Nature of the church Flashcards
(16 cards)
Four marks of the church
One
Holy
Catholic
Apostolic
The belief the church is characterised by these four marks was firs expressed by the First Council or Constantinople in the year 381 in its revision of the Nicene Creed
Unity of the church
Unity of church can be traced back to the new testament
Gal 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female for you are all one in Christ Jesus”
Cyprian of Carthage examples of unity
Just as the church has many parts but is still one so too does the sun have many rays but a single light
A tree has many branches but a single trunk
Many streams flow from a singke source. If a stream is cut off from its source it will dry up, if a branch is cut from a tree it cannot come into bud.
Bishops
The unity is achieved through the bishops who are the glue holding the church together. This has three features:
In order to become a bishop one needs approval of three others
Bishops have firm authority
Preaching and teaching could be properly controlled
Cyprians key goal was to avoid schism and splits in the early church
Holiness
The word holy means set apart for a special purpose by and for God. The church is holy because God is holy and the Church shares in God’s own life and holiness
Latin and Greek origin of Catholic
Latin word catholicus means universal and originates from greek kath holou which means referring to the whole
Quotes supporting church is universal
The church is universal in terms of both place Romans 1:8 “Your faith is proclaimed in all the world” and also in terms of people Galatians 3:28 “There is neither male nor female”
Three parts of Catholic Church
Earth
Purgatory
Heaven
Luther’s apostilicity vs word of God
Luther challenged the ides that the bishops (apostilicity) were essential to one’s relationship with God and instead emphasised the word of God as the primary means to know God. Luther argued “God’s word cannot be without God’s people and coversely God’s people cannot be without God’s word”
1 Timothy 4:5
“Everything is consecrated by the word of God and prayer”
Chrism issue
It is only the holy spirit that anoints and makes the church holy no the Pope’s chrism (oil) with which he consecrates (makes holy) fingers, clothes, cloaks etc. These things fall apart and decay like a bag of maggots but the word of God and the Holy Spirit will never decay
Priesthood of believers issue
Luther argued for a ‘priesthood of believers’ who were priests by virtue of their baptism, faith and the gospel. He argued priests are only “office holders” and when they leave office revert to being peasants like all others
Strengths of Luther
Equality is increased as true faith becomes accessible to all equally through the word of God rather than through the priestly apostolic hierarchy
Reduces power and influence of the priests and Bishops as the so called divine representative of God on earth e.g. last rites ceremony’s often involved abuses such as signing one’s wealth over to the church to enter heaven on one’s death bed.
Prioritising the word of God over the church as the route to God led to translations of the Bible from latin to languages spoken by Christians in Europe
Weakness- lead to theological anarchy
Leads to theological anarachy as it opens the door to endless different interpretations of scripture. For example rapture theory uses the book of Revelation to justify the end times’ prophecy but does not appear anywhere in the bible
The issue with this is it leads to new religions movement such as the Branch Davidians under David Koresh developing dangerous theology. Koresh led a cult in Waco Texas which though the end of the world was coming and Koresh was the Mesiah, who had multiple underage wives. They stockpiled guns and had an armed siege with the FBI leading to 76 deaths.
Weakness- conlict and warfare
between Catholic and new protestants that continues to this day. For example, the thirty years war 1618- 1648 engulfed most of Europe leading to 4.5-8 milion civilian and soldier deaths.
Also, in 16th century Britain the persecution of Mary Queen of Scotts by Elizabeth for her catholic faith lead to her spending much of her life in prison before her eventual execution
Moreover in the 17th century King James 1 moved protestants from Scotland and England to Northern Ireland which created conflcit with Irish Catholics which continues to this day.
Weakness- weakens church politically
Splitting into protestant and catholic churches weakens Europe politically against foreign powers e.g. the Turksih Ottoman Empire. This became particularly actue after the reformation as we see a multitude of new churches e.g. Church Of England/ Scotland
