The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed was forged by
the first Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. Towards the end of the creed, a
declaration is made, consisting of four 'marks' or 'notes' by which the
Christian Church can be identified : μίαν ἁγίαν καθολικὴν
καὶ ἀποστολικὴν—one,
holy, catholic [i.e. universal] and apostolic. The unity of the Christian
Church is inextricably linked with all four, not just the first mark. The
essence of all four marks can be found in the New Testament; and beginning in
the second century, one can find descriptions of those marks in the writings of
the Church Fathers. One of those Church Fathers is Irenaeus of Lyons—the
following selections contain examples of those marks that would later be
enshrined in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan
Creed [note: the 'marks' in bold in brackets are mine]:
1. The
Church, though dispersed through our the whole world [Catholic], even to
the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles [Apostolic] and
their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and
in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation;
and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from a
virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension
into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His
[future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father “to gather all
things in one,”and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order
that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to
the will of the invisible Father, “every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess” to Him, and that He should execute just judgment
towards all; that He may send “spiritual wickednesses,” and the angels who transgressed and became
apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane
among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer
immortality on the righteous, and holy [Holy], and those who have kept
His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of
their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and
may surround them with everlasting glory.
2. As I have already observed, the Church, having
received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole
world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it. She also
believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one
and the same heart [One], and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and
hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only one mouth [One].
(Against Heresies, I.10.1, 2a - ANF pp. 330, 331.)
At the end of the same chapter, we read:
...the Catholic Church [Catholic] possesses
one [One] and the same faith throughout the whole world [Catholic],
as we have already said. (Against Heresies, I.10.3 - ANF pp. 331,
332.)
In book three of Against Heresies, Irenaeus
mentions a number of heretics by name—Simon, Valentinus, Marcion, Cerinthus,
Basilides—who have rejected "the only true life-giving faith",
replacing it with a "diversity" of "doctrines and
successions" which are "perverse teachings". He then adds:
But, again, when we refer them to that tradition
which originates from the apostles, [and] which is preserved by means of the
succession of presbyters in the Churches, they object to tradition, saying that
they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but even than the
apostles, because they have discovered the unadulterated truth. (Against
Heresies, III.1.1.2a - ANF p. 415.)
Irenaeus then delineates how one can identify
"the tradition of the apostles"; note the following:
1. It is within the power of all, therefore, in
every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the
tradition of the apostles [Apostolic] manifested throughout the whole
world [Catholic]; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were
by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the
succession of these men to our own times; those who neither taught nor knew of
anything like what these [heretics] rave about. For if the apostles had known
hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to “the perfect”
apart and privily from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to
those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. For they were
desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things [Holy],
whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own
place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions
honestly, would be a great boon [to the Church], but if they should fall away,
the direst calamity.
2. Since, however, it would be very tedious, in
such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do
put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil
self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in
unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition
derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally
known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles,
Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which
comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a
matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account
of its pre-eminent authority, that is, the
faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical tradition [Apostolic]
has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere [Catholic].
(Against Heresies, III.3.1.2 - ANF pp. 415, 416.)
Irenaeus then provides the complete list of bishops
who held the episcopate of Rome from the time of Peter to the present—a total
of twelve—following this succession of bishops with:
In this order, and by this succession, the
ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles [Apostolic], and the
preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant proof
that there is one and the same vivifying faith [One], which has been
preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth.
(Against Heresies, III.3.1.3 - ANF p. 416.)
This identification of the unity of the Christian
Church with the four 'marks' continues within the Catholic Tradition from the
second century until our present day. I shall now provide two examples; first,
from the pen of Cardinal Gibbons (19th century):
By unity is meant that
the members of the true Church must be united in the belief of the same
doctrines of revelation, and in the acknowledgment of the authority of the same
pastors. Heresy and schism are opposed to Christian unity. By heresy, a man
rejects one or more articles of the Christian faith. By schism, he spurns the
authority of his spiritual superiors. That our Saviour requires this unity of
faith and government in His members, is evident from various passages of Holy
Writ. In His admirable prayer immediately before His passion. He says : "
I pray for them also who through their word shall believe in Me ; that they all
may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in
Us ; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me." Here Jesus prayed
that His followers may be united in the bond of a common faith, as He and His
Father are united in essence, and certainly the prayer of Jesus is always
heard. (The Faith of Our Fathers, 10th revised edition - 1879, pp. 21,
22 - PDF copy available online HERE)
And second, from the Catechism
of the Catholic Church:
Paragraph
3. THE CHURCH IS ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, AND APOSTOLIC
811 "This is the sole Church of Christ, which
in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic." These
four characteristics, inseparably linked with each other, indicate essential
features of the Church and her mission. the Church does not possess them of
herself; it is Christ who, through the Holy Spirit, makes his Church one, holy,
catholic, and apostolic, and it is he who calls her to realize each of these
qualities.
812 Only faith can recognize that the Church
possesses these properties from her divine source. But their historical
manifestations are signs that also speak clearly to human reason. As the First
Vatican Council noted, the "Church herself, with her marvellous
propagation, eminent holiness, and inexhaustible fruitfulness in everything
good, her catholic unity and invincible stability, is a great and perpetual motive
of credibility and an irrefutable witness of her divine mission." (LINK)
Shall end here for now;
hope to have part 4 up in a few days, the Lord willing.
Grace and peace,
