[incredulous joe]

They are among "God's chosen" and technically I believe Christians are within this, as well. But the fact of the matter is that we all have the option of choosing to be followers of God, based on whether we follow his laws or not.

As a Catholic, nothing seems to rankle folks of a different denominational persuasion than the part of our creed which states "one Holy Catholic and Apostolic church".

I'd like to think that if I were a member of a different church that I wouldn't get so bent out of shape about how others refer to themselves; "the Chosen". "People of God", "the elect", "the select". These are people who believe in God and proclaim the titles as a testament to their faith. The more challenging part is living up to those titles no matter what the faith or denomination.

[Torie]

I heard an Anglican priest in the Church of the Knights Templar (or some such name, that got some notoriety in the DeVinci Code tale) located in the law quadrangle of London across from the Royal Courts, refer to the Anglican Church as her majesty's Catholic Church, the reformed Catholic Church. That give me a bit of a start. :)

[El Gato]

one Holy Catholic and Apostolic church".

That's part of the Nicene Creed, which Lutherans, and many others, use as well as Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. In that Context "Catholic" means something like "Universal" not necessarily "Roman Catholic".

The version from the Lutheran Service Book (2006) reads:

And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

There's even a Arabic version of the creed. (Because there are several types of Arab Christians, plus Persian ones)

قانون الايمان با لحقيقة أؤمـن بإله واحد، آب ضابط الكل خـالق السماء والأرض, ما يرى وما لا ي وبرب واحد يسوع المسيح, ابن الله الوحيد, المولود من الآب قـبل كل الدهور, نور من نور, إله حق من إله حق, مولود غـير مخلوق, واحـد مع الآب فى الجوهـر, الذى به كان كل شئ, الذى من أجلنا نحن البشر ومن أجل خلاصنا نزل من السماء, وتجسّد من الروح القـدس ومن مريم العـذراء, وتأنّس, وصُلِب عـنّا عـلى عهد بيلاطس البنطى, وتألّم, وقُـبر, وقام من بين الأموات فى اليوم الثالث كما فى الكتب, وصعد إلى السماوات وجلس عن يمين الآب, وأيضًا يأتى فى مجده ليدين الأحياء والأموات, الذى ليس لملكه إنقضاء, نعم أؤمن بالروح القدس, الرب المحيى, المنبثق من الآب قبل كل الدهور, نسجد له ونمجده مع الآب والابن, الناطق فى الأنبياء, وبكنيسة واحدة, مقدسة, جامعة, رسولية, واعترف بمعمودية واحدة لمغفرة الخطايا وأنتظر قيامة الأموات وحياة الدهر الآتى [edit]