The Marks of the Church are those things by which the True Church may be recognized in Protestant theology. Three marks are usually enumerated: the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, and church discipline.
The Belgic Confession devotes a chapter (Article 29) to the "Marks of the True Church" and lists them as follows:
The Anglican Thirty-nine Articles states in chapter 19:
The Baptist Orthodox Creed defines the "Visible Church of Christ on Earth" in Article 30:
Louis Berkhof notes that Reformed theologians have differed as to the number of marks: Theodore Beza spoke of only one (preaching), John Calvin and Heinrich Bullinger spoke of two (preaching and sacraments), while Peter Martyr and Zacharias Ursinus spoke of three â preaching, sacraments and discipline. Nevertheless, Edmund Clowney points out that Calvin "included discipline in the proper observance of the sacraments." Albert Mohler calls church discipline the "missing mark" of the church.