One Holy CATHOLIC and Apostolic CHURCH

Jesus rebukes Peter

From its earliest days, the Church of Jesus Christ has been described as “catholic.” The first usage of the term appears in writings known as the Apostolic Fathers in the early to mid-second century (Ignatius of Antioch, Smyrneans 8.9; The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Introduction). The word is from the Greek katholikos, meaning “throughout the whole,” or “universal.” This was its general ecclesiastical usage in the early centuries. However, the word catholic is now identified almost exclusively with the Roman Church. But this association is a relatively late historical development. The early church applied the term to the church as a whole, to both east and west.

Many today are in search of the one true church, the church catholic with historic continuity traced back to Jesus and the apostles. Jesus declared in Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church” (NASB). Jesus only has one Church, so the question of catholicity is related directly to the true nature of the church. Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy define the church institutionally; catholicity is understood as communion with a visible institution. Protestants, on the other hand, explain the church, primarily, though not exclusively, in doctrinal or spiritual terms. Protestants assert that catholicity refers primarily to that which is spiritual. This, of course, raises the whole question of the visible versus the invisible Church. The Reformers included the distinction as a vital element of their ecclesiology. Was this mere apologetics or was it a legitimately biblical argument? Was their position ever promulgated prior to the Reformation?

In Matthew 16:16, Peter confessed that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (NASB). Jesus responded with, “I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18 NASB). Historically, this passage has generated tremendous controversy. Is the “rock” Peter’s confession and therefore Christ Himself, as Protestants insist? Or is the church built on Peter, and subsequently, Peter’s successors, the bishops of Rome, as the Roman Church claims? How are we to understand what Jesus actually meant? Read more