§830The word "catholic" means "universal," in the sense of "according to the totality" or "in keeping with the whole." the Church is catholic in a double sense: First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. "Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church."307 In her subsists the fullness of Christ's body united with its head; this implies that she recei…

§2632Christian petition is centered on the desire and search for the Kingdom to come, in keeping with the teaching of Christ.107 There is a hierarchy in these petitions: we pray first for the Kingdom, then for what is necessary to welcome it and cooperate with its coming. This collaboration with the mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which is now that of the Church, is the objec…

Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210224.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…

Chapter 18.—Of the Perfect Man, that Is, Christ; And of His Body, that Is, The Church, Which is His Fullness. To understand what the apostle means when he says that we shall all come to a perfect man, we must consider the connection of the whole passage, which runs thus: “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things. A…

The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel, consists of all those throughout the world that profe…

Since there is always but one God, one Mediator between God and man, and one Shepherd of the whole flock, one Head of this body, one Spirit, one salvation, one faith, one Testament or covenant: it follows necessarily that there is only one Church, which we therefore call the catholic Church, because it is universal and is diffused through all parts and quarters of the world, an…

We believe the Divine and Sacred Scriptures to be God-taught; and, therefore, we ought to believe the same without doubting; yet not otherwise than as the Catholic Church hath interpreted and delivered the same. For every foul heresy receiveth, indeed, the Divine Scriptures, but perversely interpreteth the same, using metaphors, and homonymies, and sophistries of man's wisdom, …

We believe that what is called, or rather is, the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, containeth generally all the faithful in Christ, those who, having already departed, are in the Church Triumphant, and those still living and militant on earth, the Church Militant. And since the Church Militant is composed of men, it is subject to have those in its communion who are stumbling…

It pleased God, in His eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between them both, to be the Mediator between God and man; the Prophet, Priest, and King; Head and Savior of His church, the heir of all things, and judge of the world; unto whom He did from all eternity give a people to be His seed and to be by Him…

The Church is the body of Christ, the habitation of God through the Spirit, with divine appointments for the fulfillment of her Great Commission. Each believer, born of the Spirit, is an integral part of the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven.

The Springfield Presbytery, having sat with gravity during its brief existence and observing that bodies religious may decay and die as well as bodies natural, chose to prepare its last will and testament. This satirical document dissolved the Presbytery itself after only nine months, declaring that human ecclesiastical structures tend to usurp the authority that belongs to Chr…