Church

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For the architectural structure, see Church (building). For other uses, see Church (disambiguation).

A church is an association of people with a common belief system.

Contents

[edit] Origins

[edit] Etymologic origins

The English language word "church" developed from Old English cirice, from West Germanic kirika, from Greek kyriake (oikia) "Lord's (house)", from kyrios "ruler, lord." [1] The Greek word kyriakon (an adjective meaning "of the Lord") was used of houses of Christian worship since c.300, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ekklesia or basilike.[2]

[edit] Theologic origins

The Christian concept of a "Church" is used for the Greek (ecclesia,church,ekklesia), ref. [Strong's Concordance] 1577, Bauer's, Thayer's, and Moulton's and is introduced by Jesus of Nazareth in the New Testament. Of the 114 occurrences of the term in the New Testament, three are found in the Gospel of Matthew: "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my ekklesia, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Mt 16:18); and "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the ekklesia; and if he refuses to listen even to the ekklesia, let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax-collector" (Mt 18:17).

The Greek term 'ekklesia', which literally means a "gathering" or "selection" or "called out assembly", was a governmental and political term, used to denote a national assembly.

This concept in Christian terms has its direct antecedent in the Koine Greek translation of the Old Testament (see also Septuagint), where the noun ekklesia has been employed 96 times to denote the congregation of the Children of Israel, which Christians regard as a Type of the "Body of Christ", as they also call the Christian Church of Jesus Christ.

[edit] Christian churches

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The church referred to by Jesus, is a group of persons that follow his teaching, to whom he gives heavenly and earthly authority (Matt 16:18-20) and is a group of persons that share two primary commonalities:

  • Acceptance of Salvation through Jesus of Nazareth, that he was the promised "Christ" (Rev. 22:20).
  • Obedience to God (Mark 12:13)

Where the term is taken to mean a denomination-type group the largest church may be the global Roman Catholic Church, with adherents of a particular creed or believers of a particular tradition. Various Christian churches are distinguished by their different ecclesiastical hierarchies, their creeds, and their Bibles and other sacred texts. Several Christian churches consider themselves to be the true church established by Christ (see Great Commission), including the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Restorationist churches. The Christian Church is sometimes also understood to mean the totality of believers across the various Christian churches. For example, Roman Catholics consider the Eastern Orthodox to be members of the Body of Christ, even though they are not Catholic.

Each church recognizes all, more or fewer of its fellow Christian churches as legitimate. Mainstream denominations are generally compatible enough that members do not have to be rebaptized when they switch from one denomination to another. Still, even mainstream denominations can be far apart ecumenically. The commonality is that they all believe and follow Jesus Christ as saviour. They all follow his teachings. Since Vatican II, Roman Catholic theologians have referred to Protestant and Restorationist denominations not as churches but as associations. These theologians acknowledge Eastern Orthodox churches as true churches, albeit defective ones.

Since the English word "church" in our present generation has a broader meaning now and had years ago in the beginning, it has to looked at objectively. There are more wars raged around religion than any thing else and that has been going on since the begining. The us and them equasion. The Church was formed around the trinity father son and holy Ghost. Women were involved in the church with Christ. His mother Mary and Mary Magdalene were a constant support in the later years of his ministry. The word Church was around before Christ. When the Bible speaks or talks about "church", it is said to biblically mean a "group of believers" that followed Jesus Christ. He gathered up his disciples formed by Jesus Christ, started in Jerusalem by Jesus Christ and authorized by God through Jesus Christ here on earth before He went to Heaven after His crucifixion. Christ did not do this alone. His unshakable faith in God and help of his disciples and fathful followers and servants of God went on to establish the Church. This group that was started by Jesus Christ is interrelated and interconnected but yet independent, as it,s followers are. The Founder, the Leader and the Head is Jesus Christ but it was about God not Jesus. That is what he meant the church to be about. In the study of Christ's life and Christianity, this group stood against giants and went against popular belief at the time. They were against any religious persecution as a lot of Christians were put in the arena with lions for their faith. This is an "original, unique, blessed, authorized, persecuted, ever existing" group of faith that has stood the test of time. This group, from the original "Church" of Jesus Christ, had been existing from the time Jesus Christ had started it and will last till the end of days. This church was formed to unite and not separate. The original church had many branches. It was made on the concept of Agape Love or divine unconditional love. There are traditional Christian Churches that are still waiting for the second coming of Christ. There are also Christians and Christian Churches that believe Christ returned immediately upon ascension to heaven in the etherial and resides still today as the "Living Christ".

[edit] Attributes

[edit] Spiritual authority

It is a wideley held belief among Christians that the Christian church is guided by the Holy Spirit and given spiritual authority by Christ.

According to Christian tradition, the "authority" of Jesus Christ to preach, to teach, and to do all the things that He had done while on Earth came from the Father God above. Before Jesus Christ had ascended to Heaven, He had given His apostles and disciples an authority too, first to preach (that may include teaching, exhorting, rebuking, correcting), and second, to baptize. And this "authority" was relayed to by the apostles to the disciples, from disciples to the next disciples, to the next disciples to the following next disciples, until His second coming. And the relaying of this authority or "passing of" this authority had been conducted solely by the church. This passing of authority was sometimes called, the anointing or appointing of pastors or leaders of a respective churches.

(Membership in the Christian church has traditionally been defined by baptism. The church administers Christianity's sacred acts: baptism, the Lord's supper, worship, etc.)

[edit] Visible and invisible churches

Many believe the Church, as described in the Bible, has a twofold character that can be described as the visible and invisible church. As the Church invisible, the church consists of all those from every time and place, who are vitally united to Christ through regeneration and salvation and who will be eternally united to Jesus Christ in eternal life. The Church visible consists of all those who visibly join themselves to a profession of faith and gathering together to know and serve the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. The visible church exists globally in all who identify themselves as Christians and locally in particular places where believers gather for the worship of God. The visible church may also refer to an association of particular churches from multiple locations who unite themselves under a common charter and set of governmental principles. The church in the visible sense is often governed by office-bearers carrying titles such as minister, pastor, teacher, elder, and deacon.

Others make the claim that no reference to the church is ever made in the Bible that is not referring to a local visible body, such as the church in someone's house or the church as Ephesis. Those that make this claim believe that the term is sometimes used in an institutional sense in which the term refers to all of a certain type, meaning all of the local visible churches.

[edit] Universal church

Church is taken by some to refer to a single, universal community, although others contend that the doctrine of the universal church was established until later. The doctrine of the universal, visible church was made explicit in the Apostles' Creed,[citation needed] while the less common Protestant notion of the universal, invisible church is not laid out explicitly until the Reformation. The universal church traditions generally espouse that the Church includes all who are baptized into her common faith, including the doctrines of the trinity, forgiveness of sins through the sacrificial action of Christ, and the resurrection of the body. These teachings are expressed in liturgy with the celebration of sacraments, visible signs of grace. They are passed down as the deposit of faith.

[edit] Church government

Major forms of church government include hierarchical (Roman Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodoxy), presbyterian (rule by elders), and independent (Baptist, charismatic, other forms of independency). Prior to the Protestant Reformation, clergy were understood to gain their authority through apostolic succession, an understanding still affirmed in the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic churches and Anglican churches.

[edit] History of Christian churches

[edit] Early Christian Church

The Christian church began as Jesus' following among the Jews. Paul and other missionaries spread Christianity among the Hellenized gentiles of the Roman Empire. Christians were sporadically persecuted, but the religion spread, and in the 4th century Constantine legalized Christianity in the Eastern Roman Empire.

[edit] Seven Ecumenical Councils

Constantine's Council of Nicea united the Christian church around the Nicene Creed. Six more ecumenical councils followed, representing a time of harmony between East and West.

[edit] East and West

When the Roman Empire fell to the barbarians, the church effectively split into East and West. This split became an official schism in 1054.

[edit] Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther and other reformers broke away from Rome, establishing Protestant churches. Other new churches formed over the next centuries.

[edit] Metaphors

Christian scriptures use a wide range of metaphors to describe the church. These include:

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Harper, Douglas (2001). "church". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved on 2008-01-18. "O.E. cirice "church," from W.Gmc. *kirika, from Gk. kyriake (oikia) "Lord's (house)," from kyrios "ruler, lord." "
  2. ^ Harper, Douglas (2001). "church". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved on 2008-01-18. "Gk. kyriakon (adj.) "of the Lord" was used of houses of Christian worship since c.300, especially in the East, though it was less common in this sense than ekklesia or basilike."
  • Anderson, Robert A., Church of God? or the Temples of Satan: A reference book of Spiritual understanding and Gnosis, TGS Publishers, Texas, 2006. ISBN 0-9786249-6-3.
  • Bannerman, James, The Church of Christ: A treatise on the nature, powers, ordinances, discipline and government of the Christian Church, Still Waters Revival Books, Edmonton, Reprint Edition May 1991, First Edition 1869.
  • Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Inter-Varsity Press, Leicester, England, 1994. See particularly Part 6: The Doctrine of the Church
  • Kuiper, R.B., The Glorious Body of Christ, The Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh, 1967
  • Mannion, Gerard and Mudge, Lewis (eds.), The Routledge Companion to the Christian Church, 2007
  • Vicar Aaron Girling, Worcester, England
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