The Nature of the True Church: Understanding the Differences Between Catholicism and Protestantism

Why are some Protestants drawn toward Roman Catholicism—and how should we think about the “one true church”? In this episode, Mark Vance launches a five-part series on the nature of the church, explaining why he remains a Protestant while seeking to speak with both clarity and charity about Catholicism.

Mark walks through why historical rootedness feels especially compelling in shaky cultural moments, how true Christianity exists within the Roman Catholic Church, and yet why he believes certain teachings and practices obscure the gospel. He also introduces the four major reasons he’s a Protestant: the nature of the true church, the history of the church, the question of authority, and the clarity of the gospel—setting the stage for the rest of the series.

Episode Highlights:

• 00:00 — Launching a five-part series: “Why Protestantism?” and why people are asking about Catholicism
• 03:19 — True Christianity within Catholicism—and how some teachings can obscure the gospel
• 08:55 — Overview of the four major reasons Mark remains a Protestant
• 11:25 — The Protestant view of the “one true church” and the visible/invisible church distinction
• 17:43 — How the Roman Catholic Church understands itself as the one true church (one, holy, catholic, apostolic)
• 22:51 — Protestantism as a renewal movement within the one true church, not a competing “true church”
• 24:19 — Are all Catholics saved? Visible membership vs. being born again by faith in Christ
• 26:03 — Why Mark says Rome is “not Catholic enough” and how Protestantism offers a broader catholicity

Resources:

• Cornerstone Church Sermons: Listen online
• Gavin Ortlund, What It Means to Be Protestant (Truth Unites)
• Matthew Barrett, The Reformation as Renewal
• Michael Svigel, RetroChristianity: Reclaiming the Forgotten Faith
• Chad Van Dixhoorn (ed.), Creeds, Confessions, and Catechisms: A Reader’s Edition
• Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican)