Roman Catholic Church

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Comment by Mike Trujillo on May 25th, 2009 at 3:46 pm

“Catholic (katholikos in Greek) with a small c means universal or not narrow-minded, partial, or bigoted.”

What the heck is this supposed to mean? !!! Not narrow-minded, partial, or bigoted…I guest that would be something that stands for nothing but whatever the mind of the beholder pleases. Reality is that the definition for the Catholic Church little or big “c” means the same. The Church’s real name is simply that “The Church” when divisions of men began to make separations and divisions it became called the Church found everywhere or the “catholic” church and with time and more manly separations that descriptive term became more of a proper title/name as the Catholic Church with was first described by St. Ignatius of Antioch (107 AD) in his letter to the Syrneans Chapter 8. In that letter and his 6 other authenticated letters he describes a church of specific beliefs, doctrines, and structure…all identical to what we know is The Church, the same Catholic Church which has grown from that small mustard seed…yet full of beliefs that represent the pillar and foundation of the Truth(as described in 1 Timothy 3:15. Truth that some are offended and describe as written above.

Comment by David Doose on May 26th, 2009 at 5:04 pm

Perhaps your case should be made to Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. See below:

Catholic
Cath”o*lic\ (k[a^]th”[-o]*[i^]k), a. [L. catholicus, Gr. kaqoliko`s, universal, general; kata` down, wholly + “o`los whole, probably akin to E. solid: cf. F. catholique.]

1. Universal or general; as, the catholic faith.

Men of other countries [came] to bear their part in so great and catholic a war. –Southey.

Note: This epithet, which is applicable to the whole Christian church, or its faith, is claimed by Roman Catholics to belong especially to their church, and in popular usage is so limited.

2. Not narrow-minded, partial, or bigoted; liberal; as, catholic tastes.

3. Of or pertaining to, or affecting the Roman Catholics; as, the Catholic emancipation act.

Catholic epistles, the epistles of the apostles which are addressed to all the faithful, and not to a particular church; being those of James, Peter, Jude, and John.

Catholic
Cath”o*lic\, n. 1. A person who accepts the creeds which are received in common by all parts of the orthodox Christian church.

2. An adherent of the Roman Catholic church; a Roman Catholic.

Old Catholic, the name assumed in 1870 by members of the Roman Catholic church, who denied the ecumenical character of the Vatican Council, and rejected its decrees, esp. that concerning the infallibility of the pope, as contrary to the ancient Catholic faith.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Comment by Mike Trujillo on May 27th, 2009 at 1:27 am

Mr. Doose, there is a good reason why it is placed under a secondary definition. There are multiple applications of the same words in the English language though not necessarily of the same root or historical meaning.

We know this because the 3rd meaning is directed precisely to the Catholic Church. Yet, if all three definitions were supposedly congruent with each other then the entire definition for the word would be an absolute oxymoron. Therefore, this encyclopedia can not include the 2nd meaning as it does not apply to the ecclesiastically (Church) related context of the article, but instead implicates something similar to the word “generic” . Note the 2nd meaning is followed by an example which clearly points to a meaning unrelated to the ecclesiastical use being discussed : “2. Not narrow-minded, partial, or bigoted; liberal; as, CATHOLIC TASTES.” (emphasized)

Whether, a word is capitalized or not it is immaterial . It is obvious the 1st meaning is not related to the 2nd meaning. Any more than a capital C, proper name meaning, for Catholic could also apply to the “Old Catholic Church” as it does for “Roman Catholic Church” as termed in the article.

You may also want to look up the word “dust” , it can mean to remove, or to disperse -opposites- and can also be the proper name of a fungous plant also known as a Smut…the Dust Brand plant.

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