10a_church

The chapter discusses the nature, marks, and purposes of the Church. It covers key terms and people related to the Church's history. The Church is defined by its oneness, holiness, Catholicity, and apostolicity. Different perspectives on the Church's origin, membership, and baptism are discussed. The Early Church formed after Pentecost and faced heresy. The Church's relationship with the State changed with Constantine. The Middle Ages saw the Church's association with the Roman Empire and the rise of monastic movements. The Reformation brought about new understandings of the Church, including Luther's marks of a true Church and Calvin's distinction between the visible and invisible Church. Baptist ecclesiology emphasized regenerate church membership. The modern period saw the Methodist Church's formation and the influence of William Carey in missions. The Ecumenical Movement sought unity among Protestant churches, while evangelical churches formed their own associations. Dispensational Chapter 26, The Church, Its Nature, Its Marks, and Its Purposes. Key terms of Isoncrete, Thaumatists, Infallibility, Indefectibility, Albigensians, Waldensians, Particular Baptist Missionary Society for Propagating the Gospel Among the Heathen, Dispensationalism, Pentecostalism, Emergent Church. Key people Cyprian, Augustine, Constantine, Charlemagne, Thomas Aquinas, Bernard of Clairvaux, Joachim of Fiore, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, John Huss, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Martin Brousser, John Smith, Thomas Helwes, John Wesley, William Carey, J.N. Darby, Louis Sperry Schaeffer, Robert Schuller, Donald McGavran. The Isoncrete, these are the key points, the Isoncrete defined the Church in terms of four characteristics, oneness, holiness, Catholicity, apostolicity. The Church was further described by Jertullian, Methodius, and Cyprian as the mother of all faithful followers of Christ. Cyprian would go as far as to say that there is no salvation outside the Church. The Donatists insisted that the Church is truly and completely holy and is thus composed only of genuine believers. The Donatists, however, believed themselves to be the only holy and Catholic Church. In the end, Augustine condemned the Donatists as heretics and charged them to come back to the one holy and Catholic Church. Thomas Aquinas suggested that the Church had three divisions, one on earth, another in heaven, and a third in purgatory. Both Martin Luther and John Calvin emphasized God's word in the sacraments as the key marks of a true Church. Regenerate Church membership, believers' baptism, a Church covenant, the Church as a visible spiritual kingdom, local Church autonomy, and congregational policy were all characteristics of Baptist ecclesiology. William Carey, known as the father of Protestant missions, was influential in confronting Churches that were hardened to considering their role in the evangelization of the people of the world. The chapter summary of the Church has historically sought to 1. define itself as a body of believers in Christ Jesus, 2. demonstrate the characteristics through which the Holy Spirit exercises His mission, and 3. operate in such a way that a. pleases God in worship, b. edifies its members through preaching and the celebration of the ordinances, and c. missionally engages non-believers through evangelism and good deeds. While some believe the Church to have originated with Abraham or even Adam, others believe that its beginning came at Pentecost. Some believe there to be a great deal of continuity between the Old and New Covenants, while others believe there to be much discontinuity. Some think that the Church consists of both non-believers and believers, while others insist on a regenerate Church membership. Churches have different baptismal practices. Different relationships exist between various Churches in the state. Nevertheless, there are numerous common elements that have been shared among most Churches throughout history. The Early Church In the First Gospel, Jesus promises to build His Church, and the Book of Acts speaks of the Church being formed immediately after Pentecost. The Church was named the Way probably because of its association with Jesus. The Early Church was characterized by its sending of ministers on missionary journeys. Thus, new Churches were established as a result of these missionary journeys. As the Church grew, it became important that the Church was able to define and defend itself against heresy that came both from without and from within. The 19th Creed defined the Church in terms of four characteristics—oneness, holiness, Catholicity, and apostolicity. Only those Churches that possessed these four characteristics were worthy of being called the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church was further described by Tertullian, Methodius, and Cyprian as the mother of all faithful followers of Christ. Cyprian would go so far as to say that there is no salvation outside of the Church. With the rise of Constantine in the 4th century, and his legalization of the Church, the Church began a new relationship with the State. The relationship allowed the State to exercise authority over the theology and practices of the Church. The Church therefore began to be closely associated with the Roman Empire. Thus, as the Roman Empire began to fall in the 5th century, Augustine blamed the fall of the Empire on its failure to relate rightly with the Church. Augustine also expanded the definition of the Church to include not only those gatherings of Christians on the earth, but also the good angelic beings in heaven. He believed that the void that was left as a result of the rebellion of the angels was to be filled up with the redeemed souls of man. Thus, all redeemed humans, from the time of Adam to the present, were considered members of the Church. Furthermore, these redeemed saints had been predestined to salvation from the beginning of time. Because only God knows who these predestined are, the Church consists of both genuine believers and false members. Opposed to Augustine, the Donatists insisted that the Church is truly and completely holy, and is thus composed only of genuine believers. The Donatists, however, believed themselves to be the only holy and Catholic Church. Augustine rejected this notion, since it violated the nature of the Church as a community of love. In the end, Augustine condemned the Donatists as heretics and charged them to come back to the only holy and Catholic Church, the Middle Ages. With the fall of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages came a period referred to as the Dark Ages, which was characterized by a spiritual and moral weakening of the Church. Nevertheless, the Church had advocates and the kings of the Franks, including Clovis, his son, and his successor Charlemagne. Influenced by Augustine's city of God, the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne sought to rule the Roman Empire as though it was a political entity, yet ruled by Christian emperors rather than pagans. This kind of government, one in which the government gave due recognition to the Church, would dominate the ecclesiology of the Middle Ages. Augustine would also play an important role in the Church of the Middle Ages. New monastic movements arose, including the Cluniacs, Cisterians, Franciscans, Augustinians, the Dominicans, and the Carmelites. Another important development occurred during this time concerning the Church's understanding of the procession of the Spirit from the Father and the Son. The disagreement would lead to the split between the Catholic Church in the West and the Orthodox Church in the East. Thomas Aquinas was responsible for some important theological developments during this era. He believed the word Church to be the same in meaning as congregation. Thus, the Holy Church is the same as the congregation of the faithful. He further suggested that the Church had three divisions, one on earth, another in heaven, and a third in purgatory. Though Aquinas vied for restricted papal authority, his view would go unheeded by the power-hungry popes. These corrupt popes would lead the Church into growing immorality and spiritual bankruptcy. Two ecclesiologies were considered to be consistent with the reigning conception of the Catholic Church during this time. Bernard of Clairvaux interpreted the Song of Solomon as an allegory of the Church, with the bride being the Church. With Christ as the bridegroom and the Church as the bride, the Church was also thought to be the mother who gives birth to her children, Christians. Joachim of Fiore spoke of the history of the Church in three stages, the first being the Old Testament, corresponding theologically with the Father, the second with the age of the New Testament, corresponding theologically with the Son, and the third being the age to come, corresponding to the Holy Spirit. Three other ecclesiologies were considered heretical positions by the Roman Catholic Church, one the teachings of Cathare or Albigensians, the number two the Waldensians, and three John Wycliffe and John Huss. Against these variant ecclesiologies, the Roman Catholic Church sought to defend itself as the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. To bolster their authority, they added two attributes to the Church's essence, infallibility and defectibility. This was all in the Middle Ages, interesting. That is, the Church was characterized by infallibility and it was further understood to be defectible even if a Pope was proven to be a heretic. In reality, the infallible and indefectible Church was riddled by immorality, carnality, political manipulation, schism, and heresy. The spiritual climate was primed for a reformation. The Reformation and Post-Reformation In an effort to explain the nature of the true Church, the Reformers articulated marks of the true Church. Martin Luther listed seven marks of a true Church. The first three, which regarded the importance of God's Word in the ordinances, became the focal points of the Lutheran understanding of the Church. John Calvin also emphasized God's Word in the sacraments as the key marks of a true Church. Martin Busser added Church discipline to the list. Calvin further distinguished between the invisible and the visible Church, noting that God alone knows the true members, the elect, who make up the invisible Church. The invisible Church, according to Calvin, was composed of a mixture of believers and non-believers. Because the true nature of one's salvation is oftentimes undetectable, Calvin urged the Church to practice a charitable judgment in giving professing Christians the benefit of the doubt regarding their profession. Each of the Protestant churches, Lutheran, Reform, and Anglican, continued teaching the traditional position of a separation of church and state. A new group, the Anabaptists, repudiated the notion that Christians were against personal involvement in the civil government and would have nothing to do with the Catholic Church and magisterial Protestant churches. The Roman Catholic Church denounced Protestant churches for their denial of the Pope as the supreme authority. Rome's insistence on papal authority meant that any Christian who denied his authority was not a member of the true Church. Beginning in the early 17th century, a new church, the Baptist Church, offered a new ecclesiology that promoted the need for regenerate church membership. John Smith and Thomas Helwes both insisted that regeneration was a prerequisite to both baptism and subsequent church membership. Regenerate church membership, believers' baptism, a church covenant, the church as a visible spiritual kingdom, local church autonomy, and congregational polity were all characteristics of Baptist ecclesiology. The congregational church, like the Baptist Church, denied any role for authoritative governing bodies above the local church level in disciplinary matters and accorded a limited role for the civil authorities. The Modern Period In the modern era, John Wesley caused a breach within his own Anglican Church which caused the formation of the Methodist Church. Another important ecclesiological contribution to the church in the modern era came from William Carey, known as the father of Protestant missions. He was influential in confronting churches that were hardened to considering their role in the evangelization of the people of the world. Carey would form the Particular Baptist Missionary Society for propagating the gospel among the heathen and would devote his life as a missionary in India. Carey's missionary influence would serve to impact many Protestant churches and denominations. In response to centuries of division, a large number of Protestant churches sought to be more unified. From this attitude came the Ecumenical Movement. The most important development that came from this movement was the creation of the World Council of Churches in 1948. While the originating member churches were all Protestant, the World Council of Churches, the WCC, would later expand to include the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Evangelical churches have refused to participate at the risk of minimizing doctrine, marginalizing evangelism, and supporting liberal theology. Instead of joining in with the Ecumenical Movement, evangelical churches formed their own National Association of Evangelicals in AE. The Evangelicals came together to form the World Evangelical Fellowship, which yielded a strong orientation toward missions and evangelism. The Luzon Covenant is a strong example of these evangelical ecumenical efforts. Being responsible for possibly the most radical break with historical ecclesiology to date, J. A. Darby and Louis Ferris Schaeffer developed what would be called Dispensationalism, a new ecclesiology that drew a strong distinction between the Old and New Testaments and made a complete separation between the remnant of the Jewish people and the Church. Roman Catholic defenders such as John Henry Newman continued to argue for the traditional Catholic ecclesiology. The First Vatican Council served to support the traditional teaching as well. While the Second Vatican Council stood in strong continuity with the traditional doctrine, it was also an updating of the Church's theology. With the expansion of Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement came one of the most dynamic developments in the modern period. With a focus on their experience of the Holy Spirit similar to that of the early Christians on the day of Pentecost, Pentecostalism has impacted both Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church. Typified by a devotion to Christ and tireless evangelistic energy, Pentecostalism and the Charismatic Movement stand as a catalyst for the greatest expansion of the Church in its history. Alongside this rapid growth has been the modern emphasis on growing churches. From the use of mass media to the use of business strategies to the influence of the Church growth movement, the modern Church has largely focused on numbers. Robert Shuler, Orwell Roberts, and Jerry Falwell each utilized mass media, especially radio and television. Shuler played a key role in the use of business strategies in the Church. He identified the secrets of successful religious retailing as a key to the development of megachurches. These are accessibility, surplus, parking, inventory, service, visibility, possibility thinking, and good cash flow. Donald McGavran founded the Church growth movement. In reaction to the overall Church growth movement, the emergent Church presented a postmodern ecclesiology which was characterized by a protest against traditional churches, a search for authenticity, relationality, contextualization of the gospel, an emphasis on the arts and imagination, an anti-foundational epistemology, experientialism, a preference for narrative over didactic, an emphasis on feelings over cognition, and a sense of connection with the ancient Church and its forms. This fresh emphasis on ecclesiology in the modern era can be seen not only in a fresh emphasis on Church planning, for instance Acts 29, but also in scholarly treatments of the doctrine of the Church.