Church, Churches

These common terms are understood differently among Christians. The word Church comes from the Greek word ekklesia (roughly meaning ‘called out' and usually translated ‘church' in English). In the New Testament, ‘the Church' can refer to either individual Christian communities (Romans 16.1; 1 Thessalonians 2.14) or the universal Christian community in general (Galatians 1.13; Philippians 3.6). The Bible never uses the word to refer to church buildings. Many Christians understand ‘the Church' to refer to the wider community of believers rather than a particular denomination. Those not tending to equate ‘the Church' with any one particular denomination often emphasise the teaching of Paul about diversity within the Christian community (e.g. 1 Corinthians 12).

Officially, Catholics understand ‘the Church' to be the Roman Catholic Church alone, while also acknowledging that other genuine Christians might well be found outside its hierarchy. As they see it, the gospel of Matthew has Peter (understood as the first Pope) being handed leadership of the entire Christian community by Jesus. (Matthew 16.13-20). There are different views on this issue among Orthodox Christians, mirroring both these inclusive and exclusive positions.

However, some New Testament scholars have questioned whether Jesus even intended to found a Church organisation in the first place. They believe that Jesus simply encouraged people to follow Him, rather then become members of an in-group. Others scholars, however, have emphasised the use by Jesus of structured community language to refer to His following (e.g. ‘family', ‘household', ‘flock'). With this in mind, they believe that it is plausible that Jesus meant to found a Church.