The Church: origins, mission and structures
The Church: origins, mission and structures
Questions here cover Pentecost origins, biblical images of the Church, the four marks, Vatican II ecclesiology, the threefold ministry, sacraments and ecumenism.
Origins and images
- Pentecost (Acts 2) as the Church's public birth; ekklesia and koinonia.
- Images: Body of Christ (1 Cor 12), Temple of the Spirit, Bride, People of God (Lumen Gentium 2, 9-17), Pilgrim Church.
- Mission is evangelisation and service, not self-preservation.
Marks and ministry
- Nicene marks: one, holy, catholic, apostolic.
- Subsistit in (LG 8): the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church, while genuine ecclesial elements exist outside her.
- Threefold ministry: bishop (fullness of orders), presbyter, deacon. Apostolic succession and collegiality.
- Seven sacraments; baptism, confirmation and Eucharist are the sacraments of initiation.
Worked example
Is a small parish 'catholic'? Reasoning: catholicity means universality and wholeness - holding the whole faith, openness to all peoples, and orientation to the universal Church. A parish fulfils it not by size or wealth but by communion with the universal Church, orthodoxy of teaching, and mission beyond its own boundaries.
Traps that cost marks
- Confusing 'apostolic' with apostolic succession alone.
- Denying that other churches possess real ecclesial elements.
- Treating the marks as moral achievements rather than gifts.
- Claiming Vatican II invented a new Church instead of re-articulating the old.
- Forgetting that the Eucharist makes the Church.