Quotes About The Church

Quotes about the Church from throughout Christian History.

Irenaeus, A.D. 183 - 186

It is not necessary to seek the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from the Church, since the apostles, like a rich man in a bank, lodged in her hands most abundantly all things pertaining to the truth. Now every man, whoever wants to, can draw from her the water of life. For she is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers. (Against Heresies III:4:1)

We preserve our faith, which we have received from the church ... For this gift of God has been entrusted to the Church, as breath was to the first created man, for this purpose, that all the members may receive it and live. And fellowship with Christ has been distributed throughout it-that is, the Holy Spirit, who is the earnest of incorruption, the means of confirming our faith, and the ladder of ascent to God.
     For in the church, it is said, God has set apostles, prophets, teachers, and all the other means through which the Spirit works. All those who do not join themselves to the Church are not partakers of these things, but defraud themselves of life through their perverse opinions and infamous behavior.
     For where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church and every kind of grace; but the Spirit is truth. Those, therefore, who do not partake of him are neither nourished into life from the mother's breasts, nor do they enjoy that most clean and pure fountain which issues from the body of Christ. (Against Heresies III:24:1)

Tertullian, A.D. 200 - 220

Indeed, it is on this account only that they will be able to deem themselves apostolic, as being the offspring of apostolic churches.  Every sort of thing must necessarily revert to its original for its classification. Therefore the churches, although they are so many and so great, comprise but the one primitive church, by the apostles, from which they all [spring].  In this way all are primitive and all are apostolic, while they are all proved to be one, in unity, by their peaceful communion, title of brotherhood, and bond of hospitality—privileges which no other rule directs than the one tradition of the self-same mystery. (Prescription Against Heretics 20)

Let [the heretics] produce the original records of their churches. Let them unfold the roll of their bishops, running down in succession from the beginning in such a way that their first bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor one of the apostles or apostolic men—a man, in addition, who continued stedfastly with the apostles. For this is the manner in which the apostolic churches transmit their registers, such as Smyrna ... also the church of Rome ... In exactly the same way, the other churches ...
   Let the heretics attempt something of the same kind, for their very doctrine, after comparison with that of the apostles, will declare by its own diversity and disagreement that it had for its author neither an apostle nor an apostolic man. This is so because just as the apostles would never have taught anything that was self-contradictory, so the apostolic men would not have inculcated any teaching different from the apostles ... To this test, therefore, [the heretics] will be submitted for proof by those churches whose founder was not from the apostles or the apostolic men—since they are of a much later date, as churches are in fact being founded daily—but who, since they agree in the same faith, are considered no less apostolic because they are of the same family in doctrine. Therefore, let all the heresies, when challenged to these two tests [i.e., founded by an apostle and similar in doctrine] by our apostolic church, offer their proof as to why they deem themselves to be apostolic. (Prescription Against Heretics 32)

Jerome, c. A.D. 400

Do not hold aloof from the Church; for nothing is stronger than the Church. The Church is your hope, your salvation, your refuge. It is higher than the heaven, it is wider than the earth. It never grows old, but is always in full vigor. Therefore, indicative of its solidity and stability, Holy Scripture calls it a mountain; of its purity, a virgin; of its magnificence, a queen; of its relationship to God, a daughter. And to express its productiveness, it calls her barren who has borne seven. In fact, [Scripture] employs countless names to represent its nobleness. (Homily on Eutropius II 6, from The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series I, vol. IX)

Martin Luther, 1520 - 1546

Jerome raises the question why Paul called them churches that were no churches, inasmuch as the Galatians had forsaken the grace of Christ for the law of Moses. The proper answer is: Although the Galatians had fallen away from the doctrine of Paul, baptism, the Gospel, and the name of Christ continued among them. Not all the Galatians had become perverted. There were some who clung to the right view of the Word and the Sacraments. These means cannot be contaminated. They remain divine regardless of men's opinion. Wherever the means of grace are found, there is the Holy Church, even though Antichrist reigns there. (Commentary on Galatians)

John Calvin, 1540 - 1564

The only true bond of Church unity is Christ the Lord, who has reconciled us to God the Father, and will gather us out of our present dispersion into the fellowship of His body, that so, through His one Word and Spirit, we may grow together into one heart and one soul. (Letter to Cardinal Sadolet, from Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. VIII, sec. 91; note that this may be vol. VII in the print version; my electronic version was obtained from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library)

As our present design is to treat of the visible Church, we may learn even from the title of mother, how useful and even necessary it is for us to know her; since there is no other way of entrance into life, unless we are conceived by her, born of her, nourished at her breast, and continually preserved under her care and government. … It is also to be remarked that out of her bosom there can be no hope of remission of sins, or any salvation, according to the testimony of Isaiah (37:32) and Joel (2:32); which is confirmed by Ezekiel (13:9), when he denounces that those whom God excludes from the heavenly life shalt not be enrolled among his people. So, on the contrary, those who devote themselves to the service of God are said to inscribe their names among the citizens of Jerusalem. … In these words the paternal favor of God, and the peculiar testimony of the spiritual life, are restricted to his flock, to teach us that it is always fatally dangerous to be separated from the Church. (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, as cited by Schaff, ibid., bk. VIII, ch. 13, sec. 98)

Let these two points, then, be considered as decided: first, that he who voluntarily deserts the external communion of the Church where the Word of God is preached, and the sacraments are administered, is without any excuse; secondly, that the faults either of few persons or of many form no obstacles to a due profession of our faith in the use of the ceremonies instituted by God; because the pious conscience is not wounded by the unworthiness of any other individual, whether he be a pastor or a private person; nor are the mysteries less pure and salutary to a holy and upright man, because they are received at the same time by the impure. (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book IV, as cited by Schaff, ibid., bk. VIII, ch. 13, sec. 98)

It is not enough, therefore, simply to throw out the name of Church, but judgment must be used to ascertain which is the true Church, and what is the nature of its unity. And the thing necessary to be attended to, first of all, is, to beware of separating the Church from Christ, its Head. When I say Christ, I include the doctrine of his gospel which he sealed with his blood. Our adversaries, therefore, if they would persuade us that they are the true Church must, first of all, show that the true doctrine of God is among them; and this is the meaning of what we often repeat, viz. that the uniform characteristics of a well-ordered Church are the preaching of sound doctrine, and the pure administration of the Sacraments. (On the Necessity of Reforming the Church, as cited by Schaff, ibid., bk. VIII, ch. 13, sec. 98)

We are as ready to confess as they are that those who abandon the Church, the common mother of the faithful, the ’pillar and ground of the truth,’ revolt from Christ also; but we mean a Church which, from incorruptible seed, begets children for immortality, and, when begotten, nourishes them with spiritual food (that seed and food being the Word of God), and which, by its ministry, preserves entire the truth which God deposited in its bosom. This mark is in no degree doubtful, in no degree fallacious, and it is the mark which God himself impressed upon his Church, that she might be discerned thereby. Do we seem unjust in demanding to see this mark? Wherever it exists not, no face of a Church is seen. If the name, merely, is put forward, we have only to quote the well-known passage of Jeremiah, ’Trust ye not in lying words, saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these’ (Jer. 7:4). Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?’ (Jer. 7:11). (On the Necessity of Reforming the Church, as cited by Schaff, ibid., bk. VIII, ch. 13, sec. 98)

Philip Schaff, c. 1890

The Reformers introduced the terminology "visible" and invisible" Church. By this they did not mean two distinct and separate Churches, but rather two classes of Christians within the same outward communion. The invisible Church is in the visible Church, as the soul is in the body, or the kernel in the shell, but God only knows with certainty who belong to the invisible Church and will ultimately be saved; and in this sense his true children are invisible, that is, not certainly recognizable and known to men. We may object to the terminology, but the distinction is real and important. …
   Zwingli first introduced both terms. He meant by the "visible" Church the community of all who bear the Christian name, by the "invisible" Church the totality of true believers of all ages. And he included in the invisible Church all the pious heathen, and all infants dying in infancy, whether baptized or not. In this liberal view, however, he stood almost alone in his age and anticipated modern opinions.(History of the Christian Church, vol. VIII, ch. 13, sec. 100)

Frank Viola, 2010

I wouldn’t give 2 cents for most "house churches" today. Most of them are far from organic. For that reason, I don’t endorse "house church" as a model. And I never have. The living room is not my passion. Most house churches, in my experience, have no concept of how to live by an indwelling Lord, nor are they consumed with Jesus Christ. (Frank Viola blog)