Church visible

"[...] one holy Church is to continue forever. The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered." – Augsburg Confession^[1]

Church visible is a term of Christian theology and ecclesiology referring to the visible community of Christian believers on Earth, as opposed to the Church invisible or Church triumphant, constituted by the fellowship of saints and the company of the elect.^[2]

In ecclesiology, the Church visible has many names, such as Kingdom of God, Disciples of Christ and People of God. St. Ignatius of Antioch was one of the first Christian authors to write about the subject, insisting that the Church visible was centered on the Bishop and the Eucharist or Last Supper.^[3]

In early Christianity, anti-Gnostic writers such as Irenaeus, or anti-Novatian writers like Cyprian of Carthage, would often focus on the visible Church in order to oppose various opinions deemed heretical. It was in this context that the expression Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus came about, which heavily insisted on the non-distinction between the visible and invisible Church.^[4]

References

^ See Augsburg Confession, Article 7, Of the Church
^ McGrath, Alister. 1998. Historical Theology, An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. p.206.
^ Letter to the Smyrnaeans by Ignatius
^ Cf Against Heresies by Irenaeus and On the Unity of the Catholic Church by Cyprian

[1] See Augsburg Confession, Article 7, Of the Church

[2] McGrath, Alister. 1998. Historical Theology, An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. p.206.

[3] Letter to the Smyrnaeans by Ignatius

[4] Cf Against Heresies by Irenaeus and On the Unity of the Catholic Church by Cyprian

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v t e Lutheranism
Luther's Small Catechism	The Ten Commandments Apostle's Creed Lord's Prayer Sacrament of Holy Baptism Confession Sacrament of the Eucharist
Chief articles of faith in the Augsburg Confession	I. God II. Original Sin III. The Son of God IV. Justification By Faith V. The Office of Preaching VI. Of The New Obedience VII. Of The Church VIII. What the Church Is IX. Of Baptism X. Of the Lord's Supper XI. Of Confession XII. Of Repentance XIII. Of the Use of the Sacraments XIV. XV. Ecclesiastical Usages XVI. Of Civil Affairs XVII. Of Christ's Return to Judgment XVIII. Of Free Will XIX. Of the Cause of Sin XX. Of Good Works XXI. Of the Worship of the Saints
Practices	Divine Service Confirmation Common table prayer Sign of The Cross Matins Vespers Easter Vigil Liturgical Calendar Wreath of Christ
Movements	Gnesio-Lutherans Crypto-Calvinism Philippists Sacramentarians Ubiquitarians Lutheran orthodoxy Pietism Laestadianism Old Lutherans Neo-Lutheranism High Church Lutheranism Evangelical Catholicism Confessional Lutherans

References

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