Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives – Invisible Universal Church – Protestant History Part One

Thomas E Kresal Admin · August 10, 2020

Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives – Invisible Universal Church – Protestant History Part One

I don’t think there is an “if” in the idea of Protestants holding to a Universal Invisible Church (UIC) for their own historical writings testify of how they gave birth to this erroneous doctrine.

Cyprian of Carthage (200-258 AD), a Roman Catholic Bishop sometime in the first half of 200 AD first fostered the idea of a Universal Visible Church. Bishop Augustine of Hippo, a very influential Roman Catholic priest, adopted and expanded on the concept of the UIC. Augustine then promoted the Roman Catholic (RCC) as the one and only true visible Universal Church which became a foundational doctrine of the RCC. Protestant Reformers who for most part were ex-communicated RCC priests being well acquainted and enamored with Augustine made a few spiritual modifications and gave birth to the Universal Invisible Church.

Philip Schaff (1819-1893)

“The Reformers introduced the terminology “visible” and “invisible” Church. By this they did not mean two distinct and separate Churches, but rather two classes of Christians within the same outward communion. The invisible Church is in the visible Church and will ultimately be saved; and in this sense his true children are invisible, that is, not certainly recognizable and known to men. We may object to the terminology, but the distinction is real and important.

Luther, who openly adopted the view of Hus at the disputation of Leipzig, first applied the term “invisible” to the true Church, which is meant in the Apostles Creed. (Footnote: He speaks of the ecclesia invisible in his 2nd commentary on Galatians, vol. III, 38. Erlangen ed. The Lutheran symbolical books do not use the term, but teach the thing.)

The Augsburg Confession defines the Church to be “the congregation of saint (or believers), in which the Gospel is purely taught, and the sacraments are rightly administered.” This definition is too narrow for the invisible Church, and would exclude the Baptists and the Quakers. (Footnote: The Ninth Article of the Augsburg Confession expressly condemns the Anabaptists for rejecting infant baptism and maintaining the salvation of unbaptized infants.)”

To Be Continued

Presented by Thomas E. Kresal from: The History of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff, Volume Eight, pg. 458.