The Church is Holy
The second attribute of the Church as found in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed is holiness. Orthodox Christians believe in a Church that is not only singular and unique, but also wholly sacred and unlike any other “organization” or body in the world. Given that the Church is the true Body of Christ—with the Lord Jesus Christ Himself as its head and only foundation (1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 5:23)—the Church exists as “the theanthropic workshop of human sanctification and, through men, of the sanctification of the rest of creation” (St. Justin Popovich, The Attributes of the Church).
In calling the Church “theanthropic” (the adjectival form of theanthropos, “God-man”), the Orthodox Church firmly believes that just as Christ is a perfect union of both divinity and humanity, so too is the Church a gathering that is both indivisibly divine and human. This is so because the Church is truly the Body of Christ, with Christ truly as its Head—these are not mere metaphors or pious thoughts, but a true description of reality. One could no more cause an actual division in the Church than could Christ be divided in His divine and human natures. This also means that all heresies related to ecclesiology are also Christological heresies, for the two are inseparable.
As a holy or sanctified (“set apart”) body, the Church is the locus of God’s salvation for both mankind and all of creation in this present age. Through its union with Christ, the Church is sanctified and becomes the body (or people) through which the rest of creation is sanctified and transformed, and this through the grace (energies) of God. Through the life of Christ, the people of His Body are transformed and brought into true union and communion with the all-holy Trinity: ”Having become the Church by His incarnation out of an unparalleled love for man, our God and Lord Jesus Christ sanctified the Church by His sufferings, Resurrection, Ascension, teaching, wonder-working, prayer, fasting, mysteries, and virtues; in a word, by His entire theanthropic life.” As the ”workshop of human sanctification,” it is the responsibility of those within the Church to share this holiness and life in Christ with all of creation. This reality can easily be seen by paying close attention to the divine services, as the Orthodox Church daily intercedes for the entire world—not just the earth, but the entire cosmos.
When we consider the humanity of the Church—that is, the fact that the Church is largely made up of “sinners” or those in need of God’s transforming and healing grace—it can be easy to misunderstand to what extent this human constitution detracts from the effectiveness and ministry of the Church as a whole. What we must realize, first of all, is that the Church is precisely for sinners—not the righteous. An analogy that many Church Fathers have used throughout the centuries is that the Church is a hospital, with Christ as the Great Physician—those who are in need of both healing and reconciliation with God are brought under His everlasting care within the Church. This is precisely why we repeatedly chant the refrain “Lord, have mercy” in the divine services.
Secondly, we must be assured that this gathering of “patients in need of healing” does not deny or negate the holiness of the Church:
The flow of history confirms the reality of the Gospel: the Church is filled to overflowing with sinners. Does their presence in the Church reduce, violate, or destroy her sanctity? Not in the least! For her Head—the Lord Christ, and her Soul—the Holy Spirit, and her divine teaching, her mysteries, and her virtues, are indissolubly and immutably holy. The Church tolerates sinners, shelters them, and instructs them, that they may be awakened and roused to repentance and spiritual recovery and transfiguration; but they do not hinder the Church from being holy. Only unrepentant sinners, persistent in evil and godless malice, are cut off from the Church either by the visible action of the theanthropic authority of the Church or by the invisible action of divine judgment, so that thus also the holiness of the Church may be preserved. ‘Put away from among yourselves that wicked person’ (I Cor. 5:13).
Archimandrite Justin Popovich, “The Attributes of the Church,” Orthodox Life, vol. 31, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb., 1981)
The great fathers of the Orthodox faith know that the holiness of the Church is an “essential” and immutable quality, specifically because the holiness of the Church is derived from the Trinity. Being united truly to Christ as His Body, the Church is in no danger of losing its holiness, despite the fact that, as a hospital, it has always been filled with the spiritually ill. Many are confused over this issue, and it can lead many astray and even into apostasy as a result: disillusioned by the sinfulness of the Church’s members, they may conclude that the Church itself is sinful. It seems almost impossible to understand how the Church could truly be the Body of Christ with so many struggling and sinful people within it—especially when those sinners are found in places of ministry or leadership. Nevertheless, we must always be assured that we are all sinners and that it is in the Church alone that we can find true restoration and healing—and we can’t make it on our own, apart from Christ’s Body. Through faithfulness, God’s people will see the restoration of all things in and through Jesus Christ and His Body, as we are made ”holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27).
Vincent Martini has a BA in Philosophy from Indiana University and is an Orthodox convert / layman in the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America. He resides in northwest Arkansas.
I believe that Protestants, even Southern Baptists, would agree with your article. The Church is One, is Holy, is Catholic, is Apostolic, Christ is really the head, it is Pure. They would disagree however that the Church that is all these things is, visible. I think they would say that the Church that is these things is In-visible.
Scott,
I certainly agree that most Protestants would contend that there is a single Church of God, but in an invisible (and unknowable) sense, and that the things described in the Symbol of Faith are more on an eschatological or “hope” based plane.
However, that disagrees with both the holy scriptures and the entirety of apostolic Tradition — and it is certainly NOT what was intended by the bishops and presbyters at Constantinople when this Creedal statement was formulated (and this is all that matters, not our “spin” on it).
For instance, if the Church is only invisible (and this is all that truly matters), then schism and heresy are of no concern for the Church. The “true” Church that is invisible will be just fine, no matter what arises, one would contend. However, the words of Christ and His apostles make it paramount that we are to do everything we possibly can to avoid schism, to purge evil doers from among the Church (so they don’t poison the whole flock), to hand some over to Satan, to exercise discipline and excommunications when necessary, and so on. None of this would be either important or necessary if the Church was only REALLY invisible.
St Paul would not have warned the Corinthians to avoid destroying the Temple of the living God (of whom we are all a part, as the Body of Christ), out of fear of judgment and condemnation, if all that mattered was the invisible Temple.
The earliest apostolic Fathers of our Faith (disciples of the very apostles of Jesus Christ) would not have strongly warned us to avoid schism and divisions among us, nor would the beloved disciple John have said that those who leave the Church “were never really of us.” Saint Ignatius and Saint Irenaeus would not have repeatedly appealed to Bishops ordained in faithful succession from the apostles if only the “invisible” Church mattered. In fact, it is in the Bishops themselves that we find our identity as Christians and as the people of God, for “wherever the Bishop is, there is Jesus Christ, and wherever Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
There is much more that could be said, but sufficed to say, the Church is real and VISIBLE, not some ethereal, unknown “idea” in our heads or fantasies. It is a true union and communion with Jesus Christ and with one another. The Church is not an “idea” and neither is “unity” or “catholicity” — these are all realities that find their real, tangible, visible and TRUE reality in Christ Himself. These truths (as with all truth) are Personal, in that they are of the Person of Jesus Christ.
In peace,
Vincent
Is the Church the incarnate body of Jesus Christ?….does the fact that that God became incarnate disallow for any notion of an In-visible church?….surely the Incarnation affects the this visible/invisible business?
The Church is united to the Incarnate God-Man (theanthropos) Jesus Christ, with Christ as Head. As such, the Church can no more be divided (or dual) than can Christ’s humanity and divinity. All Christology is Ecclesiology, and vice versa. If you mess up one, you mess up the other.
Speaking of schism, how can one repent of schism if there is no visible body to be joined to? If the church is invisible, then it is of no consequence.
I’m not sure how there can be schism if the Church is solely invisible.
If thats the case then the biblical injunction against schism/divisions makes no sense in the same way that the warnings against apostasy make no sense if one cant fall away. But Im sure theres a way to explain that away too…
Reblogged this on sojourner and pilgrim.