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Issues of the Reformation: The Church
This was a very important issue in the Reformation – although one that doesn’t often get mentioned in the history books. The Catholic Church had/has one view that stressed a singular, physical/visible, authoritative, powerful denomination. Luther stressed a different view.
+ The Church is US!
For Luther and Lutherans (and generally for Protestants), the primary meaning of “church” is us! The whole company, community, family of Christians spread out over the all the continents and centuries. This is the proclamation of the ancient Creed that we believe in “one holy catholic church – the communion of saints” (The word “catholic” here is an adjective meaning “universal, whole, complete, general, all-embracing”). Christians are “one” because we are bound together as one communion/family of believers in Christ. We are “holy” because through this faith in Christ we are forgiven, we are “catholic” because together we are the whole corpus of believers, and we are a communion or community or fellowship of saints (those made so by faith in Christ). See Matthew 16:18, 1 Peter 2:5 & 9, Mark 16:15, Romans 15:25, 1 Corinthians 14:33 and 16:1, Ephesians 1:1).
We affirm the “mystical union of all believers,” “the communion of saints,” the “community of faith.” ALL believers in Jesus – across the centuries and continents – united by our common faith in Christ as our Savior, united into the “household” or “family” of God, united as the “Body of Christ.” This communion, the church, this family is not limited by time or geography or institutional affiliations. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. The church is CHRISTIANS – in this sense, not an institution. Pardon the grammar, but “It’s not Jesus and ME, it’s Jesus and WE.” This is the primary and foremost meaning of “church.” See Ephesians 2:19-22, Ephesians 4:4, 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 12:4, Ephesians 1:1, Luke 17:21, etc.
For Lutherans, Jesus is the Head of the Church (He never resigned) and it is to Him that we are to listen and to submit. For the Reformers, the Church isn’t about control or power but about love and ministry.
Lutherans reject replacing or subjecting this view of the church with the insistence that some denomination – as a physical, visible, geological, political, economic, legal entity – is rather The Church (whether “in fullness” or at all). Lutherans view the church collectively and corporately rather than individually and politically. They view it in terms of service and ministry, not power and control.
The western part of the Roman Empire “fell” in the 5th Century and the Roman Church there began to accumulate increasing power in the vacuum. It increasingly struggled for power with the Eastern Church (in what remained of the Roman Empire). A slow result of that was that the Roman Church (and to a lesser degree the Eastern Orthodox Church) placed increasing emphasis, power and authority in itself, gaining an increasingly institutional view. It increasingly proclaimed itself to be the fullness of the church, eventually declaring itself the authoritative, infallible one. The emphasis being on a denomination - its own self.
+ Other Meanings of “Church”
We all acknowledge that “church” can mean several things.
+ Congregations. Christians usually associate together, congregating or assembling typically for the purposes of public worship, mutual cooperation, edification, support and accountability. Such a gathering in a given place and time is technically called a “congregation” (although the term “church” may be used here in a secondary sense as in First Lutheran Church of Los Angeles; this use is seen in Scripture, too – see Galatians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1). These associations may assume some institutional aspects but the “church” is the people, not the institution. Actually, the Christians who associate in that congregation are but a small, tiny part of the “church catholic” – the whole number of believers, past and present.
By their very nature, congregations include non-believers in their midst (some seekers, some “hypocrites”), Matthew 13:47-49 seems to indicate we should not be too obsessed about that, just preach the word and love all people (God will sort it all out). Because Christians are spread out all over the world, it’s no surprise that that are literally millions of congregations – some huge, some tiny, some with institutional aspects, some just an informal gathering in a living room. Several congregations are mentioned in the New Testament (Galatians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Revelation 1:4, etc.).
+ Denomination Congregations may be denominational or non-denominational. “Non-denominational” congregations are autonomous, independent, isolated and separate – with no formal relationship with any other congregation and with no accountability beyond itself (or perhaps directly to God). “Denominational” congregations have bonded together with others in a formal manner, usually for reasons similar to why Christians bonded together with others in congregations. These congregations work and serve together, provide mutual accountability and support, etc.
There are no examples of denominations in the New Testament. While some historians argue there were none until the 4th century, we do see at least some very elementary aspects of cooperation in the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) and the collection for the saints. For the first 300 years, Christianity was an illegal, “underground” religion – more a movement than anything - often “on the run” and meeting informally and occasionally even secretly in “house churches.” This changed when Christianity was made legal and then the official Roman religion in the 4th century.
Today, there are literally thousands of denominations, although about 90% of Christians are in 8 groupings of such (“faith communities”).
+ Buildings. This familiar ENGLISH meaning of the word is one not found in Scripture. In England, the property of a congregation also became known by the word “church.” Thus we may say in English: “The church was recently repainted.” In the New Testament, no congregation yet had any facilities.
The fact that there are billions of Christian people, millions of congregations and thousands of denominations has no relevance to the fact that there is ONE, holy, catholic, communion of saints. Irrespective of our institutions, WE are ONE by virtue of our one Lord Jesus, our one faith in Christ, our one baptism (Ephesians 4:5-6, Romans 12:5, Ephesians 4:25, 1 Corinthians 10:17 and 12:12-26).
+ Why It Matters…
Luther and the Reformers correctly understood this was the “elephant in the room.” In much of the Reformation “debate,” the Roman Catholic Church essentially defended itself by insisting that It (itself alone) was The Church and deserved docilic submission. To be loyal to Christ was to be loyal to it, to obey Christ meant to obey it, to listen to Christ meant to listen to it. It was the Voice of God, the Authority of God.
While Luther held the Roman Catholic Church in some esteem and noted many good things it did, he saw it as a denomination, one that (like all Christians and all our institutions) is accountable to Jesus and is to serve Jesus and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus. Luther embraced a Higher Authority to which all (himself included) is accountable, to which all (himself included) is to serve and whose Kingdom we are to grow.
It’s STILL all about Jesus (not some singular denomination).
Other threads in this series:
The Bible - http://christianityhaven.com/showthr...tion-Scripture
The Sacraments - http://christianityhaven.com/showthr...ion-Sacraments
The Priesthood of All Believers - http://christianityhaven.com/showthr...-All-Believers
Our Salvation - http://christianityhaven.com/showthr...-one-SALVATION
- Josiah
.
This was a very important issue in the Reformation – although one that doesn’t often get mentioned in the history books. The Catholic Church had/has one view that stressed a singular, physical/visible, authoritative, powerful denomination. Luther stressed a different view.
+ The Church is US!
For Luther and Lutherans (and generally for Protestants), the primary meaning of “church” is us! The whole company, community, family of Christians spread out over the all the continents and centuries. This is the proclamation of the ancient Creed that we believe in “one holy catholic church – the communion of saints” (The word “catholic” here is an adjective meaning “universal, whole, complete, general, all-embracing”). Christians are “one” because we are bound together as one communion/family of believers in Christ. We are “holy” because through this faith in Christ we are forgiven, we are “catholic” because together we are the whole corpus of believers, and we are a communion or community or fellowship of saints (those made so by faith in Christ). See Matthew 16:18, 1 Peter 2:5 & 9, Mark 16:15, Romans 15:25, 1 Corinthians 14:33 and 16:1, Ephesians 1:1).
We affirm the “mystical union of all believers,” “the communion of saints,” the “community of faith.” ALL believers in Jesus – across the centuries and continents – united by our common faith in Christ as our Savior, united into the “household” or “family” of God, united as the “Body of Christ.” This communion, the church, this family is not limited by time or geography or institutional affiliations. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. The church is CHRISTIANS – in this sense, not an institution. Pardon the grammar, but “It’s not Jesus and ME, it’s Jesus and WE.” This is the primary and foremost meaning of “church.” See Ephesians 2:19-22, Ephesians 4:4, 1 Peter 2:9, Romans 12:4, Ephesians 1:1, Luke 17:21, etc.
For Lutherans, Jesus is the Head of the Church (He never resigned) and it is to Him that we are to listen and to submit. For the Reformers, the Church isn’t about control or power but about love and ministry.
Lutherans reject replacing or subjecting this view of the church with the insistence that some denomination – as a physical, visible, geological, political, economic, legal entity – is rather The Church (whether “in fullness” or at all). Lutherans view the church collectively and corporately rather than individually and politically. They view it in terms of service and ministry, not power and control.
The western part of the Roman Empire “fell” in the 5th Century and the Roman Church there began to accumulate increasing power in the vacuum. It increasingly struggled for power with the Eastern Church (in what remained of the Roman Empire). A slow result of that was that the Roman Church (and to a lesser degree the Eastern Orthodox Church) placed increasing emphasis, power and authority in itself, gaining an increasingly institutional view. It increasingly proclaimed itself to be the fullness of the church, eventually declaring itself the authoritative, infallible one. The emphasis being on a denomination - its own self.
+ Other Meanings of “Church”
We all acknowledge that “church” can mean several things.
+ Congregations. Christians usually associate together, congregating or assembling typically for the purposes of public worship, mutual cooperation, edification, support and accountability. Such a gathering in a given place and time is technically called a “congregation” (although the term “church” may be used here in a secondary sense as in First Lutheran Church of Los Angeles; this use is seen in Scripture, too – see Galatians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1). These associations may assume some institutional aspects but the “church” is the people, not the institution. Actually, the Christians who associate in that congregation are but a small, tiny part of the “church catholic” – the whole number of believers, past and present.
By their very nature, congregations include non-believers in their midst (some seekers, some “hypocrites”), Matthew 13:47-49 seems to indicate we should not be too obsessed about that, just preach the word and love all people (God will sort it all out). Because Christians are spread out all over the world, it’s no surprise that that are literally millions of congregations – some huge, some tiny, some with institutional aspects, some just an informal gathering in a living room. Several congregations are mentioned in the New Testament (Galatians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Revelation 1:4, etc.).
+ Denomination Congregations may be denominational or non-denominational. “Non-denominational” congregations are autonomous, independent, isolated and separate – with no formal relationship with any other congregation and with no accountability beyond itself (or perhaps directly to God). “Denominational” congregations have bonded together with others in a formal manner, usually for reasons similar to why Christians bonded together with others in congregations. These congregations work and serve together, provide mutual accountability and support, etc.
There are no examples of denominations in the New Testament. While some historians argue there were none until the 4th century, we do see at least some very elementary aspects of cooperation in the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) and the collection for the saints. For the first 300 years, Christianity was an illegal, “underground” religion – more a movement than anything - often “on the run” and meeting informally and occasionally even secretly in “house churches.” This changed when Christianity was made legal and then the official Roman religion in the 4th century.
Today, there are literally thousands of denominations, although about 90% of Christians are in 8 groupings of such (“faith communities”).
+ Buildings. This familiar ENGLISH meaning of the word is one not found in Scripture. In England, the property of a congregation also became known by the word “church.” Thus we may say in English: “The church was recently repainted.” In the New Testament, no congregation yet had any facilities.
The fact that there are billions of Christian people, millions of congregations and thousands of denominations has no relevance to the fact that there is ONE, holy, catholic, communion of saints. Irrespective of our institutions, WE are ONE by virtue of our one Lord Jesus, our one faith in Christ, our one baptism (Ephesians 4:5-6, Romans 12:5, Ephesians 4:25, 1 Corinthians 10:17 and 12:12-26).
+ Why It Matters…
Luther and the Reformers correctly understood this was the “elephant in the room.” In much of the Reformation “debate,” the Roman Catholic Church essentially defended itself by insisting that It (itself alone) was The Church and deserved docilic submission. To be loyal to Christ was to be loyal to it, to obey Christ meant to obey it, to listen to Christ meant to listen to it. It was the Voice of God, the Authority of God.
While Luther held the Roman Catholic Church in some esteem and noted many good things it did, he saw it as a denomination, one that (like all Christians and all our institutions) is accountable to Jesus and is to serve Jesus and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus. Luther embraced a Higher Authority to which all (himself included) is accountable, to which all (himself included) is to serve and whose Kingdom we are to grow.
It’s STILL all about Jesus (not some singular denomination).
Other threads in this series:
The Bible - http://christianityhaven.com/showthr...tion-Scripture
The Sacraments - http://christianityhaven.com/showthr...ion-Sacraments
The Priesthood of All Believers - http://christianityhaven.com/showthr...-All-Believers
Our Salvation - http://christianityhaven.com/showthr...-one-SALVATION
- Josiah
.
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, who teach that the church and state are two separate entities. Reconciliation into God's Kingdom comes not by forced denominational attendance in a state church, but instead it comes by God's grace in providing the gift of faith.