Digging Out the Embedded Church - The Maranatha Community

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• Luther wanted to assert the ubiquity 167 of Christ‟s body, and so believed his presence was there in the bread and wine on the altar. • Calvin wanted to assert that Jesus‟ body was in heaven, but his presence was brought to the table by the Holy Spirit (through the epiclēsis 168 ), and we could consider that in the Communion Christ was both represented and presented to the communicant. • Zwingli, although he altered his position somewhat in later life, took the view that the Lord‟s Supper was simply a commemoration of the death of Christ. • The Anabaptists generally held a similar position. It is curious that among an Anabaptist group such as the (Plymouth) Brethren, the Lord‟s Supper (the Breaking of Bread) in some of their Assemblies has assumed an almost sacramental character. If a Brethren Assembly has declined and can no longer function as a „local church‟ it is often the case that the Breaking of Bread will continue to be observed even though all other meetings are ended; some of their Communion hymns are devout and beautiful expressions of the sense of the Lord‟s presence at the „table‟. • The Orthodox Church, while holding to a real and bodily presence of Christ in the Communion, does not usually attempt to define it in philosophical terms such as transubstantiation. • Girolamo Savonarola, the 15 th Century prior of Florence, helpfully explains that the body of Christ, given for us on the cross, is now in heaven and that body is not the same as his body in the sacrament. Instead, the sacrament becomes the body of Christ because he chooses to be present in a special way. A direct parallel with this is seen (and celebrated by Protestants) when we recognise that a fellowship of believers is also truly the body of Christ – without us claiming that any of the people present were an actual physical part of the body that was crucified. „Since the body of Christ is not present in the Blessed Eucharist by becoming locally present through His descent from heaven into the host, but solely by conversion, we must recognise that His presence in heaven differs in substance from His presence in the sacrament. In heaven His whole body occupies a place and time; like other bodies. But He is present in the host, in an indivisible manner, and in a sense so wonderful, that this whole body is present in every fragment of the host. This means of existence is possible only to God, whose power exceeds the bounds of our intelligence.‟ 169 c) Justification by Faith and Works The Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox all assert that God alone justifies the sinner. All true Christians agree that justification leads to sanctification and that sanctification is the 167 Ubiquity. The ability to be present in every place. 168 The Epiclesis. That part of the Eucharistic Prayer by which the priest invokes the Holy Spirit (or the power of His blessing) upon the Eucharistic bread and wine. 169 The Truth Of Our Faith Made Manifest In The Triumph Of The Cross, Brother Girolamo Savonarola, ed and rewritten with Introduction and explanatory notes by James E Dainty. Available at http://sites.google.com/site/savonarolaproject/ or at http://freecourses.org/. Page 133
outcome of being justified. Agreement on this doctrine was achieved early in the Protestant Reformation at the Colloquy of Regensburg (1541) – though the extreme positions on the doctrine seen in Luther and the later Council of Trent were not part of the discussions. It became to be a centre of contentious debate for many years to come. The question of the relationship of works and faith in salvation foundered on the understanding of what salvation is. Both sides agreed that grace alone brought a person into a right relationship with God initially, but salvation as sanctification was then the issue. Protestants tended to separate justification from sanctification, Catholics to see both as integral to the experience of salvation. In 1999 Lutherans and Catholics published a Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, claiming that Catholics and Lutherans hold a „shared understanding of justification‟. Here is a summary of what was agreed: • Justification is the work of a Triune God. • We receive salvation in faith and so become justified (initially through infant baptism, later confirmed by faith). • This faith is God‟s gift to us. • We are sinners and can never merit God‟s salvation. • We cooperate in the justification only as an effect of grace (Catholic). There is no cooperation as such but believers are personally involved in justification in their exercising faith (Lutheran). • Justification does not depend on the „life-renewing‟ effects of grace on a believer (Lutheran). Agreed, God‟s gift of grace in salvation remains independent of human cooperation (Catholic). • Justification by faith and renewal of life are distinct but not separate. • A Christian is both a sinner and a justified person (Luther‟s dictum: simul justus et peccator) and only voluntary rejection of God brings separation from him. • The works of the law cannot justify but the law is still needed as a standard of conduct for believers. • God‟s promise of forgiveness in Christ gives certainty of salvation. • Good works follow justification as its fruits. • Catholics assert the meritorious character of good works in the sense that there is a reward in heaven for good deeds, but this does not undermine their belief that justification always remains the unmerited gift of grace. • Nothing done prior to justification by faith merits justification. The Agreement concludes that what Lutherans now believe does not fall under the condemnation of the Council of Trent. Page 134
Page 1 and 2:
Digging Out the Embedded Church Dis
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The Maranatha Community comprises t
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Introduction CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chr
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ead, nicely browned on top. He plac
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HOW DO WE DIG OUT THE EMBEDDED CHUR
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That the Church should express this
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For Alfeyev, „Faith is a gift, th
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„heresies„ of the Early Church
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Traditionally, the Church has made
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CHAPTER 1 CHRISTIAN UNITY IN THE EA
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A certain Docetic teacher, often id
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Novatianism When the persecutions o
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The fortunes of the Arian party in
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An attempt was made in 482 AD (29 y
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was development in the interpretati
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CYPRIAN AND AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO The
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position would see baptism as not t
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The Eastern Church‟s relationship
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insisted from the second Lateran Co
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There is so much that Orthodoxy sha
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we do not talk to each other. Our t
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The question of heresy does not com
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They were missionary-minded and the
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Lollard ideas lingered in English r
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CHAPTER 4 THE SECOND GREAT SPLIT: W
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unity‟s sake in subsequent centur
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Erasmus wrote he asserts, through o
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attle-cry, is perhaps the most famo
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Regulations for the good ordering o
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Eucharist was not just a commemorat
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CHAPTER 5 QUOTATIONS ON THE THEME O
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How rare then it is to meet a man w
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are often much bigger divisions bet
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St Germanus of Constantinople - 8 t
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manner. He declared that men could
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S L Greenslade - 20 th Century: „
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CHAPTER 6 HOPES FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
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imminent return of Christ (Komensky
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a concern that merchant adventurers
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also anti-Socinian. Calixtus himsel
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The Eastern Churches were not rent
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everyone - from outward forms to in
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Women were not usually members of t
Page 87 and 88: work in America, shows him, though
Page 89 and 90: The aim of the conference was to br
Page 91 and 92: From 1768 Harris‟s home at Talgar
Page 93 and 94: twice more to congregations of Whit
Page 95 and 96: denominations was not their distinc
Page 97 and 98: It was from the overseas Protestant
Page 99 and 100: THE OXFORD TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT Anot
Page 101 and 102: the Church of England‟s doctrinal
Page 103 and 104: „We pray that… all who desire t
Page 105 and 106: thereof, in prayer, in the remembra
Page 107 and 108: honours the Lord and his Word; the
Page 109 and 110: apostolic church enjoyed, and that
Page 111 and 112: episcopate were too radical for mos
Page 113 and 114: Denominations began to form their o
Page 115 and 116: In this Shanghai Conference‟s Rep
Page 117 and 118: With so much talk of unity and coop
Page 119 and 120: „The liturgical movement in weste
Page 121 and 122: • Sharing a corporate life of wit
Page 123 and 124: • Our acknowledgement of the Apos
Page 125 and 126: (h) The Evangelical Church in Germa
Page 127 and 128: It changed nothing in respect of do
Page 129 and 130: Some Evangelical Protestants want t
Page 131 and 132: • It is in continuity with the
Page 133 and 134: But things have changed. Richard Ma
Page 135 and 136: evangelism - (and) state what the r
Page 137: Repentance and faith are at the hea
Page 141 and 142: Virgin‟s salutary influence on me
Page 143 and 144: h) Confession The sacrament of pena
Page 145 and 146: demanding way would be sin. The que
Page 147 and 148: If the opportunity for the Church t
Page 149 and 150: Ministers, priests and laypeople in
Page 151 and 152: West Kirby, near to my home, the Si
Page 153 and 154: n) Shared Study Courses There is a
Page 155 and 156: Even some Protestant churches today
Page 157 and 158: Vincent de Lérins spoke of a „pr
Page 159 and 160: It is not likely, in the foreseeabl
Page 161 and 162: Christ and are trying their best to
Page 163 and 164: upon the name of our Lord Jesus Chr
Page 165 and 166: Perhaps this dying process is now b
Page 167 and 168: economic factors giving rise to suc
Page 169 and 170: deeper ecumenism, one that does not
Page 171 and 172: APPENDIX 1 THE NICENO-CONSTANTINOPO
Page 173 and 174: APPENDIX 2 FOUR BIBLICAL TEXTS ON T
Page 175 and 176: The „apostles and elders‟ of th
Page 177 and 178: „The purpose of the Reformation C
Page 179 and 180: What all three traditions have in c
Page 181 and 182: Cromwellian period, in a treatise o
Page 183 and 184: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS
Page 185 and 186: Cullman, Oscar, The Earliest Christ
Page 187 and 188: McCarthy, Tim, The Catholic Traditi
Page 189 and 190:
Letter concerning the civil princip
Page 191 and 192:
Coptic Orthodox Church, 10 Council
Page 193 and 194:
Parousia, 24, 68, 93 Paul VI, 10, 1
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