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To: annalex
Which church?

One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic. There is no other.

Which is not contained in the Roman Catholic religion.

When the church fathers used the term, "katholikos", ie-catholic, it was an adjective and not a noun as the Roman Catholic religion came to co-opt the term.

The church fathers were referring to the church universal comprised of all genuine believers in Christ, no matter what particularized church they were associated with.

15,156 posted on 05/24/2007 5:05:09 PM PDT by Risky-Riskerdo
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To: Risky-Riskerdo; hosepipe
The church fathers were referring to the church universal comprised of all genuine believers in Christ

Does not look that way, unless by "genuine" you mean "Catholic" or "Orthodox" in the modern sense:

Chapter 6. Unbelievers in the blood of Christ shall be condemned.

Let no man deceive himself. Both the things which are in heaven, and the glorious angels, and rulers, both visible and invisible, if they believe not in the blood of Christ, shall, in consequence, incur condemnation. "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." Matthew 19:12 Let not [high] place puff any one up: for that which is worth all is faith and love, to which nothing is to be preferred. But consider those who are of a different opinion with respect to the grace of Christ which has come unto us, how opposed they are to the will of God. They have no regard for love; no care for the widow, or the orphan, or the oppressed; of the bond, or of the free; of the hungry, or of the thirsty.

Chapter 7. Let us stand aloof from such heretics.

They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes. But it were better for them to treat it with respect, that they also might rise again. It is fitting, therefore, that you should keep aloof from such persons, and not to speak of them either in private or in public, but to give heed to the prophets, and above all, to the Gospel, in which the passion [of Christ] has been revealed to us, and the resurrection has been fully proved. But avoid all divisions, as the beginning of evils.

Chapter 8. Let nothing be done without the bishop.

See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as you 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. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans


15,168 posted on 05/24/2007 7:31:54 PM PDT by annalex
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