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Christian Church

This article is about the ecclesiological concept. For the buildings used in Christian worship, see Church (building). For the religious meeting, see Church (congregation). For individual Christian organization and currents, see Christian denomination. For other uses, see Christian Church (disambiguation).
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Medieval illustration of the ecclesia from the Hortus deliciarum of Herrad of Landsberg (12th century)

In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ.[1][2][3] "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym for Christianity, despite the fact that it is composed of multiple churches or denominations, many of which hold a doctrinal claim of being the one true church to the exclusion of the others.[4][5][6]

For many Protestant Christians, the Christian Church has two components: the church visible, institutions in which "the Word of God purely preached and listened to, and the sacraments administered according to Christ's institution", as well as the church invisible—all "who are truly saved" (with these beings members of the visible church).[7][2][8] In this understanding of the invisible church, "Christian Church" (or catholic Church) does not refer to a particular Christian denomination, but includes all individuals who have been saved.[2] The branch theory, which is maintained by some Anglicans, holds that those Churches that have preserved apostolic succession are part of the true Church.[9] This is in contrast to the one true church applied to a specific concrete Christian institution, a Christian ecclesiological position maintained by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox churches, Assyrian Church of the East, and the Ancient Church of the East.[1][10][3]

Most English translations of the New Testament generally use the word church as a translation of the Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (romanized ecclesia), found in the original Greek texts, which generally meant an "assembly" or "congregation".[11] This term appears in two verses of the Gospel of Matthew, 24 verses of the Acts of the Apostles, 58 verses of the Pauline epistles (including the earliest instances of its use in relation to a Christian body), two verses of the Letter to the Hebrews, one verse of the Epistle of James, three verses of the Third Epistle of John, and 19 verses of the Book of Revelation. In total, ἐκκλησία appears 114 times in the New Testament, although not every instance is a technical reference to the church.[12] As such it is used for local communities as well as in a universal sense to mean all believers.[13] The earliest recorded use of the term Christianity (Greek: Χριστιανισμός) was by Ignatius of Antioch, in around 100 AD.[14]

The Four Marks of the Church first expressed in the Nicene Creed (381) are that the Church is one, holy, catholic (universal), and apostolic (originating from the apostles).[15]

  1. ^ a b "The Original Christian Church". Orthodox Church in America. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Weaver, Jonathan (1900). Christian Theology: A Concise and Practical View of the Cardinal Doctrines and Institutions of Christianity. United Brethren Publishing House. p. 245. There are distinctions between the general invisible church and the general visible church, which it is not necessary to carry out to the last analysis. In a sense, they are both visible. All who are members of the general invisible church are members of the general visible church. But all who are members of the general visible church are not members of the general invisible church. A clear and distinct difference between the visible and invisible church may be stated thus: (1) The general invisible church includes all out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation who are truly saved. No one denomination has in its communion all who belong to the invisible church. (2) The visible church includes all who are recognized as members of a Christian church. No one denomination can justly claim to be the general visible church.
  3. ^ a b "What do Catholics believe?". Roman Catholic Diocese of Lansing. Retrieved 29 June 2021. We are the original Christian Church, which began when Jesus himself when he said to the Apostle Peter, "You are the rock on which I will build my church. The gates of hell will not prevail against it." Every pope since then has been part of an unbroken line of succession since Peter, the first pope.
  4. ^ "Eastern Orthodox Church". BBC. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2021. The doctrine of the Christian Church was established over the centuries at Councils dating from as early as 325CE where the leaders from all the Christian communities were represented.
  5. ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (29 May 2018). "Inside the Conversion Tactics of the Early Christian Church". History. Retrieved 27 June 2021. And yet, within three centuries, the Christian church could count some 3 million adherents.
  6. ^ F. L. Cross; Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds. (1997). The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-211655-X. OCLC 38435185.
  7. ^ McGrath, Alister E. (4 August 2016). Christian Theology: An Introduction. John Wiley & Sons. p. 362. ISBN 978-1-118-87443-1.
  8. ^ Schaff, Philip (1910). History of the Christian Church. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 524.
  9. ^ Kinsman, Frederick Joseph (1924). Americanism and Catholicism. Longman. p. 203. The one most talked about is the "Branch Theory," which assumes that the basis of unity is a valid priesthood. Given the priesthood, it is held that valid Sacraments unite in spite of schisms. Those who hold it assume that the Church is composed of Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, eastern heretics possessing undisputed Orders, and Old Catholics, Anglicans, Swedish Lutherans, Moravians, and any others who might be able to demonstrate that they had perpetuated a valid hierarchy. This is chiefly identified with High Church Anglicans and represents the survival of a seventeenth century contention against Puritans, that Anglicans were not to be classed with Continental Protestants.
  10. ^ "The Church". Catholic Encyclopedia. 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2021. It would appear, then, indisputable that in the earliest years of the Christian Church ecclesiastical functions were in a large measure fulfilled by men who had been specially endowed for this purpose with "charismata" of the Holy Spirit, and that as long as these gifts endured, the local ministry occupied a position of less importance and influence.
  11. ^ Entry for Strong's #1577 - ἐκκλησία - StudyLight.org. Bible Lexicons - Old / New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  12. ^ "Ekklesia: A Word Study". Acu.edu. Archived from the original on 3 September 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  13. ^ McKim, Donald K., Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, Westminster John Knox Press, 1996
  14. ^ Elwell & Comfort 2001, pp. 266, 828.
  15. ^ Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (London: Banner of Truth, 1949), 572.
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