Church (organization)
A church refers to both a local community and a religious institution that brings together Christians of the same confession. In sociology, this term designates an institutionalized religious group with a universalist vocation.
Etymology
The word church comes from the Greek word ἐκκλησία (transliterated as ekklēsía) via the Latin ecclesia.
The noun has a double heritage of meaning in the Bible:
- 1. In the area of the non-Christian Western Hellenistic world, he denoted an assembly or gathering of citizens gathered on the basis of a public call (usually the call of an official or herald messenger), for matters usually of political order, and this is understood in biblical passages such as the Acts of the Apostles:
And others shouted something else; for it church I was confused, and most did not know why they had met.Hch 19, 32
- 2. In the Septuagint (translation to the Greek of Tanach) it is frequently used to translate the Hebrew voice qâhâl (or kahal, transliteration of הה), which refers to the Congregation of Israel or people of God, as in: Psalms:
I will announce your name to my brothers: kahal קה I'll praise you.Sal 22, 22
Thus, Church in some passages of the New Testament could combine both ideas (the Hebrew and the Greek) or only one of them, thereby giving deep and complex meaning to the words of Jesus of Nazareth to Simon Peter collected in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew:
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my kahal קה הAnd the gates of the fairy shall not prevail against it.Mt 16, 18
On the other hand, other etymological origins of Church are observed in languages other than Spanish. While in the Romance languages church comes from the Greek ekklēsía, as already seen, in the Germanic languages (German kirche, English church), comes from Byzantine Folk Greek (kyrikē), which can mean something 'relating to the Lord (kyrios)'; however, there is no unanimity in this regard.
Triple meaning
Scholars agree in recognizing a triple meaning of the term ekklesía in the New Testament: as a liturgical assembly, as a local assembly, and as a universal assembly. It would not be about independent realities, but about different ways of approaching the mystery of the Church.
In a liturgical sense
In the New Testament, the term ekklesía sometimes refers to the liturgical assembly, that is, to the Christian community gathered to listen to the word of God, to pray and, above all, to celebrate the Eucharist.
In a local sense
In other New Testament passages, its use in the singular refers to a specific local congregation, as is the case in the account in Acts of the Apostles regarding the Church of Jerusalem:
λογος ειος ειος ειος τα ωτα τος εκλιαος εν εν ιεροσολυμοιος περι αευιν και εεεπεσειλαν βαρν διελθειν εων εωος αντιοχειαος.
And the fame of these things came to the ears of the church who was at Jerusalem: and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch.Hch 11, 22 (TR1894 and RVA)
But in other passages Paul of Tarsus seems to use the word to refer to a group of congregations:
ποτε γαρ τιρ εισμτν αν αναστροφην ποτε εν εν ω ιουδαισμω οτι καθ υπεροβλιν εδιωκον τιν τν τν εκλιαν του θεου και επορθουν αυτιν.
For ye have heard of my conduct another time in Judaism, that persecuted exceedingly church and destroyed it.Ga 1, 13 (TR1894 and RVA)
However, scholars agree that the Holy Scriptures make little distinction between the singular and the plural, so Church can likewise refer to a gathering of believers in a home, as is the case of the one mentioned in the Epistle to the Romans:
και τιν κατ οικον αυτων εκλιαν ασπασθε επαινετον τον αγαγαγαπικον μος εστιν απαρχη τις αχαιας εις χριστον.
Also to the church from his house. Greet Epeneto, my beloved, who is the firstfruits of Achaia in Christ.Ro 16, 5 (TR1894 and RVA)
As likewise to a gathering of believers in a single city, like the addressees of St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians
τιμ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ Ä μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ μ εκλια ου ου ου ον ον ον ον ου ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ο ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ονον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ου ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον ον
A church of God who is in Corinth, sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, and to all who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in any place, Lord of them and ours:1 Co 1, 2 (TR1894 and RVA)
Or the gathering of believers from a province, as Saint Paul refers to the churches of Asia in his First Epistle to the Thessalonians:
ασπαεαι υμας αι εκλιαι της ασιαος ασπαίονται υμας εν κυριω πολλα ακυ κουλαος και πρισκιλλα συν τν τικαεν καεν οικον αεν εν εν εν εν εν εν εν εν εν τικοικον εν τικον εν κον εν εν εν εν εν εν εν εν εν εν εν εν κον κον κον εν εν κον κον κον κον κον κοικον κον κον κον κον αυν αν εκλια.
The churches of Asia greet you. They greet you very much in the Lord Aquila and Priscilla, with the church that is in their house.1 Co 16, 19 (TR1894 and RVA)
In a universal sense
In other passages of the New Testament, particularly in the Pauline epistles, the word Church is used with a universal meaning, referring to the totality of the unique and new people of God, summoned and gathered in the entire world, which acquires a cosmic and eschatological dimension. Therefore, it designates what Christians have subsequently defined throughout their history as the mystical body of Christ or as the universal community of believers.
This is the case, for example, in the Epistle to the Ephesians where Paul of Tarsus explains the eternal redemptive purpose of God carried out in a Church in which both Jews participate as non-Jews, people of all nations, both slaves and free men, etc. A verse from the Epistle to the Colossians makes this idea very clear, a Church…
οπου ου ουκ ενι ελος καιουδαιος περιτομι καροβυστια βα βαρβαρβος σκουθος δος ελος εος εουθερος αος αλεος αεος αλος αεος αλεος αερος αερος αταεος αταερορος αεοιαοιαεος αοικοιαεος αταοικοικος αοικοικος αοναεναοιος αοικος αοικος παεος αος αος παεναεναεος παο
Where there is no Greek, no Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, no scite, servant, or free; but Christ is all, and in all.Col 3, 11 (TR1894 and RVA)
History
The Christian Church originated in Roman Judea in the first century AD. C./CE, founded on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who first gathered his disciples. Those disciples later became known as "Christians"; according to the Scriptures, Jesus commanded them to spread his teachings throughout the world. For most Christians, the feast of Pentecost (an event that occurred after the ascension to Heaven) represents the birthday of the Church, signified by the descent of the Holy Spirit on the assembled disciples.Acts 2 The leadership of the Christian Church began with the apostles.
Growing out of Second Temple Judaism, from the earliest days of Christianity, Christians accepted non-Jews (Gentiles) without requiring full adoption of Jewish customs (such as circumcision).Facts 10-15 Parallels in the Jewish faith are proselytes, the God-fearing, and Noahide Law. Some think that the conflict with the Jewish religious authorities quickly led to the expulsion of Christians from the synagogues in Jerusalem.
Use by early Christians
When using the word ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia), the early Christians used a term that, although it designated the assembly of a Greek city-state, in which only citizens could participate, was used traditionally by Greek-speaking Jews to speak of Israel, the people of God, and which appeared in the Septuagint in the sense of an assembly gathered for religious reasons, often for a liturgy; in that translation ἐκκλησία represented the Hebrew word קהל (qahal), which however was also translated as συναγωγή (synagōgē, "synagogue"), being the two largely synonymous Greek words until Christians more clearly distinguished them.
The term ἐκκλησία only appears in two verses of the Gospels, in both cases in the Gospel of Matthew. When Jesus says to Simon Peter: "You are Peter, and above on this stone I will build my church", the church is the community instituted by Christ, but in the other passage the church is the local community to which one belongs: "If you refuse to listen to them, tell the church& #34;.
The term is used much more frequently in other parts of the New Testament, designating, as in the Gospel of Matthew, an individual local community or all of them collectively. Even the passages that do not use the term ἐκκλησία can refer to the church with other expressions, as in the first 14 chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, in which the ἐκκλησία is totally absent, but in which the related word is used repeatedly. κλήτοι (klētoi, "called"). The church can also be referred to through images traditionally used in the Bible to speak of the people of God, such as the image of the vineyard used especially in the Gospel of John.
The New Testament never uses the adjectives "Catholic" or "universal" with reference to the Christian Church, but it does indicate that local communities are one church, collectively, that Christians must always seek harmony, as a Congregation of God, that the Gospel must spread to the ends of the earth and to all nations, that the church is open to all peoples and should not be divided, etc.
The first registered application of "catholic" or "universal" to the church is that of Ignatius of Antioch around the year 107 in his Epistle to the Smyrnaics, chapter VIII. "Wherever the bishop appears, there are the people; as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church"."
Church Fathers such as Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Cyprian held that the Christian Church was a visible Church, not an invisible Church, an invisible body of believers.
Christianity as the Roman State Religion
On February 27, 380, the Roman Empire officially adopted the Nicene version of Christianity as its state religion. Before this date, Constantius II (337-361) and Valens (364-378) had personally favored the Arian or semi-Arian forms of Christianity, but Valens's successor Theodosius I supported the more Athanasian or Trinitarian doctrine expounded in the Nicene Creed of the I Council of Nicaea.
On this date, Theodosius I decreed that only followers of Trinitarian Christianity had the right to be called Catholic Christians, while all others were to be considered heretics, which was considered illegal. In 385, this new situation In the first case of many that would follow, the legal process resulted in the capital punishment of a heretic, specifically Prisciliano, sentenced to death, along with several of his followers, by a civil court for the crime of magic. The state-sponsored Christianity they followed, pagans and heretical Christians were routinely persecuted by the Empire and the many kingdoms and countries that later took their place, but some Germanic tribes remained Arian well into the Middle Ages (see also Christianity).
The Church within the Roman Empire was organized in metropolitan sees, with five that achieved special prominence and that formed the basis of the Pentarchy proposed by Justinian I. Of these five, one was in the West (Rome) and the rest in the East (Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria).
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Even after the division of the Roman Empire, the Church remained a relatively close-knit institution (apart from Eastern Orthodoxy and a few other groups that seceded from the rest of the state-sanctioned Church earlier). The Church became a central and defining institution of the Empire, especially in the Eastern or Byzantine Empire, where Constantinople came to be considered the center of the Christian world, due in large part to its economic and political power.
Once the Western Empire fell to Germanic incursions in the fifth century, the (Roman) Church became for centuries the main link to Roman Civilization for medieval Western Europe and an important channel of influence in the West for the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, emperors. While in the West the so-called Orthodox competed against Arian Christianity and the pagan beliefs of the Germanic rulers and spread outside of what had been the Empire to Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia and the West Slavs, in the East Christianity spread to the Slavs of what is now Russia, south-central, and eastern Europe. Charlemagne's reign in western Europe is particularly notorious for bringing the last major western Arian tribes into communion with Rome, in part through conquest and forced conversion.
Beginning in the 7th century, Islamic caliphates rose up and gradually began to conquer larger and larger parts of the Christian world. With the exception of North Africa and most of Spain, northern and western Europe they escaped largely unscathed from Islamic expansion, largely because the wealthier Constantinople and its empire acted as a magnet for attack. The challenge presented by the Muslims would help solidify the religious identity of Eastern Christians, even while weakening gradually the Eastern Empire. Even in the Muslim world, the Church survived (for example the modern Copts, Maronites and others) although sometimes with great difficulty.
The Great Schism of 1054
Although there was long friction between the Bishop of Rome (i.e., the patriarch of the Catholic Church proper) and the eastern patriarchs within the Byzantine Empire, the imperial diplomacy of Rome Charlemagne, who switched his allegiance from Constantinople to Frankish Empire king, put the Church on the way to separation. Political and theological divisions would grow until Rome and the East excommunicated each other in the 11th century, eventually leading to division. of the Church in the Western (Catholic) and the Eastern (Orthodox). In 1448, shortly before the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the Russian Orthodox Church became independent from the Patriarch of Constantinople.
As a result of the development of Western Europe, and the gradual fall of the Eastern Roman Empire at the hands of the Arabs and Turks (aided by the war against the Eastern Christians), the final Fall of Constantinople in 1453 made the Eastern scholars fled the Muslim hordes by taking ancient manuscripts to the West, which was a factor in the start of the Western Renaissance period there. [The Western Church regarded Rome as the heart of Christianity. Some Eastern Churches even broke with Eastern Orthodoxy and entered into communion with Rome ([[Eastern Catholic Churches|the Uniate Eastern Catholic Churches]).
Protestant Reformation
The changes brought about by the Renaissance eventually led to the Protestant Reformation during which Lutheran Protestants and Reformed followers of Calvin, Hus, Zwingli, Melancthon, Knox, and others broke away from the Catholic Church. Around this time, a series of non-theological disputes also led to the English Reformation which led to the independence of the Church of England. Then, during the Age of Exploration and the Age of Imperialism, Western Europe spread the Catholic Church and Protestant churches throughout the world, especially in the Americas. These developments, in turn, have led to Christianity being the largest religion in the world today.
Catholic tradition
The Catholic Church teaches in its doctrine that it is the original church founded by Christ on the apostles in the I century d. C. The papal encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi (Pope Pius XII, 1943), expresses the dogmatic ecclesiology of the Catholic Church thus "If we want to define and describe this true Church of Jesus Christ -which is the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church - we will not find any nobler, more sublime or more divine expression than the phrase that calls it "Mystical Body of Jesus Christ". The dogmatic constitution of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium (1964), further declares that "the one Church of Christ which in the Creed professes to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic,...constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him". Likewise, the encyclical of Pope Pius IX, Singulari Quidem, affirms in a similar sense: "There is only one true, holy and catholic Church, which is the Roman Apostolic Church. There is only one Headquarters founded on Peter by the word of the Lord... Outside the Church, no one can hope for life or salvation, unless excused by invincible ignorance beyond his control." It is also a common theme in Catholic devotional and catechetical literature: "The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church is the only flock of which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the only Shepherd." (Catholic Prayer Book, p. 236, "One Flock, One Shepherd")
A 2007 statement from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith clarified that, in this passage, "'subsistence' means this enduring and historical continuity and the permanence of all the elements instituted by Christ in the Catholic Church, in which the Church of Christ is concretely found on this earth", and recognized that grace can be operative within communities religious separated from the Catholic Church due to some "elements of sanctification and truth" what is in them, but also added "However, the word 'subsists' it can only be attributed to the Catholic Church alone, precisely because it refers to the mark of unity that we profess in the symbols of faith (I believe... in the 'one' Church); and this 'unique' Church subsists in the Catholic Church".
The Catholic Church teaches that only corporate bodies of Christians led by bishops with valid holy orders can be recognized as "churches" in the proper sense. In Catholic documents, communities without such bishops are formally called ecclesial communities.
Eastern Orthodox tradition
The Eastern Orthodox Church claims to be the original Christian Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church bases its claim primarily on its claim that it upholds the traditions and beliefs of the original Christian Church. He also claims that four of the five seats of the Pentarchy (excluding Rome) are still part of it.
Eastern Orthodox tradition
The Eastern Orthodox Churches claim to be the original Christian Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches' they base their claim primarily on their claim that they uphold the traditions and beliefs of the original Christian Church. They never adopted the Nature of God theory, which was formulated after the break that followed the Council of Chalcedon.
Lutheran tradition
Lutheran churches traditionally hold that their tradition represents the one true church. The Augsburg Confession found within the Book of Concord, a compendium of Lutheran Church beliefs, teaches that "faith such as as confessed by Luther and his followers is nothing new, but the true Catholic faith, and that its churches represent the true or universal Catholic Church". When Lutherans presented the Augsburg Confession to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Roman in 1530, believe they have "demonstrated that every article of faith and practice was faithful, first of all, to Holy Scripture, and then also to the teaching of the church fathers and councils".
However, Lutheran churches teach that "there are really true Christians in other churches," since "other denominations also preach the Word of God, though mixed with error"; since the proclamation of the Word of God bears fruit, Lutheran theology accepts the appellation of "Church" for other Christian denominations.
Anglican tradition
Anglicans generally understand their tradition as a branch of the historic Catholic Church and as a middle path between the traditions, often Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity, or Roman Catholicism and Reformed Christianity.
Reformed tradition
Calvinist Reformed theology defines the Church as both the invisible Church and the visible Church—the former includes the entire communion of saints and the latter is the "institution that God provides as an agency for saving, justifying, and sustainer of God', whom John Calvin referred to as 'our mother'. Reformed confessions of faith emphasize 'the pure teaching of the gospel (pura doctrina evangelii ) and the correct administration of the sacraments (recta administratio sacramentorum)" as "the two most necessary signs of the true visible church".
Methodist Tradition
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Methodists affirm belief in "the only true, apostolic and universal Church", considering that their churches constitute a "privileged branch of this true church." the position of Methodism within Christianity, the movement's founder John Wesley once pointed out that what God had accomplished in the development of Methodism was not mere human effort but the handiwork of God. As such, it would be preserved by God as long as history stood" Calling it "the great depositum" of the Methodist faith, Wesley specifically taught that the propagation of the doctrine of entire sanctification was the reason God raised up Methodists in the world.
Evangelical tradition
The local evangelical Church is the organization that represents the universal Church and is seen by evangelicals as the body of Jesus Christ. It is responsible for teaching and ordinances, primarily believer's baptism and the Lord's Supper. Many churches are members of evangelical Christian denominations and adhere to a common confession of faith and bylaws, despite the autonomy of the church. Some denominations are members of a national alliance of churches of the World Evangelical Alliance. Some evangelical denominations operate according to Episcopalian politics or Presbyterian politics. However, the most common form of church government within evangelism is congregational polity. This is especially common among non-denominational evangelical churches. Common ministries within evangelical congregations are pastor, elder, deacon, evangelist, and worship leader. The ministry of bishop with an oversight role over the churches on a regional or national scale is present in all evangelical Christian denominations, although the titles of council president or general overseer are used primarily for this role.
Christian Churches
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church is the largest Christian Church. It is made up of 24 Churches sui iuris: the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Churches, which are in complete communion with the Pope and which together bring together more than 1.329 million faithful in the world.
The Catholic Church maintains that it subsists the only Church founded by Christ, entrusted by him to the Apostle Peter, to whom he entrusted its diffusion and government together with the other apostles. For this reason, it considers itself as a "sacrament", a "sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of all mankind".
Orthodox Christianity
In Orthodox Christianity, the Orthodox Church brings together the autocephalous Churches that elect their own primates. Due to its influence or historical importance, an autocephalous Church may bear the title of patriarchate or archbishopric, and therefore, be headed by a patriarch or archbishop. Autonomous churches are governed by an archbishop who reports to a patriarch or head archbishop of an autocephalous church.
Protestantism
In Protestantism, the universal Church is represented by local churches, parishes and synods, affiliated with national churches and international organizations, that is, among the main ones, the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The management of the Church is ensured by the ministries that are mainly the pastor, deacon, cantor and evangelist.
Evangelical Christianity
In evangelical Christianity, the local evangelical Church is the organization that represents the universal Church and is viewed by evangelicals as the body of Jesus Christ. It is responsible for teaching and ordinances, namely believer's baptism and communion. Many churches are members of evangelical Christian denominations and adhere to a common confession of faith and regulations. Some denominations are members of a national alliance of the World Evangelical Alliance. Church management is ensured by the evangelical ministries that are mainly deacon, worship leader, evangelist and pastor. The ministry of bishop with a supervisory role over churches on a regional or national scale is present in all evangelical Christian denominations, even if the titles of board chair or general overseer are primarily used for this role.