The Holy Catholic Church: What the Apostles' Creed Means by 'Church'

When Protestants recite the Apostles' Creed and arrive at the phrase 'the holy catholic church,' they sometimes substitute 'Christian church' or 'universal church' to avoid confusion. The substitution is understandable but unnecessary. 'Catholic' in the creed does not mean Roman Catholic. It means universal — and the creed's vision of the church is one of the most powerful and searching statements about Christian identity ever assembled.

The word 'catholic' comes from the Greek katholikos, meaning 'according to the whole' or 'universal.' Ignatius of Antioch used it as early as the second century to describe the church in its fullness — not any local congregation, faction, or sect, but the whole body of believers united under Christ. When the creed says 'I believe in the holy catholic church,' it is making a claim about the scope and unity of the Christian community: that it spans all times, all places, and all peoples.

The church is 'holy' not because its members are morally perfect — that much is obvious from any honest reading of church history — but because it is set apart by God for God's purposes. Holiness in Scripture primarily means consecration: being called out, separated, dedicated. The church is holy because it belongs to the Holy One, because it is inhabited by the Holy Spirit, and because it is being conformed to the character of Christ.

The creed places the church in a remarkable theological sequence: between the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins. This is not accidental. The church exists because the Spirit exists and works; forgiveness is administered through the church's proclamation and sacraments. The church is not an institution that happens to have spiritual elements — it is the Spirit-formed community through which God's saving work continues in history.

What the creed calls 'the communion of saints' elaborates what 'catholic church' means at the personal level. The communio sanctorum — the fellowship of holy ones — refers both to the people who belong to the church and to the holy things (word, sacrament, prayer) that they share. It is a community defined not by nationality, class, or culture but by a shared participation in Christ through the Spirit.

The practical implication of confessing this article of the creed is demanding: if there is one holy catholic church, then every true believer is my brother or sister in Christ regardless of denomination, tradition, or theological accent. The creed does not permit a privatized faith that has no need of the community of believers. To say 'I believe in the holy catholic church' is to commit oneself to belonging — to the local congregation, to the historic tradition, and to the worldwide body of Christ across time and space.