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What does the word “Church” mean?

What does the word “Church” mean?. According to St. Paul : The church is the body of Jesus, an organism composed of interdependent cells, molecules and organs. Christ is the head of a MYSTICAL BODY -

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What does the word “Church” mean?

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  1. What does the word “Church” mean?

  2. According to St. Paul: • The church is the body of Jesus, an organism composed of interdependent cells, molecules and organs. • Christ is the head of a MYSTICAL BODY- • Made up of everyone across space and time who who have been grafted onto him through Baptism. Mystical Body: Catholic Church Metaphors

  3. According to Christ: • “I am the vine, you are the branches…” (Jn 15:5). • “Remain in me” (Jn 15:4). • “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25). Mystical Body:Catholic Church Metaphors

  4. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4). • “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you” (Jn 6:53). Mystical Body:Catholic Church Metaphors

  5. What do you believe is the relationship between Christ and his Church? “About Jesus Christ and the Church, I know only this: they’re simply one thing, and we shouldn’t complicate the matter.” St. Joan of Arc on Trial

  6. How do you separate human failing and human weakness from the structure of the organic Church? • Sin  Sunde (German) “Seperating” • Christ’s body, the Church, is the instrument by which he continues to restore God’s plan for the salvation of Israel • *Biblical God is a gathering force

  7. “…I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18). Church  Greek word ekklesia (ek-kalein) “to call out from” *Who does the calling? *What is one being called from? *And what is one being called to? Examining Ekklesia

  8. Contemporary Western culture- people join organizations on their own terms, find communities they wish to be apart of. In contrast: • Members of Christ’s body have been summoned by someone else, incorporated by a higher power. Paul: “…called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (1 Cor 1:1) Apostle  Greek work apostelein “to send.” Ekklesia: Who does the calling?

  9. They are summoned from “the world” a network of beliefs, behaviors and practices that foster division. • Karl Barth referred to this as das Nichtige“the non being” • Bible sees it as the tohu-va-bohu “primal chaos out of which God brought creation” • St Augustine calls it the “region of unlikeness” Ekklesia: What is one being called from?

  10. Documents speak of the universal call to holiness • Summons of all the baptized to be transforming society • Vatican II fathers wanted to inspire a generation of lay faithful Catholics! Second Vatican Council

  11. “The laity, however, are given this special vocation: to make the Church present and fruitful in those places and circumstances where it is only through them that she can become the salt of the earth” (Lumen Gentium, 33). The mission of the Church never changes, but our understanding of how to best live it in a specific culture does develop, deepen and change. Ekklesia: What is one being called to?

  12. Four Marks of the church One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic

  13. God is one. “The Church must be one, for its whole purpose is to unite the world around the one God” (Olson, 8). Does a belief in one God, one Church, or one set of rules and regulations prohibit diversity and personal growth in the members of an organized religion? Why is the Church ONE?

  14. The Church is Christ’s body. The Church is holy because Jesus Christ, the head of the Church is holy. Giving a list of abuses by sinners in the Church, (Crusades, Inquisition, persecution of Galileo, abuse of children by priests, etc. etc.) how can we possibly speak of the Church as holy? Why is the Church HOLY?

  15. Catholic- Greek term kata holos “according to the whole” • “The Catholic Church is a universal church, for God works to gather the whole world unto himself” (Olson, 9). Would it ever be possible to have a universal Church? -If yes, then how to Catholics get there? - If no, then why do Catholics strive for this end? Why is the Church CATHOLIC?

  16. “…comes from the apostles, from the confession of Peter and the teaching of the other original disciples of Jesus” (Olson, 10). • Apostolic Succession: The claim that the bishops of the Church derive their office and authority from the apostles themselves. Why does the Church today look so different from the church in ancient times? If the apostolic teaching has been passed down faithfully why does there appear to be novelties of all kinds? Why is the Church APOSTOLIC?

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