Ecclesiology
Ecclesiology (from Greek ἐκκλησίᾱ, ekklēsiā, "congregation, church"; and -λογία, -logia) is the theological study of the Christian church. Specific areas of concern include the church's origin, its relationship to the historical Christ, its role in salvation, its discipline, its destiny, and its leadership.
Since different ecclesiologies give shape to very different institutions, ecclesiology may also refer to a particular church or denomination’s character, self-described or otherwise. This is the sense of the word in such phrases as Roman Catholic ecclesiology, Lutheran ecclesiology, and ecumenical ecclesiology.
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Etymology
Ecclesiology comes from the Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklesia), which entered Latin as ecclesia. In the Greco-Roman world, the word was used to refer to a lawful assembly, or a called legislative body. As early as Pythagoras, the word took on the additional meaning of a community with shared beliefs.[1] This is the meaning taken in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Septuagint), and later adopted by the Christian community to refer to the assembly of believers.[2]
Issues addressed by ecclesiology
Ecclesiology asks the questions:
- Who is the Church? Is it a visible or earthly corporation or a unified, visible society—a "church" in the sense of a specific denomination or institution, for instance? Or is it the body of all believing Christians (see invisible church) regardless of their denominational differences and disunity? What is the relationship between living Christians and departed Christians (the "cloud of witnesses") -- do they (those on Earth and those in Heaven) constitute together the Church?
- Must one join a church? That is, what is the role of corporate worship in the spiritual lives of believers? Is it in fact necessary? Can salvation be found outside of formal membership in a given faith community, and what constitutes "membership?" (Baptism? Formal acceptance of a creed? Regular participation?)
- What is the authority of the Church? Who gets to interpret the doctrines of the Church? Is the organizational structure itself, either in a single corporate body, or generally within the range of formal church structures, an independent vehicle of revelation or of God's grace? Or is the Church's authority instead dependent on and derivative of a separate and prior divine revelation external to the organization, with individual institutions being "the Church" only to the extent that they teach this message? For example, is the Bible a written part of a wider revelation entrusted to the Church as faith community, and therefore to be interpreted within that context? Or is the Bible the revelation itself, and the Church is to be defined as a group of people who claim adherence to it?
- What does the Church do? What are the sacraments, divine ordinances, and liturgies, in the context of the Church, and are they part of the Church's mission to preach the Gospel? What is the comparative emphasis and relationship between worship service, spiritual formation, and mission, and is the Church's role to create disciples of Christ or some other function? Is the Eucharist the defining element of the rest of the sacramental system and the Church itself, or is it secondary to the act of preaching? Is the Church to be understood as the vehicle for salvation, or the salvific presence in the world, or as a community of those already "saved?"
- How should the Church be governed? What was the mission and authority of the Apostles, and is this handed down through the sacraments today? What are the proper methods of choosing clergy such as bishops and priests, and what is their role within the context of the Church? Is an ordained clergy necessary? Who are the leaders of a church? Must there be a policy-making board of "leaders" within a church and what are the qualifications for this position, and by what process do these members become official, ordained "leaders"? Must leaders and clergy be "ordained," and is this possible only by those who have been ordained by others?
- What are the roles of 'spiritual gifts' in the life of the church?
- How does the Church's New Covenant relate to the covenants expressed in scripture with God's chosen people, the Jewish people?
- What is the ultimate destiny of the Church in Christian eschatology?
Roman Catholic ecclesiology
Roman Catholic ecclesiology today has a plurality of models and views, as with all Roman Catholic Theology since the acceptance of scholarly Biblical criticism that began in the early to mid 20th century. This shift is most clearly marked by the encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu in 1943. Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J. contributed greatly to the use of models in understanding ecclesiology. In his work Models of the Church, he defines four basic models of Church that have been prevalent throughout the history of the Catholic Church. These include models of the Church as institution, as mystical communion, as herald, and as servant.
The ecclesiological model of Church as Institution holds that the Catholic Church alone is the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church", and is the only Church of divine and apostolic origin. In this view, the Catholic Church— composed of all baptized, professing Catholics, both clergy and laity — is the unified, visible society founded by Christ himself, and its hierarchy derives its spiritual authority through the centuries, via apostolic succession of its bishops, most especially through the bishop of Rome (the Pope) whose successorship comes from St. Peter the Apostle, whom Christ gave "the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven". Thus, the Popes, in the Catholic view, have a God-ordained universal jurisdiction over the whole Church on earth. The Catholic Church is considered Christ's mystical body, and the universal sacrament of salvation, whereby Christ enables men to receive sanctifying grace.
The model of Church as Mystical Communion draws on two major Biblical images, the first of the "Mystical Body of Christ" (as developed in Paul's Epistles) and the second of the "People of God." This ecclesiological model draws upon sociology and articulations of two types of social relationships: a formally organized or structured society (Gesellschaft) and an informal or interpersonal community (Gemeinschaft). The Roman Catholic theologian Arnold Rademacher maintained that the Church in its inner core is community (Gemeinschaft) and in its outer core society (Gesellschaft). Here, the interpersonal aspect of the Church is given primacy and that the structured Church is the result of a real community of believers. Similarly, Yves Congar argued that the ultimate reality of the Church is a fellowship of persons. This ecclesiology opens itself to ecumenism and was the prevailing model used by the Second Vatican Council (itself considered by Roman Catholics an ecumenical council). The Council, using this model, recognized in its document Lumen Gentium that the Body of Christ is not exclusively identified with any given societal organization, including the Roman Catholic Church.
Eastern Orthodox ecclesiology
From the Orthodox perspective, the Church is one, even though She is manifested in many places. Orthodox ecclesiology operates with a plurality in unity and a unity in plurality. For Orthodoxy there is no ‘either / or’ between the one and the many. No attempt is made, or should be made, to subordinate the many to the one (the Roman Catholic model), nor the one to the many (the Protestant model). It is both canonically and theologically correct to speak of the Church and the churches, and vice versa.3
Protestant ecclesiology
Magisterial Reformation ecclesiology
Martin Luther argued that because the Catholic Church had "lost sight of the doctrine of grace", it had "lost its claim to be considered as the authentic Christian church." ; this argument was open to the counter-criticism from Catholics that he was thus guilty of schism and a Donatist position, and in both cases therefore opposing central teachings of the early Church and most especially the Church father St. Augustine of Hippo.[3]
Radical Reformation ecclesiology
Radical Reformation ecclesiology holds that "the true church [is] in heaven, and no institution of any kind on earth merit[s] the name 'church of God.'"[4]
See also
Beliefs that define the church
- Body of Christ
- Biblical canon
- Creed
- Orthodoxy
- Priesthood of all believers
- Theology: beliefs about the nature of God. This can include Pneumatology (beliefs about the Holy Spirit), Christology (beliefs about Jesus being the Messiah), and Soteriology (beliefs about how people are saved).
- sobor
- sobornost
Rituals that define the church
- Liturgy
- Ritualism
- Sermon
- Sacrament
- Eucharist
- Baptism
- Infant baptism
- Believer's baptism
- Confirmation
- Chrismation
- Holy Orders
Topics in church government
- Apostolic succession
- Autocephaly
- Canon law
- Church discipline
- Four Marks of the Church
- Marks of the Church
- Separation of church and state
- Erastinanism
- State religion
- Free Church
- Church covenant
- Full communion
- Laity
- Sociological classifications of religious movements
- Sect
- Cult
- Ecclesiastical polity
- Connectionalism
- Congregationalist polity
- Episcopal polity
- Presbyterian polity
- Clergy
- Priesthood of all believers
- Pope
- Patriarch
- Metropolitan
- Archbishop
- Bishop
- Priest
- Deacon
- Pastor
- Elder
- Ordination of women
- Ordination of LGBT Christian clergy
References
External links
- Centre for the Study of Contemporary Ecclesiology at Liverpool Hope University
- A primer (PDF) on Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic ecclesiology from an Orthodox perspective
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