Universal church: Encyclopedia - Universal church

Universal church

The phrase universal church can refer to:

• the Church Universal:
  • A translation of catholic as in "catholic church".
  • The idea that all Christian churches and sects share certain things in common
  • The idea that all Christians form part of a single body. This idea had more organisational force in pre-Reformation Western Europe, when the Roman Catholic Church dominated the local religious landscape. Note that the original etymological form of the word catholic meant "universal".
• Any one of various churches which have adopted grandiose titles expressing their universal reach or ambitions

The precise definition of what constitutes a Christian, though intrinsic to these distinctions, often remains a matter for dispute...

See also:

• Ecumenism
• Unitarian Universalism
• Universalism

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Universal church", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki