The Church of Jesus Christ: An Anglican Response

Ecclesiology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Davie

AbstractFollowing an initial exploration of the teaching of The Church of Jesus Christ, this paper argues that a comparison of The Church of Jesus Christ with the Thirty Nine Articles and recent Anglican ecumenical statements and agreements shows a significant degree of agreement between The Church of Jesus Christ and Anglican theology and ecclesiology. This agreement reflects the fact that both the Anglican tradition and the traditions of the churches in the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe have been shaped by the Reformation. It also shows the influence of a growing ecumenical consensus on ecclesiological issues. However, alongside this agreement there also remain significant points of difference about the relation between divine and human activity in the Church, the importance of tradition, the holiness of the Church and the nature of the Church’s unity. These points of difference need to be explored and debated by Anglicans and members of the Churches of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE).

1989 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Hart

The act of God in bringing salvation to the human race and summoning individuals into a community to serve him is due solely to the mercy and grace of God, mediated and manifested through Jesus Christ in his ministry, atoning death and rising again.1 This statement of belief, taken from the recently published ARCIC II document Salvation and the Church, is one to which Christians of most denominations could probably subscribe. Yet the very existence of the document is testimony to the fact that within the Christian Church there have been widely differing interpretations of the precise nature of salvation and its implications for humankind. At the time of the Reformation disagreement as to the theological import of terms such as ‘grace’, ‘justification’ and ‘sanctification’ was a major cause of division between Rome and the Protestant churches. Were they primarily to be given an objective or subjective, an extrinsic or intrinsic reference in relation to the believer? ARCIC II demonstrates that these are still live issues at the interface of ecumenical dialogue today, and must be resolved if real moves are to be made in the direction of Christian unity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Oberdorfer

AbstractThe relevance of the reformation for the development of modern liberty rights is much debated. Although the Protestant Reformers fought for the »Freedom of a Christian« against religious patronization, they were not tolerant in a modern sense of the term. However, the Reformation released long-term impulses which contributed to the origin and formation of a modern civil society, e. g. the respect for the autonomy of the individual over against the church, the passion for education, the emphasis on the »universal priesthood of all believers«, and the appreciation of civil professions. Long historical learning processes were necessary, though, until the Protestant churches acknowledged and adopted modern liberty rights, a participatory democracy and a pluralistic society as genuine forms of expression of a Protestant ethos.


1962 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-123
Author(s):  
Rudolf J. Ehrlich

The subject ‘Papacy and Scripture‘ is of great importance today for two main reasons:1. Reformed Theology itself requires that we must not be satisfied with the theological standpoint reached at the time of the Reformation but should submit ourselves to continual questioning by the Truth, and so move on to a position more in accordance with the dictates of the self-same Truth which is Jesus Christ. The very fact that we are ‘Reformed’ theologians itself raises the question of whether the anti-Roman arguments legitimately used by the Reformers still hold good; which means that, as a matter of urgency, we must reappraise our relationship with the Church of Rome.


1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Stephenson

Several years before the mode of Christ's eucharistic presence became a controverted issue which would presently provoke a lasting schism among the Churches of the Reformation, Luther could unaffectedly propound the traditional dogma of the bodily presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar as a necessary consequence of the evangelical quest for the sensus grammaticus of the words of institution. The same exegetical method which led to his reappropriation of the doctrine of the justification of the sinner ‘by grace, for Christ's sake, through faith’ obliged him to confess that ‘the bread is the body of Christ’. Already here, in the mordantly anti-Roman treatise On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Luther has laid his finger on the model in terms of which he will understand the real presence to the end of his days: the consecrated host is the body of Christ, just as the assumed humanity of jesus Christ is the Son of God. The displacement of the scholastic theory of transubstantiation by the model of the incarnate person illustrates the Reformer's allegiance to the Chalcedonian Definition: ‘Luther is really replacing Aristotelian categories by those derived from Chalcedonian christology, to which he remained faithful: “unconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably”.’ While the doctrine of the real presence moved from the periphery to the centre of Luther's theology and piety as the 1520s wore on, his conception of the modality of the eucharistic presence remained constant throughout.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-143
Author(s):  
Herry Sonya Corneles ◽  
Jefry Yopie Afner Suak ◽  
Veydy Yanto Mangantibe

Abstrak: Artkel ini membahas konsep kristologi penganut krsiten tauhid. Persoalan doktrin Kristologi, khususnya tentang hubungan antara natur keilahian dan natur keinsanian Yesus Kristus sudah ada sejak abad mula-mula, sehingga gereja merumuskan rumusan Chalcedon pada konsili Chalcedon yang diadakan tahun 451. Tetapi persoalan Kristologi tetap berlanjut meskipun gereja sudah memiliki rumusan Chalcedon tersebut. Salah satu ajaran yang menentang Trinitas dan doktrin keilahian Yesus Kristus adalah unitarianisme, yang muncul pada abad reformasi. Paham unitarianisme merupakan paham yang meyakini bahwa hanya ada satu Allah saja, baik eksistensi maupun persona. Dalam ajaran tentang Kristus, paham ini lebih menekankan kemanusiaan Yesus Kristus dan menolak natur keilahian Yesus Kristus. Dibuktikan pada  bagian Alkitab bahwa Yesus adalah Allah dalam beberapa cara. Karena Kristus benar-benar tokoh yang pernah hadir dalam sejarah dunia ini. Penulisan ini menggunakan metode penelitian deskriptif dengan pendekatan kajian literatur, sehingga diperoleh data tentang latar belakang sejarah dan ajaran penganut Kristen Tauhid, presuposisi penganut Kristen Tauhid, pokok-pokok pemikiran Kristologis penganut Kristen Tauhid, analisis terhadap konsep Kristologi penganut Kristen Tauhid dan implikasinya bagi Theologia Kristen.Abstract: This article discusses the christology concept of monotheistic Christians. The issue of the doctrine of Christology, especially regarding the relationship between the divine nature and the human nature of Jesus Christ, has existed since the early centuries, so the church formulated the Chalcedon formula at the Chalcedon council which was held in 451. But the Christological problem continued even though the church already had the Chalcedon formula. One of the teachings that opposed the Trinity and the doctrine of the divinity of Jesus Christ was unitarianism, which emerged in the Reformation century. Unitarianism is an understanding that believes that there is only one God, both existence and person. In the teachings of Christ, this understanding emphasizes the humanity of Jesus Christ and rejects the divinity of Jesus Christ. This writing uses a descriptive research method with a literature review approach, in order to obtain data on the historical background and teachings of monotheistic Christians, presuppositions of monotheistic Christians, the main points of Christological thoughts of monotheistic Christians, analysis of the concept of Christology of monotheistic Christians and their implications for Christian Theology


Author(s):  
Paul T. Nimmo

This chapter exposits and analyses the central contours of Barth’s mature doctrine of the church, in which the church is innovatively characterized by a twofold ec-centricity—a double decentring of its life and work. In a first section, it considers Barth’s radical understanding of the being of the church in relation to Jesus Christ and the Spirit, and the way in which the church has its originating centre outwith itself, in its being from God. In a second section, it attends to the creative way in which Barth conceives of the church as a divine event, and thereby relativizes the church as human institution. In a third section, it focuses on the significance and content of the human activity of the church, and the provocative way in which Barth locates the ultimate purpose of the church outwith itself, in its being for the world. In a fourth section, the chapter explores in outline some of the critical responses to Barth’s groundbreaking doctrine of the church. Finally, by way of conclusion, the chapter considers the relationship of Barth’s ecclesiology to ecumenical conversation.


Author(s):  
Magdel Le Roux

Many early Christian churches incorporated a number of non-biblical, even “pagan” symbols and rituals into their liturgy (e. g. the origin of Christmas). They were contextualized into the church by a brand new Christian content to them. From its first inception Christianity attempted to slander and suppress the pagan myths and rituals in the name of its own message. This, however, does not alter the fact that the church also sought some connections in the sphere of myth. Since the Reformation many Protestant churches have tended to “cleanse” the church from all forms of symbols and rituals that could be reminiscent of its earlier connection with the Roman Catholic Church. The article argues that this left an emptiness, a longing for symbols and rituals which usually form an essential part of a normal religious experience. The Old Testament has both a “deficit” and a “surplus” which might have an abiding significance for Christians. It has become clear from archaeological discoveries that Jewish societies formed an integral part of early Christian societies.


Author(s):  
M.A. Higton

Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk who found the theology and penitential practices of his times inadequate for overcoming fears about his salvation. He turned first to a theology of humility, whereby confession of one’s own utter sinfulness is all that God asks, and then to a theology of justification by faith, in which human beings are seen as incapable of any turning towards God by their own efforts. Without preparation on the part of sinners, God turns to them and destroys their trust in themselves, producing within them trust in his promises made manifest in Jesus Christ. Regarding them in unity with Christ, God treats them as if they had Christ’s righteousness: he ‘justifies’ them. Faith is produced in the sinner by the Word of God concerning Jesus Christ in the Bible, and by the work of the Holy Spirit internally showing the sinner the true subject matter of the Bible. It is not shaped by philosophy, since faith’s perspective transcends and overcomes natural reason. Faith, through the working of God’s Holy Spirit within the believer, naturally produces good works, but justification is not dependent upon them – they are free expressions of faith in love. Nevertheless, secular government with its laws and coercion is still necessary in this world because there are so few true Christians. Luther’s theology brought him into conflict with the Church hierarchy and was instrumental in the instigation of the Reformation, in which the Protestant churches split from Rome.


Author(s):  
Jean-Louis Quantin

In his History of the variations of the Protestant Churches, his major work of confessional controversy, Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627-1704) made a genuine effort to use various primary sources. In the case of England, however, he chose to rely on a single authority, Gilbert Burnet’s (1643-1715) History of the Reformation of the Church of England, which was available to him in a recent French translation. This reflected Bossuet’s tactical determination to employ only authors whom his Protestant adversaries could not object to, but also his paradoxical affinities with Burnet, whose very political reading of the English Reformation fitted well with his own interpretation. Burnet, however, had included in his History a rich collection of records, which Bossuet studied and occasionally used to challenge Burnet’s main text. Although Bossuet’s interests remained those of a polemical divine, he spoke the language of historical erudition to assert his trustworthiness.


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