Ecclesiology in Church History

by Michael J. Vlach, Ph.D.

The following is a summary of ecclesiology in church history. The major categories covered are: (1) Ecclesiology Overview; (2) Four Great Ecumenical Councils; (3) Important Dates Related to Ecclesiology; (4) Marks of the Church; (5) Major Controversies; (6) Key Individuals Related to Ecclesiology; and (7) Baptist and Catholic Issues.

 1.         ECCLESIOLOGY OVERVIEW

• Early in its history, the church viewed itself as a spiritual society that replaced Israel as the people of God. The church also saw itself as the repository of true Christian doctrine and teaching.
• Ecclesiology was not a major issue in the early church. Issues such as apologetics, the person of Christ, and the canon were more pressing concerns.
• The lack of interest in ecclesiology changed after Constantine became the emperor of Rome. Persecution ended and a merger between the church and state began.
• From the Medieval era until the Reformation the church was considered the institutional church of the Roman Catholic system. The following beliefs were well accepted: (1) the church is the visible, earthly, external form of the Kingdom of God; (2) the church was viewed as both hierarchical and monarchical in nature; (3) the papacy was viewed as an authoritative and perpetual office; (4) entrance to the church was gained through valid baptism; and (5) the church was necessary for salvation. Within the Roman Catholic Church, this understanding would continue up until the Vatican II Council in 1962.
• The Protestant Reformation challenged the traditional understandings of the church including the true marks of the church and authority in the church.

 2.   FOUR GREAT ECUMENICAL CHURCH COUNCILS

• Nicea (325)—Prompted by Constantine; 318 bishops present; denounced Arius and affirmed the full deity of Jesus Christ.
• Constantinople (381)—Attended by 150 bishops; affirmed the divinity of the Holy Spirit.
• Ephesus (431)—More than 200 bishops attended; presided over by Cyril of Alexandria; defined the personal unity of Christ and declared Mary the Mother of God (theotokos) against Nestorius; also condemned Pelagius.
• Chalcedon (451)—Attended by 150 bishops; defined the two natures in Christ (divine and human) against Eutyches.
• Other important church councils include the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), Council of Trent (1545–63), First Vatican Council (1869–70), and Second Vatican Council (1962–65).

 3.         IMPORTANT DATES RELATED TO ECCLESIOLOGY

• 313—The Edict of Milan officially ended persecution of Christianity in the Roman Empire.
• 1054—The official date for the East–West schism; Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox split ways.
• 1095—Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade.
• 1378—The Great Papal Schism led to three different popes vying for supremacy; it launched a forty-year crisis of authority.
• 1517—Luther posted his 95 Theses and the Protestant Reformation began.
• 1534—King Henry VIII was declared “the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England” by the English Parliament.
• 1545—The Council of Trent began, responding to the Protestant Reformation; it defined the essence of Roman Catholicism until Vatican II.
• 1948—The World Council of Churches was founded.
• 1962—Vatican II began and brought changes to the Roman Catholic Church; an era of open dialogue with Protestants and people of other faiths was inaugurated.

 4.    MARKS OF THE CHURCH
Traditional

• One
• Holy
• Catholic
• Apostolic

 Reformation

• The Word rightly preached
• Proper use of the two sacraments—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

 5.    MAJOR CONTROVERSIES

• Cyprian vs. Novatian
• Donatists vs. Augustine
• Reformers (Luther and Calvin) vs. Roman Catholic Church
• Anabaptists vs. Magisterial Reformers

 6.    KEY INDIVIDUALS RELATED TO ECCLESIOLOGY

Clement of Rome (first century)

• Wrote against schism and revolt and called on Christians to live a righteous life in the style of Old Testament characters.

 Ignatius (35–107)

• Was the first to use the phrase, “Catholic Church.”

Cyprian (d. 258)

• Cyprian shaped the church’s ecclesiology through Augustine and the Middle Ages.
• His most significant work was, On the Unity of the Catholic Church (251).
• He argued two points: (1) schism is totally and absolutely unjustified; and (2) lapsed or schismatic bishops are deprived of all ability to minister the sacraments or act as ministers of the Christian church.
• For Cyprian, the unity of church was Episcopal not theological; he argued for the authority of the bishop of Rome.
• He condemned the Novatian schism.
• Cyprian had three famous statements:
  • “He is not a Christian who is not in Christ’s church.”
  • “He cannot have God for his father who has not the church for his mother.”
  • “There is no salvation outside the church” (Salus extra ecclesiasm non est).
• He was important to the development of the Mass.
• He said the main mark of the true church is apostolic succession (used Matt. 16:18-19 to support this).

 The Donatists (fourth century)

• The Donatist schism began in Africa in 311 and flourished for one hundred years.
• Under the emperor, Diocletian (284–313), the Christian church was subject to various degrees of persecution. As a result, many Christians, including several clergy, lapsed. This involved renouncing Christ and turning over holy books to be burned. After the persecution ended, many of the lapsed wanted to return to the church. Many in the Catholic camp wanted the lapsed accepted back in with appropriate penance. Many Donatist purists, though, argued that the lapsed clergy should not be reinstated to their positions. These lapsed clergy could be accepted as laymen but nothing more.
• The main theological issues in the controversy were the nature of the church and the validity of the sacraments. The Donatists argued that the church must be a pure body and that its members must live up to a higher moral standard than the society around it. The Donatists also believed that the validity of the sacraments was linked to the holiness of the people who administered the sacraments. If the one administering the sacraments was not pure and holy, the sacrament’s effect was not considered valid.
• The Donatists adopted Cyprian’s view that the personal holiness of the administrator was vital to a sacrament’s validity. Ironically, they violated Cyprian’s assertion that all schism is wrong.
• Augustine argued against the Donatists. To him, the lapsed must be accepted because the church is a corpus permixtum—a mixed body of sinners and saints.
• The Donatist schism was never totally resolved. Every town in North Africa had a Catholic bishop and a Donatist bishop. The battle continued until Islam devoured North Africa and put an end to all Christianity in the area.

 Constantine (280–337)

• His reign as Roman emperor and his Edict of Milan put an official end to persecution of the Christian church.
• He gave Christianity legal freedom and restored confiscated property back to Christians.
• Constantine is viewed as the pivotal figure in the merger between church and state; with him, the “Christian Empire” began.
• Believing that division was worse than war, Constantine was responsible for the first great ecumenical council—the Council of Nicea (325). This council dealt primarily with the issue of the person of Christ.

 Eusebius (270–340)

• Was bishop of the church in Caesarea during Constantine’s reign.
• He related Constantine’s reign to the messianic kingdom.
•  His Ecclesiastical History became the principle source for church history from the first century until the time of Constantine. 

 Augustine (354–430)

• He addressed the Donatist controversy; he argued against the Donatists saying: (1) the lapsed brethren should be accepted into the church; and (2) the sacraments are not invalid because of an unholy administrator.
• He agreed with Cyprian that schism was wrong.
• He promoted the idea that the church is a corpus permixtum—a mixed body of saints and sinners.
• His views became dominant in the Western church.
• Augustine agreed with Cyprian on the issue of apostolic succession.
• He agreed with Cyprian that baptism plays a role in salvation.
• He believed the sacraments are effective ex opere operato—on account of Christ and not on account of the human agent. Thus, sacraments by an unholy minister are still valid.

 Leo the Great (Leo I) (440–61)

• Held to papal supremacy based on Petrine doctrine.
• Believed in a hierarchical church with everything converging on Rome.
• Held to the idea of plenitudo potestatis (plentitude of power) for the See of Peter in which the pope, as heir of Peter, ruled over the whole church.

 Gregory the Great (540–604)

• Was the Pope whose papacy is generally considered the beginning of the medieval period.
• He increased the authority and power of the papacy.
• He believed the Roman pope was Peter’s sole successor and was supreme head over the universal church; he asserted political authority for the papacy.

 John Wycliff (1330–84)

• Was known as the Morning Star of the Reformation because of his writings against transubstantiation and the pope; he denied the efficacy of the mass and condemned certain rituals and ceremonies.
• He viewed the church as a predestined body of believers.

 Martin Luther (1483–1546)

• Luther was the primary leader of the Protestant Reformation.
• He argued that the true church consisted of two marks—correct preaching of the Word and the right use of sacraments
• He believed the church was the custodian of the gospel of grace.
• For Luther the church was “the congregation, the assembly of saints.”

• Luther’s differences with Roman Catholic Church included:
  • He opposed indulgences
  • He rejected the pope’s authority
  • He held to two sacraments not seven—Lord’s Supper and Baptism
• Luther disliked the German term—Kirche. He preferred Gemeinde (community).
• He did not want to start a new church. He said, “The Christian Church is your Mother.”
• His doctrine of the church focused on three key factors:
  • Priority of the Gospel
  • Word and Sacrament
  • Priesthood of all believers
• Luther talked about the “invisible church” whose membership comprised the whole company of the predestined.
• Luther believed in a corpus permixtum—the church contained both sinners and saints.
• He believed the continuity of the church is not based on a succession of bishops but on a succession of true believers.
• Luther recovered the Pauline doctrine of proclamation; the pulpit was central not the mass.
• Luther attacked the sacramental system of the church with his The Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520).
• Luther viewed baptism as the liturgical enactment of justification by faith.
• He defended infant baptism by saying that the New Testament did not teach against it.
• Luther said infant baptism is analogous to circumcision in the Old Testament; both are seals of God’s promise to His people.
• Luther believed in infant faith; God imputed faith to the infant in baptism even though the infant is not aware of it.
• According to Timothy George, “Luther’s greatest contribution to Protestant ecclesiology was his doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.”
• Luther’s concept of the priesthood of all believers was that every Christian is someone else’s priest. Thus, believers are all priests to each other.
• Luther disagreed with the traditional division of the church into two classes—clergy and laity.
• Luther held that all Christians were saints.
• Luther believed the State was the “left hand of God.”
• Concerning the Lord’s Supper, Luther interpreted Jesus’ words, “This is my body” (Hoc est corpus meum) literally; Luther’s real presence view of the Lord’s Supper became known as consubstantiation.

 John Calvin (1509–1564)

• Calvin associated the “marks” (notae) of the church with testing and verification. He surpassed Luther’s concepts of the marks as mere indicators of the visible church.
• Calvin, unlike Bucer and the following Reformed tradition, did not elevate ecclesiastical discipline to the technical status of a mark or notae. Like Luther, he believed the more certain marks were the Word purely preached and the sacraments rightly administered. (He did see discipline as important.)
• The two poles of Calvin’s ecclesiology were divine election and the local congregation.
• He held to a visible/invisible tension for the church; the visible church was made up of wheat and tares and the invisible church consisted of the elect.
• Calvin used two metaphors for the church—Mother and School
• Calvin believed baptism was designed to confirm faith in the elect although he believed it should be applied indiscriminately to everyone in the visible church.
• Calvin believed in four offices—pastor, teacher, elder, and deacon.
• Calvin believed there were two kinds of elders—those who ruled and those who ruled and taught.
• He held to the cessation of apostles and prophets.

 Anabaptists (sixteenth century)

• They did not believe the Magisterial reformers went far enough; restoration of the church, not reformation, was needed.
• For the Anabaptists, the marks of the true church were preaching of the Word, right use of sacraments and regenerate church membership; it is with this last mark that they went beyond the Magisterial reformers.
• They believed only believers should be baptized; thus they were against infant baptism.
• Held to a strict distinction between church and state; unlike the Magisterial reformers, they did not look to the state to contribute to the cause of the church.

 Henry VIII (1491–1547)

• Henry was King of England at the time of the Reformation; he initiated the Protestant Reformation in England.
• He founded the Anglican church.
• Henry rejected the authority of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church.
• He confiscated church lands and promoted religious reformers to power.

 Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556)

• Cranmer was the Archbishop of Canterbury.

• He told Henry VIII that he need not wait to hear from Rome for the annulment of his marriage, but he could refer the question of the legality of the marriage to university scholars.

• He was the highest ecclesiastical authority in England and exercised prerogatives traditionally reserved for the pope.
• He pronounced the King of England as head of the church.

• He rejected allegiance to the pope.

• Cranmer tried to unite the Church of England and the Lutheran church.

 John Wesley (1703–91)

• Wesley was the founder of Methodism and a primary figure in the eighteenth century Evangelical revival.

 John Henry Newman (1801–90)

• Newman was famous for his conversion from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism.
• He held to apostolic succession of the episcopate.
• He launched Catholic Anglicanism known as Tractarianism (stressed authority of the bishop as the way to renewal).

 7.  BAPTIST AND CATHOLIC ISSUES

Baptist Ecclesiology

• Hold to regenerate church membership.
• Hold that baptism was for people who consciously believed the Gospel.
• Hold to baptism by immersion.
• Hold to church discipline.
• Stress the priesthood of all believers.
• Hold to “soul competency”—each person has a right to determine issues of faith; E.Y. Mullins is important to the development of this concept

 Vatican II (1962–65)

• Seven major documents came from Vatican II.
• Dogmatic Constitution of the Church—emphasizes the church as the people of God over the older idea of the hierarchical and monarchical nature of the church. There was a shift in emphasis from the church as a monarchical structure organized under the primacy of the pope to the collegial union of bishops.
• Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World—the church is the servant of the world.
• Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to the Non-Christian Religions—reflects Rahner’s ideas; positive view of the role of non-Christian religions; Muslims and Jews are viewed in “high regard.”
• Decree on Ecumenism—stressed restoration of unity, not return of non-Catholics to the Catholic Church; claims that both Catholics and Protestants were to blame for the division during the Reformation; Protestants are now considered “separated brethren.”
• Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy—advocated the use of vernacular language in the liturgy.

 Contemporary Catholic Perspectives on Ecclesiology

• Roman Catholic ecclesiology has undergone significant changes in the contemporary era.
• The most important Roman Catholic theologians of the twentieth century are Yves Congar, Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx, and Hans Kung.
• Congar’s most notable contribution was his identification of the church as the “People of God.”
• Congar asserted that the church is to be a servant to others.
• Congar also called for reform in the church.
• Congar argued for a greater role for the laity in the ministry of the church.
• Rahner is known for idea of the “anonymous Christian” and is a promoter of inclusivism; Rahner said non-Christian religions contain elements of grace.
• Rahner distinguished the Kingdom of God and the church—the church is a sacrament of the Kingdom of God but not the Kingdom of God itself.
• Schillebeeckx viewed the church as “a sacrament of the world” (sacramentum mundi); the church shows the way for people to exist together in the world.
• Schillebeeckx identified the mission of the church with liberation ideas.
• Küng argued for a sharp divide between the church and the Kingdom, seeing the church as a servant of the Kingdom.
• Küng had a positive view of Protestants.
• Küng was rejected by the Roman Catholic Church for his critique of papal infallibility.

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