Ecclesiology

The ecclesiology in Christianity is the theological reflection on the Church ( Ekklesia ), their nature and their significance in the history of salvation in the context of God's work. It forms - in the Catholic conception and terminology - a theme ( treatise ) of dogmatics. The Ekklesia (Greek ἐκκλησία Ekklesia, Latin ecclesia, the, called-out ones ") there is the community of those who were called out by Jesus Christ through the gospel from the world, gather around him in worship and are sent by him for the witness of faith and labor of love. See Church.

3.2.1 Lutheran
3.2.2 Anabaptist
3.2.3 Refurbished
3.2.4 Modern - liberal

3.3.1 Quakerism

New Testament Church

In the Greek text of the New Testament is ekklesia with ἐκκλησία (literally, " the forth [ from ] called [ Assembly ] ", Latinized Ecclesia ) refers to the Christian community. The word will find both for the local community (municipality ) and for the universal Church use. Already in the Old Testament the people of Israel was called out of Egypt, and from that time called the congregation of Israel. The church of Jesus is thus seen as the out of the world " called-out " people of God, gathered in the name of Jesus.

As birth of the Ekklesia ( Church ',' community ' ) is valid according to the tradition of early "church" the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus Christ following Pentecost, the feast of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Translation

Depending on the edition of the Bible Ekklesia is translated differently:

'Church' ( Catholic translations)
, Community ' (most Protestant translations, such as Luther Bible, NRSV )
'Assembly' (NKJV Bible to revision 1975)
, Called-out ones ' ( dabhar translation )

Characteristics

Essentially, there are two conceptions of the nature of the Christian church can be distinguished. One is more likely the other represented by the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the churches of the Reformation. Between these views exist, even within the same denomination, numerous mixed and transitional forms.

Catholic tradition

The church was aware donated by Jesus Christ, his disciples were commissioned to preach the gospel and baptize people. In the Church of Christ is effectively present themselves to the end of time. The church has been constructed not only looking back at the experience of Easter by the first communities. As such, it is subject to the basic creeds and is called there the " one, holy, catholic and apostolic " church. For the Roman Catholic Church is the spiritual origin, from which comes the church, from which also come the sacraments, the open by the lance of the Roman soldier side of Jesus on the cross.

" But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. "

The evangelist John are taken, the greatest care with the determination of the death of Jesus. From his Gospel shows that Jesus died just in the hour in which the Easter lambs are slaughtered for the Passover in the Temple of the Jews. This is to testify that the time of the Lambs is over, that the true paschal lamb in the form of Jesus Christ, son of God has come. For the side of Jesus, which is opened, the evangelist uses the word that appears in the creation story in the report on the creation of Eve.

" God caused the Lord to fall into a deep sleep the man, so he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. "

John wants to make clear the fact that Jesus is the new Adam, who descends into the night of death, sleep and opened the beginning of the new humanity in her. " Blood and Water, Eucharist and baptism as the source and origin of a new community - the Church."

Sacramentality

For the members of the Catholic tradition ( pre-Reformation churches ) the presence of Christ in the Church is essentially sacramental experience. It is a sign and instrument of God's saving action in the world. Why has its historical continuity and global organic unity, guaranteed by the bishops as successors of the Apostles, theological relevance. For personal faith the sacrament practice is crucial that basically ties in with the church as a form of organization.

Exclusivity

According to Orthodox and Roman Catholic faith there can not be several churches side by side. Creates a schism arises for the believer the healing relevant question is where the true Church is. According to the Roman Catholic Church believes it is itself the Church of Christ in full reality, other episcopal churches conducted (see autocephaly ) are part of churches; all other Christian communities are merely ecclesial communities, but not ( Catholic ) " Church in the proper sense ". The Orthodox Church sees this accordingly for themselves. Other churches of the Catholic tradition ( Anglican, Altkatholizimus ) have a more open concept of the Church, which leaves the question of the limits of the Church largely unknown.

Primacy

In the Roman Catholic ecclesiology, the Pope is regarded as owner of the primacy among the bishops and not as primus inter pares. The Pope is the successor of Peter, the real bishop of the church, the gain by the other members of the college of bishops only in the full sense of episcopal authority. This is supported by other churches of the Catholic tradition (Orthodox, Anglican, Old Catholic ) denied.

Protestant tradition

Even before the Reformation, there was a strong feeling of uneasiness about the Roman Church, which began particularly during the Renaissance, due to modernization of State ideas and business processes to neglect their spiritual task actually. The call for stricter churchliness had, however, only likely to be successful, as a single territorial princes allowed independent of Rome Christianity.

Lutheran

After the Lutheran view, the Church is " creation of the Word of God" ( creatura verbi ). It arises and lives wherever the gospel proclaimed purely and the sacraments of Christ's institution to be managed in accordance with. It is the community of justified sinners, which attested to by their actions and form of organization the work of God. The basic Lutheran confession, the Confessio Augustana formulated the understanding of the church as follows: " A Christian Church is the assembly ( congregatio ) all believers in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the sacraments are administered according to the Gospel. " Application of these two criteria in specific churches and denominations designed to be a fluid process. Most Lutherans today assume that even the Roman Catholic Church they met.

Anabaptist

Another widespread understanding of the church is the. Of the Church as " community of believers ", the concrete in the local church For the Anabaptists and Mennonites as well as Congregationalists, Baptists, evangelicals and others - this understanding is constitutive. In it is also rooted the doctrine of baptism of these movements, their argument that the separation of church and state, and their commitment to religious freedom. The personal faith is here a condition for receiving the baptism. Community is here understood as the body of Christ. The church growth movement of the 20th century has promoted this new understanding of the church.

Reformed

Also in the presbyterial and synodal Reformed Church this church understanding the Baptist is visible, although they have sometimes tried to use as a tool of their faith in their history the State (see Huldrych Zwingli ).

Modern - liberal

Sets A modern concept of church, sometimes explicitly following on from Friedrich Schleiermacher or - more rarely - to Ludwig Feuerbach, the religious consciousness of the present civilization on. Churchliness is so variably expressed religious needs of the people who express themselves in beliefs and rituals and form appropriate structures. The question of the truth of Christian preaching will appear only in the context of the needs of an individual or group-specific meaning. This modern - postmodern interpretations of the Church as an instance of the moral sense-making - but also an institution to disguise masking of existing power relations - was initially developed in the context of Protestant liberal theology, may be mentioned as an example called: Richard Rothe, Ernst Troeltsch, Reinhold Niebuhr and Peter L. Berger.

Other traditions

Quakerism

In the early days of Quakerism was no distinction between "church" as a building, "church" as an institution or "church" in the theological sense. Accordingly, the church was the community of those who lived according to God's will and not persisted in sin. Perfectionism - that salvation - was the desired goal and sign the membership of the otherwise not externally visible Church of God. Sacraments and liturgy were rejected as " secular ". This view is but today largely no longer represented in evangelical Quakerism and the liberal Quakerism. In conservative Quakertum but are still elements to find it.

Overlap

These different understandings partly overlap in the various denominations. Thus, while the second view is strongly represented in the Lutheran Confessions, but reference is also made in the same writings not only on the word of God, but also to the administration of the sacraments. The Anglican understood basically as a Catholic church in the sense described above, but also represents the other two Kirchenverständnisse, which ideally should all apply together to the church.

In the background the question of the true church is always the relationship with the state and political violence to date. The Catholic Church represents the only denomination 's claim that it is entitled to a priority over any state authority in spiritual matters. However, they claimed since Vatican II, no privileges in the State more and accepts the civic freedom of religion, as practiced as the first evangelical free churches.

Ecumenical discussion

These different ecclesiologies correspond to different conceptions of the desired unity of the Church of Christ. The issue of mutual recognition as the "church" is a central problem of the current ecumenical movement. So distinguishes the Roman Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council, such as in the Declaration Dominus Iesus of 2000, between "churches" and " ecclesial communities ." Since many Protestant churches hold that the Catholic concept of " ecclesial communion " meant for sufficiently for every church, this differentiation is sometimes perceived today as a reduction. Already with the rejection of the Anglican ordination in the document Apostolicae Curae from 1896, the Roman Church had separated from the Church understanding of others. Meanwhile, it is also recognized by Protestant ecumenists that the question is legitimate, who on the other hand by the Reformation denominations at all a recognition of Catholic views would be able to pronounce, because it lacks binding institutions after the Protestant concept of the Church.

The current state of ecumenical discussion ( from non- Catholic point of view ) is found in an ecclesiology Declaration, adopted at the 9th Assembly in Porto Alegre (Brazil ) in 2006, the World Council of Churches. It is based on the study of the nature and mission of the Church, which was prepared by the WCC's Commission on Faith and Order and the Roman Catholic Church as a full member been a member since 1968.

In July 2007, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published the letter Responsa ad quaestiones de aliquibus sententiis ad doctrinam de ecclesia pertinentibus in which the distinction between church and church community persists. Statement intention of the text, however, was primarily to emphasize the continuity of Catholic ecclesiology ad intra.

Ecclesia as a denominational designation

Following the New Testament, the name goes back to the German healing evangelists Hermann Zaiss free church denomination gave the name of Ecclesia (actually congregation of Christians Ecclesia ). It was built in the 50s of the 20th century and belongs to Federation of Pentecostal Churches.

Salvation History Dogmatic theology Entering heaven alive Protestant Reformation Holy Lance Lamb of God Book of Genesis Orthodoxy Peter L. Berger Full communion 1950s Wolfgang Huber Miroslav Volf

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