What is the meaning/definition of the word Catholic? Does the term "catholic" simply refer to the universal church?

Suggested answer:

Question: "What is the meaning/definition of the word Catholic?"

Answer: The word catholic literally means "universal," as in "the universal church." It originally was applied to all Christians because we are all part of the universal church in the way that we are all members of the Body of Christ. The Latin word is catholicus, and in Greek it is katholikos, from the Greek phrase meaning "on the whole, according to the whole or in general." The word in English can mean "including a wide variety of things; all-embracing," or "of the Roman Catholic faith," or "relating to the historic doctrine and practice of the Western Church.”

Catholic was first used to describe the Christian Church in the early 2nd century to emphasize its universal scope. The term has been incorporated into the name of the largest Christian communion, the Roman Catholic Church, which consists of 23 churches sui iuris, in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. The largest of these, the Latin Rite consists of nearly 95 percent of the population of the Catholic Church. The remaining 5 percent consist of the 22 Eastern Catholic Churches. Some Protestant churches use the term "catholic Church" to refer broadly to all believers in Jesus Christ across the world and the ages, regardless of denominational affiliation. Generally, to avoid confusion between this concept and the Roman Catholic Church, theologians will refer to the "universal church" as the "church catholic," utilizing the lower case, instead of "Catholic Church."

The Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran, and some Methodists declare that their churches are catholic in the sense that they are in continuity with the original universal church founded by the apostles. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches all believe that their church is the only original and universal church. Catholicity is considered one of Four Marks of the Church, the others being unity, sanctity, and apostolicity according to the Nicene Creed of 381: "I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church." It is crucially important to remember, though, that when the early Christians used the term “catholic,” they were not referring to any particular church, denomination, rite, or communion. They were simply referring to all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

http://www.gotquestions.org/Catholic-meaning-definition.html

Whenever i hear Catholic, what comes to mind is a serpent in disguise of sheep. No be me talk am ooo. So don't quote me.

This suggests that the RCC is actually the first attempt at establishing a denomination. Is that right? And then as certain groups discover practices that are extra-scriptural, they either break away or are excommunicated hence a new denomination is formed.

Corollary? RCC is NOT the Church being referred to in Matthew 16:18/1 Timothy 3:15!(RCC did not exist then) Rather, the Universal Church is scattered among every denomination.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout ...
1 Peter 1:1

[quote author=HenryDion post=47750865]

Whenever i hear Catholic, what comes to mind is a serpent in disguise of sheep. No be me talk am ooo. So don't quote me.
/quote]

According to the OP, the word "catholic" does not necessarily imply what comes to your mind.

[quote author=OLAADEGBU post=47755707][/quote]
Am not judging base on ops view.

Scholar8200:


This suggests that the RCC is actually the first attempt at establishing a denomination. Is that right? And then as certain groups discover practices that are extra-scriptural, they either break away or are excommunicated hence a new denomination is formed.

This is the awful truth that folks find difficult to digest.

Scholar8200:


Corollary? RCC is NOT the Church being referred to in Matthew 16:18/1 Timothy 3:15!(RCC did not exist then) Rather, the Universal Church is scattered among every denomination.

We thank God that some Protestant churches still use the term correctly, they see it as a term referring to all believers in Christ across the world in all ages regardless of their denominational affiliation. I used to confuse the term with the RCC but this OP clarifies the terminology.

Scholar8200:


Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout ...
1 Peter 1:1

That is a good verse to buttress the point of the OP. I doubt hardcore members of the RCC will have issues with that. The use of the word the church catholic would not be far from what the early Christians meant it to be before some folks hijacked the word.

Scholar8200:
This suggests that the RCC is actually the first attempt at establishing a denomination. Is that right? And then as certain groups discover practices that are extra-scriptural, they either break away or are excommunicated hence a new denomination is formed.

Corollary? RCC is NOT the Church being referred to in Matthew 16:18/1 Timothy 3:15!(RCC did not exist then) Rather, the Universal Church is scattered among every denomination.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout ...
1 Peter 1:1

So is the catholic church of today not scattered across the globe? What exactly is your point.

St Ignatius who was the first person to use the word professed beleifs identical to the catholic church of today.There were churches scattered across the middle east and europe but they were all in communion with each other.They were not differant denominations like we have in today's protestant churches.

OLAADEGBU:


This is the awful truth that folks find difficult to digest.



We thank God that some Protestant churches still use the term correctly, they see it as a term referring to all believers in Christ across the world in all ages regardless of their denominational affiliation. I used to confuse the term with the RCC but this OP clarifies the terminology.



That is a good verse to buttress the point of the OP. I doubt hardcore members of the RCC will have issues with that. The use of the word the church catholic would not be far from what the early Christians meant it to be before some folks hijacked the word.

The "appellation Roman catholic curch was first used in the seventeenth century.The catholic church has always been called catholic church from when st Ignatius coined that term

Papacy
The term "Roman Catholic" appeared in the English language at the beginning of the 17th century to differentiate members of the Catholic Church (in communion with the Pope) from other Christians who use the term "Catholic"; comparable terms in other languages already existed. Being "catholic" is one of the Four Marks of the Church set out in the Nicene Creed, a statement of belief accepted by many churches even if not in communion with the Pope.

In popular usage, "Roman Catholic Church" is usually understood to mean the same as "Catholic Church". The name has continued to be widely used in the English language ever since, although its usage has changed over the centuries.[1] The church known as the "Catholic Church" consists of 24 autonomous churches (all of which are subject to the Pope)— one "Western" and 23 "Eastern" — governed by two sets of codes of canon law.[2] To refer to all 24 autonomous churches together, official church documents often use the term "Catholic Church" or, less frequently, the term "Roman Catholic Church".

"Roman Catholic" is used by some governments and scholars to refer to members of the majority Latin Church within the Catholic Church.[3] In compound forms such as "Roman Catholic worship" the term is sometimes used to differentiate Western (Latin Church) practices from Eastern. The usage of "Roman Catholic" to mean members of the Latin Church or Western Church to the exclusion of those who belong to the various Eastern Catholic churches does not appear in any recent document of the Holy See and popes have used the term "Roman Catholic Church" on various occasions throughout the 20th century to mean instead the whole church without exclusion of any part (see the quotes in the section on Papal references below).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_(term)

HenryDion:


Am not judging base on ops view.

Please tell us how you came about this secret.

OLAADEGBU:

Please tell us how you came about this secret.

There's a relationship between Catholic and illuminati.
Go to your search engine and type these two keywords, you will know better.

General and Universal Christian Church.

cktheluckyman:


So is the catholic church of today not scattered across the globe? What exactly is your point.

St Ignatius who was the first person to use the word professed beleifs identical to the catholic church of today.There were churches scattered across the middle east and europe but they were all in communion with each other.They were not differant denominations like we have in today's protestant churches.

Can you quote when and where St Ignatius' first use of the word "catholic"?

cktheluckyman:


The "appellation Roman catholic curch was first used in the seventeenth century.The catholic church has always been called catholic church from when st Ignatius coined that term

The catholic church is different from the Roman catholic church. The former was first used to describe the Christian Church in the early 2nd century to emphasise its universal scope according to the OP before it eventually got incorporated into the Roman catholic church many centuries after.

OLAADEGBU:


The catholic church is different from the Roman catholic church. The former was first used to describe the Christian Church in the early 2nd century to emphasise its universal scope according to the OP before it eventually got incorporated into the Roman catholic church many centuries after.

Lolz!!!! There is no difference between the catholic church and the roman cathoilic curch dear!!In fact the term "roman catholic" "romish christians" were coined in the 17th century by the english church to derogatively refer to catholics!! You have a very poor and limited knowledge of church history.I have already provided the link to you if you bothered to read.

The catholic church does not use the term "roman catholic" in any of its official documents

OLAADEGBU:


Can you quote when and where St Ignatius' first use of the word "catholic"?

The earliest recorded evidence of the use of the term "Catholic Church" is the Letter to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 107 to Christians in Smyrna. Exhorting Christians to remain closely united with their bishop, he wrote: "Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_(term)


I can't even believe you are asking this when you could have just used google search to knock yourselves out.

cktheluckyman:


Lolz!!!! There is no difference between the catholic church and the roman cathoilic curch dear!!In fact the term "roman catholic" "romish christians" were coined in the 17th century by the english church to derogatively refer to catholics!! You have a very poor and limited knowledge of church history.I have already provided the link to you if you bothered to read.

The catholic church does not use the term "roman catholic" in any of its official documents

The link you provided rubbishes your claim that it's first use was in the 17th century. It asserts that it was in the 2nd century as confirmed by the OP.

See what your link says was the first use of the term in the excerpt below:

Use of term "Catholic" Edit
Main articles: Catholic (term) and Roman Catholic (term)
The earliest evidence of the use of the term Catholic Church is the Letter to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 108 to Christians in Smyrna. Exhorting Christians to remain closely united with their bishop, he wrote: "Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.

You can see that the term "Catholic" was originally applied to all Christians because we are all part of the universal church in the way that we are all members of the Body of Christ not the Roman Catholic church.

cktheluckyman:


The earliest recorded evidence of the use of the term "Catholic Church" is the Letter to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 107 to Christians in Smyrna. Exhorting Christians to remain closely united with their bishop, he wrote: "Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_(term)


I can't even believe you are asking this when you could have just used google search to knock yourselves out.

Are you not shooting yourself in the foot here? You earlier claimed that the first use was in the 17th century now you are quoting 107 A.D. to the Christians in Smyrna. I reiterate that the word Catholic Church spoken by Ignatius to the Smyrna Christians did not mean the Roman Catholic Church as you would like us to believe as the RCC was not formed until the 3rd century.

orunto27:


General and Universal Christian Church.

That's more like it.