What Does Catholic Mean? A History of the Word “Catholic”

[Michie]

As a Protestant, I went to an Evangelical church that changed an important and historical word in the Apostles Creed. Instead of the “holy, catholic Church,” we were the “holy, Christian church.” At the time, I thought nothing of it. There was certainly no evil intent, just a loathing of the Catholic Church and a distinct desire to distance ourselves from its heresy and man-made traditions.

I assumed that early on Catholics deviated from “biblical Christianity” so they simply invented a new word to describe their new society. Since we Evangelicals were supposedly the ones faithful to the Bible we had no interest in the word catholicsince it was found nowhere between the covers of the Bible. It was a biased word loaded with negative baggage so we removed it from the Creed.


I should have asked myself “Where did the word catholic come from, and what does it mean?” Was I right to assume that Roman Catholics invented the word to set themselves apart from biblical Christianity?

A short and interesting investigation will turn up some valuable information. Let’s start with an understanding of doctrinal development and the definition of catholic, then let’s “interview” the very first Christians to see what they thought of the Church and the word catholic and then we will study the Bible itself.

How Doctrines and Words Develop

Continued below.
What does the word "Catholic" mean? A history of the word "Catholic" – Defenders of the Catholic Faith

 

[ValeriyK2022]

The 19th-century Orthodox saint Ambrose of Optina wrote: “They unjustly called their Church Catholic, that is, catholic (Catholic means universal - ed.). We can never call: a part this is the whole; The Roman Church should not be called Catholic, because she rejected the decisions of the Ecumenical Councils, following her own wrong attitudes.