Posted on 02/27/2016 11:51:28 AM PST by Salvation
TRUE CHURCH
When did the Church established by Jesus Christ get the name Catholic?
Christ left the adoption of a name for His Church to those whom he commissioned to teach all nations. Christ called the spiritual society He established, "My Church" (Mt. xvi, 18), "the Church" (Mt. xviii, 17). In order to have a distinction between the Church and the Synagogue and to have a distinguishing name from those embracing Judaic and Gnostic errors we find St. Ignatius (50-107 A.D.) using the Greek word "Katholicos" (universal) to describe the universality of the Church established by Christ. St. Ignatius was appointed Bishop of Antioch by St.Peter, the Bishop of Rome. It is in his writtings that we find the word Catholic used for the first time. St. Augustine, when speaking about the Church of Christ, calls it the Catholic Church 240 times in his writings.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, disciple of the Apostle John, concerning the heretics of his day wrote: "They have abstained from the Eucharist and prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of Our Saviour Jesus Christ." St. Justin Martyr, another Church Father of the second century wrote: "This food is known among us as the Eucharist... We do not receive these things as common bread and common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Saviour, being made flesh by the Word of God."
"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting and I will raise Him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my bood is drink indeed"
(John 6:54-56)
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" they argued. (John 6:53)
"And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. THIS IS MY BODY. And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. FOR THIS IS MY BLOOD." (cf. Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; luke 22:19-20).
In the most unequivocal languge the Apostles affirmed that the bread and wine duly concecrated on the altar did in fact become the actual Substance of the Saviour. Declared the Apostle Paul: "The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord?" (1 Cor. 10:16)
....Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained." (John 20:19-23). "Amen I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." (Matt. 18:18)
"Take heed to yourselves, and to the whole flock, wherein the Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops, to rule the church of God ..." (Acts. 20:28)
"And when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed." (Acts 14:22).
" He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth Him that sent me."
- Luke 10:16
Catholic Church is the church most united in Christ. The spectacle of one billion Catholics, three-fifths of all proffessed Christians, perfectly, indomitably united in belief, in organization, and in worship - the historical fact that Catholics, consistently the largest body of Christians in the world, have always been thus perfectly united - was evidence nobody can not ignore. Here is the unity of Bible prophecy - nowhere else on the Christian scene was there a unity nearly so compact, nearly so long-lived. Nowhere else on the Christian scene was there a unity so obviously permanent.
Wrote the great St. Cyprian in the third century: "God is one and Christ is one, and one is His Church, and the faith is one, and one His people welded together by the glue of concord into a solid unity of body. Unity cannot be rent asunder, nor can the one body of the Church, through the division of its structure, be divided into separate pieces" (St. Cyprian, On the Unity of the Church, chap 23).
Like His glorified body in Heaven, Christ's Mystical Body on earth never was and never will be a disjoined body. St. Paul said, a member of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. (Eoh. 5:30)
...Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth. ...That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us... I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one." (John 17:1-23).
You can see in Sacred Scripture that Christ's true church is not the "learning" church but is manifestly a TEACHING church. Moreover, it is evident that Christ's true church is an INFALLIBLE teacher, never liable to teach false doctrine.
"All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching then to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." (Matt.28:18-20).
"As the Father hath sent me, I also send you." (John 20:21). Here again is a clear, unmistakable reference to the teaching mission of His Church; for here He is telling the Apostles that they had fallen heir to His own teaching mission. His Church was to be no less of a teacher than He was.
Here is another evidence that Catholic Church is an INFALLIBLE teacher, never liable to teach false doctrine: "These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you. ... when the Paraclete cometh, whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father, he shall give testimony of me. And you shall give testimony, because you are with me from the beginning." (John 14:25-26; 15:26-27).
from: "True Church", "Radio Replies" by Fr. Chas. M. Carty & Rev. Dr.L. Rumble, M.S.C. and "Confession of a Roman Catholic" by Paul Whitcomb
EXCELLENT post, as always.
Lenten Series Ping!
In order to have a distinction between the Church and the Synagogue and to have a distinguishing name from those embracing Judaic and Gnostic errors we find St. Ignatius (50-107 A.D.) using the Greek word “Katholicos” (universal) to describe the universality of the Church established by Christ. St. Ignatius was appointed Bishop of Antioch by St.Peter, the Bishop of Rome. It is in his writings that we find the word Catholic used for the first time. St. Augustine, when speaking about the Church of Christ, calls it the Catholic Church 240 times in his writings.
So from the very beginning Christ’s Church was considered Catholic - Universal.
It was interesting to see that some rejected the Eucharist in the beginning.
And when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed.” (Acts 14:22).
I can’t find ANY Bible version that says this. Even in the Douay it says:
“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith: and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.”
If you go to verse 23 it says they appointed “elders for them in every church”. Elders were not “priests”. The Greek word used confirms this (presbyterous).
Jesus’ followers were known as Christians. Catholic was an adjective - not a proper noun - used to signify the whole body of believers. What calls itself THE Catholic church today is far from the one that Christ established.
This is just another antagonistic thread posted to stir up dissension saved for this time of the year. To then complain about “Catholic bashing” is quite disingenuous, I think.
St Ignatius had a much different understanding of the catholic church than the current Roman Catholic Church. St Ignatius saw each church as independent. Each church had one bishop and there was none in the church greater than the bishop. This idea that there is a universal church structure with a supreme bishop that lords over the other bishops was a concept foreign to St Ignatius.
Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans
Chapter VIII.-Let Nothing Be Done Without the Bishop
See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.
Chapter IX.-Honour the Bishop
And say I, Honour thou God indeed, as the Author and Lord of all things, but the bishop as the high-priest, who bears the image of God-of God. inasmuch as he is a ruler, and of Christ, in his capacity of a priest. After Him, we must also honour the king. For there is no one superior to God, or even like to Him, among all the beings that exist. Nor is there any one in the Church greater than the bishop, who ministers as a priest to God for the salvation of the whole world.
Ignatius to the Philadelphians
Take ye heed, then, to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to [show forth] the unity of His blood; one altar; as there is one bishop, along with the presbytery and deacons, my fellow-servants: that so, whatsoever ye do, ye may do it according to [the will of] God.
When one studies the early church leaders, most of their references to Christ’s body were in disputing the gnostic Donatists who rejected Jesus even HAVING a flesh and blood body. The idea of transubstantiation was a later Aquinas creation.
God bless you, bb. You are CERTAINLY entitled to your own opinions.
"Catholic" WAS an adjective. Now it's a noun.
Protestants don't really PROTEST anymore, so that title isn't really relevant anymore, is it?
Lutherans doesn't mean that people believe in Luther, just in his version of Christianity. Ditto with all the Protestant denominations.
Language does alter meanings on occasion.
Are you then claiming the proper noun Roman Catholic church is the “true church” and Protestants, Lutherans and other non-catholic Christians are not part of the body of Christ as this article does?
That's funny. I can't find the word or title *Catholic* anywhere in the Bible that Catholics claim their church wrote.
It's just so convenient that retroactively claim that's what was meant when there's no solid evidence to support it otherwise.
No and please TRY not to read any more (especially negative) into what I wrote. It's MOST disingenuous of you.
Thank you for not showing any chips on your shoulders about what Catholics may post. I don't take things personally on what people write here. Why would I? You DON'T know me and probably never will.
God bless you and yours.
As a recent convert from a protestant upbringing to the Catholic Church, I’ve gotten quite used to all the usual anti-Catholic attacks.
Honestly, why do they feel the need? One of the most refreshing things about the Catholic teaching is that there is one interpretation, as one who spent years listening to different protestant ministers, every one of them has a different interpretation, even within the same denomination.
Douay-Rheims 1899 American edition
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+14%3A22&version=DRA
I disagree.
Early church leaders realized and accepted the Eucharist was the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Certainly some rejected this as reported in the Gospel.
Welcome home!
Congratulations on your conversion.
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I THINK that the problem, if you would call it that, is that there is NO final authority on morals like we have, the Church and Magesterium.
Protestants are allowed to indulge in "relative morality," like abortion, same-gender marriage, divorce-remarriage, suicide and all the other things that I mentioned earlier in a mega-post of mine.
The Catholic Church has MORAL ABSOLUTES. Priests go to the seminary to learn about the Bible, Apostolic tradition and the moral absolutes which guide our lives.
It takes YEARS to be a priest. No priest has TIME for a marriage and children. It would be an impossible task to be priest, husband AND father. That's why celibacy is a VOW.
I've asked my Protestant friends about what the THEOLOGICAL differences were between the denominations and none have been able to clarify what they were.
Well put.
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