Church (Christian)

The Christian Church is a term generally used by Protestants and some others to refer to the whole group of people belonging to the Christian religious tradition throughout history. In this understanding, the "Christian Church" does not refer to a particular Christian denomination but to the body of all believers; but most Christians follow the traditional Christian understanding of the term, and believe that the term "Christian Church" or "Church" applies only to a specific historic Christian body or institution, namely their own (e.g., the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Non-Chalcedonian Churches of Oriental Orthodoxy, or the Assyrian Church of the East). The Four Marks of the Church first expressed in the Nicene Creed are that the Church is One (a unified Body of Particular Churches in full Communion of doctrines and faith with each other), Holy (a sanctified and deified Body), Catholic (Universal and containing the fullness of Truth in itself), and Apostolic (its hierarchy, doctrines, and faith can be traced back to the Apostles).

Thus, the majority of Christians globally (particularly of the apostolic churches listed above, as well as some Anglo-Catholics) consider the Christian Church as a visible and institutional "societas perfecta" enlivened with supernatural grace, while Protestants generally understand the Church to be an invisible reality not identifiable with any specific earthly institution, denomination, or network of affiliated churches. Others equate the Church with particular groups that share certain essential elements of doctrine and practice, though divided on other points of doctrine and government (such as the branch theory as taught by some Anglicans).

...
Wikipedia