No kidding. But as far as what we mean when we say church ie the Body of Christ. Do you beleive that the early church was unified are independent without central authority?
Catholics will say there was a central authority.
Yes it is; check out Matthew 16:18-19, for starters.
You are kidding??
I believe there was unification. It’s not a matter of citing scripture to support it. We need only to look at what Ignatius pushed for. In order to combat Marcion Ignatius wanted to make sure that all Christian churches; or let’s say assemblies to stay consistent with scripture and the word “ejkklhsiva”; had a sort of go to person that could administer the sacraments and teach the Gospel. I find it hard to believe that the teachings were that dramatically different. We do find that the church in Corinth still had many issues which prompted Clement to write them yet another letter after Paul’s initial 2 possibly 3 or 4. If unity was not desired then why would Paul or any NT author write to any of the churches? But the unity was centered around faith in Jesus.
Ecclesia does not translate church but assembly.
Jmcrae that is not true. The word church is not in the Bible. The greek word ejkklhsiva is what is found which gets transliterated to Ekklesia which gets transliterated to church.
Will no Hisalone is not kidding. He is absolutely right.You are kidding??
What about:
Matthew 16:18
And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And many other account in the gospel, acts and revelation??
Blessing,:bible1:
Will B.
Whatever. Jesus established one, and He appointed Peter to lead it. Obviously, it was not meant as just a one-time gathering, but as an eternal institution.
No one ever said it was meant as a one time gathering.
Then what are you driving at? Obviously, the Catholic Church is a gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, so how does the Catholic Church’s idea of “Church” contradict the notion of “assembly” or “gathering”?No one ever said it was meant as a one time gathering.
No, they only called him “the Most Illustrious Head of the Most Illustrious Church” because they meant something completely different.
I think it’s more like you haven’t read the Bible. The word church is used as the transliterated word. But the original Greek does not use the word “church”. The original Greek uses the word ejkklhsiva which gets transliterated to ekklesia which then gets transliterated to church. Ekklesia simply means an assembly. As mentioned before in the Christian sense ekklesia is a gathering of Christ followers.
I never said it did or didn’t. I was merely correcting the statement made that the word church is used in the Bible. The original question was did unity exist among the early churches. You never answered that portion of the question.Then what are you driving at? Obviously, the Catholic Church is a gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, so how does the Catholic Church’s idea of “Church” contradict the notion of “assembly” or “gathering”?
I think you need to study your history a little moreNo, they only called him “the Most Illustrious Head of the Most Illustrious Church” because they meant something completely different.
And again that’s not the question. Stick to what the OP was.I think I answered this but again I believe Jesus designed the church to be unified but didn’t specify a central authority. That’s why he told the Apostles that they would not Lord it over one another exercising authority like the Pagans do. Mark 10. It’s also why we see in Acts the first council at Jerusalem made the decision regarding circumcision.