Believe it or not, the word catholic is not found in the Bible. Where did it come from and why do people use it? It's from a Greek word katholikos (καθολικός) meaning "universal." It was coined by Ignatius to refer to Christianity's universal inclusivism, as opposed to Judaism's national exclusivism. Many Protestants understand this use of the term and gladly refer to themselves as catholic (small c). And so the credal phrase referring to "one holy, catholic and apostolic church" is used by many Protestants, although some substitute the word "universal" for catholic, just so there is no confusion. Orthodox and Anglican churches also consider themselves to be Catholic (big C). The strange paradox is that the western Roman church which formally calls itself Catholic (big C), now sees itself as the Jews did, in an exclusive fashion.
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