THE CHURCH: Visible and Invisible

Question 1

One, holy, catholic, and apostolic

Answer 1

unifying creed of Christendom (Nicene Creed); one- the church is united; holy- set apart by God; catholic- universal across time and space; apostolic- carrying on the ministry and teach of Jesus’ own disciples

Question 2

“Word rightly proclaimed” and “sacraments rightly administered”

Answer 2

added by Protestants to the four Nicene marks of the church;

Question 3

sectarianism

Answer 3

the belief or attitude that the unity of the church is unimportant and that true essence of the church may exist without unity

Question 4

sacrament vs. ordinance

Answer 4

ordinances are baptism and the Lord’s Supper; sacraments have arisen out of church history and still exist in some form

Question 5

polity

Answer 5

significant differences about the proper form of church government

Question 6

seven sacraments

Answer 6

baptism, confirmation, penance, Eucharist, extreme unction, ordination, and marriage

Question 7

visible/invisible church

Answer 7

Roman catholic belief that the church is the body of believers in fellowship with the priests governed by the bishops appointed by the pope; believe there is no invisible church (belief that the church is spiritually united, not institutionally united.

Question 8

Episcopal

Answer 8

policy centers on the office of the bishop; worship is run according to The Book of Common Prayer; bishops of the Anglican community can trace their pedigree of ordination back to one of the apostles of the first century church

Question 9

Presbyterian

Answer 9

a reformed denomination following much of the same pattern as most Lutheran groups but without the office of the bishop; each congregation is governed by its own elected elders and presbyters who, in turn, join together with other Reformed teaching and ruling elders in conclaves that together make important decisions for the denomination; presbyterian polity is nonhierarchical and representative; it revolves around congregationally elected leaders who send delegates to assembles that make important decisions on behalf of the region or national group of churches

Question 10

Congregational

Answer 10

each congregation is completely autonomous, and there are no bishops or authoritative representative bodies over them; congregations elect their own internal leaders– often deacons as well as ministers; write their own constitutions and bylaws; baptists are a covenental community; spirit speaks through the whole assembled body of Christ

Question 11

Transubstantiation

Answer 11

the transformation of the substance of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The “accidents” (taste, smell, appearance) remain bread and wine, but when the priest pronounces the words of consecration, “this is my body; this is my blood; do this in remembrance of me,” the elements become “in substance” actually the body and blood of Christ

Question 12

Consubstantiation

Answer 12

Lutheran belief that the humanity of Jesus Christ is truly present “in, with and under” the elements of bread and wine in the Eucharist of Lord’s Supper

Question 13

Symbolic/memorial ordinance

Answer 13

communion is an object lesson of God’s sacrifice for us through death; elements are a symbolic/memorial to his body and blood (Baptist belief)