Church invisible
The church invisible, invisible church,
Views on the relation with Visible church
Distinction between two churches
The first known and recorded person in church history to introduce a view of an invisible and a visible church is Clement of Alexandria.[2][3] Some have also argued that Jovinian and Vigilantius held an invisible church view.[4][5][6][7]
The concept was advocated by St Augustine of Hippo as part of his refutation of the Donatist sect, though he, as other Church Fathers before him, saw the invisible Church and visible Church as one and the same thing, unlike the later Protestant reformers who did not identify the Catholic Church as the true church.[8] He was strongly influenced by the Platonist belief that true reality is invisible and that, if the visible reflects the invisible, it does so only partially and imperfectly (see theory of forms).[9] Others question whether Augustine really held to some form of an "invisible true Church" concept.[10]
The concept was insisted upon during the
John Wycliffe, who was a precursor to the reformation, also believed in an invisible church made of the predestinated elect.[12] Another precursor of the reformation, Johann Ruchrat von Wesel believed in a distinction between the visible and invisible church.[13]
Pietism later took this a step further, with its formulation of ecclesiolae in ecclesia ("little churches within the church").
Non-distinction
Roman Catholic theology, reacting against the protestant concept of an invisible Church, emphasized the visible aspect of the Church founded by Christ, but in the twentieth century placed more stress on the interior life of the Church as a supernatural organism, identifying the Church, as in the encyclical
This article is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic. (September 2022) |
This encyclical rejected two extreme views of the Church:[15]
- (1) A Christ and contribute to the attaining of its supernatural end, nevertheless that which lifts the Society of Christians far above the whole natural order is the Spirit of our Redeemer who penetrates and fills every part of the Church.[16]
- (2) An exclusively mystical understanding of the Church is mistaken as well, because a mystical "Christ in us" union would deify its members and mean that the acts of Christians are simultaneously the acts of Christ. The theological concept una mystica persona (one mystical person) refers not to an individual relation but to the unity of Christ with the Church and the unity of its members with him in her. This is where we can find direct contrast to Christian philosophy like the preachings of Rev.Jesse Lee Peterson, yet the personification is similar. There is another view, that contrasts these two school-of-thought, and that is from Albert Eduard Meier, as he includes Electric Theory in his teachings, similar to Creationism. [17]
Eastern Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky too characterizes as a "Nestorian ecclesiology" that which would "divide the Church into distinct beings: on the one hand a heavenly and invisible Church, alone true and absolute; on the other, the earthly Church (or rather 'the churches'), imperfect and relative".[18]
See also
- Catholicism
- Christendom
- Communion of Saints
- Kallistos Ware's view on the nonduality between the church visible and church invisible
- Four Marks of the Church
- Invisible churches (slavery)
- Priesthood of all believers
- Radical Reformation
- Tzadikim Nistarim
References
- ^ Weaver, Jonathan (1900). Christian Theology: A Concise and Practical View of the Cardinal Doctrines and Institutions of Christianity. United Brethren Publishing House. p. 245.
There are distinctions between the general invisible church and the general visible church, which it is not necessary to carry out to the last analysis. In a sense, they are both visible. All who are members of the general invisible church are members of the general visible church. But all who are members of the general visible church are not members of the general invisible church. A clear and distinct difference between the visible and invisible church may be stated thus: (1) The general invisible church includes all out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation who are truly saved. No one denomination has in its communion all who belong to the invisible church. (2) The visible church includes all who are recognized as members of a Christian church. No one denomination can justly claim to be the general visible church.
- ISBN 978-1-351-60744-5.
- ISBN 978-1-137-54393-6.
- ^ Neander, August (1849). General History of the Christian Religion and Church. Crocker & Brewster.
- ^ Dorner, Isaac August (1890). A System of Christian Doctrine. T. & T. Clark.
- ISBN 978-3-8460-5024-8.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 978-0-253-02255-4.
- ^ Justo L. Gonzalez (1970–1975). A History of Christian Thought: Volume 2 (From Augustine to the eve of the Reformation). Abingdon Press.
- ISBN 978-0-664-22553-7), p. 53
- ^ Patrick Barnes, The Non-Orthodox: The Orthodox Teaching on Christians Outside of the Church
- ISBN 978-0-567-08745-4.
- ^ "John Wycliffe | Biography, Bible, Beliefs, Reformation, Legacy, Death, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-10-30.
- ^ "Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume VI: The Middle Ages. A.D. 1294-1517 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". ccel.org. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
- ISBN 978-0-307-88634-7.
- ^ Heribert Mühlen, Una Mystica Persona, München, 1967, p. 51
- ^ Pius XII, Mystici corporis Christi, 63
- ^ S Tromp, Caput influit sensum et motum, Gregorianum, 1958, pp. 353-366
- ISBN 0-913836-31-1) p. 186