The Christian Church is the assembly (the original meaning of the corresponding Greek word, ἐκκλησία, used in the New Testament) or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term appears in 2 verses of the Gospel of Matthew, 24 of the Acts of the Apostles, 58 of the letters of Paul the Apostle (including therefore the earliest instances of its use in relation to a Christian body), 2 of the Letter to the Hebrews, 1 of the Epistle of James, 3 of the Third Epistle of John, and 19 of the Book of Revelation.
The four traditional "notes of the Christian Church" are unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity. [1]
In the phenomenological sense, there are many associations that call themselves Christian churches.
In the New Testament the term ἐκκλησία (church or assembly) is used for local communities and in a universal sense to mean all believers.[2]
The phrase "all believers" is ambiguous. The contradictory term, "non-believers", is often taken to mean people who do not believe in God or religion.[3] At its widest, "all believers" is here taken to refer to belief in Jesus, whether in a Trinitarian sense or other. But usually a more precise belief is considered to be concerned, involving elements such as Apostolic Succession and the Nicene Creed, or the claim to be the One True Church. The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod declares that only believers in the doctrine of justification are members of the Christian Church, excluding all others, even if those others are in external communion with the Church and even if they hold a teaching office in it.[4]
The positions of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholi
rhodes
collagen
The four traditional "notes of the Christian Church" are unity, holiness, catholicity, and apostolicity. [1]
In the phenomenological sense, there are many associations that call themselves Christian churches.
In the New Testament the term ἐκκλησία (church or assembly) is used for local communities and in a universal sense to mean all believers.[2]
The phrase "all believers" is ambiguous. The contradictory term, "non-believers", is often taken to mean people who do not believe in God or religion.[3] At its widest, "all believers" is here taken to refer to belief in Jesus, whether in a Trinitarian sense or other. But usually a more precise belief is considered to be concerned, involving elements such as Apostolic Succession and the Nicene Creed, or the claim to be the One True Church. The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod declares that only believers in the doctrine of justification are members of the Christian Church, excluding all others, even if those others are in external communion with the Church and even if they hold a teaching office in it.[4]
The positions of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholi
rhodes
collagen
