Orthodox Ecclesiology
ECCLESIOLOGY
Western Christians tend to have a defective understanding of Ecclesiology. Anglicans believe in the Branch Theory, while Protestants speak far more often of Christianity than the Church, and see the Church as primarily an invisible body of faithful Christians in all denominations. Roman Catholics see the Church divided between two “Sister Churches” — the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has described them as the two lungs of the Body of Christ.
Only the Orthodox Church believes in the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the Nicene Creed. For Orthodox Christians one means one, and cannot mean two, three, or many. Christians and their clergy can fall away from the Church, but the Church cannot be divided any more than Christ can be divided. The Orthodox Church is the oldest Church in the world, the original Church, the one and only Church built by Jesus Christ Himself — these are indisputable facts of history. Every other Christian body is a schism, a splinter from a schism, a splinter from a splinter, or a wholly man-made denomination.
According to Orthodox ecclesiology, the branches of the Church are the autocephalous Orthodox Churches. These and these alone are Sister Churches. If two lungs of the Body of Christ were to be spoken of in an Orthodox context, they would be the Eastern and Western rites of the one Orthodox Catholic Church.
Does that mean that Christians outside of the Orthodox Church who are faithfully following Christ to the best of their understanding are of necessity lost? No, it does not.
Alexei Khomiakov (1804-1860) was a great 19th century Orthodox theologian and is considered by many to be a Doctor of the Church. His theological writings are still widely studied today. In his important treatise, The Church Is One, Alexei Khomiakov took up the question of non-Orthodox Christians. He wrote:
“Inasmuch as the earthly and visible Church is not the fulness and completeness of the whole Church which the Lord has appointed to appear at the final judgment of all creation, she acts and knows only within her own limits; and (according to the words of Paul the Apostle, to the Corinthians, I Cor. 5:12) does not judge the rest of mankind, and only looks upon those as excluded, that is to say, not belonging to her, who exclude themselves. The rest of mankind, whether alien from the Church, or united to her by ties which God has not willed to reveal to her, she leaves to the judgment of the great day. The Church on earth judges for herself only, according to the grace of the Spirit, and the freedom granted her through Christ, inviting also the rest of mankind to the unity and adoption of God in Christ; but upon those who do not hear her appeal she pronounces no sentence, knowing the command of her Saviour and Head, ‘not to judge another man’s servant’ (Rom. 14.4).”
A link to the treatise The Church Is One, by Alexei Khomiakov can be found here:
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/church_is_one_e.htm
Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky) wrote an important article on ecclesiology titled, Christianity Or The Church? Archbishop Hilarion is a Russian New Martyr who suffered under the Bolsheviks. He was canonized a Saint in the year 2000. His article, Christianity Or The Church?, will be very helpful in understanding Orthodox ecclesiology. Here is the link:
http://www.holytrinity.oh.goarch.org/assets/files/Documents/CHRISTIANITY%20OR%20THE%20CHURCH.pdf
By Fr. Victor Novak
Western Christians tend to have a defective understanding of Ecclesiology. Anglicans believe in the Branch Theory, while Protestants speak far more often of Christianity than the Church, and see the Church as primarily an invisible body of faithful Christians in all denominations. Roman Catholics see the Church divided between two “Sister Churches” — the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has described them as the two lungs of the Body of Christ.
Only the Orthodox Church believes in the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the Nicene Creed. For Orthodox Christians one means one, and cannot mean two, three, or many. Christians and their clergy can fall away from the Church, but the Church cannot be divided any more than Christ can be divided. The Orthodox Church is the oldest Church in the world, the original Church, the one and only Church built by Jesus Christ Himself — these are indisputable facts of history. Every other Christian body is a schism, a splinter from a schism, a splinter from a splinter, or a wholly man-made denomination.
According to Orthodox ecclesiology, the branches of the Church are the autocephalous Orthodox Churches. These and these alone are Sister Churches. If two lungs of the Body of Christ were to be spoken of in an Orthodox context, they would be the Eastern and Western rites of the one Orthodox Catholic Church.
Does that mean that Christians outside of the Orthodox Church who are faithfully following Christ to the best of their understanding are of necessity lost? No, it does not.
Alexei Khomiakov (1804-1860) was a great 19th century Orthodox theologian and is considered by many to be a Doctor of the Church. His theological writings are still widely studied today. In his important treatise, The Church Is One, Alexei Khomiakov took up the question of non-Orthodox Christians. He wrote:
“Inasmuch as the earthly and visible Church is not the fulness and completeness of the whole Church which the Lord has appointed to appear at the final judgment of all creation, she acts and knows only within her own limits; and (according to the words of Paul the Apostle, to the Corinthians, I Cor. 5:12) does not judge the rest of mankind, and only looks upon those as excluded, that is to say, not belonging to her, who exclude themselves. The rest of mankind, whether alien from the Church, or united to her by ties which God has not willed to reveal to her, she leaves to the judgment of the great day. The Church on earth judges for herself only, according to the grace of the Spirit, and the freedom granted her through Christ, inviting also the rest of mankind to the unity and adoption of God in Christ; but upon those who do not hear her appeal she pronounces no sentence, knowing the command of her Saviour and Head, ‘not to judge another man’s servant’ (Rom. 14.4).”
A link to the treatise The Church Is One, by Alexei Khomiakov can be found here:
http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/church_is_one_e.htm
Archbishop Hilarion (Troitsky) wrote an important article on ecclesiology titled, Christianity Or The Church? Archbishop Hilarion is a Russian New Martyr who suffered under the Bolsheviks. He was canonized a Saint in the year 2000. His article, Christianity Or The Church?, will be very helpful in understanding Orthodox ecclesiology. Here is the link:
http://www.holytrinity.oh.goarch.org/assets/files/Documents/CHRISTIANITY%20OR%20THE%20CHURCH.pdf
By Fr. Victor Novak