The Four Marks of the Church, also known as the Attributes of the Church,[1] describes four distinctive adjectives of traditional Christian ecclesiology as expressed in the Nicene Creed completed at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381: "[We believe] in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church."[2]
This ecumenical creed is today recited in the liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church (both Latin and Eastern Rites), the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East, the Moravian Church, the Lutheran Churches, the Methodist Churches, the Presbyterian Churches, the Anglican Communion, and by members of the Reformed Churches,[3] although they interpret it in very different ways, and some Protestants alter the word "Catholic" in the creed, replacing it with the word "Christian".
While many doctrines, based on both tradition and different interpretations of the Bible, distinguish one denomination from another (largely explaining why there are many different ones), the Four Marks represent a summary of what many clergy and theologians have historically considered to be the most important affirmations of Christianity.
It is interesting to note, however, that the Nicene Creed, recited by Catholics in their worship, is also accepted by millions of other Christians as a testimony of their faith—Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, and members of many of the Reformed Churches.