The Four Marks of the Church

Write a 1500 word essay that answers the following question.

What does it mean for the church to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic?

This question focusses on the question of identity and authenticity, especially by the criteria used to identify the quality of Christian communities. It asks you to consider the nature of integrity or the connection between what the church says and does. A good answer might (1) say what the marks are (2) evaluate or explore why its significant to ecclesial life (3) show how a better understanding of these marks could improve churches today. You might be tempted to say these classic marks are insufficient and that new ones are needed. In this case you’d need to show how and why they’re deficient and why a new set of characteristics would be better. If your interested in the sacraments, you might consider where they fit within the scope of these characteristics.

Require at least one reference (total of four) to each of the “attributes of the Church” with page numbers for all references and sources as requested by the lecturer.