acts Church, there wasn't a bible.  We are only call it the Acts Church because we have the bible.  The the same bible that was written after the Acts Church existed.  Think about it, the Acts Church was not a "church of the written word," but rather a book of the "oral tradition."  It couldn't be closest to the scripture, because there wasn't any scripture (of the new covenant).   Second, is it possible to know what the Acts Church looked like?  Sure, you can get quite a lot about it from Acts, but you can get even more from the Church fathers.  Those who wrote about the Church before the Canon of Scripture was established late in the 3rd century.  Read books by Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, and many, many others.  Even some of the later ones like John Chrysostom, Jerome, Agustine, and Gregory the Great.  You will notice one thing... There is a Church that looks a lot like the Acts Church 2,000 years ago.  It is the Catholic Church!

If you don't believe me, just look at what the Church claims.  The number one claim is that it is "Apostolic".  That is, there is apostolic succession.  Every pope, bishop, and priest can trace his predecessor back to Peter, the first Pope, the one whom Jesus gave the keys to the Kingdom and build his Church upon.  That Peter.  If you want a list, here you go: List of Popes.  It cites the popes and years of reign from the first pope, Peter, all the way to the 266th pope, Francis.  In John 14:16 Jesus says, "I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you forever."  The spirit of truth was not only promised to the Apostles, but to their successors through all generations.  If the Catholic Church isn't the Acts Church, then Jesus didn't fulfill his promise.

So, when I heard him say "How cool would it have been to be part of the Acts Church," all I could think was "YES!  It is cool indeed!"