47.
THE QUESTION WAS: John Calvin taught that the
Church was
THE ANSWER IS…A….Calvin understood a VISIBLE Church consisting of sincere and
hypocritical Christians. Similarly, the Catholic Church has always understood
itself to be the one visible Church where the wheat and weeds grow together
until harvest time (Mt 13:24-30) or the Last Day.
The
following is an excerpt from an article by Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong
(full article at http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ60.HTM
“Even
John Calvin,
contrary to many of his later followers, taught that the Church was visible and a "Mother" (Institutes of the Christian Religion,
IV,1,1; IV,1,4; IV,1,13-14), the wrongness
of sectarianism and schism (IV,1,5;
IV,1,10-15), and that the Church includes
sinners and "hypocrites" (IV,1,7;
IV,1,13-15 - he cites Matthew 13:24-30,47-58). His difference with Catholics
here is that he defines the visible Church as his own Reformed Church.”
(Source: http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ60.HTM
by Dave Armstrong
********************************************************************
VISIBLE
CHURCH LINKS
http://home.inreach.com/bstanley/visible.htm
(The Invisible Visible Church)
http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/churb1.htm
(Christ Established a Visible Church)
http://www.cin.org/users/jgallegos/visible.htm
(Early Church Fathers and Visibility of Church)
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ12.HTM
(The Visible, Hierarchical Apostolic Church)
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