1

Compulsory Declaration for Home Examinations Candidate Number: 3322

Study Program: Master in theology

Course Code and Name: MTHEOL-332

Submission Deadline: 30.11.2018 14:00

Number of Words: 5661 Examples clarifying what may be regarded as cheating in mandatory assignments and home examinations (bachelor’s and master’s theses included):

To copy, duplicate or transcribe text from your own or another person’s work without clearly marking as quotations and giving proper references

To reproduce or reformulate your own or another person’s work without giving proper references

To submit a text that has been copied or downloaded from the internet and passed on as your own work

To submit a text that you or another person have submitted on a previous examination at any teaching institution, in Norway or abroad

To submit a text that has been written for you by another person To cooperate with other students/candidates in a way that leads to your answer paper

in all relevant regards being similar to another student’s/candidate’s answer paper on an examination or assignment that requires individual work

Regulations regarding cheating and plagiarism:

Act regarding Universities and University Colleges § 4-7 and § 4-8 Regulations Pertaining to Admission, Studies, Examinations, and Degrees at VID

Specialized University § 30 Routines for handling cheating and attempted cheating at VID Specialized University

By signing with my candidate number below, I declare that my answer paper is written in compliance with these regulations. Candidate Number: 3322

2

The Orthodox, Catholics, and the Lutheran Understanding of the Church

Table of Contents Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................................................ 2 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................... 3 1) PRESENTATION ................................................................................................................................................ 4 1.1) ORTHODOX UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH .............................................................................................. 4 1.1.1) The Church as Fullness of the Holy Spirit ................................................................................................. 4 1.1.2) Body of Christ ................................................................................................................................................ 4 1.1.3) The Church as Image of the Trinity ............................................................................................................ 6 1.2) CATHOLIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH ................................................................................................ 7 1.2.1) The Church as Hierarchical Institution ...................................................................................................... 7 1.2.2) The Church as Pilgrim People of God ........................................................................................................ 8 1.2.3) Mystical Body of Christ ................................................................................................................................ 9 1.2.4) The Church as Temple of Spirit ................................................................................................................. 10 1.3) LUTHERAN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH ............................................................................................. 11 1.3.1) The Word of God as Foundation of the Church ...................................................................................... 11 1.3.2) The Church as Simul Justus et Peccator .................................................................................................. 12 1.3.3) The Priesthood of all Believers and the Priestly Ministry ...................................................................... 13 1.3.4) The Church as Serving Community .......................................................................................................... 14 2) DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................................................... 16 2.1) EVALUATION IN RELATION TO THE BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHURCH ................................... 16 2.1.1) The Foundation of the Church ................................................................................................................... 16 2.1.2) The Church as Body of Christ ................................................................................................................... 18 2.2) RELEVANCE TO CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY ......................................................................................... 19 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................................... 20 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................................. 21

3

Introduction

Contemporary Christians become more and more unchurched, in Western Christianity for

instance, the rise of churchlessness is significantly increasing.1 Additionally, “believing

without belonging” becomes popular maxim, which refers to the churchlessness of the

Christians despite not abandoning the belief in God.2 This is an ecclesiological problem that

needs the doctrine of the church to be reviewed in the world Christianity today. Such doctrine

of the church is across all denominations, but this short essay will present the church in the

understanding of the Orthodox, Catholics, and the Lutheran and its relevance to contemporary

Christianity. The problematics on this essay thus is what is the church in the understanding of

Orthodox, Catholics, and the Lutheran? Is such understanding Biblical? How is its relevance

to contemporary Christianity? Now, we begin with the Orthodox ecclesiology.

1 G. Barna and D. Kinnaman, eds., Churchless: Understanding Today's Unchurched and How to Connect with Them (United States of America: Tyndale House Publishers, 2014), iii. 2 K.R. Ward, Losing Our Religion?: Changing Patterns of Believing and Belonging in Secular Western Societies (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2013), ix-x.

4

1) Presentation

1.1) Orthodox Understanding of the church

1.1.1) The Church as Fullness of the Spirit

The Orthodox understanding of the church is marked primarily by the emphasis of the

Holy Spirit. This relates to the Eastern theology in general which is more pneumatologically

oriented compared to their Western counterpart, as Veli-Matti Karkkainen says, “Eastern

Orthodox theology is heavily imbued by pneumatology; Western theology in the main is built

on Christological concepts rather than on pneumatological”.3 According to the Orthodox

tradition, the church is constituted by the salvific work of Christ and the Spirit, as says Tamara

Grdzelidze that, “the divine economy of salvation is the foundational principle of the church.”4

The spiritual side of that foundation of the church lies on the concept of theosis (deification)

because it is within the church that one has salvation, and such salvation is not the redemption

from sin, but the sanctification and adoption ending up with the fully human deification.5 All

those processes of theosis have been entrusted to the Spirit, He is the effecting deification,

perfection, adoption, and sanctification,6 and, as a result, the church is the fullness of the Spirit,

as such Spirit is fully present there with His deifying work. The church then is those who have

been adopted, sanctified, and deified by the Spirit deifying work. Here, the concept of theosis

comes to the fore because since they are deified, they become partakers of the divine essence

(2 Peter 1: 4 ἵνα διὰ τούτων γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως).

As we said above, there is also a Christological point in Orthodox ecclesiology in addition

to the pneumatological one, as will be explored the following.

1.1.2) Body of Christ

Despite the pneumatological ecclesiology of the eastern orthodox, they do not overlook

the Christology; for the work of Christ also brings forth the church, in addition to the work of

the Spirit.7 Here, there is a close interrelation between the work of Christ and that of the Spirit,

3 V.M. Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives (Downers Grove, Illinois InterVarsity Press, 2009), 17. 4 Tamara Grdzelidze, "Eastern Eccelesiology," in The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, ed. John Anthony McGuckin (New York, USA: John Wiley, 2010). 5 Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Contextual Perspective (Grand Rapids Michigan: Baker Academic, 2018), 54. 6 Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 22. 7 Vladmir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (Cambridge: James Clarke & Company, 1991), 52.

5

and what is glimpsed behind it is that the Orthodox thought about the intratrinitarian

interactions,8 since, in founding the church, “Christology and pneumatology must be seen as

simultaneous rather than exclusive”.9 To add, the presence of Christ within the church is also

enhanced and considered as the key of the essence of the church as states Ignatius “wherever

Jesus Christ is, there is the universal church.”10 One of the most distinctive features of the

Eastern ecclesiology is the concept of the church as “theandric” organism following the

theandric personification of Jesus Christ.11 Vladimir Lossky claims that all the heresies to the

person of Christ in early centuries could also be applied to the church, the Nestorianism, for

example, which tended to separate the two natures of Christ is also threat to the basic essence

of the church, dividing her into two distinct beings, the church as people of God (heavenly

church which is invisible) and the church as groups of people in this earth (the earthly churches,

the visible ones); the same to the monophytism that tended to mingle the two natures of Christ

into one divine nature, this, as Lossky claims, leads to the concept of the church as just a divine

or heavenly being.12 The church then, as being the body of Christ is the combination of two

aspects, the divine and the human, both cannot be separated (against Nestorian), yet, cannot be

confused (against monophysite). The Chalcedonian Christology then is a restoration of the

doctrine of Christ and of the church alike.

At the heart of the Eastern Christological ecclesiology is the Eucharist. This is one of the

ways of becoming consubstantial with the person of Christ by the power of the Spirit,13 as says

James Payton that, “in the Eucharist, divine life is communicated to us.”14 This also ensures

the unity of the church as the one body of Christ, Paul Negrut reports that Kallistos Ware claims

this as a kind of causality, because we eat from the one loaf, therefore we are made one Body

in Christ. 15 Kallistos distinguishes the incarnated body of Christ from the ecclesial body of

Christ, which is the church, saying that the incarnated body of Christ is sinless whereas his

ecclesial body remains sinful since the individual members within it is imperfect; yet, such

8 E.F. Rogers, S. Hauerwas, and P. Ochs, After the Spirit: A Constructive Pneumatology from Resources Outside the West (Grand Rapids, Michigan & Cambridge UK: SCM Press, 2006), 7. 9 Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 23. 10 Ibid. 11 A. Louth, Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology (Great Britain: SPCK, 2013), 156. 12 Vladmir Lossky uses the terms Nestorian ecclesiology and monophysite ecclesiology as he applies literally the church as body of Christ combined by the two natures (divine and human), which cannot be totally separated, yet, not confused. See: Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, 94. 13 Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 21. 14 J.R. Payton, Light from the Christian East: An Introduction to the Orthodox Tradition (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 148. 15 Paul Negrut, "Ekklesia: An Eastern Orthodox Perspective " Emanuel University of Oradea (2005): 6.

6

imperfection of the individual members does not affect the essential nature of the church as

divinely being. 16 Emphasizing this, Meyendorff states that “The mystery of the Church consists

in the very fact that the together sinners become something different from what they are as

individuals.”17

Such communion and togetherness of believers are reflected by God’s very being as

communion, to this we proceed next.

1.1.3) The Church as Image of the Trinity

The church as an image of Trinity has an important place in the Eastern ecclesiology. The

concept embraces both the formal and the ontological relationship between the triune God and

the church.18 The view of the church exists in the form of trinity rises mostly from the Eastern

ecclesial ecumenical dialogue tending to unite churches despite the diversity.19 In ecumenical

ecclesiology, Collins quotes Behr who says that the koinonia of the three Persons of the Holy

Trinity, the very being of God, is taken as a paradigm of the koinonia that constitutes the being

of the ecclesial body, the Church; thus the Church as ‘communion’ is said to reflect God’s

being as communion, a communion that will be revealed fully in the kingdom of God.20 The

most distinctive term in Eastern Orthodox ecclesiology for this conception is “sobornost”

which literally means “unity in diversity”.21 According to Khomi︠ a︡kov, the church is one, holy,

and sobornyi, meaning that the local churches are not isolated, but in their essence as being

church, each of them is in relation to the universal church, sharing the same sources of faith,

hope, and love, which are the Scripture and the apostolic teaching. 22 For John Zizioulas, the

ontology of the church is bound to the very being of God, which is relational; such relationality

is part of the divine ontology, so it is for the ecclesial ontology, this, as Zizioulas expresses, is

not morally unattainable to the individual Christians, since the relationship with the world, with

16 Ibid., 7. 17 John Meyendorff, "What Holds the Church Together," Ecumenical Review 12, no. 3 (1960): 298. 18 The correspondence between the trinitarian and ecclesial relationships is not simply formal. Rather, it is "ontological" because it is soteriologically grounded. See: M. Volf, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity (Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 195. 19 Harper claims that this relational orientation of the church relates to the church as missional entity, in order to be like God in His relational being, that is, related to One Another in the trinitarian Persons, related to the world, the church is already in relation to God through the work of by the Spirit, she must be related to world as well for the missional purpose. See: B. Harper and P.L. Metzger, Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction (Grand Rapids Michigan: Brazos Press & Baker Publishing Group, 2009), 19-20. 20 Paul M. Collins, "The Church and the Other: Questions of Ecclesial and Divine Communion," in Ecumenical Ecclesiology: Unity, Diversity and Otherness in a Fragmented World, ed. Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen (New York, London: T&T Clark, 2009), 117. 21 Vladimir Moss, Essays on Orthodox Ecclesiology (Moscou: The Marvellous Media Company 2013), 127. 22 A.S. Khomi︠ a︡kov and I.V. Kireevskiĭ, On Spiritual Unity: A Slavophile Reader, ed. B. Jakim and R. Bird (Hudson, New York: Lindisfarne Books, 1998), 33-34.

7

other people and with God is only an ecclesial fact.23 Such a relationship is made possible only

through the Eucharist as being a “network of relation”.24

We have seen that the Orthodox ecclesiology is more pneumatological, Christological,

and trinitarian. Despite sharing some common points to this, the Catholics has a quite different

understanding of the church. Let us see it, we move on.

1.2) Catholic Understanding of the church

1.2.1) The Church as Hierarchical Institution The view of the church as a hierarchical institution was highly defended within the

Catholic ecclesiology, especially in the first Vatican Council.25 The basis of this view is that

the Catholic tradition about the Apostolic Succession whereby the leaders of a church are only

legitimate when tracing back to the original Apostles of Christ.26 Among those Apostles, Peter

was given a primacy from whom the position of Papacy has been derived.27 Such hierarchy is

the Holy Order merely thereby the Holy Spirit is present in the church exercising His power

through the successively Petrine authority.28 In this sense, the Petrine succession is believed to

be divinely instituted.29 The church thus rests not only on Christ her Head but also on Peter,

her “visible foundational stone”.30 Such privilege of Peter has been afterward extended to the

Popes since they exercise their authority from the Cathedra Petri, 31 this relates to the Papal

infallibility, that is, when the Roman pontiffs speak ex Cathedra, they are infallible because

they speak in virtue of their supreme apostolic authority, and their speech is defined as a

divinely revealed dogma about faith and morals.32 This means that, according to the Catholic

view, without the institutional papacy stemming from Peter and extending to those who

23 Zizioulas says “a human being is a member of the Church, he becomes “an image of God,” he exists as God himself exists, he takes on God’s “way of being.” This way of being is not a moral attainment, something that man accomplishes. It is a way of relationship with the world, with other people and with God, an event of communion, and that is why it cannot be realized as the achievement of an individual, but only as an ecclesial fact.” See: J.D. Zizioulas, Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church (Crestwood, New York: Darton Longman & Todd, 2004), 15. 24 Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 97. 25 Ibid., 26. 26 M. Murray, Pope Linus and the Formation of the Early Catholic Church (New York: Golgotha Press, 2014), 26. 27 S.K. Ray, Upon This Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999), 60-61. 28 R.P. McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism (Austaralia, USA: HarperCollins, 2009), 155. 29 Ibid., 106. 30 This is an expression extracted from the book of McBrien above. See: ibid., 125. 31 The Catholics view the Pope as successor of Peter, the bishops as successor of apostles, and the parish priests of the disciples. See: B. Tierney, Origins of Papal Infallibility, 1150-1350: 1150 - 1350 ; a Study on the Concepts of Infallibility, Sovereignty and Tradition in the Middle Ages (Leiden: Brill, 1988), 66. 32 McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism, 117.

8

exercise his authority from his chair (the Popes), the church would have lost one of her basic

essences, for not to say, she might not have existed at all.33

Such a hierarchical institution has people of whom she is in charge, those are the pilgrim

people of God.

1.2.2) The Church as Pilgrim People of God

It is no wonder that the apostolicity of the church based on the hereditary authority within

the papal magisterium is the most distinctive feature of the Catholic ecclesiology.34 Additional

to this, however, they have another view, especially in the aftermath of the second Vatican

council. The first ecclesiological outburst resulting from this council is that the church as a

pilgrim people of God on the way to the heavenly city.35 Yet, this is not so a new concept at

all, but it has been glimpsed already in Thomist ecclesiology, according to which, the church

is temporal, meaning that it is from the time of Abel to the end of the world and then into

heaven.36 One can perceive behind this, the historical, eschatological and soteriological

dimension of the church, she is historically a continuation of God’s people in the Old

Testament, not yet reaches her final goal but still on the pilgrim journey on earth, but at the

same time, on the direction into the eternity for the eternal salvation.37 To add, the image of

people of God points the link between God and His people, it is thus a vertical relationship

based on covenant.38 Yet, such covenant is different for both, instead of the bodily circumcision

based covenant in Israel, for the church, it is the faith in Jesus and baptism, which is the door

therein one enters into the community.39 Furthermore, there is an ecumenical implication in the

people of God image of the second Vatican.40 The church, as being people of God, is a

“community called to be a sign and agent of human unity”.41 This is related to the

33 The Roman Catholic is different in defining the Apostolicity of the church, for them, it is not only the teachings of the Apostles any more that are inherited, but also the authority of Peter as he was the preeminent among the Apostles, the infaillibly spoken dogma of Popes is believed to be at the same level of that of the Apostles since it is grounded upon the authority inherited from Peter. 34 Despite this, it is reminded that since the second Vatican council the church as hierarchical institution has been less emphasized, as says Karkkainen: Perhaps the most important development of Vatican II was the replacement of the old societas perfecta, institutional-hierarchic ecclesiology, with the dynamic “people of God”. See: Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 28. 35 Ibid. 36 McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism, 75-76. 37 Joseph Ratzinger, "The Ecclesiology of Vatican 2," L'Osservatore Romano 2002. 38 McBrein claims that in such covenant, God’s indwelling among His chosen people was promised, and forgiveness of sins, but the crux is that His calling upon Israel to be His people and He is their God. See: McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism, 50. 39 P.B.P. Stone et al., A Reader in Ecclesiology (USA: Boston: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2013), 182. 40 G.H. Tavard, Vatican Ii and the Ecumenical Way (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2006), 96. 41 C.S.V. John Linnan, "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 21 November 1964 and Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, Christus Dominus, 28 Oktober 1965," in Vatican Ii and Its

9

understanding of the church as a sacrament of the intimate unity of all humanity where God’s

eternal and hidden plan of salvation, being revealed in Christ, has been fulfilled.42 The

sacramentality of the church then means that she is the “visible form of the invisible grace”,43

that is, the visibly active medium through which God’s salvation is experienced.44 Here indeed

the ecumenical sensitivity comes into fore, the church is the people of God who experience His

salvation and a means of experiencing it, having this in mind, the second Vatican moved from

exclusivity to inclusivity, claiming that “there are elements of the ecclesia Christi to be found

in other Christian communities.”45 It is reminded, however, that at the crux of the Catholic

ecumenism is the catholicization of all church denominations under the one government of the

successor of Peter.46

The image people of God denotes the vertical aspect of the church; in addition to this,

there is also a horizontal aspect, the communion of the members; in such communion, she is

called the body of Christ. We elucidate this the following.

1.2.3) Mystical Body of Christ

Like the people of God image, the church as a body of Christ plays an important role in

Catholic ecclesiology. Yet, unlike the image people of God which is only referring to the

vertical dimension of the church, the body of Christ points out both her vertical and horizontal

dimension since it underscores not only the intimate connection of the church to Christ her

head but also the fellowship of the believers.47 Accordingly, there are three interrelated themes

enhanced by using the term, the oneness of the body, Christ as head of the body, and the church

as the bride of Christ.48 The unity of believers to be one body is at the heart of the church as a

body of Christ, anyone who is responsive to God's word and baptized, becomes members of

Christ's body where the life of Christ Himself is communicated. Through both the baptism and

Eucharist such communication is ensured, by baptism the individual member is partaking with

Documents: An American Reappraisal, ed. Timothy E. O'Connell, Theology and Life (Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, 1986), 49. 42 This is based upon the sacramental definition of the church which is rooted in both the vulgate translation of the Greek term mysterion as sacramentum and the Augustine's definition of the sacrament as the visible form of the invisible grace. See: Declan Marmion, "Karl Rahner, Vatican 2, and the Shape of the Church," Theological Studies2017, 32. 43 This is the definition of Saint Augustin on the sacrament. 44 Marmion, "Karl Rahner, Vatican 2, and the Shape of the Church," 32; Tavard, Vatican Ii and the Ecumenical Way, 97. 45 Marmion, "Karl Rahner, Vatican 2, and the Shape of the Church," 32. 46 O.H. Pesch, The Ecumenical Potential of the Second Vatican Council (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2006), 33-34. 47 McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism, 51. 48 Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church (USA, Michigan: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000), 418.

10

Christ's death and resurrection, and by the Eucharist, they are sharing in the body of the Lord,

taken up into the communion with Him and with one another.49 Here, the term mystic comes

to the vogue, the body of Christ is the church whose individual members are mystically united

by the invisible divine life and force 50 The church as a body of Christ is also a continuation of

the incarnation, de-temporalizing Christ from His thirty-three years of earthly life and

delocalizing Him from the space of Palestine so that He belongs to all successively human

generations irrespectively of time and place.51

As stated here, the church as a body of Christ is a communion of the believers by divine

life and force, this is merely made possible through the presence of the Spirit in the church.

This is the next point will be presented.

1.2.4) The Church as Temple of Spirit

The Christological ecclesiology treated above relates intimately to the pneumatological

ecclesiology, the twofold dimensions of the church as a body of Christ,52 are made possible

only by the Spirit.53 This is so because the Spirit is the soul of the body, to whom the welding

together the members with one another and with Christ has been attributed.54 The church has

the Spirit as her soul is similar to the human body has a soul which renders it to be an organism

or a living entity; likewise, the church with the Spirit is like the body with the soul, the “external

organism with the internal life-giving principal”,55 constituting the church to be not a dead

body, rather a living body.56 Besides, the Spirit also assures the koinonia of the believers to be

49 Ibid., 419. 50 Fulton Sheen claims “When the Church uses that term mystical, she refers to a hidden yet clear and concrete reality, a Body whose members are united not by external bonds but by an internal, invisible force. Christ’s Body is “Mystical” not because it is unclear or abstract but because it is invisible and divine.” See: F.J. Sheen, B. Vogt, and R. Barron, The Mystical Body of Christ (United State of Aerica: Ave Maria Press, 2015), xix. According to Sylvester Berry, the word mystical shows that the church is not body hypostatiscally united to the Word in the same way of Christ’s human nature, but her members are actually and physically united to Christ by means of supernatural grace and by the mysteries of faith. E.S. Berry, The Church of Christ: An Apologetic and Dogmatic Treatise (Binghamton & New York: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2009), 198. 51 Sheen, Vogt, and Barron, The Mystical Body of Christ, xviii. 52 This is the intimate connection of the church to Christ her Head and the communal relationship among the believers. 53 It is written in the Catholic catechism that “To this Spirit of Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other and with their exalted head.” See: Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 421. 54 Ludwig Ott and H. Tosf, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, ed. D.D James Canon Bastible, trans. Patric Lynch (Fort Collins: Createspace Independent Pub, 2013), 294. 55 An expression borrowed from Sylvester Berry. See the footnote below. 56 Berry, The Church of Christ: An Apologetic and Dogmatic Treatise, 201-02. The church as a living body of Christ also can be interpreted from the Christological (particularly Eucharistic) perspective, like the human body which has blood flowing inside making it an organism (a living entity), the church as well as body of Christ must have the blood of Christ flowing therein for she an organic unity. Cf: German Martinez, Signs of Freedom: Theology of the Christian Sacraments (New York, Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 2003), 142.

11

one body, this is true indeed in baptism thereby the Spirit Himself unites the baptized one into

the body.57 Moreover, the Spirit distributes the gifts and charisms to the individual members

for building up the church.58 It is then by the Spirit that the church becomes the indwelling

place of the triune God.59 In sum, the church as a temple of the Spirit means that such “Spirit

is her soul, the source of her life, of her unity in diversity, and of her riches of gifts and

charisms.”60

The Petrine foundation of the church and the question of the hierarchy are the most

distinctive Catholic understanding of the church compared to the Lutheran, instead of

comprehending the church this way, Luther and the Lutheran confessions put the emphasis on

the scriptural foundation and the priesthood of all believers. This is the point that will be finally

handled, with some other distinctive hallmarks of the Lutheran ecclesiology.

1.3) Lutheran Understanding of the church 1.3.1) The Word of God as Foundation of the Church

The Lutheran motto Sola Scriptura pervades all Luther’s theology, unexceptional for his

understanding of the church. By definition, the church is the community of believers where the

Word of God is purely preached, and the sacrament is Scripturally administered.61 In building

up the church, the Word of God must be proclaimed, which is followed by the work of the

Spirit, calling, sanctifying, enlightening and upholding the listeners in the true faith.62 Both are

always together and cannot be separated, wherever the Word is preached, there must be the

Holy Spirit at work, and the Spirit, in creating faith, is nowhere else apart from where the Word

is proclaimed.63 The baptism is highly underscored in Lutheran ecclesiology after one person

listens to the Word preached and be responsive to it, he/she must be baptized in order to be a

57 R.R. Gaillardetz and C. Clifford, Keys to the Council: Unlocking the Teaching of Vatican Ii (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2012), 59-60. 58 Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives. See also: A. Flannery, Vatican Council Ii: Apostolicam Actuositatem: Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2014), 114. 59 Cf Avery Cardinal Dulles, "Church," in The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism, ed. Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt and Trent Pomplun James J. Buckley (USA, Malden & UK, Oxford and Australia: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007), 330. 60 Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 423. 61 P. Melanchthon, The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, trans. F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau, 10 ed. (Wittenberg: Blurb, Incorporated, 2017), 11: VII-VIII. 62 Martin Luther, "The Large Catechism," in Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, ed. Theodore Gerhardt Tappert (Ohio: Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, 1917), 301. 63 Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 44.

12

member of the body of Christ; the baptism then is a rite of initiation into the church.64 Besides,

the Eucharist is also crucial element in the church for it is one of the marks of her genuineness.65

There is a connection between the baptism and the Eucharist, the baptism is like a mark on the

believers for their new identity in Christ, and it is this identity that is renewed by the invoked

power of the Spirit in the Eucharist.66 In such Eucharist, the body and the blood of Christ are

truly and substantially offered and received with the bread and wine,67 making the

communicants be in Christ and Christ in them, showing that they are the church, the people of

the New Covenant instituted by Christ.68 The Eucharist, irrespectively of being administered

by a wicked man, can still be expeditiously received since it is not for the one who administers

it, but for those to whom it is administered.69

This church in Luther’s view has characteristics, she is simultaneously just and sinner.

Let us turn to this.

1.3.2) The Church as Simul Justus et Peccator

As defined above, the church is the community of believers with the Word preached and

sacraments,70 in Luther’s view this community is simultaneously just and sinful.71 This

indicates primarily the dialectically ontological status of the church, the believers are at the

same time just and sinners. By faith in Jesus Christ, they are righteous in the sight of God, yet,

they remain sinners insofar as they live in this world diverging from God, and being still carnal

having the inclination into disbelief in God, which brings them into a continual struggle against

64 Philip Hefner, "The Church," in Christian Dogmatics., ed. Carl E. Braaten & Robert W. Jenson (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984 ), 170. 65 According to the Lutheran tradition, in addition to the four marks of the true church inherited from the Nicean Creed (one, holy, catholic, and apostolic), there are three essential marks added, proclamation of Word of God, the baptism, and the Scriptural administration of the Last Supper; these are the basics which make the church can be externally noticed, there are however some added afterward and still marks of the church, the power of keys, the calling and ordaining Pastors and Bishops, gathering for prayer and thanks to God, the enduring the cross (the inner conflict). See: B. Lohse, Martin Luther's Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Development, trans. Roy A. Harrisville (Minnepolis: Fortress Press, 2011), 283, 84. 66 Susan K. Wood, "Baptism as a Mark of the Church," in Marks of the Body of Christ, ed. Carl E. Braaten & Robert W. Jensen (Michigan, Grand Rapids; U.K, Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999), 73. 67 This makes Luther different from other reformers (Zwingli and Calvin), because it is not a symbole or sign, rather, it is Christ true body and blood under bread and wine. See: R.C. Croken, Luther's First Front: The Eucharist as Sacrifice (Ottawa, London, Paris: University of Ottawa Press, 1990), 34. 68 Hefner, "The Church," 170. 69 Melanchthon, The Apology of the Augsburg Confession, 11, VII-VIII. 70 Here is the separating point between the Lutheran ecclesiology and that of the Catholics; for Luther, the Gospel determines the church, whereas for the catholics it is the human teachings and council. See: M. Luther, Luther's Works: Church and Ministry, V. 1, ed. J. Pelikan and H.T. Lehmann (Minnepolis: Fortress P., 1970), 305. 71 As Kärkkäinen says, this is a “Luther’s soteriological maxim” which also shapes his doctrine of the church. Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 41.

13

sin.72 Secondly, she remains sinner as well in the sense that she is impartially embracing all

including the hypocrites and the wicked ones.73 This extends to the concept of the church as a

corpus permixtum, although she is a community of the saints, she is not a perfect community,

but still full of human weakness, and failings; albeit, such imperfection does not change her

nature as holy and pure because her holiness and purity does not hinge upon the moral

qualification of the members or the ministers, but on the Gospel purely preached and the

sacraments scripturally administered.74 The church as a community is a communion of all

members, they are the one body, the body of Christ experiencing their communal life through

the Eucharistic meal, which is inducing their communion both to the triune God and to one

another.75

Another characteristic of the church for Luther is the priesthood of all believers despite

the abovementioned imperfection. This is the point comes next.

1.3.3) The Priesthood of all Believers and the Priestly Ministry

The priesthood of all believers is one of Luther’s favorite watchwords which, like those

mentioned above, shapes his doctrine of the church, particularly her ministry. This is grounded

on what is written in 1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:6, and according to Luther all Christians are

priests by the virtue of baptism, meaning that they can stand directly before God with an

intercessory prayer for one another and for those who are outside.76 Such priesthood of

believers is flowing from the priestly function of Jesus Christ when He bore our burdens and

interceded on our behalf in his righteousness; likewise, the believers engage in a priestly

activity when they mutually bear burdens.77 This, however, has an ecclesial ministerial

dimension, since all Christians are priests, they have a right to proclaim the Word of God and

to administer the sacraments; yet, it might be so a chaotic event that the church assigns to an

72 Thomas M. Winger, "Simul Justus Et Peccator: Did Luther and the Confessions Get Paul Right? ," Lutheran Theological Review XVII, no. 2004-05 (2004): 96-97, 100-01. 73 Luther rejects the donatist ecclesiology claiming the guiltlessness and perfection of the church, rather inclining on Augustine’s view on the mixed body of the church. See: Minna Hietamäki, "Doctrine of the Church," in Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, ed. Mark A. Lamport (Lanham, Boulder, New York, London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), 137. 74 Ibid., 136-37. 75 Cheryl M. Peterson, "Church," in Dictionary of Luther and the Lutheran Traditions, ed. Mark Granquist Timothy J. Wengert, Mary Haemig, Robert Kolb, Mark Mattes, Jonathan Strom (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2017), 148. 76 T. George, Theology of the Reformers (USA, Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 1999), 96. 77 Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther, trans. Robert C. Schultz (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966).

14

ordained person the priestly service.78 Thus, the ordained one and the lay Christians are not

ontologically different before God,79 their differences are not on status, but just on the level of

function.80 The authority of the ordained minister is from God through the delegating and

consecrating acts done by the church, that is, in baptism, they are “born as a priest” (like all the

baptized Christians), and in ordination, they are “made as minister” by Christ through the

ordination of the church.81 Such ordination is done on the authority of the Scripture following

the example laid down by the Apostles into the ministry of the Word of God.82

By this priesthood of the believers Luther rejects the Catholic hierarchical ecclesiology,

and he states that all the baptized ones are priests and have the same status before God, they

are the one body called upon in this earth for the specific purposes, including serving the

neighbor, which Luther highly accentuated, as clarified below.

1.3.4) The Church as Serving Community

The final point worth treating here is the church be in the service of the poor, since this is

also one of the greatest hallmarks of Luther’s ecclesiology, even though not so emphasized in

the medieval ecclesiological treatise.83 The church is viewed as a “hospital for the sick…where

78 O. Bayer and T.H. Trapp, Martin Luther's Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation, trans. Thomas H. Trapp (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 275-76. 79 This is sharply distinct from the Catholic view about the ordained priest to be understood as a different kind, ontologically different from the members of the community. See: Mary Tanner, "Ordination," in The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought, ed. H.S.P.A.H. Alistair Mason, et al. (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2000), 501. 80 David P. Daniel, "Luther on the Church," in The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther's Theology, ed. Irene Dingel Robert Kolb, L'Ubomir Batika (U.K, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 339. According to Kärkkäinen, two Catholic viewpoints are strongly denied by Luther for this, the “special “priesthood” of ordained persons, and their special status by virtue of the ordination.” Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 43. Muthiah says that this is so caused by Luther’s anti-hierarchical attitude. See: R.A. Muthiah, The Priesthood of All Believers in the Twenty-First Century: Living Faithfully as the Whole People of God in a Postmodern Context (Oregon, Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2009), 56. Luther himself rejected the Catholic concept about the religiousity of officeholders tasks and secularity of the lay christains tasks, claiming that “To call popes, bishops, priests, monks, and nuns, the religious class, but princes, lords, artisans, and farm-workers the secular class, is a specious device invented by certain time-servers; For all Christians whatsoever really and truly belong to the religious class, and there is no difference among them except in so far as they do different work.” M. Luther, "Secular Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed," in Martin Luther: Selections from His Writing, ed. J. Dillenberger (New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011), 407. 81 Daniel, "Luther on the Church," 342. The discussion going on during the mid nineteenth century interpreting Luther’s approach to the church and ministry which tended to separate the divinely originate authority of the minister and the ordination exercised by the church is questioned whether it is in accord with what Luther himself wanted to convey, for him, the question is not whether this authority is from God or from the church, but it is divinely granted through the ordination of the church. See: ibid., 349. We can also perceive by this that Luther does not minimize ordination (as some of the Catholic theologians state) even though he does not take it as a sacrament, he valued it as a means of granting the ordinants the authority from Christ for the priestly service. 82 M. Luther, Luther's Works: Church and Ministry, ed. H.T. & Pelikan Lehmann, J.J., vol. 40 (Philadelphia: Concordia Publishing House, 1958), 11. 83 Samuel Torvend, the Professor of the history of Christianity, when aiming at discovering whether there are voices in the Christian traditions considering the most basic human necessities: food and drink, he found that tha

15

the Christians are given a chance to exercise God-like love, inspired by Christ living in the

heart of the believer through the Holy Spirit.”84 The justification by faith does not render the

Christians to be functionless, instead, binds them into a fully partaking in God’s inner ousia,

which is love.85 For Luther, the life of those who have been justified is featured by both faith

and love, the fulfillment of God’s commandments.86 They are liberated from sin and death,

and, as a result, be given to the service of the neighbors; such service is done under the

motivation of the love of Christ who lives in them, it is thus a service of love.87 This love of

Christ residing in believers in faith by the Spirit is distinct from the human love, for the human

love seeks what is good for their benefit, whereas God’s love bestows what is good in Him for

the benefit of others.88 Such God’s love results in the church to be called upon for humbly

serving the neighbors and seeking the welfare for the needy.89 The serving activity of the church

pervades all her life, the worship and the life of the individual Christians which ought to be a

life-showing love.90

The understanding of ecclesiology in those three selected denominations are quite well

argued, yet, it is nonsense unless being in accord with the Bible. Therefore, the following, the

evaluation in relation to the Biblical understanding of the church will be introduced.

Martin Luther is most significant voice. Samuel Torvend, Luther and the Hungry Poor (Minnepolis: Fortress Press, 2008), x. 84 Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 46-47. 85 This is the Finnish Luther research which is under the Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue tending to combine the theology of justification by faith in Luther’s theology and the theosis in Eastern Orthodox thinking, in this the authors claims that: “The indwelling of Christ as grasped in the Lutheran tradition implies a real participation in God, and it corresponds in a special way to the Orthodox doctrine of participation in God, namely the doctrine of theosis.” See: Tuomo Mannermaa, "Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther," in Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther, ed. C.E. Braaten and R.W. Jenson (Grand Rapids, Michigan: W.B. Eerdmans, 1998), 36-43. 86 M. Luther, Luther's Works: Word and Sacrament I, ed. T. Bachmann and H.T. Lehmann, vol. 35 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1960), 120. 87 Kärkkäinen, An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, 48. 88 M. Luther, Luther's Works: Career of the Reformer I, ed. H.J. Grimm and H.T. Lehmann, vol. 31 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1957), 57. 89 R. Long, Martin Luther and His Legacy: A Perspective on 500 Years of Reformation (London: Lulu.com, 2017), 56. 90 Carter Lindberg, "Piety, Prayer, and Worship in Luther's View of Daily Life," in The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther's Theology, ed. R. Kolb, et al. (U.K, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 420.

16

2) Discussion

2.1) Evaluation in Relation to the Biblical Understanding of the Church

2.1.1) The foundation of the Church

The Holy Scripture is the light by which all doctrines must be evaluated. By talking about

the church, we have to talk primarily about her foundation, what does the Bible say about this?

The are some explicit references stating about the foundation of the church, one of that is

Mathew 16: 18 saying “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build My

church”. It is seen here the Petrine preeminence among the other Apostles, but the question is

whether Peter as person (human being) or he as proclaimer of the Word (function) would

become foundational rock of the church, it means, is it based on his person (human being) or

on his function (proclaimer of the Word of God)? Viewing the history in Acts 2:36-39, it is

obvious that Peter as the proclaimer of the Word could convert the three thousand people as

the first fruit of the church in the first century Christianity. In v. 37, it is the Word preached by

Peter that pierced the hearts of the hearers and brought them into conversion. The Word of God

and person of Peter are different, even though cannot be separated as Peter preached it. The

Word thus is the subject, and Peter should be interpreted in his relation to that Word. In relation

to it, he is proclaimer, so, proclaiming the Word is his function. When then Peter is said to be

a foundational rock of the church, it is not him as a simple human being but as a preacher of

the Word, it means, Peter is functionally (not personally) foundational rock of the church. The

church was founded due to the Word he proclaimed. This, however, is always together with

the work of the Holy Spirit, the history in Acts 2 shows us that the Spirit was bestowed to the

people during the Pentecost day, and such Spirit worked through the Word preached by the

Apostles, and this brought the foundation of the church afterward.

As we have seen in the presentation, the Orthodox, Catholics, and the Lutheran, have their

own view about the foundation of the church. For, the Orthodox, this foundation lies on the

theosis or deification. This concept embraces all the Orthodox thinkings, both the salvation of

Christ and the work of the Spirit are understood as theosis. Hence, it becomes the ground on

which the church is founded. The problem here is the lack of emphasis of the Word, the work

17

of the Spirit can be understood as deification (1 Peter 1:4), but it should be not possible apart

from the Word proclaimed. Thus, both theosis and the Word should go hand in hand.91

The Petrine foundation of the church in Catholics view is outstandingly noticeable. The

bedrock of this is that the Petrine preeminence mentioned above. The focus, however, is on the

person of Peter, rather on him as a proclaimer of the Word, that is, on the Person but not on the

Function. Peter is personally, but not functionally, succeeded by the Roman Popes; it means

that the Roman pontiffs inherit the person of Peter since they are exercising their authority

based upon the authority of key granted to the person of Peter by the Lord to be a foundational

rock of the church. So, Peter is a personally foundational stone of the church, not only a

foundation but also personally upholder of the church through the Popes, the Petrine

successors, and representatives. This is far from the Biblical understanding of the foundation

of the church, as explained above, Peter as a simple human being (person) could not convert

people, but he as the preacher of the Word (function). Such Word then is the subject because

it pierced the hearts of hearers and brought them into conversion, so, it is the foundation of the

church.92 If then it is stated that we should inherit Peter, it should be functionally, but not

personally; we become like him by proclaiming the Word which pierces the hearts of our

listeners, because this only is the firsthand in both building up and sustaining the church.

Inheriting Peter as a person results in the authority of a person over the Word (the case for the

medieval Catholic church), but inheriting Peter in his function as proclaimer of the Word,

results in the authority of such Word over the authority of the person (the case for the

Reformers, particularly Martin Luther).93 The church as a hierarchical institution in Catholics

view is grounded upon her Petrine foundation. When Peter is not personally foundation of the

church, but functionally, the church should not be a hierarchical institution, all believers can

be Peter by his function, proclaiming the Word by the virtue of Baptism. This is the priesthood

of all believers. The church is not hierarchical or even institution, but it is simply an event

happens everywhere when the Word is proclaimed.94

91 The Orthodox confession says that it is through the Scripture we encounter Christ, but this is not so emphasized the same to the theosis in their theological thinking, and the basis of their theology then is marked by such theosis. Louth, Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology, 56. 92 The place of Peter (preacher) is great and important, but the subject is always the Word, but not the person. 93 Martin Luther firmly emphasized the authority of the Word (Scripture) over the authority of the human leader and the councils in the church because it is such Word constitutes the church. Mark Thompson, "Luther on God and History," in The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther's Theology, ed. R. Kolb, et al. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 136. 94 Hietamäki, "Doctrine of the Church," 138.

18

2.1.2) The Church as Body of Christ

In the presentation, we have seen that the church as a body of Christ is at the heart of the

ecclesiology either for the Orthodox or the Catholics and the Lutheran. They all agree that the

image body of Christ brings the two kinds of the relationship of the church, first, her

relationship to Christ, the Head of the body (vertical); and the communion of the members as

one body (horizontal). They also agree that through the sacraments (Baptism and Eucharist)

these two dimensions of the church (vertical and horizontal) are made possible by the work of

the Spirit. The Baptism is the rite of initiation into the body, and the Eucharist brings the

communion of the body to the Head and the communion among the members. In a

Christological aspect of the church, this communion is indispensable, there the Word is

preached and the Eucharist is administered. Such Eucharist is the heartbeat of the church

rendering her to be a living entity with the Spirit, the life-giving principle. The church then is

communal and relational, she is in communion with God, and the members are in communion

with one another,95 and she is in relation to the world and the neighbors for caring and serving.96

They also share the common view about the church as holy and righteous but not yet perfect.97

Despite the different interpretations, this is, as I think, the shared views of those three

denominations about the church as a body of Christ. Now, I will evaluate it in the light of the

Holy Scripture.

The church as a body of Christ is Biblical (Rom 12:4-5; 1 Cor 6:15; 10:17; Col 1:18). The

Bible also says that Christ the Head is in relation to His body, the church, saving and sustaining

her (Eph 5:23, 29-30). Through the baptism, one becomes member of the body (1 Cor 12:13),

and in the Eucharist all members are in communion with one another as partakers of the one

bread (1 Cor 10:16-17), and accordingly, the fellowship of the members are highly underscored

(1 Cor 12: 14-26). Besides, the church also has a responsibility to care the creatures (Gen 1:28;

2:17),98 and to serve the neighbors (Ps 34:14; Luke 6:27,35; Eph 5:16). We see here the Biblical

supports of the trinitarian image of the church, that is, the church as communal and relational,

she is in communion to the triune God, there is also a communion among the members, and

95 Such communion is mystical (Catholics and Orthodox) or spiritual (Lutheran) 96 This also the character of the triune God, the three Persons are in communion with one another, God is in communion to His people, and in relation to the entire creation. See: Harper and Metzger, Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction, 19-20. 97 In orthodox, it is included in the concept of the church as theandric organism; for the Catholics, the church as pilgrim people of God; and for the Lutheran, the simul Justus et Peccator. 98 This is the theological basis for ecology which can be applied to the church in her responsibility for caring the creation.

19

relation to the creatures to care and the neighbor to serve. This is true because Jesus prayed for

the church not to be taken out of the world but to be protected from the evil (John 17:15). The

church then is in this world, not for an empty reason, but for caring the creatures and serving

the needy. It is now quite obvious that the understanding of the church as a body of Christ in

Orthodox, Catholics and Lutheran (as it is summarized above) is grounded in the Scripture and

well supported by the Bible. The question, however, is that whether it is still relevant to

contemporary Christians? This is the final point I am going to deal with.

2.2) Relevance to Contemporary Christianity

As already been shortly mentioned in the introduction, contemporary Christianity is

marked mostly by the diminishing of the influence of the church on the people, even the

Christians. As Barna says that Christians become more and more unchurched, meaning that

they become less and less interested in the community of the believers.99 It is perceived in the

diminishing of the Sunday service attendance, because now, mostly in Western countries, the

Christian attending the Sunday worship is significantly reduced. It is not so a question of

attending the Sunday service, because the church is not a building but the community of the

believers, rather, the lack of interest in the communion of the believers among the Christians.

This is not surprising since we live in a pluralistic world where different religious worldviews

are interwoven resulting in secularization.100 Yet, it is a threat of the essence of the church as

the body of Christ. As said, the body of Christ underlines two kinds of communion, the

communion with the triune God and the communion among the members, this last one,

however, becomes more and more valueless in contemporary Christianity. This means that the

understanding of the church presented above is gradually irrelevant to contemporary

Christianity, especially the Western. Though, as it has been proved that it is well Biblically

grounded; hence, if we hold that the Bible is the first principle guiding the life of the church,

instead of our contemporary mindset resulting from the multicultural and multireligious

environment, the understanding of the church should be re-emphasized. Otherwise, the church

might lose one of her basic essences, the community of the believers, only in such community

she is called the body of Christ.

99 Barna and Kinnaman, Churchless: Understanding Today's Unchurched and How to Connect with Them. 100 J.R.W. Stott, R. McCloughry, and J. Wyatt, Issues Facing Christians Today (Chicago: Zondervan, 2011), 21.

20

Conclusion

To sum up, the church is the community of believers whose foundational rock is the Word

of God. She is the body of Christ whose members are all the baptized ones, and the Head is

Christ. The church as the body of Christ means that she is connected to Christ, and all the

members are spiritually in communion through the Eucharist. This understanding of the church

is well argued and biblical, but less and less relevant to contemporary Christianity since

Christians are less and less interested in the fellowship of the believers. This is so, due to the

multi-religious society today. “Believing without belonging” and “unchurched christian” is out

of the understanding of the church, and simply means unbelieving.101 However, since the

Scripture teaches the church as a body of Christ, such understanding can still be applicable in

the context today if we hold the Bible as the first principle controlling the Christianity instead

of the new insights resulting from the modern trends. In spite of this, as the Biblical message

is for the people here and now, we cannot be blind to the modern mindset; thus, the

interpretation of the church in the way it can be understood in contemporary multi-religious

society, but without losing the Biblical understanding is a door open for a further research.

101 The baptism needs to be reinterpreted here because the churchless Christians are or might be baptized, and in this case they should be still members of the church by the virtue of baptism. But the question is how such baptism in view of their unwillingness to join the community of believers? The baptism requires belief and obedience to all what it is about, and this includes joining the believers’communities. So, being baptized but not joining the community, simply means being baptized but not believing and obeying the prerequisite of such baptism. The baptism is always efficient as it is from God but not from men, but it requires faith and obedience to all what it is about, including joining the communion of the saints, the church.

21

Bibliography Althaus, Paul. The Theology of Martin Luther. Translated by Robert C. Schultz. Philadelphia:

Fortress Press, 1966.

Barna, G., and D. Kinnaman, eds. Churchless: Understanding Today's Unchurched and How to Connect with Them. United States of America: Tyndale House Publishers, 2014.

Bayer, O., and T.H. Trapp. Martin Luther's Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation. Translated by Thomas H. Trapp. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008.

Berry, E.S. The Church of Christ: An Apologetic and Dogmatic Treatise. Binghamton & New York: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2009.

Church, Catholic. Catechism of the Catholic Church. USA, Michigan: Our Sunday Visitor, 2000.

Collins, Paul M. "The Church and the Other: Questions of Ecclesial and Divine Communion." In Ecumenical Ecclesiology: Unity, Diversity and Otherness in a Fragmented World, edited by Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen. New York, London: T&T Clark, 2009.

Croken, R.C. Luther's First Front: The Eucharist as Sacrifice. Ottawa, London, Paris: University of Ottawa Press, 1990.

Daniel, David P. "Luther on the Church." In The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther's Theology, edited by Irene Dingel Robert Kolb, L'Ubomir Batika U.K, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Dulles, Avery Cardinal. "Church." In The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism, edited by Frederick Christian Bauerschmidt and Trent Pomplun James J. Buckley. USA, Malden & UK, Oxford and Australia: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007.

Flannery, A. Vatican Council Ii: Apostolicam Actuositatem: Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2014.

Gaillardetz, R.R., and C. Clifford. Keys to the Council: Unlocking the Teaching of Vatican Ii. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 2012.

George, T. Theology of the Reformers. USA, Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 1999.

Grdzelidze, Tamara. "Eastern Eccelesiology." In The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, edited by John Anthony McGuckin. New York, USA: John Wiley, 2010.

Harper, B., and P.L. Metzger. Exploring Ecclesiology: An Evangelical and Ecumenical Introduction. Grand Rapids Michigan: Brazos Press & Baker Publishing Group, 2009.

Hefner, Philip. "The Church." In Christian Dogmatics., edited by Carl E. Braaten & Robert W. Jenson. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984

22

Hietamäki, Minna. "Doctrine of the Church." In Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation, edited by Mark A. Lamport. Lanham, Boulder, New York, London: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.

John Linnan, C.S.V. "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, 21 November 1964 and Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, Christus Dominus, 28 Oktober 1965." In Vatican Ii and Its Documents: An American Reappraisal, edited by Timothy E. O'Connell. Theology and Life. Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, 1986.

Kärkkäinen, V.M. An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives. Downers Grove, Illinois InterVarsity Press, 2009.

Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Contextual Perspective Grand Rapids Michigan: Baker Academic, 2018.

Khomi︠ a︡kov, A.S., and I.V. Kireevskiĭ. On Spiritual Unity: A Slavophile Reader. Edited by B. Jakim and R. Bird. Hudson, New York: Lindisfarne Books, 1998.

Lindberg, Carter. "Piety, Prayer, and Worship in Luther's View of Daily Life." In The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther's Theology, edited by R. Kolb, I. Dingel, L. Batka and Ľ. Batka. U.K, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Lohse, B. Martin Luther's Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Development. Translated by Roy A. Harrisville. Minnepolis: Fortress Press, 2011.

Long, R. Martin Luther and His Legacy: A Perspective on 500 Years of Reformation. London: Lulu.com, 2017.

Lossky, Vladmir. The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. Cambridge: James Clarke & Company, 1991.

Louth, A. Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology. Great Britain: SPCK, 2013.

Luther, M. Luther's Works: Career of the Reformer I. Edited by H.J. Grimm and H.T. Lehmann. Vol. 31, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1957.

———. Luther's Works: Church and Ministry. Edited by H.T. & Pelikan Lehmann, J.J. Vol. 40, Philadelphia: Concordia Publishing House, 1958.

———. Luther's Works: Church and Ministry, V. 1. Edited by J. Pelikan and H.T. Lehmann. Minnepolis: Fortress P., 1970.

———. Luther's Works: Word and Sacrament I. Edited by T. Bachmann and H.T. Lehmann. Vol. 35, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1960.

———. "Secular Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed." In Martin Luther: Selections from His Writing, edited by J. Dillenberger. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2011.

23

Luther, Martin. "The Large Catechism." In Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, edited by Theodore Gerhardt Tappert. Ohio: Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Missouri, 1917.

Mannermaa, Tuomo. "Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther." In Union with Christ: The New Finnish Interpretation of Luther, edited by C.E. Braaten and R.W. Jenson. Grand Rapids, Michigan: W.B. Eerdmans, 1998.

Marmion, Declan. "Karl Rahner, Vatican 2, and the Shape of the Church." Theological Studies, 2017, 25-48.

Martinez, German. Signs of Freedom: Theology of the Christian Sacraments New York, Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 2003.

McBrien, R.P. The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism. Austaralia, USA: HarperCollins, 2009.

Melanchthon, P. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession. Translated by F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau. 10 ed. Wittenberg: Blurb, Incorporated, 2017.

Meyendorff, John. "What Holds the Church Together." Ecumenical Review 12, no. 3 (1960): 296-301.

Moss, Vladimir. Essays on Orthodox Ecclesiology Moscou: The Marvellous Media Company 2013.

Murray, M. Pope Linus and the Formation of the Early Catholic Church. New York: Golgotha Press, 2014.

Muthiah, R.A. The Priesthood of All Believers in the Twenty-First Century: Living Faithfully as the Whole People of God in a Postmodern Context. Oregon, Eugene: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2009.

Negrut, Paul. "Ekklesia: An Eastern Orthodox Perspective ". Emanuel University of Oradea (2005).

Ott, Ludwig, and H. Tosf. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma. Translated by Patric Lynch. Edited by D.D James Canon Bastible. Fort Collins: Createspace Independent Pub, 2013.

Payton, J.R. Light from the Christian East: An Introduction to the Orthodox Tradition. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2007.

Pesch, O.H. The Ecumenical Potential of the Second Vatican Council. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2006.

Dictionary of Luther and the Lutheran Traditions. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2017.

Ratzinger, Joseph. "The Ecclesiology of Vatican 2." L'Osservatore Romano, 2002, 5.

24

Ray, S.K. Upon This Rock: St. Peter and the Primacy of Rome in Scripture and the Early Church. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999.

Rogers, E.F., S. Hauerwas, and P. Ochs. After the Spirit: A Constructive Pneumatology from Resources Outside the West. Grand Rapids, Michigan & Cambridge UK: SCM Press, 2006.

Sheen, F.J., B. Vogt, and R. Barron. The Mystical Body of Christ. United State of Aerica: Ave Maria Press, 2015.

Stone, P.B.P., R.T. Hughson, P.B. Kaye, and V.R.P.M. Percy. A Reader in Ecclesiology. USA: Boston: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2013.

Stott, J.R.W., R. McCloughry, and J. Wyatt. Issues Facing Christians Today. Chicago: Zondervan, 2011.

Tanner, Mary. "Ordination." In The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought, edited by H.S.P.A.H. Alistair Mason, E. HASTINGS, P.T.A. Hastings, A. Hastings, P. Hugh, S.L.C.H.A. Mason, A. Mason, et al. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2000.

Tavard, G.H. Vatican Ii and the Ecumenical Way. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2006.

Thompson, Mark. "Luther on God and History." In The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther's Theology, edited by R. Kolb, I. Dingel, L. Batka and Ľ. Batka. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Tierney, B. Origins of Papal Infallibility, 1150-1350: 1150 - 1350 ; a Study on the Concepts of Infallibility, Sovereignty and Tradition in the Middle Ages. Leiden: Brill, 1988.

Torvend, Samuel. Luther and the Hungry Poor. Minnepolis: Fortress Press, 2008.

Volf, M. After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity. Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998.

Ward, K.R. Losing Our Religion?: Changing Patterns of Believing and Belonging in Secular Western Societies. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2013.

Winger, Thomas M. "Simul Justus Et Peccator: Did Luther and the Confessions Get Paul Right? ." Lutheran Theological Review XVII, no. 2004-05 (2004): 90-108

Wood, Susan K. "Baptism as a Mark of the Church." In Marks of the Body of Christ, edited by Carl E. Braaten & Robert W. Jensen. Michigan, Grand Rapids; U.K, Cambridge: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999.

Zizioulas, J.D. Being as Communion: Studies in Personhood and the Church. Crestwood, New York: Darton Longman & Todd, 2004.