``Where the
Bishop is, there let the multitude of believers be;
even as where Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church'' Ignatius of
Antioch, 1st c. A.D
The Marks of the Church
What
can we know about Christ's Church from Scripture? Was it a
non-hierarchical, egalitarian, laid-back non-institution whose leaders
talked about success, wealth, and health before stepping back to let a
choir director lead people in song? Or was it quite otherwise?
From Scripture, we can see that the Church:
is one, unified
Matthew 12:25,
16:18, John 10:16, John 17:20-23, Acts 4:32, Romans 12:5, Romans 16:17,
1 Corinthians 1:10-13, Corinthians 3:3-4, Corinthians 10:17,
Corinthians 11:18-19, Corinthians 12:12-27, Corinthians 14:33, 2
Corinthians 12:20, Ephesians 4:3-6, Philippians 1:27, 2:2-3, 1 Timothy
6:3-5, Titus 3:9-10, James 3:16, 2 Peter 2:1
is holy, but not
all who belong to it will be saved
Matthew 7:21–23,
Ephesians 5:25–27, Revelation 19:7–8
is universal
(ie, "katholikos" in Greek, or "Catholic")
Matthew
28:19–20, Revelation 5:9–10
is Apostolic
Matthew
16:18-19, Matthew 9:6-8, John 20:21-23, Acts 5:5, Ephesians 2:19–20
is hierarchical
and has bishops (episkopos), priests (presbyteros or "elders"), and
deacons (diakonos)
Acts 1:20, Acts
15:2-6, Acts 20:28, Acts 21:18, Philippians 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:1-2, 1
Timothy 5:17, Titus 1:7, Hebrews 11:2, 1 Peter 5:1, 1 Peter 2:25,
is the Pillar
and Ground of Truth
1 Timothy 3:15
is the "light of
the world", visible, cannot be hid
Matthew 5:14
was founded by
Christ through Peter, whom He made the Church's earthly father, and the
Gates of Hell cannot prevail against it
Matthew 16:18-19
(see also page on Peter as "The Rock" for
evidence of Peter's authority among the Apostles)
We
can see that the early Church's priests and bishops:
were sent and
commissioned by Jesus
Mark 6:7, John
15:5, John 20:21, Romans 10:15, 2 Corinthians 5:20
were ordained
and acted as representatives of Jesus
Mark 3:14, Luke
10:16, John 13:20, Acts 14:23, Acts 16:4, 1 Timothy 2:7, 1 Timothy
4:14, 1 Timothy 5:23, Titus 1:5
had the
authority to bind or to loose ("to forbid" and "to permit" with
reference to interpretation of the law, and "to condemn" or "to acquit")
Matthew 16:19,
Matthew 18:18, Luke 24:47, John 20:21-23, James 5:15, Acts 5:2-11, 1
Corinthians 5:3-13, 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, 2 Corinthians 5:18, 1 Timothy
1:18-20, Titus 3:10
had the
authority to perform Baptisms and offer the Eucharist
Matthew 28:19,
Luke 22:19, Acts 2:38-41, Acts 2:42, Acts 2:46, Acts 20:7, 1
Corinthians 10:16
referred to
themselves as "fathers" and thought of themselves as "fathers"
1 Corinthians
4:14-15, 1 Thessalonians 2:11, 1 Timothy 1:2, Titus 1:4, 1 John 2:13,
Philemon 1:10 (Compare KJV with NIV)
offer pure
sacrices and incense
Malachi 1:10-11
annointed the
sick
Matthew 10:1,
Luke 9:1-2, Luke 9:6, James 5:13-15
performed
exorcisms
Matthew 10:1,
Mark 3:15, Luke 9:1
extolled
celibacy for those called to it (note that in the beginnings of the
Church, many of the Apostles, such as Peter, the first Bishop of Rome,
were already married before beginning their ministry, but they
abstained from marital relations after ordination.
What
can we learn about the early Church from extra-Scriptural sources? To
all who think the early Christians got together to sing "Rock of Ages",
hold hands, have a piece of mere bread once a year "in memory of
Christ," and just generally indulge in a feel-good, non-hierarchical,
totally egalitarian "fellowship" with each other, here are a few
writings to ponder. Do these words of St. Cyprian of Carthage (baptized
ca. A.D. 246) this sound like a non-hierarchical,
get-together-to-fellowship kind of Church?:
You have written
also, that on my account the Church has now
a portion of herself in a state of dispersion, although the whole
people of the Church are collected, and united, and joined to itself in
an undivided concord: they alone have remained without, who even, if
they had been within, would have had to be cast out. Nor does the Lord,
the protector of His people, and their guardian, suffer the wheat to be
snatched from His floor; but the chaff alone can be separated from the
Church, since also the apostle says, "For what if some of them have
departed from the faith? shall their unbelief make the faith of God of
none effect? God forbid; for God is true, but every man a liar." And
the Lord also in the Gospel, when disciples forsook Him as He spoke,
turning to the twelve, said, "Will ye also go away?" then Peter
answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the word of eternal
life; and we believe, and are sure, that Thou art the Son of the living
God." Peter speaks there, on whom the Church was to be built, teaching
and showing in the name of the Church, that although a rebellious and
arrogant multitude of those who will not hear and obey may depart, yet
the Church does not depart from Christ; and they are the Church who are
a people united to the priest, and the flock which adheres to its
pastor. Whence you ought to know that the bishop is in the Church, and
the Church in the bishop; and if any one be not with the bishop, that
he is not in the Church, and that those flatter themselves in vain who
creep in, not having peace with God's priests, and think that they
communicate secretly with some; while the Church, which is Catholic and
one, is not cut nor divided, but is indeed connected and bound together
by the cement of priests who cohere with one another.
In
the 1st century, St. Ignatius, Peter's appointee to the Antiochian
bishopric, addressed his letter to the Roman Church like this:
...to the Church
which has obtained mercy, through the
majesty of the Most High Father, and Jesus Christ, His only-begotten
Son; the Church which is beloved and enlightened by the will of Him
that willeth all things which are according to the love of Jesus Christ
our God, which also presides in the place of the report of the Romans,
worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of the highest happiness,
worthy of praise, worthy of obtaining her every desire, worthy of being
deemed holy, and which presides over love, is named from Christ, and
from the Father, which I also salute in the name of Jesus Christ, the
Son of the Father: to those who are united, both according to the flesh
and spirit, to every one of His commandments; who are filled
inseparably with the grace of God, and are purified from every strange
taint, I wish abundance of happiness unblameably, in Jesus Christ our
God.
In
his letter to the Smyraean Church he wrote:
Let no man do
anything connected with the Church without the
bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist [the Catholic word for
"Communion"], 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.
In
his letter to the Ephesians:
[Speaking of
Bishops] For we ought to receive every one whom
the Master of the house sends to be over His household, as we would do
Him that sent him. It is manifest, therefore, that we should look upon
the bishop even as we would upon the Lord Himself. And indeed Onesimus
[see Colossians 4:8-10 and Philemon 1:10] himself greatly commends your
good order in God, that ye all live according to the truth, and that no
sect has any dwelling-place among you. Nor, indeed, do ye hearken to
any one rather than to Jesus Christ speaking in truth.
While
Scripture is evidence enough for the marks of Christ's Church, we can
see in the writings of Ignatius -- written in the first century, within
67 years of Christ's resurrection, by a close friend and appointee of
the Apostle Peter and friend of Polycarp -- that the early Church had a
very Catholic interpretation of Scripture:
the Church was Divinely established as a visible society, the
salvation of souls is its end, and those who separate themselves from
it cut themselves off from God (Epistle to the Philadelphians)
the hierarchy of the Church was instituted by Christ
(Epistles to the Philadelphians and the Ephesians)
the threefold character of the hierarchy (Epistle to the
Magnesians)
the order of the episcopacy superior by Divine authority to
that of the priesthood (Epistles to the Magnesians, Smyraenians, and
the Trallians)
the importance of unity of the Church (Epistles to the
Trallians, Philadelphians, and the Magnesians)
emphasis on the holiness of the Church (Epistles to the
Smyraeans, Ephesians, Magnesians, Trallians, and Romans)
the catholicity of the Church (Letter to the Smyraeans)
the infallibility of the Church (Epistles to the
Philadelphians and the Ephesians)
the doctrine of the Eucharist -- i.e., belief in
Transsubstantiation or the Real Presence of Christ in Communion
(Epistle to the Smyraeans)
the Incarnation (Epistle to the Ephesians)
the supernatural virtue of virgnity (Epistle to Polycarp)
the religious character of matrimony (Epistle to Polycarp)
the value of united prayer (Epistle to the Ephesians)
the primacy of the Chair of Peter (Epistle to the Romans,
introduction)
a dencouncing of the (later Protestant) doctrine of private
judgement in matters of religion (Epistle to the Philadelphians)1
St.
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, born between A.D. 115 and 125 (or between
130 and 142, the date is unclear though it is certain that he met
Bishop Polycarp (d. 155) at Smyrna) wrote in his Adversus Haereses
Book III Ch. IV about sorting Truth from heresy:
Since therefore
we have such proofs, it is not necessary to
seek the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from the Church;
since the apostles, like a rich man depositing his money in a bank,
lodged in her hands most copiously all things pertaining to the truth:
so that every man, whosoever will, can draw from her the water of life.
For she is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers. On
this account are we bound to avoid them, but to make choice of the
thing pertaining to the Church with the utmost diligence, and to lay
hold of the tradition of the truth.
Which
Church was he talking about? The Church built by Christ on the rock of
Peter:
Since, however,
it would be very tedious, in such a volume as
this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to
confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil
self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion,
assemble in unauthorized meetings; we do this, I say, by indicating
that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very
ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by
the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also by pointing out
the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the
successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every
Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent
authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolic
tradition has been preserved continuously by those faithful men who
exist everywhere" (ibid., Book 3, Ch 2, 2).
I
challenge Protestants to plunge themselves into early Church history!
Read the writings of St. Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Rome, Cyril of
Jerusalem, Irenaeus, Polycarp, St. Augustine, etc... They are rich with
Catholic doctrine -- and the earliest evidence we have for what the
Church was like in its earliest days.
Footnote 1 Information from the Catholic
Encyclopedia
Relevant Scripture
Matthew
7:21-23
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in
thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 9:8
But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God,
which had given such power unto men.
Matthew 12:25
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or
house divided against itself shall not stand:
Matthew 16:18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it.
Matthew 18:17
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he
refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or
a tax collector.
Matthew. 28:19–20
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
John 10:16
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and
one shepherd.
John 17:20-23
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe
on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the
world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and
that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as
thou hast loved me.
John 20:21-23
Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath
sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on
them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins
ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain,
they are retained.
Acts 4:32
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one
soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he
possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
Romans 12:5
So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of
another.
Romans 16:17
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and
offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid
them.
1 Corinthians 1:10-13
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that
ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you;
but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the
same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren,
by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions
among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul;
and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided?
was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
1 Corinthians 3:3-4
For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and
strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while
one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not
carnal?
1 Corinthians 4:14-15
I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn
you. For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye
not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the
gospel. [NIV: I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as
my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in
Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your
father through the gospel]
1 Corinthians 10:17
For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers
of that one bread.
1 Corinthians 11:18-19
For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that
there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must
be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made
manifest among you.
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of
that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one
Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot
shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it
therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not
the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the
whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were
hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members
every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were
all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet
but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of
thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much
more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are
necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less
honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely
parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need:
but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant
honour to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the
body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one
member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the
body of Christ, and members in particular.
1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all
churches of the saints.
2 Corinthians 12:20
For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would,
and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be
debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings,
swellings, tumults:
Ephesians 2:19-20
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner stone;
Ephesians 4:3-6
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of
your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of
all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Ephesians 5:25–27
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the
washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but
that it should be holy and without blemish.
Philippians 1:27
Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that
whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your
affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving
together for the faith of the gospel;
Philippians 2:2-3
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of
one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or
vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than
themselves.
1 Thessalonians 2:11
As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you,
as a father doth his children
1 Timothy 6:3-5
If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even
the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is
according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about
questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings,
evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and
destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such
withdraw thyself.
Titus 3:9-10
But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and
strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that
is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
James 3:16
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
2 Peter 2:1
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there
shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction.
Revelation 5:9–10
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and
nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall
reign on the earth.
Revelation 19:7-8
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of
the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for
the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.