Comparative Ecclesiology
The Church Compared
Conceptions of the Church, authority and succession, ecumenical dialogue, criteria of unity
The question of what constitutes the Church receives radically different answers across the traditions. The differences bear on ontology, on history and on eschatology alike.
Conceptions of the Church
The Church as event. It exists wherever the gospel is proclaimed and heard (Augsburg VII). It is not an institution preceding the Word; the Word creates the Church, which is creatura verbi. It is at once visible, as the confessing assembly, and invisible, as the company of the elect, the two not perfectly coinciding.
For Barth (Church Dogmatics IV.1) the Church is the Body of Christ, though not a prolongation of the incarnation: it is the community gathered by the apostolic testimony, sinful and always in need of reform, ecclesia semper reformanda.
The Church as Body of Christ, not metaphorically but really, and as the continuation of the incarnation in history. Pentecost is the birth of the Church as Body. The Church is theandric, inseparably divine and human.
Eucharistic ecclesiology (Afanasiev, Zizioulas) holds that the Church is fully realised in the Eucharist: where the bishop stands surrounded by his faithful celebrating the Eucharist, there is the Church of Christ in its fullness, not a fragment of it.
The Church as sacrament: Lumen Gentium §1 calls it the universal sacrament of salvation. It is a visible society and a spiritual communion inseparably, and the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church (LG §8).
Communion ecclesiology understands the Church as κοινωνία: communion of persons in the Trinity, of the faithful among themselves, and of the local churches under the pope, with eucharistic communion as both sign and source.
Authority and apostolic succession
| Question | Protestant | Catholic | Orthodox |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is apostolicity? | Fidelity to apostolic doctrine as attested in Scripture. Episcopal succession is a human institution, not a condition of sacramental or ministerial validity. | Unbroken episcopal succession together with fidelity to apostolic doctrine; both are necessary. Without valid succession there is no valid sacrament. | Episcopal succession, apostolic Tradition and reception by the assembly of the faithful. Florence in 1439 was refused by the people despite the bishops’ signatures. |
| Validity of Protestant orders | Not a pertinent category: ministry is validated by the community’s call and by fidelity to the gospel, not by a chain of hand-laying. | Invalid. Anglican orders were declared null by Apostolicae Curae (1896). Valid orders exist outside Catholic communion only among the Orthodox. | Protestant ordinations are generally not recognised. Catholic ordinations are recognised under conditions by some Orthodox churches. |
| Role of the pope | Rejected. Papal claims are contrary to Scripture. A primacy of honour within a strictly conciliar framework may be conceivable for some Lutherans. | Universal jurisdictional primacy and infallibility ex cathedra (Vatican I, 1870); the pope as vicar of Christ and successor of Peter (Matt 16:18). | A primacy of honour for Rome as first among equals, without universal jurisdiction. The papal role in any future unity was addressed at Ravenna in 2007. |
The state of ecumenical dialogue
| Dialogue | Achievements | Impasse |
|---|---|---|
| Lutheran and Reformed | The Leuenberg Agreement (1973) established full communion between Lutheran and Reformed churches in Europe, with mutual recognition of ministries and sacraments. | Internal diversity within both traditions complicates implementation, and the legacy of Marburg still marks eucharistic theology. |
| Protestant and Catholic | The Joint Declaration on Justification (1999); the ARCIC dialogues since 1970; convergence on baptism. | Rome cannot recognise Protestant ministries. Papal authority, the ordination of women and intercommunion remain closed questions. |
| Protestant and Orthodox | Long-standing theological dialogue within the World Council of Churches; convergence on christology and pneumatology; the Mannermaa school on Luther and Palamas. | Apostolic succession, sacramental theology and ecclesial structure. The ordination of women is an increasing obstacle. |
| Catholic and Orthodox | The lifting of the anathemas of 1054 in 1964; the Ravenna document of 2007 on synodality and primacy. | Universal papal primacy, the Filioque, uniatism and the Eastern Catholic churches in Orthodox territory. |
Criteria of unity
| Level | Content | Present consensus |
|---|---|---|
| Irreducible minimum | The divinity of Christ (Nicaea, 325); the Trinity (Constantinople, 381); the historical death and resurrection; Scripture as the Word of God. | Affirmed across all major Christian traditions. |
| Broad consensus | The first four councils; trinitarian baptism as the rite of initiation; the Supper as the Lord’s meal. | Affirmed by nearly all traditions. Anti-trinitarian bodies fall outside the Christian consensus. |
| Unresolved divergences | The mode of Christ’s eucharistic presence; apostolic succession; papal authority; the ordination of women; intercommunion; purgatory; the Marian dogmas. | No consensus, despite sixty years of intensive dialogue. |
Is visible unity attainable?
Three conceptions compete. Institutional unity, favoured by Catholics and Orthodox, envisages a single visible Church into which all communities would be gathered. Reconciled diversity, the working model of the World Council of Churches, envisages churches retaining their identities while recognising one another as churches of Christ. Cooperation without structural union, common among evangelicals, holds that the spiritual unity of true believers suffices and that institutional union is neither necessary nor desirable.
Bibliography
- Zizioulas, John D. Being as Communion. London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1985.
- Volf, Miroslav. After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998.
- Ratzinger, Joseph. Church, Ecumenism and Politics. New York: Crossroad, 1988.
- Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics IV/1 §62. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956.
Quiz — The Church Compared
What does the Lutheran formula ecclesia creatura verbi mean?
- That the Church precedes the Word and guarantees its authenticity
- That the Church is a creature of the Word: the Word constitutes the Church, not the reverse
- That the Church is the prolongation of the incarnation in history
- That the Church is a universal sacrament of salvation