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T h e F a t h e r s K n o w B e s t
The term "Catholic"
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This Rock
Volume 6, Number 3
 March 1995 
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THE Greek roots of the term "Catholic" mean "according to (kata-) the whole (holos)" or more colloquially "universal." At the turn of the second century, we find in the letters of Ignatius its first surviving use in reference to the Church. At that time or shortly thereafter the word was used to refer to a single, visible communion, separate from others. Because it is in the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian creeds, many Protestants try to claim it for themselves, insisting that the "catholic church" is the invisible, universal brotherhood of all believers--a completely unhistorical view that ignores the actual use of the term at the time the creeds were written.
Protestant early-Church historian J. N. D. Kelley writes, "As regards 'Catholic' . . . in the latter half of the second century at latest, we find it conveying the suggestion that the Catholic is the true Church as distinct from heretical congregations (cf., e.g. Muratorian Canon). . . . What these early Fathers were envisaging was almost always the empirical, visible society; they had little or no inkling of the distinction which was later to become important between a visible and an invisible Church" (Early Christian Doctrines, 190-191). Thus people who say the creeds with another meaning for "Catholic" are reinterpreting them according to a modern fancy, much as liberal scholars do with offensive Bible texts.
The quotations that follow are particularly powerful in apologetics. Read through them with an Evangelical or Fundamentalist acquaintance. Point out that "Catholic" is not just a descriptor, but a title. It doesn't just describe an attribute of Christ's Church, but was used early on as its proper name.
Ignatius
"Let no one do anything of concern to the Church without the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop or by one whom he ordains [i.e., a presbyter]. Wherever the bishop appears, let the people be there, just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church" (Letter to the Smyrneans 8:2 [A.D. 107]).
Martyrdom of Polycarp
"When finally [Polycarp] had finished his prayer, in which he remembered everyone with whom he had ever been acquainted, the small and the great, the renowned and the unknown, and the whole Catholic Church throughout the world, and the moment of departure had arrived, they seated him on an ass and led him into the city" (Martyrdom of Polycarp 8:1 [A.D. 155]).
"And of the elect, he was one indeed, the wonderful martyr Polycarp, who in our days was an apostolic and prophetic teacher, bishop of the Catholic Church in Smyrna. Every word which came forth from his mouth was fulfilled and will be fulfilled" (ibid. 16:2).
Muratorian Fragment
"[A]lthough he [Paul] writes to the Corinthians and to the Thessalonians for their correction, nevertheless it is shown that there is one Church spread abroad through the whole world. . . . Besides these [letters] there is one to Philemon, and one to Titus, and two to Timothy, in affection and love, but nevertheless regarded as holy in the Catholic Church, in the ordering of churchly discipline. There is also one to the Laodiceans and another to the Alexandrians, forged under the name of Paul, in regard to the heresy of Marcion, and there are several others which cannot be received by the Church, for it is not suitable that gall be mixed with honey. The epistle of Jude, indeed, and the two ascribed to John are received by the Catholic Church. . . . Of [the Gnostics] Arsinorus, also called Valentine, and of Miltiades, we receive nothing at all. Those also who wrote the new book of psalms for Marcion, together with Basilides, the founder of the Asian Cataphrygians [we do not accept]" (Muratorian Fragment [A.D. 155]).
Tertullian
"Where was [the heretic] Marcion, that shipmaster of Pontus, the zealous student of Stoicism? Where was Valentinus, the disciple of Platonism? For it is evident that those men lived not so long ago--in the reign of Antonius for the most part--and that they at first were believers in the doctrine of the Catholic Church, in the church of Rome under the episcopate of the blessed Eleutherus, until on account of their ever restless curiosity, with which they even infected the brethren, they were more than once expelled. . . . Afterward . . . Marcion professed repentance and agreed to the conditions granted to him--that he should receive reconciliation if he restored to the Church all the others whom he had been training for perdition; he was prevented, however, by death" (Demurrer Against the Heretics 30 [A.D. 200]).
Clement of Alexandria
"From what has been said, then, it seems clear to me that the true Church, that which is really ancient, is one. . . . We say, therefore, that in substance, in concept, in origin, and in eminence, the ancient and Catholic Church is alone" (Stromata 7:17: 107:3-5 [A.D. 207]).
Ancient Egyptian Creed
"I believe in God Almighty, and in his only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Spirit, and in the resurrection of the body, [and] the holy Catholic Church" (Der-Balyzeh papyrus [A.D. 250]).
Cyprian
"They alone have remained outside [the Church] who, were they within, would have to be ejected. . . . There [in John 6:68-69] speaks Peter, upon whom the Church would be built, teaching in the name of the Church and showing that even if a stubborn and proud multitude withdraws because it does not wish to obey, yet the Church does not withdraw from Christ. The people joined to the priest, the flock clinging to their shepherd in the Church. You ought to know, then, that the bishop is in the Church and the Church in the bishops, and if someone is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church. They vainly flatter themselves who creep up, not having peace with the priest of God, believing that they are secretly in communion with certain individuals. The Church, which is one and Catholic, is not split or divided, but is indeed united and joined by the cement of priests who adhere to one another" (Letters 66(67):8 [A.D. 254]).
Alexander of Alexandria
"In addition to this pious belief in regard to the Father and the Son, we confess as the divine writings teach us, one Holy Spirit . . . and in one only Catholic Church, that which is apostolic" (Letter to Another Bishop Alexander 12 [A.D. 324]).
Council of Nicaea I
"But those who say, 'There was [a time] when he [the Son] was not,' and 'before he was born, he was not,' and 'because he was made from non-existing matter, he is either of another substance or essence,' and those who call 'God the Son of God changeable and mutable,' these the Catholic Church anathematizes" (canon 1 [A.D. 325]).
"Concerning those who call themselves Cathari [Novatians], that is, "the Clean," if at any time they come to the Catholic Church, it has been decided by the holy and great council that, provided they receive the imposition of hands, they remain among the clergy. However, because they are accepting and following the doctrines of the Catholic and apostolic Church, it is fitting that they acknowledge this in writing before all; that is, both that they communicate with the twice married [after widowhood] and with those who have lapsed during a persecution" (ibid., canon 8).
"Concerning the Paulianists who take refuge with the Catholic Church, a decree has been published that they should be fully baptized. If, however, any of these in times past have been in the clerical order, if indeed they have appeared spotless and above reproach, after being baptized, let them be ordained by the bishop of the Catholic Church" (ibid., canon 9).
Cyril of Jerusalem
"[The Church] is called Catholic, then, because it extends over the whole world, from end to end of the earth, and because it teaches universally and infallibly each and every doctrine which must come to the knowledge of men, concerning things visible and invisible, heavenly and earthly, and because it brings every race of men into subjection to godliness, governors and governed, learned and unlearned, and because it universally treats and heals every class of sins, those committed with the soul and those with the body, and it possesses within itself every conceivable form of virtue, in deeds and in words and in the spiritual gifts of every description" (Catechetical Lectures 18:23 [A.D. 350]).
"And if you ever are visiting in cities, do not inquire simply where the house of the Lord is--for the others, sects of the impious, attempt to call their dens 'houses of the Lord'--nor ask merely where the Church is, but where is the Catholic Church, for this is the name peculiar to this holy Church, the Mother of us all, which is the Spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God" (ibid. 18:26).
Apostles' Creed
"I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen" (Apostles' Creed [A.D. 360 version, the first to include the term "Catholic"]).
Pacian of Barcelona
"Christian is my name, and Catholic is my surname. The one designates me, while the other makes me specific. Thus am I attested and set apart. . . . When we are called Catholics it is by this appellation that our people are kept apart from any heretical name" (Three Letters to the Novatianist Sympronian 1:4 [A.D. 379]).
Council of Constantinople I
"I believe the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who spoke through the prophets; in one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess one baptism for the remission of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of eternity to come. Amen" (Nicene Creed [A.D. 381]).
"Those who embrace orthodoxy and join the number of those who are being saved from the heretics, we receive in the following regular and customary manner: Arians, Macedonians, Sabbatians, Novatians, those who call themselves Cathars and Aristeri, Quartodecimians or Tetradites, Apollinarians--these we receive when they hand in statements and anathematize every heresy which is not of the same mind as the holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church of God" (canon 7).
Augustine
"We must hold to the Christian religion and to communication in her Church, which is Catholic and which is called Catholic not only by her own members but even by all her enemies. When heretics or the adherents of schisms talk about her, not among themselves but with strangers, willy-nilly they call her nothing else but Catholic. They will not be understood unless they distinguish her by this name, which the whole world employs in her regard" (The True Religion 7:12 [A.D. 390]).
"We believe in the holy Church, that is, the Catholic Church, for heretics and schismatics call their own congregations churches. But heretics violate the faith itself by a false opinion about God; schismatics, however, withdraw from fraternal love by hostile separations, although they believe the same things we do. Consequently, neither heretics nor schismatics belong to the Catholic Church; not heretics, because the Church loves God, and not schismatics, because the Church loves neighbor" (Faith and Creed 10:21 [A.D. 393]).
"In the Catholic Church . . . a few spiritual men attain [wisdom] in this life, in such a way that . . . they know it without any doubting, while the rest of the multitude finds its greatest safety not in lively understanding but in the simplicity of believing. . . . [T]here are many other things which most properly can keep me in her bosom. The unanimity of peoples and nations keeps me here. Her authority, inaugurated in miracles, nourished by hope, augmented by love, and confirmed by her age, keeps me here. The succession of priests, from the very see of the apostle Peter, to whom the Lord, after his resurrection, gave the charge of feeding his sheep [John 21:15-17], up to the present episcopate, keeps me here. And last, the very name Catholic, which, not without reason, belongs to this Church alone, in the face of so many heretics, so much so that, although all heretics want to be called 'Catholic,' when a stranger inquires where the Catholic Church meets, none of the heretics would dare to point out his own basilica or house" (Against the Letter of Mani Called 'The Foundation' 4:5 [A.D. 397]).
"If you should find someone who does not yet believe in the gospel, what would you [Mani] answer him when he says, 'I do not believe'? Indeed, I would not believe in the gospel myself if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so" (ibid. 5:6).
"You [the schismatic Vincent] seem to be saying something very perceptive when you derive the name Catholic not from the communion of the whole world but from the observance of all the divine precepts and of all the sacraments, as if we [Catholics] relied on the meaning of the name and not the promises of God and on so many and such clear pronouncements of truth itself to prove that the Church is found among all nations. Yet it is a fact that the Church is called Catholic because it truly embraces the whole of that truth, some particles of which may be found even in various heresies" (Letters 93:7:23 [A.D. 408]).
Vincent of Lerins
"I have often then inquired earnestly and attentively of very many men eminent for sanctity and learning, how and by what sure and so to speak universal rule I may be able to distinguish the truth of Catholic faith from the falsehood of heretical depravity; and I have always, and in almost every instance, received an answer to this effect: that whether I or anyone else should wish to detect the frauds and avoid the snares of heretics as they rise, and to continue sound and complete in the Catholic faith, we must, the Lord helping, fortify our own belief in two ways: first, by the authority of the divine law [Scripture], and then by the Tradition of the Catholic Church. But here some one perhaps will ask, 'Since the canon of Scripture is complete, and sufficient of itself for everything, and more than sufficient, what need is there to join with it the authority of the Church's interpretation?' For this reason: Because, owing to the depth of Holy Scripture, all do not accept it in one and the same sense, but one understands its words in one way, another in another, so that it seems to be capable of as many interpretations as there are men. . . . Therefore, it is very necessary, on account of so great intricacies of such various error, that the rule for the right understanding of the prophets and apostles should be framed in accordance with the standard of ecclesiastical and Catholic interpretation" (Notebooks 2:1-2 [A.D. 434]).
"What then will a Catholic Christian do if a small portion of the Church has cut itself off from the communion of the universal faith? What, surely, but prefer the soundness of the whole body to the unsoundness of a pestilent and corrupt member?" (ibid. 3:5).
Council of Chalcedon
"Since in certain provinces readers and cantors have been allowed to marry, this sacred synod decrees that none of them is permitted to marry a wife of heterodox views. If those thus married have already had children, and if they have already had the children baptized among heretics, they are to bring them into the communion of the Catholic Church. If they have not been baptized, they may no longer have them baptized among heretics, nor indeed marry them to a heretic or a Jew or a Greek, unless of course the person who is to be married to the orthodox party promises to convert to the orthodox faith" (canon 14 [A.D. 451]).
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