The Marks of the Church - One

The unity of faith reflects the fact that all members of the Catholic Church are called to inwardly believe the truth of the Church as taught by the Magesterium (the teaching office of the Church), and to outwardly confess these truths. This unity of faith does allow room for differing opinions on matters where the Church has not spoken definitively. This is at odds with the Protestant idea of Fundamental Articles, where a set list of basic truths are accepted but can lead to different and simultaneous confessions of faith.

The unity of communion binds us together in our sacraments and liturgy, and reflects an acceptance of the hierarchy as guarantor of this unity via the Holy Spirit. This is seen in several different ways. First off, the sacramental nature of Catholicism permeates every aspect of the Church. This liturgical unity is exemplified by the fact that all the liturgies of each rite are pretty much the same. The liturgical unity is not quite so iron fisted as many people think. There are many different “rites” within Catholicism. We’re talking about the Latin Rite here, but there are also Byzantine, Ruthenian, Armenian, and many others. These can be in the vernacular language, Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and so on. All these are held together by a hierarchy that leads upward to the Pope himself, and each acknowledges the Magesterium as the teaching authority of the Church.

All this is well and good, but where do we get it from?

The first citation to keep in mind comes from Matthew – it’s the now familiar chapter 16, verse 18:

And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Now, I put the “I will build my church” in italics because this is the key phrase for what we’re getting into today. Notice, He didn’t say “I will build my churches.” The phrase is singular – One Church! This starts our examination as it gets at the heart of the Catholic view of Christian unity. Our doctrines, liturgical practices, sacraments, and Tradition should be of one mind and one spirit (not always achieved in reality, but the intent is unity in all these things).

This is, in fact, a unity that Christ himself prays for on our behalf. This was beautifully expressed on that fateful Thursday night in John 17:20-23 –

I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou has sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.

The first time I read that passage in this context, my only reaction was: WOW! “That they may become perfectly one…” How many different variations are there within the Presbyterian Church alone? How many different congregational churches dot the landscape these days? Many seem to think that, well, He wanted to simply get everyone to believe in God – the oneness He referred to is that of Christianity in general, not any particular Christian church. But then why didn’t He tell Peter that He would found his Churches on the rock? And in that case, why not found the churches upon the rocks of the apostles? Some have said that His intent is that we be as one in love, as Christ is one in love with the Father. Certainly John 17:20-23 does deal with love, but the statement itself goes beyond that – especially when seen in the light of Matthew 16:18 and the singular church on a singular rock.

So important was the idea of unity to Paul that he suggested the early Christians steer clear of those that dissented from what the apostles taught:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, to mark them who make dissensions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For they that are such serve not Christ our Lord but their own belly; and by pleasing speeches and good words, seduce the hearts of the innocent.” – Romans 16:17-18

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you; but that you be perfect in the same mind, and in the same judgment.” – 1 Corinthians 1:10

You certainly can’t say that St. Paul minces words on the subject. This also dispenses with the idea that the oneness that Christ sought was that of love in a general Christian sense. Paul specifically makes mention of the “doctrine which you have learned” – it’s an issue of doctrinal unity. He further makes the point by admonishing that “there be no schisms among you.” Again, it’s a point of doctrinal unity stressed time and again. [See also 1 Corinthians 3:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:25, and Philippians 2:2. I’ll leave you to look these up in the hopes of getting this post done in under 125 pages.]

If you need an example of doctrinal division, you need look no further than 1 Corinthians 11:27 which reads: “Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.” Without an acceptance of transubstantiation, this line becomes meaningless; the Eucharist is reduced to mere symbolism in such cases. But there are precious few Protestant denominations that accept the Real Presence. By the Catholic interpretation, this is EXACTLY what we’re talking about; Christ’s prayer for unity and Paul’s admonitions are intricately bound-up in this kind of doctrinal reality.

Now, technically speaking, this is the limit of the oneness confessed by the Nicene Creed each Sunday. We need really go no further than explaining the unity of the Church relative to the unity of faith and the unity of communion. However, it might be useful to take this a step further and look at the application of this unity.

If we accept that Christ wants us to be one, then where does that take us? Rather than tip-toe from here, let’s take a couple of huge, lunging steps forward.

“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting…” Acts 9:4-5

Who exactly was Saul persecuting? Jesus had already been crucified by this point, so it would have been difficult for Saul to persecute Him directly, physically, or personally. Saul was persecuting the Christian community. Why didn’t Jesus say something like, “Why do you persecute my followers?” He didn’t say that. He specifically said that by persecuting the Christian community Saul was, in reality, persecuting Him. In the light of the oneness that Christ prays for and that Paul would one day advocate, Acts 9:4-5 takes on a new and rather hefty importance. Can we identify Christ with the Catholic Church that directly – not just a greater Christianity in general, but with Catholicism specifically? Can we add the unity prayed for by Christ with Paul’s admonitions against schism and doctrinal error and get such a close connection? We can.

Catholic’s believe that the Church herself is the fulfillment of what Christ did for us, not just an organized collection of like-minded individuals that go to the same church on Sunday. We believe that He is the spiritual head of the Church (and the Vicar of Christ is the earthly head of the Church). We believe that when Christ poured fourth the Spirit at Calvary, he poured fourth that Spirit into the Church as well. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church, and the works of the Church are the on-going actions of the Spirit here on earth. This gets us to the Catholic conception of the Mystical Body of Christ. It’s mystical – as in beyond human understanding. It’s His body – as in Saul persecuting his earthly followers was really a persecution of Him personally. Every body needs a soul – as in the Holy Spirit having been given to us by Christ himself to guide the Church. Every body needs a head to govern and regulate the actions of the body – the earthly head is the pope and the spiritual head is Christ himself. The fact that Christ is the spiritual head of the Church, and the Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church, gives rise to the supernatural realities of the Church’s existence. Stop here for a second. Re-read this paragraph. Let it soak in, re-read it in the light of faith and make reason take a back seat for a moment. Continue when you’re ready.

Now, for the big question: Can I backup these claims?

You need go no further than Ephesians 1:22-23, which reads: “He hath subjected all things under His feet and hath made Him head over all the Church which is His Body”. The same reference is made in Colossians 1:18 which states: “…and He is the head of the Church which is His Body.” And in Romans 12:4-5 it is stated again: “For as in one body we have many members, but all the members have not the same office; So we, being many, are one body in Christ…”. Again in Romans 4:5 – “So we being many, are one body in Christ…”

Now, let’s add all this together. You have Christ’s own desire for our unity in faith. Add to that Paul’s admonitions against doctrinal error and schism. Then you have Christ saying, in essence, that the persecution of the Christian community was the same thing as persecution against Him directly. Finally, we add in Paul’s repeated assertions that the Church is in fact the Body of Christ. When you add these together, you get a much more mystical view of what the Church is. The unity sought by God is greater than the idea of an over-arching Christendom of some kind. It’s real and, with all due respect, it aims in one direction – to Rome. Yes, there is room for other interpretations – including the over-arching Christendom idea. But as I have said many times here, there is always a means to disbelieve. If Catholicism is the final exam of faith, then this can only be seen clearly in the light of faith.

A group of fundamentalists that I encountered a few months back had an interesting argument. They looked at the catholic.com essay on “How to become Catholic” and railed against it. In that essay, the words “Jesus” and “Christ” are missing. They took this to the absolute extreme and declared Catholicism unchristian because of the lack of Christ in the conversion process. [We’ll leave alone the fact that they made this sweeping judgment based on an entry from a single site that does NOT speak for the Church…that was deemed irrelevant.] The bottom line is that we don’t look at it this way. You can’t join the Catholic Church without faith, not just in Christ but in the Trinity and the Church. It simply doesn’t compute to us. We see Christ so tightly bound to the reality of the Church that to separate them wouldn’t make sense. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that you’d never feel the call to Catholicism if you didn’t have faith in Jesus. This is part of the mystical, supernatural and metaphysical realities of the Church.

In Protestantism there is no real unity to speak of. Protestants are horribly divided amongst themselves on all manner of doctrinal issues – without even considering what we Catholics might add to the equation. Protestant divisions run the gambit: the Second Coming, Israel and the Middle East, healing, charismatic gifts, speaking in tongues, predestination, free will, and the big issue of salvation itself. If you need proof of this, have a look at what’s happening to the Episcopal Church in the US. The doctrinal divide between members of that particular church is ripping it apart. This is the macro scale, but it exists in micro scale as well. One of my Pentecostal coworkers goes to a church that was formed around their pastor – who split from a previous church after he had a doctrinal clash with another pastor. Given what’s above, is this the reality of what Christ prayed for on that fateful Thursday evening? Does this recognize Paul’s admonitions?

In a broad sense, the Mystical Body of Christ is the collection of all believers on earth made holy by the grace of God. But in a tighter sense, when looked at in light the Catholic sense of unity, you get a very different sense of the reality.