Fundamental Concepts of the Church

Origin (Etymology/Definition/Old Testament to Pentecost) and Nature of the Church

A brief history of the Church enabled us to grasp and trace back how the Church had been
shaped out and handed down to our present time. And yet, our wanting for a deeper understanding
is still existing because as a mystery in itself, the Church is dynamic in as much as our Christian
living must also always on a go. And to be equipped with a better stand for what we believed in,
our further study of the Church, her nature and mission, would facilitate us to consider some its
understandings, to wit., its Etymology, its Biblical images, models according to known dogmatic
theologian and according to the Church dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, its marks,
attributes, the hierarchical structure, the ministries, among others.

Etymology and Definition

The early Christian community used the Jewish word qahal — the chosen people, the
family of the Lord — to fittingly describe themselves in God’s plan. Later the Greek word Kirche,
and the Latin word ecclesia began to emerge that described the church as “the assembly of the
Lord,” from which the words iglesia, èglise and chiesa were coined. The terms stress the action of
God in calling the people together. Thus, the church is a
faith-assembly whose root cause is God’s free call to
share His divine goodness and love in Christ.
The Church can also be described as “the
community founded by Jesus Christ and anointed by the
Holy Spirit as the final sign of God’s will to save the whole human family. God’s abiding presence
among human beings is expressed in the preaching, sacramental life, pastoral ministry, and
organization of local churches presided over by the church of Rome” (A Concise Dictionary of
Theology, 43).
The Roman Catholic Church is a community of men and women, “united in Christ and
guided by the Holy Spirit, under the leadership of the successor of Peter and the bishops in
communion with Him, pressed onwards the Kingdom of the Father and bearers of the message of
salvation intended for all men” (Gaudium et Spes, 1).
Old Testament to Pentecost
Even before the fulfillment of the promise brought about by the Son of God. The
Church has already been figured out since it was part of the plan that was born in the Father’s
heart. It was foreshadowed from the world’s beginning. The Church was prepared for in the Old
Covenant (Testament) when God chose for Himself a people that signaled His salvation of God’s
creation provoked by sin and the peoples’ disobedience (Cf. CCC 759 ff.)
It was the Son’s task to accomplish the Father’s plan of salvation in the fullness of time.
Its accomplishment was the reason for his being sent. “The Lord Jesus inaugurated his Church by
preaching the Good News, that is, the coming of the Reign of God, promised over the ages in the
Scriptures.” To fulfill the Father’s will, Christ ushered in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The
Church “is the Reign of Christ already present in mystery.
The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom
is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head.
Representing the twelve tribes of Israel, they are the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem. The
Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ’s mission and his power, but also in his lot. By all
his actions, Christ prepares and builds his Church (Cf. CCC 763 – 765).

The Apostolic Period (ca 30 AD – 100 AD)

The apostolic period extends from the Day of Pentecost to the death of St. John, covering
about seventy years, from AD 30 to 100. The field of action is Palestine, and gradually extends
over Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. The most prominent centers are Jerusalem, Antioch,
and Rome, which represent respectively the mother churches of Jewish, Gentile, and United
Catholic Christianity. Next to them are Ephesus and Corinth. Ephesus acquired a special
importance by the residence and labors of John, which made themselves felt during the second
century through Polycarp and Irenaeus. Samaria, Damascus, Joppa, Caesarea, Tyre, Cyprus, the
provinces of Asia Minor, Troas, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Crete, Patmos, Malta,
Puteoli, come also into view as points where the Christian faith was planted. Through the eunuch
converted by Philip, it reached Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. As early as AD 58 Paul could
say: “From Jerusalem and round about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of
Christ.” (Rom. 15:19) He afterwards carried it to Rome, where it had already been known before,
and possibly as far as Spain, the western boundary of the empire. (Rom. 15:24) The Acts and the
Pauline Epistles accompany us with reliable information down to the year 63.

The Nature of the Church

The reality of the Church is essentially united to the mystery of the Trinity and realized in
the stages of human history. She originated from a plan born in the Father’s heart; was
foreshadowed from the world’s beginning; prepared for in the Old Covenant; instituted by Jesus
Christ; revealed by the Holy Spirit; and will be perfected in glory (cf. Catechism of the Catholic
Church 758-769).
As Mystery
As mystery, the Church is a reality imbued with God’s hidden presence; open to new and
greater explorations; and has a unique relationship with God and all her members.
The Church originates from the saving design of the Father, the redemptive mission of the
Son and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. She is a community of believers drawn together
by Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Church’s mission is the mission of the Son and the
Holy Spirit in accord with the decree of God the Father. Her
destiny is the full realization of this communion in the Kingdom of God. The Church is a pilgrim
on a journey towards God’s Kingdom where all her members will appear with Christ in the state
of glory in which they will see Him as He is.
As Sacrament
As sacrament, the Church is a visible sign that effectively makes present Christ’s
redeeming presence and activity offered to all persons of every age, race and condition. By her
unique relationship with Christ, the Church has becomes a sign and instrument of God’s grace; of
our unity with God and with one another; and of salvation. Concrete signs of the church constitute
her preaching, sacramental life, pastoral ministry and organization of the community which is
communion of local Churches presided over by the Church of Rome.

Models and Images of the Church

The Church is One. This reality is viewed in various angles. That is why it is of equal
importance that we have to include in our considerations some of these models of the Church.
 According to Avery Dulles
As Institution
The Church was a perfect society. The Church permanent constitution had been conferred
upon it by the Lord Himself. The Church has all the marks of a true Society. Christ did not leave
this society undefined and without a set form. Rather, he himself gave its existence, and his will
determined the form of its existence and gave it its constitution. The Church is not part nor member
of any other society and is not mingled in any way with any other society. It is so perfect in itself
that it is distinct from all human societies and stands far above them.
In this institutional model of the Church, the powers and functions of the Church are
generally divided into three: teaching, sanctifying, and governing. Thus the official Church
teaches, sanctifies, and rules with authority of Christ.
As Communion
In characterizing the Church as Communion, we have to distinguish the two dimensions:
the horizontal and the vertical. Communion in the sense of sociological group would be simply
horizontal; it would be a matter of friendly relationships between man and man. What is distinctive
to the Church is the vertical dimension, i.e., the divine life disclosed in the incarnate Christ and
communicated to men through his Spirit. The outward and visible bonds of a brotherly society are
an element in the reality of the Church, but they rest upon a deeper spiritual communion of grace
or charity.
In the communion model, the Church is viewed as God’s People or Christ’s Body growing
into the final perfection of the Kingdom.
As Sacrament
If Christ is the sacrament of God, the Church is for us the sacrament of Christ; she
represents him, in the full and ancient meaning of the term, she really makes him present. She not
only carries on his work, but she is his very continuation, in a sense far more real than that in which
it can be said that any human institution is its founder’s continuation. All the sacraments are
essentially sacraments of the Church. They are intrinsically social and derive their efficacy from
the Church; They in turn build up the Church and make it the sacrament that it is.
In the sacramental ecclesiologies, the Church is understood as the visible manifestation of
the grace of Christ in human community.
As Herald
The mission of the Church is one of proclamation of the Word of God to the whole world.
The Church cannot hold itself responsible for
the failure of men to accept it as God’s Word; it has only to proclaim it with integrity and
persistence. All else is secondary. The Church is essentially a kerygmatic community which holds
aloft, through the preached Word, the wonderful deeds of God in past history, particularly his
mighty act in Jesus Christ. The community itself happens wherever the Spirit breathes, wherever
the Word is proclaimed and accepted in faith. The Church is event, a point of encounter with God.
In the herald models, the Church takes on an authoritarian role, proclaiming the gospel as
a divine message to which the world must humbly listen.
As Servant
The Servant Church sets forth powerfully the image of Christ the Servant: Jesus came not
only to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom; he came also to give himself for its realization. He
came to serve, to heal, to reconcile, to bind up wounds. Jesus, we may say, is in an exceptional
way the Good Samaritan. He is the one who comes alongside of us in our need and in our sorrow;
he extends himself for our sake. He truly dies that we might live and he ministers to us that we
might be healed.
The Church is the Church only when it exists for others. To make a start, it should give
away all its property to those in need. The clergy must live solely on the free-will offerings of their
congregations, or possibly engage in some secular calling. The Church must share in the secular
problems of ordinary human life, not dominating, but helping, and serving.
The servant ecclesiology reflects a consciousness of these needs both the Church and the
world. It seeks to give the Church a new relevance, a new vitality, a new modernity, and a new
sense of mission.
As Community of Disciples
According to Pope Paul VI “God does not save us apart from this purpose for the
collectivity, but within a plan in which each individual is part of a community which God chooses
and helps” (Obsservatore Romano,
Feb. 10, 1966). And Vatican II expressed this by stating: “God did not create man for life in
isolation, but, for the formation of social unity. So also ‘it has pleased God to make men holy and
save them not merely as individuals, without mutual bonds, but by making them into a single
people, a people which acknowledges Him in truth and serves Him in holiness’ (LG 9).
This communitarian character is developed and consummated in the work of Jesus Christ.
For the very Word made flesh willed to share in the human fellowship. In His preaching He clearly
taught the sons of God to treat one another as brothers. In His prayers He pleaded that all His
DISCIPLES might be ‘one.’
According to Lumen Gentium

In the human nature united to himself, the son of God, by overcoming death through his
own death and resurrection, redeemed man and changed him into a new creation (cf. Gal. 6:15; 2
Cor. 5:17). For by communicating his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body those
brothers of his who are called together from every nation.
Thus, every Christian believer by the virtue of Baptism is given the opportunity to become
part of the Church by doing what is expected of him as a believer offering services deeply rooted
from his love for God and neighbor, giving priority to the urgent need of all believers for the
betterment of the whole Church.
As People of God
The state of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose
hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple. Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ
loved us (cf. Jn. 13:34). Its destiny is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself
on earth and which must be further extended until it is brought to perfection by him at the end of
time when Christ our life (cf. Col. 3:4), will appear and “creation itself also will be delivered from
its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God” (Rom 8:21).
After having been freed from the clutches of sin, and by the help of the Holy Spirit, all
Christian believers are now empowered to do everything within the powers given by God the
Father to be always faithful to the universal call to holiness through which they are to make use of
their lives, ready to always suffer for the others in order that the Kingdom of God, which is ruled
by love, will be a reality.
The holy People of God shares also in Christ’s prophetic office: it spread abroad a living
witness to him, especially by a life of faith and love and by offering to God a sacrifice of praise,
the fruit of lips praising his name (cf. Heb. 13:15).
As Body of Christ
As all the members of the human body, though they are many, form one body, so also are
the faithful in Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:12). Also, in the building up of Christ’s body there is engaged
a diversity of members and functions. There is only one Spirit who, according to his own richness
and the needs of the ministries, gives his different gifts for the welfare of the Church (cf. 1 Cor.
12:1-11). Among these gifts the primacy belongs to the grace of the apostles to whose authority
the Spirit himself subjects even those who are endowed with charisms (cf. 1 Cor. 14). Giving the
body unity through him, both by his own power and by the interior union of the members, this
same Spirit produces and stimulates love among the faithful. From this it follows that if one
member suffers anything, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the
members together rejoice (cf. 1 Cor. 12:26).
The unity of purpose, acknowledging that each one can contribute according to the gifts he
has received, and the unifying love that motivates every believer to look after the needs of the
whole Church rather than one’s own are at the outset of Christendom made them generous enough
to suffer and offered sacrifices for the good of all. Perhaps, equality becomes a reality not just for
persons with goodwill but for all believers by following the movement of the Holy Spirit sharing
what everyone has to those who have none so that all the needs of the Church are being met without
leaving anyone helpless and unattended. Thus, all those blessed by God in whatever form have
the responsibility and the obligations to share with those who have less in life.
As Temple of the Holy Spirit
The one People of God is accordingly present in all the nations of the earth, since its
citizens, who are taken from all nations, are of a kingdom whose nature is not earthly but heavenly.
All the faithful scattered throughout the world are in communion with each other in the Holy Spirit
so that “he who dwells in Rome knows those in most distant parts to be his members” (qui Romae
sedet, Indos scit membrum suum esse). Since the kingdom of Christ is not of this world (cf. Jn.
18:36), the Church or People of God which establishes this kingdom does not take away anything
from the temporal welfare of any people. Rather she fosters and takes to herself, in so far as they
are good, the abilities, the resources and customs of peoples. In so taking them to herself she
purifies, strengthens and elevates them. The Church indeed is mindful that she must work with
that king to whom the nations were given for an inheritance (cf. Ps. 2:8) and to whose city gifts
are brought (cf. Ps. 71:10; Is. 60: 4-7; Apoc. 21:24). This character of universality which adorns
the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic ceaselessly and
efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods under Christ the Head in the
unity of his Spirit.
There is only one Spirit that gives life to the body. And this Spirit is also working in each
member of the body uniting everyone in making everything in accord with the will of God the
Father. Acknowledging that we are now in the era of the Holy Spirit, the holy Church is making
sure that whatever is entrusted to her by the Holy Spirit for the fulfillment of her mission is well
kept and made available and accessible to all for the good of the universal Church. Every member
of the Church then has nothing to worry about what he can offer for the salvation of all so long as
he, must listen and obey, will be guided by the Church and be ready for the promptings of the Holy
Spirit.
Biblical Images of the Church
The Church has been described in many ways with the help of various images and models,
some traditional and some new. The Church is also called as mother (Gal 4:19) who gives birth to
many children. She brings forth to a new and immortal life faithful who are conceived of the Holy
Spirit and born of God through Her preaching and baptism. So, Christ is to be born and grow in
the hearts of the faithful through the Church. Because He continues to nourish us, we ought to
honor the Church as our mother and teacher.
At other times, the Church is described as Bride of Christ which beautifully captures the
nature of the Church and her relation to Christ. As His bride, Christ deeply loves her that “he gave
Himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). His love makes the Church a resplendent bride, “in splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing… holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:27). In Baptism and
the Eucharistic Sacrifice, Christ continuously gives life to her bride, the Church. She is the New
Eve, a faithful spouse (2 Cor 11:2) of the New Adam (1 Cor 15:45) formed from the side of Christ
as he slept in death upon the cross.
She is also identified as the Mystical Body of Christ (Eph 1:15-23). The Church is born of
the personal communion between Christ and those incorporated into Him through baptism and the
Holy Spirit. Christ is the head of the entire Body (Eph 1:22; 5:23). The Church and its individual
members depend on Christ as the whole depends on its head. Christ communicates through His
Spirit (Jn 16:5-15); and governs the whole Church, individually and entirely through the visible
hierarchy – the Pope and bishops whom He has given the teaching, governing and sanctifying
powers. The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Body. The Spirit gives life to, unifies and moves the
whole Body of Christ. One receives the Spirit of Christ during Baptism. It is He who pours out the
divine life that makes the soul one with the Church. There is a great diversity among the members
but all together they form one body. The members have diverse gifts and functions yet they work
together for the benefit of the entire body (1 Cor 12:1-13, 21-31; Eph 4:7-16).
The image of the Church as New People of God has been prefigured by the People of Israel
with whom Yahweh established the old covenant. In the fullness of time, God, who desired to save
all men, called and formed a new people in Christ who will acknowledge Him in truth and serve
Him in holiness. Thus the Church is the New People of God in which “through baptism believers
are reborn as a new community; God’s chosen people, people of the covenant, the messianic
people” (LG 10-12). They share in Christ’s office as priest, prophet and servant-king (LG 10-12).
All humanity is called to belong to this people of God (LG 13).
Other images of the Church include a sheepfold of which Christ is the door; flock tended
by Christ as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep (Jn 10:1-15); vineyard with
God as the heavenly Vinedresser and with Christ as the true Vine who gives His life and
fruitfulness to the branches (Jn 15:1-17); herald as she fulfills the mandate of Christ to proclaim
the Good News of salvation to all peoples and cultures (Jn 20:21; Mt 28:19-20); institution in
which through Christ’s appointed leaders she safeguards the authenticity of the Gospel message,
guides people from being led astray by false teachings, and sanctifies people through the
celebration of the Word and sacraments (Mt 16:18-19; Jn 20:23; Heb 13:17); pilgrim on her way
towards the “lasting city,” the Kingdom of God, the heavenly Jerusalem (1 Pt 2:11; Heb 13:14);
servant who follows the footsteps of the Master as a “foot-washer,” serving the needy, weak, and
helpless members of the community.