Theology II Test #2 Flashcards
Ecclesiology
The technical term for Christian teaching about the Church
Body of Christ
A biblical image that emphasizes the unity of the one body and the diversity of its various parts (consensus)
Bride of Christ
Another biblical image that emphasizes the union between Christ and his Church as well as the abiding difference between them (consensus)
Marks of the church
The four adjectives that are confessed about the Church in the Nicene Creed: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic (consensus)
Unity
The Church is one, as Jesus prays for us to be, though this is difficult to see amid our present divisions (consensus)
Holiness
The Church is holy, as its Lord is holy, though again it is difficult to see this amid our sinfulness (consensus)
Catholicity
: The Church is catholic, because it gathers peoples from across the
whole world and across time, and yet is wholly present wherever any group of believers gathers
together (consensus)
Apostolic Succession
Authority in the Church is connected to a traceable line of church leaders who have been appointed from the apostles onward. Closely connected in the Catholic Church is the papacy, the identification of the Pope (Latin, papa) as the successor of the apostle Peter in Rome (diversity)
Apostolicity
The Church is apostolic because it passes on the faith and witness of the apostles of Christ—though Protestants differ from Catholics and Eastern Orthodox on how
this faith is passed on (consensus)
Donatist Controversy
A “purity-ecclesiology” that led to a division (Greek, schisma) from the Church because of impure leadership (aberrant).
Mixed Body
The acknowledgment that, like the field in Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt 13:24-30), the Church will be made up of sinners and saints until Jesus returns (consensus)
Constantinianism
The Church’s manipulation by or abuse of political power, was associated with the conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity in the early fourth century (aberrant).
Sacrament
A visible sign of invisible, or spiritual, grace. While most Christians accept this term and definition, some prefer “ordinances” (diversity)
Sacramental
A sacrament-like thing, especially in Catholic theology and practice,
through which God offers us grace. Examples include a crucifix or rosary (diversity)
Eucharist
From the Greek term “to give thanks,” one term for what is also called Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper. All three are biblical (consensus)
Priest of all believers
A Protestant emphasis on all believers as participating in the priestly work of the Church (diversity)
Consubstantiation
A Lutheran interpretation of Communion in which the body and
blood of Christ is consumed “with” (Latin, con-) the bread and wine (diversity)
Ordinances
A term associated with Zwingli’s view of baptism and communion as obedience to Jesus’ commands and symbolic of grace already given to us by God, apart from the
actual acts (diversity)
Eschatology
The technical term for Christian teaching about what comes “last”
Eschatological tension
In some ways, the “end” has already broken into the present, but it has not yet fully come (consensus)
Already
The kingdom of God has “already” come in Jesus Christ, his birth, ministry,
death, resurrection, and ascension; in the outpouring of his Spirit on his Church; and in our experience of salvation (consensus)
Not Yet
The kingdom of God has “not yet” come in its fullness, as it will when Christ returns, the dead are raised, evil is judged, and all things are made new (consensus)
Realized eschatology
Another way of talking about the “already” character of the kingdom of God. Sometimes, however, Christians talk as if everything God will do is already happening as if the eschaton is entirely realized (consensus)
