| The Marks of the Church From the very beginning of the church you needed the blessing and approval of the apostles to teach and preach doctrine. In short you had to be ordained by an apostle or by a man that was ordained by an apostle. Unfortunately this did not stop people who disagreed with the apostle's doctrine from starting their own faith communities. For reasons such as this, Christ endowed his covenant family with four marks that would light the way to the very church that he founded. The four marks of the Church of Christ that distinguish it from other communities are that it is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. The Church is One (Rom.
12:5, 1
Cor. 10:17, 12:13,
CCC
813–822) The Church is Holy (Eph.
5:25–27, Rev.
19:7–8, CCC
823–829) The Church is Catholic (Matt. 28:19–20, Rev. 5:9–10, CCC 830–856) The church is catholic or universal. The church is a gift to all peoples for all times. It consists of people from all nations and races of the world. It is in not a national church or a denomination. The Catholic Church has spread to every corner of the globe and consists of people from every tribe tongue and race. All the inhabitants of the earth have found blessings in the Catholic Church. The Church is Apostolic (Eph. 2:19–20, 2 Timothy 2: 2, CCC 857–865) The church is apostolic. Jesus appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the church and their successors to be the future leaders. Within the church there is an unbroken link faithfully handing on the teachings of Christ from the apostles to the present Bishops of the church. The Catholic Church can show that its doctrinal pedigree extends all the way back to the apostles that were hand picked by Jesus Christ himself. Our current Bishop of Rome, Benedict XVI, is the 264th from St. Peter, and no Pope has ever contradicted a previous Pope in matters of faith and morals! A feat that seems fanciful in an age of ever changing "truths" within secular, and sadly modern religious thought. The Nicene Creed During the early fourth century the bishops of the Catholic Church gathered together in a council to define church dogma to crush the greatest heresy of their time, Arianism. Arius, the originator of the heresy, was spreading the teaching that Jesus was not God, but a created lesser being. The statement of beliefs that came out of that council is now known as the 'Nicene Creed'. This ancient creed is still recited in the Catholic Church today, some 17 centuries later! "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and
earth, and of all things seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages.
God of God light of light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial
to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our
salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and
of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius
Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according
to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of
the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the
dead, of whose Kingdom there shall be no end. We believe in the Holy Ghost,
the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son),
who together with the Father and the Son is to be adored and glorified,
who spoke by the Prophets. We believe in one holy, catholic,
and apostolic Church. We confess one baptism for the remission
of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of
the world to come. Amen."
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