Founded by Christ
Did Jesus mean to start a Church?
Main teaching: De fide
The big question
Many people say, “I believe in Jesus, but not in the Church.” They see the Church as a human organisation that grew up after Jesus, with its own rules and politics, and perhaps a hindrance to faith. Did Jesus actually intend a Church? And why does the Creed include the Church among the things we believe?
What the Church teaches
Christ himself founded the Church. It is not a later human invention (Vatican I, Pastor Aeternus, prologue; DH 3050; Oath against Modernism, 1910; DH 3540; CCC 763–766).
How sure is this? De fide.
The Church is one reality that is both human and divine. It is a visible society, ordered under the Pope and bishops, and at the same time the Mystical Body of Christ, given life by the Holy Spirit. Vatican II compares this to Christ himself, who is both human and divine (Lumen Gentium 8; Pius XII, Mystici Corporis, 1943; CCC 771, 779).
How sure is this? Church teaching, set out by Pius XII and Vatican II.
Where it comes from
Scripture. Jesus did not just teach individuals. He gathered a community around himself. He chose twelve apostles, echoing the twelve tribes of Israel (Mark 3:14). He promised Peter, “on this rock I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:18), and spoke of the community having authority to settle disputes: “tell it to the Church” (Matthew 18:17). After Pentecost, the first believers “held steadfastly to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers” (Acts 2:42).
St Paul calls the Church the body of Christ: “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Christ is its head, and the Church is “his body, the fulness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22–23). When the risen Christ stops Saul on the road to Damascus, he asks, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Saul had been persecuting the Church; Christ identifies the Church with himself.
The early Church. About the year 110, St Ignatius of Antioch wrote that wherever the bishop is, there the people should be, just as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church (To the Smyrnaeans 8). It is the earliest known use of the phrase “Catholic Church”. St Augustine taught that Christ and his Church together form “the whole Christ”, head and members.
How theologians explain it
How Christ founded the Church. The Catechism describes the founding as a process across Christ’s whole life (CCC 763–766):
| Stage | What happened |
|---|---|
| Preaching | Christ announced the Kingdom of God and gathered disciples |
| Choosing the Twelve | He gave them authority and made Peter their head |
| The Last Supper | He gave the Eucharist and commanded “Do this” |
| The Cross | The Fathers saw the Church born from his pierced side, as Eve from Adam’s |
| Pentecost | The Holy Spirit was poured out, and the Church was publicly manifested |
Visible and invisible together. The Church is not two things, a visible organisation and an invisible spiritual fellowship, loosely connected. It is one reality with two aspects, as Christ is one Person with two natures. The visible structures, such as the sacraments, the bishops and the Creed, are the means by which the invisible life of grace reaches people. Vatican II calls the Church “a kind of sacrament”: a sign and instrument of union with God and of the unity of the human race (Lumen Gentium 1).
The Mystical Body. Pius XII explained that the Church is Christ’s Body in a unique sense. It is not a physical body, nor only a moral body like a club or nation, but a “mystical” body: Christ is its head, the Holy Spirit is like its soul, and its members are joined by grace, faith and the sacraments.
Three images. The Catechism gathers the New Testament’s images of the Church around the three Persons of the Trinity: the People of God (the Father’s chosen people), the Body of Christ, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit (CCC 781–798).
Philosophy bridge
The philosophy course explains that a society is a group of persons united by a common good and by an authority that directs them to it. The Church is a society in this sense: its common good is eternal life with God, and its authority comes from Christ. But it is more than any natural society, because it is also united by the life of grace.
What the Church does not claim
- Not that the Church is only a human organisation. Its life comes from Christ and the Holy Spirit.
- Not that the Church is only invisible. It has real, visible structures that Christ willed.
- Not that “the Church” means only the clergy. Every baptised person is a member of the Body.
- Not that the Church’s members are sinless. The Church is holy, but its members are sinners being made holy (Lesson 9.3).
Check your understanding
- What is the Church’s teaching about who founded the Church?
Show answer
That Christ himself founded the Church. It is not a later human invention.
- Give two things Jesus did that show he intended a community, not just individual followers.
Show answer
Any two of: choosing the Twelve; making Peter their head (“on this rock I will build my Church”); giving the community authority (“tell it to the Church”); instituting the Eucharist; sending the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
- What does Christ’s question to Saul, “why do you persecute me?”, show about the Church?
Show answer
That Christ identifies the Church with himself. To persecute the Church is to persecute Christ, because the Church is his Body.
- How does Vatican II compare the Church to Christ himself?
Show answer
As Christ is one Person with a human and a divine nature, the Church is one reality with a visible, human aspect and an invisible, divine aspect.
- Name the three images of the Church that the Catechism links with the Trinity.
Show answer
The People of God, the Body of Christ, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.