From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
References
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edit
]