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To: Mrs. Don-o; Dr. Thorne; Legatus
>>As much as to say: I follow Christ; but the Body of Christ? Strictly optional.<<

Those who follow Christ alone and not some organization ARE the body of Christ.

44 posted on 07/12/2014 12:26:10 PM PDT by CynicalBear (For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ)
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To: CynicalBear
Christ's Church is not just "some organization."

Once again, I urge you not to fall for a non-Biblical, impossibly false dichotomy of "Christ without the Church," "Christ divorced from the Church," "Christ vs the Church."

Of course the word "Church" can be used in many senses: probably dozens of senses, including the invisible (comprising also the saints who have passed on before us), including the secret (as we pray in the Liturgy, "those whose Faith is known to You alone"), including the ecclesiastical, the historical, the sacramental, the creedal, the sociological, even the architectural (!)

But the most basic sense, I think, would be "those who are being incorporated into Christ."

Certainly if you are a baptized believer, you --- I don't say just Catholics, but YOU, baptized believer-guy --- are a member of the Church.

However you want to say it, to be dismissive of the Church is to be dismissive of His Body.

72 posted on 07/12/2014 2:37:14 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o ("If they refuse to listen even to the Church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.")
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