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Origin of the name
“Catholic
Church”
The
Church has been Catholic from the 1st century. The English word Catholic
is a transliteration of the Greek katholikos which is a compound word
from
“kata”
which means according to, and “holos”
which
means whole.
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/what-catholic-means
So one THEN can ask, where does
kata holos appear in scripture and particularly kata holos ekklesia
? [We see it in the following verse.]
Acts 9:31 the church
throughout all [Greek:
ἐκκλησία,καθ’,ὅλης
,τῆς
] Judea and Galilee and Sama'ria..." = Kataholos Church.
ἐκκλησία =
ekklésia = Church
καθ’
: kata = according to
ὅλης :
holos = whole, complete
τῆς
: ho, hé, to = the
Ignatius was Bishop of Antioch
from ~69 a.d. to ~107 a.d. He was ordained by the apostles, and was a
direct disciple of St John. It was in Antioch where the disciples were
first called Christian
Acts 11:26 . And
Ignatius in his writings uses both "Christian" and "Catholic Church" in
his writings.
- St Ignatius, uses Christian (ch 2) and Catholic Church (ch 8)
Epistle to the Smyrnæans of which
schismatics won't be going to heaven
Epistle to the Philadelphians (ch 3) .
As an aside, where would Ignatius learn to teach that warning and
corresponding consequence for one's soul, for commiting and
remaining in the sin of schism / division from the Catholic Church?
Paul condemned division / dissention from the Church
Romans 16:17-20 ,
Galatians 5:19-21 and Jesus does NOT
approve of division in His Church
John 17:20-23, and since the HS only
teaches what comes from Jesus
John 16:12-15 no one can say the HS
inspired all the division we see today in Christianity. There is no
expiration date to that warning and condemnation
- St Polycarp, Bp Smyrna, disciple of St John called the Church
the "Catholic Church"
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
- Muratorian canon
http://www.earlychristianwritings.co...uratoria
n.html uses authority of “Catholic Church”
- Irenaeus ~180 a.d. wrote "Against Heresies" called the Church
the "Catholic Church"
Adversus haereses [Bk 1
Chapter 10 v 3], and also Irenaeus who
was taught by Polycarp, teaches all must agree with Rome [Bk 3,
Chapter 3, v 2-3]
- Cyprian~250 a.d. calls the Church the Catholic Church
Epistle 54
- The Nicene Creed, 325 a.d., it's a matter of faith to believe in
the "One Holy Catholic Apostolic Church"
- Augustine ~395 There are many other things that most justly keep
me in her [i.e. the Catholic Church's] bosom. . . . The succession
of priests keeps me, beginning from the very seat of the Apostle
Peter, to whom the Lord, after His resurrection, gave it in charge
to feed His sheep, down to the present episcopate. And so, lastly,
does the name itself of Catholic, which, not without reason, amid so
many heresies, the Church has thus retained; so that, though all
heretics wish to be called Catholics, yet when a stranger asks where
the Catholic Church meets, no heretic will venture to point to his
own chapel or house.Against
the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental (ch 5 v6)
- etc
The same Church Pope Francis is over today,
267th successor to St Peter. [This office is passed down
through
Apostolic Succession.
Also see Irenaeus "Against Heresies" [Bk 3,
Chapter 3, v 1]
Jesus started
one
Church. The Catholic Church. He gave all His promises to His
Church. Jesus does NOT approve of division
John 17:20-23 , and since the HS only
teaches what comes from Jesus
John 16:12-15 no one can say the HS
inspired them to divide from the Catholic Church especially when
considering the scandal of all the division we see today outside the
Church. As you can see from the links above from Paul, which ultimately
came from Jesus, division is condemned as are those who do it and remain
in it. For 2000 years division from the Catholic Church has been
condemned. There is no expiration date to that warning.
A very humble scholar from Catholic.com forums named
steve b has provided the above information and he has allowed me
to re post it above. And I thank him for that.
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