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{{Orthodoxchristianity}}The '''One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church''' is the [[Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[Ecclesiology|Church]] of [[Jesus Christ]], against which he promised the gates of [[hell]] would not prevail. Specifically, ''one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church'' is the [[Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed|creedal]] form of belief in the Church. What is implied in that belief are commonly called the marks of the Church: unity, sanctity, catholicity, and apostolicity.
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The Church is one. The Church is Christ's mystical body; just as he cannot be divided, neither can his body. There is one Church, not many; and it is united, not divided. This may seem naïve or callous given the present realities of Christians separated for nearly a thousand years. In the face of this real division, modern men are tempted to despair and speak of a "divided Church," abandoning the creedal faith.
According to Protopresbyter [[Thomas Hopko]]:
:...this one Church, because its unity depends on God, Christ, and the Spirit, may never be broken. Thus, according to Orthodox doctrine, the Church is indivisible; men may be in it or out of it, but they may not divide it.
This sending was first effected with the apostles, thus apostolicity is not only the divine mission; it is also unity of the Church with the apostles who were sent out by [[Jesus Christ]]. Thus, there is an [[apostolic succession]] by which the pastors of the Church are able to trace their orders back to the infant Church founded by Jesus Christ in the first century.
==External links==
*[[w:Four Marks of the Church|Four Marks of the Church]] at Wikipedia.
== Sources ==
*[http://www.oca.org/pages/orth_chri/Orthodox-Faith/Doctrine/ChurchOCchapter.html asp?SID=2&ID=26 Chapter on Church] in Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko's ''[http://www.oca.org/pages/orth_chri/Orthodox-Faith/ OCorthfaith.asp?SID=2 The Orthodox Faith]''
[[Category:Ecclesiology]]
[[el:Μια Αγία Καθολική και Αποστολική Εκκλησία]]