Final Flashcards
What is Ecclesiology?
The doctrine of the Church
What are some of the different metaphors of the Church used throughout the Bible?
Body of Christ, People of God, Light of the World, Virgin, Bride, Wife of Christ, Strangers, Aliens, Pilgrims, Abraham’s Seed, Salt of the Earth, Branches of the Vine, Temple of God, Building, Chosen Race, Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation, The Elect lady and her Children, Church Visible
What did the Early Church believe to be the Symbols of a True Church?
Apostolocity (dedicated to the apostles’ teaching), keep the sacraments, catholicity (all in agreement as a group)
What does the Catholic Church believe to be the Symbols of a True Church?
Apostolic succession (literal connections to Peter), no salvation outside of the church, sacerdotalism (sacraments have power within themselves and not in those ministering or receiving)
What does the Protestant Church believe to be the Symbols of a True Church?
(After the Reformation) Preaching of the Word (apostolicity), the ordinances (baptism, Lord’s Supper), the living of the Word (discipline is applied)
What are the 3 main purposes of the Church?
Worship (music, reading the Word, preaching, sharing/evangelism), Discipleship (make disciples, baptize, mentor), and Fellowship (ministry)
Why should we do Church Discipline?
Clear evidence that God disciplines the church, clear commands in Scripture for us to discipline the church, Practical reasons
What are negative goals of Church Discipline that are NOT Biblical?
Running people off, punish people, make people feel bad, make us look good
What are the Biblical goals of Church Discipline?
Restoration, Reconciliation, Prohibition (keep sin from spreading), Protection of Purity of the Church
Should private sins be dealt with publicly or privately?
Privately
Should public sins be dealt with publicly or privately?
Publicly
How should issues between two people of the church that are done publicly be dealt with?
Privately by going to the individual as an individual
What happens when public issues between two people of the church are not resolved?
Take it to the church members and if necessary, remove the person because they refuse to repent
In Early Church history, who ran the church?
They had a polity/structure that included local elders and local pastors who controlled their church; above them were bishops or “super-pastors”
What did the Catholic Church believe for Church Polity?
Bishops from Regional Bishops, Arch-Bishops, the Pope or Bishop of Rome
What did Calvin say about Church Polity after the Reformation?
Four offices in the Church which include 1) minister of the Word (office in charge of preaching); 2) the doctors of the church (responsible for teaching); 3) the elders (responsible for leading/ruling the church); 4) the deacons (responsible for charity and needs of others in the church)
What does the Bible teach about Church Polity?
There are two offices which are Pastor/Elder/Overseer/Bishop (descriptions of the same office) and Deacon
What are the 3 different models of Church Governments?
Episcopal Model, Presbyterian Model, and Congregational Model
What is the Episcopal Model of Church Government?
There is a bishop/head who leads the church whether in the local congregation or in the denomination (or bigger); all decisions are made above and are handed down (Top Down Model); No Biblical evidence of this model
What is the Presbyterian Model of Church Government?
Bottom Up leadership that then becomes Top Down; the local church appoints elders, those elders lead the church by means of that election; they also gather with elders of other churches on a denominational level and make decisions for all the churches; Biblical examples include Ephesians, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude
What is the Congregational Model of Church Government?
Purely Bottom Up; all decisions are made in the congregation; baptists, charismatic groups (most of them), etc. follow this model; This is the dominant form and you might find all three models within this one model
What are the 4 different approaches to the Congregational Model of Church Government?
Elder Leadership, Democratic Model/Pure Democracy, Corporate Model, Congregationalism (no ruling authority at all)
What is the Elder Leadership Approach of the Congregational Model?
Some churches have one single elder (the pastor); plural elder leadership (pastor and staff or elected elders in the congregation); some churches are elder led and they make all of the decisions; others are elder ruled in which they make decisions, present it to the church, and represent the church
What is the Democratic/Pure Democracy Approach of the Congregational Model?
They vote on everything from who is hired/fired, color of carpet, etc. either on a committee level or church-wide; This does keep the congregation involved, but the down-side is that there is not a single verse in Scripture that states for the church congregation to vote on everything
What is the Corporate Model Approach of the Congregational Model?
The church elects the board, the board hires the pastor, reviews the pastor, and any decision that the pastor wants to make has to pass through the board; the pastor is less of a leader and more of a spokesperson for the leaders
What is the Congregationalism Approach of the Congregational Model?
No Ruling Authority at all; It is not a democracy per-say but it is run as a group; it happens organically in that everyone does what they can do
What is the difference between Ordinances and Sacraments?
Ordinances (draws on the idea of a command—Jesus commanded them) or Sacraments (the 7 sacraments have saving properties and are special)
What did Early Church History believe was included in the ordinances?
Practiced 2 ordinances which were baptism and the Lord’s Supper
What did the Roman Catholic Church believe was included in the ordinances?
Practiced 7 sacraments which were (in order) 1. Baptism (infant, specifically), 2. Confirmation, 3. Mass (must do this in order to do the rest of the ordinances) 4. Penance (confession and response of the priest saying to go do something in order to pay back for the sin) 5. Marriage (must be married to receive grace and divorce is not acceptable) 6. Holy Orders (either married to someone of the opposite sex or married to Christ) 7. Last Rights or Extreme Unction (anointing with oil and laying on of hands reserved for moments of dire life or death consequences; also allows the dying to receive extra grace before dying)
What did the Protestants believe was included in the ordinances (after the Reformation)?
Practiced 2 ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (different meanings of this); some Protestants (Holiness Churches) practice 3 ordinances and the 3rd is foot washing because Jesus told the disciples to wash the feet of others
What Tier is the issue of baptism?
Tier 2 because it is not a point of salvation; it divides us in denominations
What are the 3 modes of baptism?
Baptism by Immersion, Baptism by Aspersion, and Baptism by Effusion
What is Baptism by Immersion?
All the way under the water which refers to “baptizo” which is mentioned in the NT (Biblical baptism)
What is Baptism by Aspersion?
This is sprinkling; the legend is that Constantine had Christian priests use tree branches dipped in river water to sprinkle his army before going into battle
What is Baptism of Effusion?
This is the pouring of water over a person’s head; they argue that sprinkling doesn’t wash you, but we often wash ourselves by pouring water over our heads
Who was the subject of Baptism in the Early Church?
Only believers who have professed their faith
Around 180s-190s, who was the subject of Baptism?
Infant baptism became popular because of the question “what happens to babies when they die?”; they would baptize the babies just in case they died early
Biblically speaking, what is the act of baptism always connected to?
Belief (ALWAYS)
What does Baptism follow?
Conversion
How do Catholics argue for infant baptism?
Infant baptism is related to removing Adam’s sin and the rest of their lives, they are only concerned about their own sins which relates to Prevenient Grace (they get baptized for original sin to be gone, then they can profess faith as they grow older)
How do the Presbyterians argue for infant baptism?
Presbyterians believe it is connected to the Covenant Theology and the covenant—inclusion into the covenant in the OT was circumcision which happened in 8 days after birth; therefore, infant baptism is the right way; they argue typology or they foreshadow something bigger and better down the road, but the problem is that circumcision in the OT is of the flesh and imperfect and it will be replaced with circumcision of the heart and not getting wet); God would not replace the external with the external, but rather the external with the internal and God replaces the imperfect with the perfect replacement
What is Ex Opere Operatu?
The argument comes from Augustine and it says that the power comes from the power itself; the power in baptism is not in a person’s faith and you don’t have to believe it to be affected by it (such as infants), the power of baptism is the power in baptism
In Catholicism, who can perform baptisms?
Only those in the order (priests, bishops, and above)
Why should we be baptized?
Jesus said so; It demonstrates the Gospel (physical reenactment of the Gospel); It is the display of the individual believer’s faith; It serves the point of encouraging the believer; It is the moment of inclusion in the church