Church vs. Churches: What Orthodox think about the Church

First published @ http://radio-awakening.com/index.php/121-solascriptura-3

Built upon the foundation of

the apostles and prophets,

Jesus Christ himself being

the chief corner stone

Ephesians 2:20

This is going to be my final article in the Answering Protestants series, unless, of course, you ask for more :) Here we are to concentrate mainly on the concept of the Church in general, as it is seen by the Orthodox in contrast with the Protestants. Whereas I am pretty well aware that there are strikingly different views on many aspects of Christian faith and practice among the Protestants (i.e., communities, each of which claims to base their faith only on the Bible), ecclesiology (= teaching on Church) is very similar in most Protestant denominations (with the rare exception of the Anglican community) because they all have to do something in order to explain the evident fact that there are so many blends and types of Christianity, contrary to the words of our Saviour they read in the Gospel, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” So we as Christians are called to represent the Holy Trinity in our unity and joint witness to the world but unfortunately we fail to live up to the ideal of unity we read of in the Scripture due to human infirmities and sins, the greatest of which is pride. Hence we have two options: either we stop divisions and are re-unite in the faith of the Apostles and Fathers or we make attempts to justify ourselves. Sad though it is to say, the mainstream Protestant theology has chosen the second route.

How Protestants See the One Church and Their Place Within It

The history of excuses for breaking the unity began with John Wycliffe. Although rightfully credited with the first translation of the Bible in the vernacular English language of his time, this scholar was also a strong advocate of predestination and it was him who coined the expression 'the invisible Church of the elect', contrasting with the visible Church. John Wycliffe also had alternative opinions on such issues as monasticism and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. His views led to his being called “the morning star of the Reformation.” For Wycliffe, the Church contains “only men that shall be saved” and he adds that no one knows for sure whether he is a member of the Church, “a limb of holy Church.”

This concept found further development in the Westminster Confession (1646), which reads, “The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all. II. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. III. Unto this catholic visible Church Christ has given the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints, in this life, to the end of the world: and does, by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto. IV. This catholic Church has been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them. V. The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth to worship God according to His will.”ⁱ This Confession, although drawn up by the Church of England, remains an authoritative statement of faith for the Reformed (Calvinists) and Presbyterians up to now. Many Baptist congregations also profess the same doctrine.

In other words, this concept means there is the perfect invisible Church, all of the members of which are saved by default, and the visible Church (or churches), which are all imperfect, to a certain extent.

Let us look at this viewpoint from an Orthodox perspective.

What Do the Orthodox Believe about the Church?

First of all, contrary to popular beliefs, the Orthodox reject the idea that the Church is merely a human institution and one of the many social groups. Instead, the Church is a divine institution, and, like men created in God's image, the Church was also created by God to reflect the image of the Holy Trinity.

The dogmas of the Church are not some random beliefs some wise men chose to follow. Rather, these dogmas reflect the spiritual reality and the very nature of God. If human beings are created in God's image, there must be a very intimate connection between the living organism of the Church and the Holy Trinity. Just like there is the Triune God (however weird this may sound to some), the Church is the unity of love, which is manifest in diversity. The unity of the three divine Persons in life and being is, therefore, the prototype of the unity of the Church’s persons in life and in being. As Christ Himself says in His prayer for the Church: "even as Thou O Father are in me and me in Thee, so they may be one, that the world may believe that Thou has sent me." The mark of unity is collegiality and love, and not subordination. This is also the reason why we Orthodox reject papal claims of primacy. Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church; bishops, priests, deacons, lay people are united in Him and through Him. Even though it is natural that some members of the Church have special pastoral and ecclesiastical duties that others haven't, we all are essentially equal before Christ and in the Church. Whereas Rome believes that the clergy possess powers of grace as if it were their private property, due to the very fact of their ordination, we Orthodox declare that the power of grace belongs only to God and it is Him who performs all Sacraments.

Unlike Roman Catholics, we do not make a distinction between the ecclesia docens (the teaching Church, represented mostly by the clergy) and the ecclesia audiens (the listening Church, consisting primarily of laity). The Church is not an external authority for us because we all are the Church, united into One Body by the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we are speaking about Christian doctrines, it must be clearly understood that we are not speaking of some laws and regulations imposed on us by a higher authority; instead, they are signposts that we voluntarily accept as members of the Church in order to avoid misinterpretations which may lead to wrong spiritual practice resulting in harm to our salvation. Other Christians, like you and me, have already gone all that way up to Heaven, and they have seen perils and menaces which await those who follow the same route. So they (the Church Fathers) wrote down their spiritual experiences to warn us against the traps of the enemy.

Secondly, due to the fact that the Church is the Body of Christ (as we read in the New Testament), it must also reflect the dual nature of Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect God and the perfect human; therefore, the Church is both visible and invisible. Saying that there is a perfect invisible Church out there, and that all visible churches are imperfect and none of them is the only Church that the gates of hell wouldn't prevail against, sounds like Nestorian heresy. Nestorius was a Patriarch of Constantinople who Nestorius believed that no union between the human and divine were possible. If such a union of human and divine occurred, Nestorius believed that Christ could not truly be con-substantial with God and con-substantial with us because he would grow, mature, suffer and die (which he said God cannot do) and also would possess the power of God that would separate him from being equal to humans. Therefore, Nestorius denied the very essence of our salvation. Those who believe that there is a gap between the perfect invisible Church of the elect and the imperfect human institutions we call churches, repeat the same old Nestorian heresy.

The Orthodox ecclesiology has a very strong and intrinsic connection to our teaching on the Eucharist. The Church, according to the Orthodox, is united into one Body of Christ thanks to the Eucharist. Therefore, only those who partake of the same Flesh and Blood are true members of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. If a finger is cut off one's hand and does not have constant blood supply, it dies out. Similarly, when an individual or a community is cut off the Blood of Christ abiding in the Church, they gradually lose the divine strength and go astray.

The teaching about Church is, in its core, the teaching about the sole purpose of the incarnation of our Lord: the salvation of human race. The Church, rather than the Bible, is what Jesus brought to us. While there might be people whom God saves outside the Church (for unsearchable are His ways, and the Spirit breatheth where he will), the One, Holy and Apostolic Church truly is the way God paved for us, the fountain of God's abundant grace and the pledge of His everlasting Kingdom.

iCf. http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/