Skip to main content

Marks of the Church: Apostolic

Image
By
+
JMJ

The Fourth Mark of the Church!

Apostolic
Catechism of the Council of Trent (aka The Roman Catechism)
The true Church is also to be recognised from her origin, which can be traced back under the law of grace to the Apostles; for her doctrine is the truth not recently given, nor now first heard of, but delivered of old by the Apostles, and disseminated throughout the entire world. Hence no one can doubt that the impious opinions which heresy invents, opposed as they are to the doctrines taught by the Church from the days of the Apostles to the present time, are very different from the faith of the true Church.



That all, therefore, might know which was the Catholic Church, the Fathers, guided by the Spirit of God, added to the Creed the word Apostolic. For the Holy Ghost, who presides over the Church, governs her by no other ministers than those of Apostolic succession. This Spirit, first imparted to the Apostles, has by the infinite goodness of God always continued in the Church. And just as this one Church cannot err in faith or morals, since it is guided by the Holy Ghost; so, on the contrary, all other societies arrogating to themselves the name of church, must necessarily, because guided by the spirit of the devil, be sunk in the most pernicious errors, both doctrinal and moral.


The Apostolicity of the Church
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma - Ott
Apostolic signifies derived from the Apostles. We distinguish a threefold apostolicity: of origin (apostolicitas originis), of teaching (ap. doctrinae), and of succession in office (ap. succcssionis.)

The Church founded by Christ is apostolic. (De /ide.)

The Niceue Creed confesses: Credo in ... apostolicanl Ecclesiam (D 86). cf. 0 14, 1686.
The dogma asserts: In its origin the Church goes back to the Apostles. She has ahvays adhered to the teaching which she received from the Apostles. The Pastors of the Church, the Pope and the Bishops are connected \vith the Apostles by the succession of office. The apostolicity of the succession guarantees
the unfalsified transnlission of doctrine and makes manifest the organic cotUlection between the Church of the present day and the Church of the Apostles.

Proof: Christ founded His Church on the Apostles, by transferring to them His threefold office, teaching,
pastoral and sacerdotal; and by appointing Peter the supreme pastor and the teacher of the Church (see supra Pars. 4 and s). Christ willed that these offices, and the powers corresponding to them) should be transmitted to their successors, since the purpose of the Church makes it necessary that these be perpetuated. In the wtbroken succession of the Bishops from the Apostles the apostolic character of the Church most clearly appears. It is sufficient to point to the apostolic succession of the Roman Church, because the R~oman bishop is the head of the whole Church and vehicle of the infallible doctrinal power. Consequently the apostolic Church and the unfa~sifi.(".d apostolic teaching are whert~ Peter or his successor is.

Among the Fathers, St. Irenaeus and Tertullian especially, stressed and verified the baqr. principle of Apostolicity against the Gnostic error. They appealed to the tact that the Catholic Church received her teaching from the Apostles, and by the uninterrupted succession of the bishops preserved it in its purity_ The heresies, on the other hand are post-apostolic, or in individual cases where errors may be traced back to apostolic times, of extra-apostolic origin. St. Ircnaeus offers the oldest list of Roman bishops (Adv. haer. III 3, 3; c£ IV 26, 2). Cf. fertullian.. De pracscr. 20-21; 32; 36-37; Adv. Marc. IV s; St. Cyprian,

Ep. 69. 3 ; St. Augustine, Contra ep. Manich3ei. 4. S; Ep. $3, r. 2 (List of Roman Bishops).
St. Thomas teaches that the Apostles and their tcadungs are the secondary foundation of the Church, the prilnary foundation being Christ Himself. Expos. symb. a. 9. Characteristics of the Church The fouf properties of Unity, Sanctity, Catholicity and Apostolicity, sin(:cthey appear externally and are easily recognisable, are not merely properties of being, but at the same time, outer marks of the true Church of Christ. fhe Holy Office, under Pius IX (1864), declared: "The true Church of Christ, by virtue of Divine authority, is constituted and is knowable by the four characteristics, which we confess in the Creed as an object of the Faith n(D 1686; cf. 1793). In Apologetics we show that ofall the Christian confessions the Roman Catholic Church atone possesses at least pre-eminontly these four characteristics.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comparision of the Tridentine, Cranmer and Novus Ordo Masses

By
+ JMJ I downloaded the comparison that was linked in the previous article on the mass (here) . ... a very good reference! P^3 From: Whispers of Restoration (available at this link) . CHARTING LITURGICAL CHANGE Comparing the 1962 Ordinary of the Roman Mass to changes made during the Anglican Schism; Compared in turn to changes adopted in the creation of Pope Paul VI’s Mass in 1969 The chart on the reverse is a concise comparison of certain ritual differences between three historical rites for the celebration of the Catholic Mass Vetus Ordo: “Old Order,” the Roman Rite of Mass as contained in the 1962 Missal, often referred to as the “Traditional Latin Mass.”The Ordinary of this Mass is that of Pope St. Pius V (1570) following the Council of Trent (1545-63), hence the occasional moniker “Tridentine Mass.” However, Trent only consolidated and codified the Roman Rite already in use at that time; its essential form dates to Pope St. Gregory the Great (+604), in whose time the R...
Post a Comment
Read more

SSPX and the Resistance - A Comparison Of Ecclesiology

By
Shining the light of Church Teaching on the doctrinal positions of the SSPX and the Resistance. Principles are guides used to aid in decision making.  It stands to reason that bad principles will lead to bad decisions. The recent interactions between Rome and the SSPX has challenged a number of closely held cultural assumptions of people in both sides of the disagreement. This has resulted in cultural skirmishes in both Rome and the SSPX. Since it is the smaller of the two, the skirmishes have been more evident within the SSPX.  The cultural fault-line that Bishop Fellay crossed appears to be linked to two points of Catholic Doctrine: Ecclesiology and Obedience.  The cultural difference of view points is strong enough that it has resulted in the expulsion of a number of members.  It should also be noted that some other priests expelled since the beginning of the latest interactions (starting in 2000) held the same view points and have joined with the l...
8 comments
Read more

If Pope Francis is bad - what about Pope St. John Paul II et al?

By
+ JMJ So here we are on the apparent cusp of yet another post conciliar Papal canonization. This time we have Pope's John-Paul I and Paul VI canonizations to 'look forward' to. This follows, obviously, on the heels of Pope St. John Paul II's canonization? So the first question that I usually encounter is: How is it possible, keeping in mind the doctrine on infallibility of canonizations (note doctrine not dogma), that Pope St. John Paul II is a Saint? First, what does it mean???  According to the doctrine of dogmatic facts - it is the universal opinion of Theologians that canonizations are infallible.  It means that they enjoy the beatific vision.  ... that's it.  That is the doctrine and it is at the level of universal opinion of theologians.  It is called a 'dogmatic fact'. That they made mistakes is obvious.  That the miracles seem to not be very miraculous is also a bit of an issue. Here's something to consider: The rush that surrou...
16 comments
Read more

Spiritual Journey Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - Extracts

By
+ JMJ I have posted these two chapters to provide context for the quote of: It is, therefore, a strict duty for every priest wanting to remain Catholic to separate himself from this Conciliar Church for as long as it does not rediscover the Tradition of the Church and of the Catholic Faith. P^3 Courtesy of SSPX.ca Chapter II The Perfections of God We ought to remember during this entire contemplation of God that we must apply all that is said of God to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is God. We cannot separate Jesus Christ from God. We cannot separate the Christian religion from Jesus Christ, Who is God, and we must affirm and believe that only the Catholic religion is the Christian religion. These affirmations have, as a result, inescapable conclusions that no ecclesiastic authority can contest: outside of Jesus Christ and the Catholic religion, that is, outsi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (de fide) - Expanded Listing: Answer for Reader

By
 + JMJ  A reader asked the following question in the 2015 version of the article on the Dogmas of the Catholic Faith (link) : 117: "In the state of fallen nature it is morally impossible for man without Supernatural Revelation, to know easily, with absolute certainty and without admixture of error, all religious and moral truths of the natural order." Where can you find this in the documents of the Church? ( Link to comment )  Here's the reference from Ott: The citation that Ott provided was Denzinger 1786 and the source document is Dogmatic Consitution Concerning the Faith from the First Vatican Council (Papal Encyclicals - link) : Chapter 2 On Revelation, Article 3: It is indeed thanks to this divine revelation , that those matters concerning God, which are not of themselves beyond the scope of human reason, can, even in the present state of the human race, be known by everyone, without difficulty, with firm certitude and with no intermingling of error. Here's ...
Post a Comment
Read more