CHUR CHURCH. 



clergy or laymen ; but the rector was formerly always 

 a Jesuit. 



CHUR. See Coire. 



CHURCH is, in the widest sense of the word, the 

 collective body of those who declare themselves to be 

 followers of Christ. In this sense, the founder of the 

 church is Jesus Christ himself; for, though his fol- 

 lowers did not separate themselves from the communi- 

 ty of the synagogue until after his death, yet he had, 

 by preaching a doctrine essentially different from 

 Judaism, and by collecting disciples and friends 

 around him, laid the foundation of a new religious 

 body. Moreover, he ordered his disciples, at the time 

 of his departure from the world, to go forth and 

 preach the gospel through the earth, and established 

 two religious ceremonies, by which his followers were 

 to be distinguished. These circumstances, many 

 have thought, must be taken as indicating Ids inten- 

 tion to found a church. Judaism, too, may be con- 

 sidered as having paved the way for the establishment 

 of a Christian church or organized religious commu- 

 nity. 



But the word church is not so often taken in the 

 sense just described as in a much narrower one, hi 

 which it signifies a body of Christians, which differs 

 in doctrines, constitution, and usages from the remain- 

 der. From the llth century, the Greek or Oriental 

 Christians were separated from the Latin Christians, 

 or Christians of the West ; and thus originated the 

 difference between the Greek Catholic church, whose 

 chief is the patriarch of Constantinople, and the 

 Roman Catholic church, whose chief is the Romish 

 bishop, or the pope. In the 10th century, the re- 

 formation caused another division hi the Western 

 church, one part of its members seceding from the 

 government of the Romish see, and adopting different 

 doctrines from those professed by the rest. Thus 

 arose the difference between the Catholic and Pro- 

 testant churches. It might reasonably be asked, 

 whether some Protestant sects do not differ from each 

 other as much as from the Catholic church ; for in- 

 stance, the Quakers from the English Episcopal 

 church. But, for the purpose of this article, it is 

 sufficient that, in the common use of language, they 

 are all called Protestants. There is, moreover, one 

 point which distinguishes all Protestant sects, or the 

 whole Protestant church, from the two Catholic ones, 

 namely, that the Protestants declare the Bible then- 

 only ground of belief, and permit it to be freely read 

 and examined into. 



In a third sense, the word church is sometimes used 

 for the whole Christian community of a country, e. g., 

 the French church, Italian church, &c. 



In a fourth sense, this word signifies the building 

 in which Cliristians assemble for the worship of God. 

 The Christians of the 1st century worshipped in pri- 

 vate houses, or in the open air, in remote places, 

 because they were not acknowledged by the state, 

 and were often persecuted. It was not till the 3rd 

 century, that they could venture to give more pub- 

 licity to their service, and to build churches. Since 

 the 4th century, the churches have become large and 

 magnificent edifices. Such were erected by Con- 

 stantine and, more particularly, by Theodosius and 

 Justinian. Many heathen temples, also were chang- 

 ed into Christian churches. In the middle ages, 

 many splendid edifices were erected for the perform- 

 ance of divine service, which, in loftiness and gran- 

 deur, were never surpassed. Some of the most fa- 

 mous churches at present are St Peter's, at Rome ; 

 Notre Dame, at Paris ; St Stephen's, at Vienna ; the 

 church of Isaac, at St Petersburg ; the minsters at 

 Straslmrg and Cologne ; and St Paul's church, in 

 London. (See Cathedrals.) Excepting the last 

 mentioned edifice, Protestantism lias produced no 



very splendid church. In fact, the Protestants, in 

 the construction of their places of worship, seem to 

 have had almost exclusively in view the accommoda- 

 tion of the hearers, particularly in Britain and Ame- 

 rica. This fact is easily explained from the circum- 

 stance that they do not celebrate, in then- churches, 

 divine service, in the sense in which the Catholics 

 use the phrase, but chiefly meet to hear the Bible ex- 

 plained to them, and to be instructed in their duties ; 

 on account of which the churches of a large portion of 

 Protestants are often, or even usually called meeting- 

 houses, and their sermons discourses. 



In New England, the word church is used to de- 

 note the members of a religious society, who have 

 made a public profession of the Christian religion, in 

 contradistinction to the other individuals belonging 

 to the same religious society, who liave not made 

 such a profession. 



There are various derivations of the word church, 

 which, of course, has the same origin with the Ger- 

 man kirche, and the Scottish kirk. Some derive it 

 from the Greek xv^axot, from xv^a, lord, a house 

 appropriated for the service of the Lord. Others 

 think the German word is a translation of the Latin 

 ecclesia, in which case it would be derived from kuren, 

 to elect, and imply the idea of the elect people of 

 God. 



CHURCH OF ENGLAND. See England, Church 



of- 



CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. See Scotland, 

 Church of. 



CHURCH, GREEK. See Greek Church. 



CHURCH, LATIN, or WESTERN. See Roman Ca- 

 tholic Church. 



CHURCH, ROMAN CATHOLIC. See Roman 

 Catholic Church. 



CHURCH, FATHERS OF THE (patres ecclesia); 

 teachers and writers of the ancient church, who flou- 

 rished after the tune of the apostles and apostolic fa- 

 thers (the immediate disciples of the apostles), from 

 the second to the sixth century. This name is also 

 sometimes given to the teachers and writers of the 

 following centuries, down to the schoolmen, who be- 

 gin with the twelfth century. A large number of 

 their writings have been preserved, and have been 

 published by modern scholars. The knowledge of 

 their lives and their works constitutes a particular 

 science, called patristics. The fathers of the church 

 introduced the Greek and Roman learning into 

 Christian treatises, and many of them were as able 

 as they were learned. Most of the earlier fathers 

 of the church, before their conversion to Christianity, 

 were rhetoricians or advocates, which accounts for 

 several peculiarities, as well in their method of disput- 

 ing as in their style. The object of their writings is 

 to defend the Christian religion and the Christian com- 

 munity, refute the Jews, pagans, and heretics, explain 

 the Holy Scriptures, set forth the doctrines of their 

 faith, and the rules of their morality, also the history 

 of Christianity and the Christian church, and impart 

 instruction to the people. The contents of these 

 writings, therefore, are apologetic, exegetic, dogma- 

 tic, moral, historical, polemical, or ascetic. The fa- 

 thers of the church are divided into two chief classes, 

 Latin and Greek. The most celebrated among the 

 Greek fathers are Clement of Alexandria, the first who 

 philosophized on Christianity ; Origen, distinguished 

 for his homilies and his apologetic and exegetic writ- 

 ings ; Eusebius, who wrote the first history of Chris- 

 tianity ; Athanasius, who had a decided influence upon 

 the formation of the Christian dogmas ; and Chrysos- 

 tom, the most admired of the ancient Christian orators. 

 The most distinguished among the Latin fathers are 

 Tertullian, a writer of great originality ; Augustine, a 

 man of a peculiar and vehement mind, the oracle of th.-> 



