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II. Nature of the Church
A. THE ESSENCE OF THE CHURCH.
1. THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CONCEPTION.
The early Christians spoke of the Church as the
communio sanctorum, and thus already, though without having thought the matter through,
gave expression to the essence of the Church. But even as early as the end of the second
century, as the result of the rise of heresies, the question as to the true Church forced itself
upon them and caused them to fix their attention upon certain characteristics of the Church as
an external institution. From the days of Cyprian down to the Reformation the essence of the
Church was sought ever increasingly in its external visible organization. The Church Fathers
conceived of the catholic Church as comprehending all true branches of the Church of Christ,
and as bound together in an external and visible unity, which had its unifying bond in the
college of bishops. The conception of the Church as an external organization became more
prominent as time went on. There was an ever growing emphasis on the hierarchical
organization of it, and the capstone was added with the institution of the Papacy. Roman
Catholics now define the Church as: “The congregation of all the Faithful, who, being baptized,
profess the same faith, partake of the same sacraments, and are governed by their lawful
pastors, under one visible head on earth.” They make a distinction between the ecclesia docens
and the ecclesia audiens, that is, between “the Church consisting of those who rule, teach, and
edify” and “the Church which is taught, governed, and receives the sacraments.” In the strictest
sense of the word it is not the ecclesia audiens but the ecclesia docens that constitutes the
Church. The latter shares directly in the glorious attributes of the Church, but the former is
adorned with them only indirectly. Catholics are willing to admit that there is an invisible side to
the Church, but prefer to reserve the name “Church” for the visible communion of believers.
They frequently speak of the “soul of the Church,” but do not seem to be altogether agreed as
to the exact connotation of the term. Devine defines the soul of the Church as “the society of
those who are called to faith in Christ, and who are united to Christ by supernatural gifts and
graces.”[The Creed Explained, p. 259.] Wilmers, however, finds it in “all those spiritual,
supernatural graces which constitute the Church of Christ, and enable its members to attain
their last end.” Says he: “What we call soul in general is that pervading principle which gives life
to a body and enables its members to perform their peculiar functions. To the soul of the
Church belong faith, the common aspiration of all to the same end, the invisible authority of
superiors, the inward grace of sanctification, the supernatural virtues, and other gifts of
grace.”[Handbook of the Christian Religion, p. 103.] The former writer finds the soul of the
Church in certain qualified persons, while the latter regards it as an all-pervading principle,
something like the soul in man. But whatever Roman Catholics may be ready to grant, they will
not admit that what may be called “the invisible Church” logically precedes the visible. Moehler