From Jesus Christ
to Church
Pascual
Session 4.1
Learning Goal
• What is the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Catholic
Church?
Gameplan
• We’ll define the word “church”
• Consider reference of the word in the Old Testament (pre-Jesus)
• Then try to answer the question: what is the relationship of Jesus
and the Catholic Church?
Defining the word Church
• Obstacles: everyday usage today
• Might be the building: “the big church downtown”
• A parish: “San Francisco Solano, St Timothy, Holy Trinity, Mission Basilica”
• An ecclesial community: “the Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church,
Saddleback Church”
• Catholic Church.
How did the early Christians use the word?
• In the New Testament, the Greek word that translates as church is
EKKLESIA.
• Means to “call out”
• In the Greek Old Testament, EKKLESIA refers to the people of God,
an assembly chosen by God.
• In other words, the people God calls and gathers.
For Christians…
• Church (EKKLESIA) refers to the assembly God calls.
• It is to show the connection to the people of Israel.
• Quite literally, in the Church God calls people together from all
over the earth.
Church as the people God calls and gathers
• This idea and understanding is evident in the Old Testament
• It is a common theme for the people of Israel and finds its
culmination (or fulfilment) in Jesus Christ
Foreshadow in the Old Testament
(Church as the people God calls and gathers)
• Abraham - father of faith
• Moses – Israel and the Law
• King David – the House and the Kingdome
Jesus Christ and the Church
• Jesus made use of the Jewish understanding, calling all people to
himself: The Kingdom of God is at hand (Mk 1:15)
• To make it clear, Jesus did some things that were incredibly
symbolic…
• Jesus chooses TWELVE
• Jesus picks Peter among the Twelve
• Jesus institutes the Eucharist with the Twelve
Jesus and the Twelve
• Jesus chose twelve disciples to be part of his core group of
disciples.
• Jews 2000 years ago would understand this symbolism to refer to
the TWELVE TRIBES of ISRAEL.
• In short, Jesus was making his own EKKLESSIA with his own
TWELVE.
• Remember, Ekklessia means the people whom God calls and gathers
• Israel was the original ekklessia
Jesus institutes the Church on Peter and the
twelve
• “And so I say to you, you are Peter (which translates as ROCK),
and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the
netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to
the kingdom of heaven.* Whatever you bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19)
Some general background Mt 16:18-19
Gospel of Matthew, whose audience is Jewish-Christian
Occurs after Peter’s confession (recognition) about Jesus’ identity
Scene takes place in Caesarea Philippi
When Bible character’s name changes, something important
happens. Example: Abram to Abraham. In this case, Simon’s name
is changed to Peter (Rock)
• Keys is an important biblical image linked to Eliakim (Is 22:15-25)
•
•
•
•
• Binding and Loosing is imagery that reflects rabbinic authority
Historically…
• Peter becomes the first Bishop of Rome
Jesus Institutes the Eucharist
with the Twelve
• Recall the scene of the Last Supper, the night before he died
• Jesus connects the Passover meal to himself as his Body and Blood
in the form of bread and wine
• “This is my Body, which will be given up to you.”
• “This is my Blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant..
• “Do this in Memory of Me.”
• Memory = Anamnesis. In Jewish understanding, to remember means to make
something present and real again.
Historically…
• The breaking of the bread (which became known as the Eucharist)
was seen as the renewal of the covenant.
• The Eucharist “calls and gathers” all believers to “remember”
God’s saving work in Jesus Christ
• The Presider of the Eucharist was the successor of the TWELVE
disciples (later known as Apostles). They were known as episkopos
or managers (Translated today as Bishops)
Consequently, this is how the Catholic Church
sees its relationship with Jesus Christ:
- Jesus Christ is the origin and foundation of the Catholic Church,
establishing its structure and means of worship
- This is most evident in the Eucharist that acts to fulfill all the
covenants (and to “remember” him)
- This is also evident in the leadership he left behind, the TWELVE
In Summary…
• God the Father has planned the Church and foreshadows it in the
Old Testament, especially seen in the Covenants of Abraham,
Moses and David
• Jesus Christ is the origin and foundation of the Catholic Church
• The Catholic Church identifies itself in the Early Church that
developed after the Biblical era.
Questions
• Can you define the Biblical definition of the word “church”?
• How does the Church of Jesus fulfill the covenants of the Old
Testament?
• How does the Catholic Church see Jesus Christ as its origin and
foundation?
Socrative?
The Marks of the Church
Pascual
Session 4.2
Background
 “As the Church moved through the centuries and interacted with different ideas
and cultures, it came to recognize a set of criteria for understanding whether
developments were legitimate”
 This criteria is known as the Marks of the Church:
 ONE
 HOLY
 CATHOLIC
 APOSTOLIC
The first Mark: The Church as ONE
 A basic concept of Christianity as portrayed in the NT: there is only one “Church”,
one body of Christ
 Through the centuries, this mark of unity has been used to refer to
 the mystical communion of Christ (transcends traditional Christian denominations)
 Strictly the Church denominations (Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Saddleback
Church etc)
 John 17: Jesus’ prayer for unity
Bonds of Unity
 The Unity of Faith
 The creeds, statement of faith such as the Nicene and Apostle’s Creed
 The Canon of Scriptures
 The Unity of worship
 In the early Church, the Eucharist was the sign of unity
 “the bread though broken is one.”
 The Unity of Apostolic Succession
 The bishop is the symbol of unity for the diocese
 And the bishop of Rome plays a special role of that
 The Councils
Ecumenism
 The effort by Christians from different churches and ecclesial communities to be
more open to one another and to work to restore unity among all Christians.
Catholics and Lutherans find agreement
 The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification essentially says that
Lutherans and Catholics explain justification in different ways but share the same
basic understanding.
 The signing occurred on October 31, 1999 (Reformation Sunday)
 http://www.americancatholic.org/messenger/jun2000/feature2.asp
General Conclusion
 The Catholic Church lives out the Mark as One in its “bonds of unity” (faith,
worship and apostolic succession)
 The Catholic Church as an institution seeks out unity with other Christian
denominations in the movement of Ecumenism
 The Catholic Church’s official stance to other religions is “inclusive.”
Pascual
Session 4.3



What does Holy mean?
How is the Church holy?
Our individual response
 Most
literal definition: To be of God.
 Sin is a rejection of God. (un-holy)
 The rejection of holiness and sin is like light and darkness.




Darkness is the absence of light
Sin is the absence of God
This also shows that sin is not equal to God
EVIL is not equal to GOOD (not yin-yang)
 Obstacle:




Aren’t we all sinners?
The reality: The Church is both human and divine
In the visible aspect: Human reality
In the invisible aspect: the Divine Reality
POINT: The Church’s holiness is REAL but IMPERFECT.
 It
is called together to be the People of God
 It is gathered together to be the one Body of Christ
 It is made holy to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit
 The


Isn’t that the definition of holiness?
The Images of the Church is Trinitarian




Church’s very nature is OF GOD.
People of God
Body of Christ
Temple of the Holy Spirit
Images are analogies of understanding the Church
 See



Eph 5:25ff
The husband and wife are a radical communion of “one flesh”
The Church and Jesus Christ are a radical communion of “one
body”
Both are relational covenants.
 Because
Jesus is holy, so is the Church because it is “One
body” with Christ.

The Church IS the Body of Christ
 It
is the Church of sinners
 and

a Church for sinners
After all, we are all sinners…who is perfectly attuned to God?
 The
Mark as Holy is perhaps the most theoretical of the four
marks
 By its nature, the Church is “of God.” This is the invisible
reality of the Church.
 The human reality is that the Church is human and therefore
imperfect and prone to sin.
 The
Church’s holiness is real, but imperfect. It is called to
constant reform to visibly reflect its invisible reality.
The Church is
CATHOLIC
Pascual
Session 4.3
Goals of the Lecture
• Explore the term “catholic” as a mark of the Church
• Articulate the Catholic Church’s stance on salvation outside
the Church
History of the Word “catholic”
• The earliest use of the word goes back to Ignatius of Antioch
around 110AD
• “Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as whereas
Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.” –Letter to the
Smyrneans 8
• Seemingly, the word “catholic” which means “universal” was
meant to describe the Christian Church in the 2nd century.
Catholic is used to distinguish
• St. Cyril of Jerusalem continues the use of “catholic” in his
“catechetical lectures” around 350 AD.
• Context? the Schismatics were identifying themselves as
“Christians.” So the word was used to differentiate the
schismatics Christians from what he describes is the One
Apostolic Christian Church.
• As a result, the term “Catholic Christians” came into use.
Catholic as a Mark of the Church
• In the Council of Constantinople, 381 AD, the Creed of
Nicea was expanded to describe the Church as “one, holy,
catholic, and apostolic.”
• These four marks have become the criteria for the Church as
it moves on in history.
“Catholic” becomes popular
• The word catholic becomes popular to describe the Christian
Church, mainly by Augustine of Hippo.
• Context? The Donatist Schism (a bunch of churches broke
away from the Church in northern Africa).
• Augustine made the point that the Catholic church (seen as
the Church) was a WORLDWIDE communion.
• Meanwhile, the local Donatist church was not.
Catholic Church
• Rather than call the Church the “One, Holy, Catholic,
Apostolic” Church, it became easier to simply call the Church
Catholic.
• Everyone knew what ONE, HOLY, APOSTOLIC meant, but what
about CATHOLIC?!?!?
• The intent is to emphasize its “universality.”
Models of Salvation
• Exclusive – No one outside visible structure of religion is
saved.
• We have the fullness of truth, but no one else has it. No one is
saved unless they are part of our religion. They must be visible
members.
• Inclusive – Those outside visible structure have possibility
of salvation.
• We have the fullness of truth, but others can share in it in some
mysterious invisible way. Salvation is possible outside of our
religion.
• Pluralist – All truth is equal.
• It doesn’t matter what religion you are in to be saved.
From LUMEN GENTIUM 8
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church
• This CHURCH (of Christ) constituted and organized in the world as a
society, SUBSISTS in the Catholic church, which is governed by the
successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him,(13*)
although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found
outside of its visible structure.
• (emphasis mine)
• SUBSISTS: Lives in or exists.
Subsists…
God
(Salvatio
n)
C
a
t
h
o
l to
Road
i
Salvation:
c
Established
by
theCOne
h
Mediator,
JESUSuCHRIST
r
c
h
The Church and non-Christian religions?
• See Lumen Gentium 16 and NOSTRA AETATE
LG 16
• Those also can attain to salvation who through no fault of their own do
not know the Gospel of Christ or His Church, yet sincerely seek God
and moved by grace strive by their deeds to do His will as it is
known to them through the dictates of conscience.(19*) Nor does
Divine Providence deny the helps necessary for salvation to those
who, without blame on their part, have not yet arrived at an explicit
knowledge of God and with His grace strive to live a good life.

A genuine response to the Spirit is a response to Christ who
brings us to the Father.
 A Trinitarian understanding.
God
Father
God
Son
Spirit
humankind
A visual…
• CHURCH OF CHRIST
• Catholic church
???
Socrative
• According to the Catholic Church…
• Are non-Christian religions saved by Jesus Christ?
• For example, are Buddhists saved by Jesus?
• OR, are Buddhists saved by Buddha?
Catholic Answer
• They are saved because of Jesus Christ’s Paschal Mystery.
• The non-Christian is still a part of CHURCH OF CHRIST
(remember, Church means Gathering of People).
• Karl Rahner calls this “the anonymous Christian.”
• Because they are technically Christian, but don’t know it.
• Is the Catholic church exclusive, inclusive or pluralist?
The Church is
APOSTOLIC
Pascual
Session 4.5
History of the term APOSTOLIC
Gnosticism in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries
was threatening Christianity.
 Gnostics was a heretical group claiming that
salvation came from a SECRET KNOWLEDGE
from Christ.
 They claimed that the Church’s teachings were
false because they didn’t have the secret
knowledge.

Apostolic succession
The early Church fathers responded saying that
the teachings of the Church were TRUE
because it comes to us from an unbroken line
of apostolic succession through the bishops.
 The most clear apostolic succession? The
bishop of Rome, successor to Peter, the
Apostle.

Apostolic Communion

Hence, in the early Church, a church was not
apostolic unless it was in full communion with
the church of Rome.
◦ In other words, was in communion with the Bishop of
Rome.
Apostolic Succession

Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox and most
Lutherans hold that their bishops maintain an
unbroken link of apostolic succession.
APOSTOLIC
Apostle means “to be sent out.”
 Here, refers to the Twelve that were SENT OUT
by Jesus.
 In the laying of hands, the Apostles appointed
managers to the churches they founded.

◦ These are the Presbyter-Bishops
◦ Eventually, they simply became known as Bishops.
◦ These bishops in turn appointed successors.
FYI
Most non-denominational Christian churches
will claim that they are apostolic because as a
local church of Christ, they are sent to proclaim
the word.
 Most non-Catholic churches will point out it is
unnecessary to have a historic apostolic line of
bishops.

◦ Because they have the Word of God, that is
proclaimed to them and calls them to preach it as
well.
At any rate…

The Catholic Church believes it is founded by
Jesus Christ, who sends forth his Twelve Apostles,
guided today by their successors the bishops.
◦ Peter and the Twelve Apostles
◦ The Pope (bishop of Rome) and the College of
Bishops

Like Peter and the Twelve, the bishops shepherd
the Church as pastors of their own churches.
Church Structure
The Catholic Church comprises of two distinct
but interconnected groups:
-the laity
-the hierarchy
The hierarchy is the Apostles and their successors,
the Pope and bishops (with their co-workers:
priests and deacons).
Hierarchical meaning leaders and institutions are
organized in a specific order.
-the Catholic belief is that this institution
is established by Christ.
-Hence the term: HOLY ORDERS
~ in other words, institution of God.
Holy Orders
 To
be ordained is to be “of an order”, designated for a
specific social group or class.


Ordo of senators
Ordo of knights
 The

fullness of orders: the Bishop
Successors of Apostles
The Bishop
 All
bishops are united with one another
 The Bishop of Rome is the “first among equals.”

Like Peter and the Twelve Apostles
 Their
relationship to each other is COLLEGIAL, meaning
they share equally in authority of their particular area


In this case, they have their own diocese to oversee
NOTE: decisions always made in communion with the Bishop
of Rome, who symbolizes the unity of the whole Church.
Collegiality
Archdiocese
of Los
Angeles
Archdiocese
of Baltimore
Diocese
of Rome
(Holy
See)
Archdiocese
of New York
Diocese of
Orange
Fun Facts
Modern Word Original
Greek
Literal
Definition
Role
Bishop
Episkopos
Overseer/
Manager
Oversees the
local church
(diocese)
Priest
Presbyter
Elder
Assist the
Bishop in the
particular
parish
Deacon
Diakonos
Servant
Assist where
the priest
cannot,
especially in
Service
Organizational Structure of the Catholic
Church

See Page 152: The Holy See (the Diocese of
Rome) that heads all dioceses

The Diocese, a geographical area
governed by a bishop. It is also called the
local church.

The Parish, a distinct community within a
diocese. The bishop appoints a priest to be
pastor of this parish, who is assisted by other
priests and deacons.

The Family, the most basic social unit of
people. It is where faith is first taught.
Vatican II and John Paul II call this the
domestic Church.
And The Laity…
• Simply, those who are not clergy
THE PRIEST
THE LAITY
Spiritual Dignity
“In the Church not everyone marches along the same path, yet all
are called to sanctity and have obtained an equal privilege of faith
through the justice of God.” (LG, 32)
All are equally spiritual, holy
Equal in human and spiritual dignity
Laity: Temporal Affairs
• The duties of the laity primarily reside in work, family, and
political/social involvement (John Paul II)
▫ Not enough priests to go around
▫ Laity are involved in places priests aren’t normally located
 Media, social media, schools, politics, movie, work, family…
Remember…
• Everyone is of the same spiritual dignity
▫ We all have the one same Baptism
• But we are called to different roles and ministries
▫ VOCAB WORD: VOCATION
 The specific and individual response that we all have to our
universal call to holiness.
 In other words, we are all called to be holy, but how we live
that out depends on us…
General Conclusion to the Mark of
Apostolic
The Mark refers to Apostolic Succession, the
hierarchical successors of pastoral leadership
 The Laity participates in this Mark by being
“apostles” in everyday life (where you don’t
typically see clergy)
