It depends on what you mean by 'the original Church of Jesus Christ'. . Jesus himself was strictly a Judaist so the Catholic Church is definitely not a continuation of what Jesus taught and believed. . The Roman Catholic Church of today traces it's lineage back to Saint Peter who was Peter or Cephas the disciple of Jesus. Bishops (and latterly Popes) are appointed by other bishops and so on and so on going theoretically back to the time of Peter and the disciples. This is known as apostlistic succession and means that the Pope of today is the latest in an unbroken line of church leaders that were sanctioned by the apostles and by extension Jesus himself. In this sense it is a continuation of the original Church of Jesus. However the current RC Church doctrine is probably far from the original teachings of Jesus.

No

Yes and no. Like all Christian Denominations they are a mix of truth and error. However, they have as much claim to Apostolic succession as any other Biblically Orthodox Denomination. And of course exactly WHAT is truth and WHAT is error in the Catholic Church (ANY Catholic Church - Roman, Anglo, Greco, Egyptian, etc.) is a matter of interpretation. However, since you posted this in the Mormon rather than Catholic Church section I would point out that their claims claims to Apostolic Succession are objectively FAR more credible and substantial than Joseph Smith's claims to Apostolic Succession. In the end ANY Christian Institution that claims to be the ONLY TRUE Church is full of hooey. In fact, that statement ALONE demonstrates an errant, unBiblical belief and stance. That's because the Bible says that we ALL only see in part and know in part on this side of eternity. As the Apostle Paul said: "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." -- 1 Corinthians 13:12 (New International Version) So for ANY Church lead by fallen, sinful men to claim that they know it all and have ALL the truth is, Biblically speaking, utter and complete nonsense. GENERAL OVERVIEW http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Succession ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAIMS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Succession#Roman_Catholic_Church LDS CLAIMS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Succession#The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_.28Mormons.29

Jesus established no church as we understand it today. Christianity - including the Catholics - are a continuation of the teachings of Paul, who never met Jesus and who ultimately broke up with the original apostles that Jesus had chosen.

Since this is in the Mormon section, I'll answer from a Mormon perspective. Jesus founded the Church when he called the Twelve and gave them their charge. The Apostles continued to increase the size of the Church, calling Bishops, Deacons, and other leaders as more congregations were formed. The Apostles also filled any vacancies in the Twelve. At the same time, we know that the early believers were persecuted, even put to death. At some point, the Apostles were being killed faster than new ones could be called. Thus ended the Apostolic Age. In the late 4th century, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, and made it the state religion. In my opinion, this was the start of the Catholic Church. So, the question becomes: was the Christianity which Constantine embraced sufficiently similar to Christianity under Jesus and the Apostles to be considered one and the same? Mormons put a lot of value on the concept of "line of authority". Catholics have a strong case for claiming they are the true Church. The Catholic Church is the oldest of existent sects. They have a list of Popes and Bishops of Rome going back to Peter - the first Apostle called by Jesus. Mormonism believes that because all the Apostles were killed, the Priesthood was lost from the world, making a Restoration necessary (as opposed to the Reformation of the Protestants). If the Catholic claim to the apostolic succession is false, then the Priesthood would have to be restored through a heavenly messenger. In short, Mormons believe that Jesus' original Church was corrupted before the founding of Catholicism.

According to them. But I'm pretty sure each denomination believes that they are the closest continuation from the church Jesus allegedly "really wanted/intended".

>>original Church of Jesus Christ AFAIK there was no "original Church of Jesus Christ."

That's a good question! I would have to agree with hiperion to an extent. The RC church is an interesting church mentioned in Revelations to study about. However, Christianity came from people that followed Christ. After His sacrifica, Christians were hunted and killed for, to be honest with you, I don't know how long, but they were killed for believing in these "new" teachings. This is where you get the ancient catacombs under Rome and such. After a long while, after Christians were put to death in the aplitheaters of Rome and all ther trials and tribulations (also mentioned in Rev.), the Roman empire started to crumble and they wanted to put in place a power that would last. They knew that if they legalized Christianity, not only would they gather to themselves more..willing? citizens, but would bring tremedous peace in the process, hence easing some of the hardships that the empire was facing at the time. What they did after that was named a "king", which is and was then, really referred to as "pope" to rule over a vast army. That is where the "great Reformation" struggles came from and why Europeans fled from Europe, to escape religous bombardment and religous falsehood. What the Roman Catholic started out as, when Christianity was legalized, was a bunch of pagans under a so-called Godly goverment when in actuality, they made tremedous considerations in place of biblical truths. When Jesus asked if they knew who He was and Peter told Him, "thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God", Jesus replied to him, "and thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my church." Now, what one must understand is that first, Peter admitted His true identity, in return, Jesus admitted Peter's true identity! "and I say unto you, thou art Peter". This signifies that Peter's name was in fact Peter, just as Jesus's identity was in fact the Christ! Second, Jesus said to him, "and on this rock I will build my church". When Jesus said, "on this rock"......."on this"...meaning what? Very simple...this truth! Truth cannot change and Peter's name was Peter just as Jesus's identity was Christ. He built His church on truth and nothing more! The official Roman Catholic church was founded by government in peril. I don't mean to have offended any of my Catholic friends, this is just fact that I hope you will look into, for instance, read this, specifically the third paragraph....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire Simply put, I would have to say that the Catholic faith is not specifically a continuation of the church Jesus implied to as being His church. I hope this has helped you! foundthisone@yahoo.com