The Protestant reformers
understood themselves to be a
part of "the holy catholic
church."Millions of Protestants
still repeat these words every
week as they stand in worship
to recite the Apostles' Creed.The
word catholic was first used in
this sense in the early second
century when Ignatius of
Antioch declared, "Where Jesus
Christ is, there is the catholic
church."Jesus Christ is the head
of the church, as well as its
Lord. Protestant believers in the
tradition of the Reformation
understand the church to be the
body of Christ extended
throughout time as well as
space, the whole company of
God's redeemed people through
the ages.
Protestants, of course, do not
equate "catholic" with "Roman
Catholic." To avoid this
misunderstanding, some prefer
to say "holy Christian church."
While there is nothing wrong
with this term, we should not be
embarrassed by the older
wording. The word catholic
simply means "general,
universal, concerning the
whole." Jesus prayed that his
disciples would be one, even as
he and the Father are one, so
that the world might believe. I
think it is right to pray and
work for the "full visible unity"
of Christ's church on earth
which we know for sure will be
completely realized when Jesus
comes again. When we say that
we "believe in the holy catholic
church," we are confessing that
Jesus Christ himself is the
church's one foundation, that
all who truly trust in him as
Savior and Lord are by God's
grace members of this church,
and that the gates of hell shall
never prevail against it.
The "communion of saints" is
another term from the Apostles'
Creed that troubles some
Protestants. "Saints" in the New
Testament refers to baptized
believers in a local
congregation, such as the saints
at Corinth, or Ephesus, or
Colossae. Some of these
believers were far from saintly
in their behavior, but they were
holy by virtue of their
participation (communio) in
Christ. The New Testament also
recognizes "a great cloud of
witnesses" made up of men and
women of faith who surround
us as wewalk the path of faith.
Eachcommunity within the
Christian tradition has its own
"saints" in this sense. Luther,
Calvin, Wesley, and Spurgeon,
along with many missionaries
and martyrs, are held in great
honor by evangelical Christians.
Each Christian tradition can
offer its own special "saints" to
the entire body of Christ. In this
way wecan respond to the
biblical call to holiness and also
be drawn closer to one another
as we look to Jesus, "the pioneer
and perfecter of our faith" (Heb.
12:2).

let dem know

From https://www.nairaland.com/1032312/scandal-church

Extracts from an interesting sermon

http://www.fairviewpc.org/sermons/100711FPC_Sermonclub.pdf

catholic

The meaning of the word "catholic" in the Apostle's Creed may be the single most commonly asked question I receive as a pastor. Young people in Confirmation Classes are especially curious about it. “Why do we say that we believe in the Roman Catholic Church when we are Protestants?” they ask. The confusion arises because the word "catholic" is not in common usage in English today.
Most people hear it used only in reference to the Roman Catholic Church. And so, when they read or hear the word "catholic" in another context, they assume it refers to the Church of Rome. But this is mistaken. "Catholic," in this context, means "universal" and is not a reference to the Church of Rome.....


We are confessing that we believe in the universal church. What, exactly, is the universal church? The universal church is the company of God‟s elect. One of the Greek words used for the church is ekklesia. Ekklesia comes from the Greek meaning "to call." The church are those who have heard God's call. They are God's people who have been called out from the world. They are the ones who have heard God's voice.

The ekklesia then means the totality of God's people. They include the living and the dead, believers‟ world wide, from every tongue and nation, the entire company of God's elect. It even includes those who may disagree with us and so are in differing theological or ecclesiastical camps. This last is an important point....


It is the universality of the faith that provides one of the foundational motivations for the Christian missionary mandate. We send missionaries to proclaim the gospel, make disciples and encourage converts because our faith is catholic. It is universal.[