The Marks

From the very beginning of the church you needed the blessing and approval of the apostles to teach and preach doctrine. In short you had to be ordained by an apostle or by a man that was ordained by an apostle. Unfortunately this did not stop people who disagreed with the apostle's doctrine from starting their own faith communities. For reasons such as this, Christ endowed his covenant family with four marks that would light the way to the very church that he founded. The four marks of the Church of Christ that distinguish it from other communities are that it is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.

The Church is One (Rom. 12:5, 1 Cor. 10:17, 12:13, CCC 813–822)

The church is one because her source is one. She is one because God the Son designed her that way. The bible only records two religions being started by God. In the Old Testament it was Judaism founded by God on Abraham and Moses and in the New Testament it is Christianity founded by God on the apostles. The Catholic Church, like the church in the scriptures, is one in government doctrine and worship.

The Church is Holy (Eph. 5:25–27, Rev. 19:7–8, CCC 823–829)

The church is holy because her source is holy. This does not mean that every member of the church will be holy. This simply means that Christ designed the church to be the source of holiness and the protector of the means of grace that he established. The Catholic Church has produced living Saints in every century of its existence. If its members heed its council and partake of her mysteries, by the grace of God they can achieve holiness on earth.

The Church is Catholic (Matt. 28:19–20, Rev. 5:9–10, CCC 830–856)

The church is catholic or universal. The church is a gift to all peoples for all times. It consists of people from all nations and races of the world. It is in not a national church or a denomination. The Catholic Church has spread to every corner of the globe and consists of people from every tribe tongue and race. All the inhabitants of the earth have found blessings in the Catholic Church.

The Church is Apostolic (Eph. 2:19–20, 2 Timothy 2: 2, CCC 857–865)

The church is apostolic. Jesus appointed the apostles to be the first leaders of the church and their successors to be the future leaders. Within the church there is an unbroken link faithfully handing on the teachings of Christ from the apostles to the present Bishops of the church. The Catholic Church can show that its doctrinal pedigree extends all the way back to the apostles that were hand picked by Jesus Christ himself. Our current Bishop of Rome, Benedict XVI, is the 264th from St. Peter, and no Pope has ever contradicted a previous Pope in matters of faith and morals! A feat that seems fanciful in an age of ever changing "truths" within secular, and sadly, modern religious thought.

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