"[...] one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered." – Augsburg Confession[1]
Church visible is a term of Christian theology and ecclesiology referring to the visible community of Christian believers on Earth, as opposed to the Church invisible or Church triumphant, constituted by the fellowship of saints and the company of the elect.[2]
In ecclesiology, the Church visible has many names, such as Kingdom of God, Disciples of Christ and People of God. St. Ignatius of Antioch was one of the first Christian authors to write about the subject, insisting that the Church visible was centered on the Bishop and the Eucharist or Last Supper.[3]
In early Christianity, anti-Gnostic writers such as Irenaeus, or anti-Novatian writers like Cyprian of Carthage, would often focus on the visible Church in order to oppose various opinions deemed heretical. It was in this context that the expression Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus came about, which heavily insisted on the non-distinction between the visible and invisible Church.[4]
^See Augsburg Confession, Article 7, Of the Church
^McGrath, Alister. 1998. Historical Theology, An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. p.206.
^Letter to the Smyrnaeans by Ignatius
^Cf Against Heresies by Irenaeus and On the Unity of the Catholic Church by Cyprian
Churchvisible is a term of Christian theology and ecclesiology referring to the visible community of Christian believers on Earth, as opposed to the Church...
Church of the elect who are known only to God, in contrast to the "visiblechurch"—that is, the institutional body on earth which preaches the gospel...
"one true church" to the exclusion of the others. For many Protestant Christians, the Christian Church has two components: the churchvisible, institutions...
Company. Noonan, James Charles (2012). The ChurchVisible: Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Catholic Church (Revised ed.). New York: Sterling Ethos....
dates back to early medieval times, built around the 11th-century St Mary's Church, and is the location of Harrow, St Dominic's and John Lyon schools. Etymology...
two ancient synagogues built one over the other. A house turned into a church by the Byzantines is held by Christian tradition to have been the home of...
Noonan, James Charles Jr. (1996). The ChurchVisible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church. Viking. p. 196. ISBN 0-670-86745-4...
incorporated into the new Civic Centre. The centre's clock tower is the only visible section from the old building. The Uxbridge Cricket Club Ground and Uxbridge...
large-scale depictions of the Last Judgement on the western wall of churches, visible to congregants as they left, rather than to representations in other...
Catholic teaching, Jesus Christ is the 'invisible Head' of the Church while the pope is the 'visible Head'. The last resignation occurred on 28 February 2013...
Catholic Church: Its Origins, Customs and Laws, Gerrards Cross, Eng.: Van Duren. ISBN 0-905715-05-5. Noonan, James-Charles. (1996). The ChurchVisible: The...
Noonan, James-Charles (2012). The churchvisible : the ceremonial life and protocol of the Roman Catholic Church. Sterling Ethos. pp. 305–308. ISBN 978-1-4027-8730-0...
Noonan, James-Charles jr (1996), The ChurchVisible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church, Viking, pp. 315–16, ISBN 0-670-86745-4...
Canal and the Giudecca Canal, at the Bacino di San Marco, making the churchvisible when entering the Piazza San Marco from the water. The Salute is part...
constitutes "the Church". For some, the church is defined as "all those who will be saved", with no emphasis on the visiblechurch. For others, the theological basis...
Noonan, Jr., James-Charles (1996). The ChurchVisible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church. Viking. p. 196. ISBN 0-670-86745-4...
Noonan, James-Charles Jr. (1996). The ChurchVisible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church. Viking. ISBN 0-670-86745-4. Philippi...
May 2013. James-Charles Noonan, The ChurchVisible, (ISBN 0-670-86745-4) Bruno Heim, Heraldry in the Catholic Church, Humanities: 1978, (ISBN 0-391-00873-0)...
USA: John Murphy Company, 1926). James-Charles Noonan Jr. (1996). The ChurchVisible. Viking. p.312-314. https://archive.org/details/churchvisiblecer0000noon...
Noonan, Jr., James-Charles (1996). The ChurchVisible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church. Viking. pp. 191. ISBN 0-670-86745-4...
Noonan Jr., James-Charles (1996). The ChurchVisible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church. Viking. pp. 191. ISBN 0-670-86745-4...
the concept of the "visible and invisible Church," meaning that all who are truly believers in every age belong to the holy Church invisible, while the...
Noonan, James-Charles Jr. (1996), The ChurchVisible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church, New York: Viking, p. 191, ISBN 0-670-86745-4...
Reformation abandoned the idea that the "Churchvisible" was distinct from the "Church invisible." Thus, the Church only consisted of the tiny community of...
Global Information