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The phrase One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church appears in the Nicene Creed () and, in part, in the Apostles' Creed ("the holy catholic church", sanctam ecclesiam catholicam). The phrase sets out the four marks, or identifying signs, of the Christian Church — unity, holiness, universality, and apostolicity — and is based on the premise that all true Christians (irrespective of race, nationality or sex) form a single united group, the body of Christ (cf. ), founded by the apostles and innately holy. Conflicting boundaries and definitions
catholic The term "catholic" is derived from the Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos), which means "general", "universal".* Outside of a religious context, the word "catholic" is commonly used to mean no more than all-embracing in interests, sympathies, ideas and the like. In contrast, when the word "catholic" or "universal" is applied to the Church, it indicates that the Church is intended by God for the whole human race, all of whose members are called to belong to the Church, which, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages. And, even abstracting from this mission to the whole of humanity, the Church is inwardly catholic or universal in that, being one with Christ, the Church is endowed with all the means of salvation. (These two meanings of the catholicity or universality of the Church are explained at greater length in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 830-831.) Saint Ignatius of Antioch, the earliest known writer to use the phrase "the Catholic Church", excluded from it heterodox groups whose teaching and practice conflicted with those of the bishops of the Catholic Church. In keeping with this idea, the Roman Catholic Church sees groups that it judges to be in a state of heresy or schism as not part of the Catholic Church. Others have, since the Protestant Reformation, used the word "Catholic" to designate instead adherence to the doctrines and essential practices of the historical institutional Churches, in contrast to those propounded by the Reformers. In all the senses indicated in this paragraph, Catholic tends to be written with an upper-case 'C'. The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Churches all see themselves as fully "catholic" in all the foregoing senses. Some Anglicans see their Communion as a component part of the Catholic Church, albeit not subject to the Holy See of Rome, and maintain beliefs and practices akin to those of the Roman Catholic Church. Most Protestant denominations interpret "catholic", especially in its credal context, as referring to the concept of the eternal church of Christ and the Elect, which they see referenced in 's "body of Christ" and 's "great cloud of witnesses." Expressed in the language of traditional Roman Catholicism this Protestant interpretation of the words "one holy, catholic, and Apostolic church" identifies the "one holy, catholic, and Apostolic church" exclusively with the Church Triumphant - i.e. the church that exists "in heaven" or in eternity as opposed to the Church Militant which is the communion of the faithful here on Earth. They view this understanding of "catholic" as necessarily distinct from any concrete expression in an institutional Church. In this last sense, catholic tends to be written with a lower-case 'c'. This is not to say that the visible unity of the Catholic Church was not an important and essential doctrine of the Protestant Reformation. The Magisterial Reformers, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli, believed that they were reforming a corrupt and heretical Catholic Church. Each of them took very seriously the charges of schism and innovation, denying these charges and maintaining that it was the medieval church that had left them. Because of this the fundamental Unity of the Catholic Church remained a very important doctrine in the churches of the Reformation. Dr. James Walker wrote in "The Theology of Theologians of Scotland": The visible church, in the idea of the Scottish theologians, is catholic. You have not an indefinite number of Parochial, or Congregational, or National churches, constituting, as it were, so many ecclesiastical individualities, but one great spiritual republic, of which these various organizations form a part. The visible church is not a genus, so to speak, with so many species under it. It is thus you may think of the State, but the visible church is a totum integrale, it is an empire. The churches of the various nationalities constitute the provinces of this empire; and though they are so far independent of each other, yet they are so one, that membership in one is membership in all, and separation from one is separation from all... This conception of the church, of which, in at least some aspects, we have practically so much lost sight, had a firm hold of the Scottish theologians of the seventeenth century. Wherever the Magisterial Reformation, which received support from the the ruling authorities or civil magistrates, took place the result was not a new denomination but a reformation of a national church envisioned to be a part of the whole visible Holy Catholic Church described in the creeds. Therefore the Reformed Churches believed in a form of Catholicity, founded upon on the doctrines of the five solas and a visible ecclesiastical organization based on the 14th and 15th century Conciliar movement that rejected the Papacy and Papal Infallibility in favor of Ecumenical councils. Unlike mainstream Evangelical (Lutheran), Reformed (Zwinglian and Calvinist) Protestant movements, the Radical Reformation, which had no state sponsorship, generally abandoned the idea of the "Church Visible" as distinct from the "Church Invisible." Thus, the Church only consisted of the tiny community of believers, who accepted Jesus Christ by adult baptism, called "believer's baptism". Others believed that the Church could not be defined as anything more than a single congregation meeting together for worship at one time in a single place. Therefore the Radical Reformation did not believe that the Magisterial Reformation had gone far enough. For example, radical reformer Andreas von Bodenstein Karlstadt referred to the Lutheran theologians at Wittenberg as the 'new papists.' It was exactly because the Reformation still strongly defended the visible unity of the Catholic Church that they were criticized by the Radical Reformers and visa versa. Today there is a growing movement of Protestants, especially of the Reformed tradition, that reject the designation "Protestant" because of its negative "anti-catholic" connotations, preferring the designation "Reformed," "Evangelical" or even "Reformed Catholic" expressive of what they call a "Reformed Catholicity" * and defending their arguments from the traditional Protestant Confessions. Apostolic (1) The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodoxy and the Anglican Communion interpret the adjective "apostolic" as referring not only to the Church's origin from Christ's Apostles and their teaching, but also the Church's structure around bishops who have succeeded to the Apostles by unbroken Apostolic Succession transmitted by episcopal ordination ("laying on of hands"). In their view, Christian communities that lack this mark (i.e. a hierarchy of bishops, each properly ordained by bishops in an unbroken chain reaching back to the original apostles,) are not churches in the full sense. (1.a) A modern variant of this interpretation, held by many in the non-trinitarian "Apostolic church movement", including some Pentecostal groups, is that Apostolic refers to the charismatic gift of apostleship, which they claim continues to be granted by the Spirit to the faithful Church today. Being Apostolic for these people means being lead and taught by modern Apostles. In their view, Christian communities that lack this mark (i.e. charismatic hierarchical structure) are not Churches in the full sense. (2) On the other hand, Protestant Evangelical Christians hold that the Apostolic Church of the Creed corresponds to no one , but is instead the aggregate of all "true" Christians, regardless of denominational allegiance, who hold the faith of the Apostles (as preserved in Apostolic Scripture) and who further the mission of the Apostles (making disciples, baptising and teaching ). In their view, Christian communities that lack this mark (i.e. holding to and proclaiming the Apostolic gospel of divine grace) are not Churches in the full sense. See also | |||||||||
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