On the Marks of the Church

Remembrance Sunday

ALMIGHTY Lord and everlasting Father, who wouldest have the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of thy Son Jesus Christ: Bestow thy blessing, we beseech thee, upon all who labour for peace and righteousness among the nations, that the day may be hastened when war shall be no more, and thou shalt take the nations for thine inheritance; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Octave Day of All Saints

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys, which thou hast prepared for them that unfeignedly love thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity

O GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness: Be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Each Sunday, the Nicene Creed is recited and contained within it is the line “And I believe One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” This is known as the four marks of the Church, four characteristics which help to define what the church is. Some of these characteristics, such as what it means to be Catholic, have already been addressed in part previously, but taken together as the marks, they paint a particular picture of what we as Christians profess to believe in.

We profess belief in one church. There are a number of points that can be taken from this. First and foremost, it must be remembered that Christ ordained one visible Church. As Christ said, “on this rock I will build my Church.” St Paul describes it saying the Church is:

“built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit,” (Eph 2. 20-22).

When we speak of the Church, it is a reference not just to the collection of all those who confess the name of Christ, but a reference to the institution Christ created by which his Apostles were sent out to the world. The goal of the Church is made clear in both Christ’s Great Commission (St Mt 28. 16-20) and his prayer that we be one (St Jn 17. 11). It is clear also that this distinguishes the Church from God’s people in the Old Testament. The Church is one for all people, as the words of the Nunc dimittis say, “my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel,” (St Lk 2. 30-32).  Christ invites all people to him and offers the graces invested in his Church to all people. One Church, created by Christ for all people.

The second mark of the Church is that it is Holy, and it presents an interesting duality. To be Holy is to be set apart. It is clear from Holy Scripture that all Christians are called to a life that is set apart, and it is also true that the Church itself is set apart because its doctrines come not from the world, but from the teachings of Christ handed down through the Apostles. In I Timothy, St Paul exhorts Timothy to guard the deposit of true teaching that has been entrusted to him (I Tim 6. 20). This establishes an interesting duality for the Church, in that it is both holy and set apart and that it is being transformed by God’s grace and made holy, just as those who are in Christ are  holy and are being made holy by his grace.

It is perhaps easier to look at this concept in the personal sense, in that it is easier to see how as Christians we are made holy, and yet that does not prevent us from sinning. Yet still, by God’s grace, we are continually transformed and sanctified (Heb 10. 14). It is no different when speaking of the Church which, while established by Christ, is lived in and maintained by those of us who fall short. It was set apart and made holy, yet it is by God’s grace that it is continually being made holy.

The third mark of the Church is that it is Catholic. Indeed, in the Apostle’s creed only the middle two marks (holy and Catholic) are mentioned. Catholicity here is sometimes, particularly among protestants, viewed as meaning universal, but it speaks to a greater truth relating to Christ’s foundation of the Church as being for all people, not that all people are universally the Church. This speaks to those teachings and doctrines which were received and held by Christ’s Church east and west when it truly was one in unity of faith, word, Sacrament and ministry.

These principles are an expanded core of Christian unity today and ought to be considered universal, though they are not. It remains in that sense that the mark of Catholicity of the Church is also a mark of universality. Holy Scripture was not made for any one person, but the canon of Scripture was made for all people, to draw them all to Christ. Similarly the Sacraments, chiefly speaking here of Holy Baptism and the Eucharist, initiate all people and feed all people in their faith.

The final mark of the Church is that it is Apostolic. The office of Apostle is now defunct, but the meaning of the word remains critical to all Christians. It again speaks to multiple meanings. First and foremost it informs the idea of maintaining that which is Catholic. Christ established his Church and that Church is the Catholic Church. He ordained his Apostles to pass on what they had received. Today bishops hold that role as guardians of the faith and Apostolic Succession refers more than to simply being able to trace a line of bishops back to the first century, but rather speaks to that maintenance of the faith, word, sacrament and ministry of that Church.

Fr Michael McKinnon summarizes this sentiment saying it refers to:

Those communions or fellowships of the once undivided Catholic church who have maintained the one canon of Scripture, the one faith, articulated in the creeds and councils of the Church, the one Sacramental life, emphasizing the sacraments of Baptism, and being born to new life, and the Supper of the Lord, and being nourished in new life, and the one apostolic ministry, with the threefold order of bishops, priests and deacons, and which taken together comprise the once undivided Catholic Church.

The emphasis in his statement is on the maintenance of those beliefs and practices, with an emphasis on the threefold order of ministry as the chief method of maintaining those beliefs.

These marks of the Church teach provide a valuable statement about our faith, and rightly so as an integral component of the Nicene Creed, itself and sufficient statement of Christian belief. When we recite the Creed, fully understanding what is meant by One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and further when we seek to live out our faith in that Church, we are responding to and answering Christ’s prayer that we be one.