The Attributes of the Church

a) Meaning of Attribute

b) The Attributes in Detail a) MEANING OF ATTRIBUTE

We have already learned the meaning of attribute in our study of the Nature and Attributes of God (Book I, Chap. II, Art. 2, a). Here we briefly recall the matter. An attribute is a perfection that belongs to the very nature of a thing, and belongs to it by reason of its nature (i.e., because the thing is what it is), but is not a part or element of the thing. Reasoning is an attribute of man. When a man is fully a man—not an infant, not hampered by defect, imbecility, unconsciousness, or other cause—he will reason inevitably. The actual exercise of the reasoning faculty is not a part or element of man; and yet man will inevitably perform that exercise when his nature is integrally constituted and unthwarted. Reasoning is, therefore, an attribute of man. An attribute is also a property, i.e., it is found in the thing of which it is an attribute and in that thing alone. Thus reasoning is found in man alone. Reasoning means working a thing out mentally by progressive and logical steps. God knows all things perfectly and eternally; He has no need to study o r think things out. Angels know by direct intuition, and do not need to study or “reason” things out. Only man, of intelligent creatures, can reason or has need to reason. Hence, reasoning is proper to man alone, and it marks and characterizes man. Thus we see that a knowledge of attributes of a thing is a knowledge of marks and characteristics of that thing. In studying the attributes of a thing, we learn what the nature of the thing is. And, conversely, if we know what a thing is, we can reason out what its attributes must be. Now we know what the Church is. It is an institution of God (for Christ is God) for the salvation of men. All men are called to it. All are to subject themselves by true faith to what it teaches (for it is of God, and teaches truth), by submission to what it rules in matters of morality (for it is of God, and rules rightly), and by obedience to its requirements in the way of worship (for it is of God, and has authority). We know what the Church is. Let us reason, then, in the person of one who knows that he is a member of the true Church, to discover what its attributes must be. Then, in the person of a sincere seeker for the true Church, we can use the same attributes as unmistakable signs and characteristics pointing to the thing for which we seek.

b) The Attributes in Detail

The true Church is a visible society—else it could not serve men. It stands out before men’s eyes like “a city set on a hill.” It is a world-figure. It consists of men who teach and men who are taught, of men who openly profess its faith, of men who meet visibly in its public worship. And Christ required it to be so, for He sent the Apostles to teach (and hence required the hearers to learn) ; He sent the Apostles to baptize, and Baptism is conferred by an open and visible rite; He sent the Apostles to govern men in the observance of “all things whatsoever I have commanded you,” and that observance must have its outer expression as well as its inner acceptance; He sent His Apostles to men to give them to understand that “everyone that shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven… . He that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew x, 32). The Church, then, is a visible society. And it has four marks: it is One, it is Holy, it is Catholic (or Universal), and it is Apostolic. Such being the Church, the believing member of it reasons as follows: “The Church teaches me; it requires that I believe its teachings. It points out Christ’s words to me, and I read what He said in founding His Church and sending out the Apostles (Mark xvi, 16) : ‘Go … preach the gospel… . He that believeth not shall be condemned.’ On pain of damnation, therefore, I am to believe what the Apostolic Church teaches. Surely, then, this Church cannot teach me what is false in doctrine or wrong in morality. The gates of hell are not to prevail against the Church; I have Christ’s word for it (Matthew xvi, 18), and Christ is the all-knowing and all-truthful God. Then the Church must be literally unable to err in doctrine or morality; for if it could err, the gates of hell could prevail against it, and, without question, would prevail. Again: when some special doctrine is subjected to discussion, when human minds cannot agree as to whether it is revealed of God or no, the Church must decide—who else is there? And surely the Church cannot decide wrongly. If it could, there is no knowing at all whether a doctrine be of God. In a word, if the Church could err, then I am bound under pain of damnation to belong to a Church that may, through error, teach me falsehood and guide me to sin; a Church that may be prevailed against by the powers of hell; and a Church that is powerless to represent God and declare what is His doctrine. And yet, I have Christ’s word that this same Church speaks in His name, is to be heard as Himself, is to guide me to sanctification and salvation. Surely, then, reason tells me that the Church cannot err in doctrine or morals. To say that it can err is to say that it is at once Christ’s Church, the agency of salvation, and not Christ’s Church, but a potential agency of damnation! I conclude perforce, by cold reason, that the Church of Christ cannot err in doctrine or morality. In a word, I conclude that the Church, being what it is, has the attribute of infallibility, “I have reasoned that I must obey the Church because it is founded by Christ who is God, and who commands me to obey it and believe its teachings. Thus, I perceive at once that the Church has the right and duty of teaching and governing its members, and of exacting acceptance and obedience. In a word, the Church, being what it is, has the attribute of authority. “The Church is founded by Christ (who is God) to teach all men ‘all days, even to the consummation of the world.’ Therefore, the Church, as Christ founded it, must last to the end of time. It cannot fail or disappear from the world. It may be persecuted; its members may be reduced in numbers; but it cannot die out and disappear. If it could, surely the gates of hell would prevail against it; surely Christ would not then ‘be with it all days.’ As it is, it must remain— one, holy, catholic, Apostolic, infallible, exercising God’s communicated authority. The Church, then, being what it is, has the attribute of indefectibility ” The seeker for the true Church says, “I recognize the justice of your reasoning. Therefore, in my search for the true Church, I shall have ever before my mind’s clear vision the character of the thing I am looking for. I shall look for that Church which is one, holy, catholic, and Apostolic. I shall require this Church to show evidence in its history of authoritative rule and pronouncement in matters of faith and morals, and I shall find in its Apostolic continuance sufficient proof of its indefectibility. I shall know this Church as the true and infallible teacher and ruler of men’s souls. I shall know it, in a word, as the true Church of Christ. “Now, where shall I find such a Church? It must be here in this world, for Christ founded it here, and it exists indefectibly. Where is it? I have its marks and attributes clearly in mind; I have my tests ready. Where is the Church that can meet these tests?” In the next Chapter we shall answer the question of the seeker for the true Church.

Summary of the Article

In this Article we have reasoned out the attributes or properties of the Church as Infallibility, Authority, and Indefectibility. We led up to the question of attributes by a consideration of the fact that the Church is, of necessity, a visible society. We might even align this last point with the attributes, naming four, viz., Visibility, Infallibility, Authority, and Indefectibility.

In Chapter First we proved that Christ founded a Church. In Chapter Second we discovered what the marks and attributes of that Church must be. In the present Chapter we show that these unmistakable marks and attributes are found in the Holy Roman Catholic Church alone. In other words, we identify the Church of Jesus Christ as the Roman Catholic Church. The Chapter identifies the Church on the score of marks and attributes, and then briefly indicates the obvious necessity of belonging to the Catholic Church. This matter is discussed in two Articles: