The concept of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church

Why is the Church called apostolic?

Today, brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul addresses us all with these words: “If I am not an Apostle to others, I am an Apostle to you; for the seal of my apostleship is ye in the Lord” (1 Cor. 9:2). These words remind us of the most important characteristic of our Church. In the “Creed” we sing: “I believe in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.” These four qualities: unity, holiness, conciliarity and apostolate are the main signs of the true Church. We have a reason to talk about the last quality, apostleship, today.

First of all, it must be said that the name “apostle” in Scripture designates not only the disciples of Christ. Christ Himself is called an apostle. For example, the book of Hebrews says, “Keep in mind the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ” (Heb. 3:1). The word "Messenger" here is a translation from the Greek "apostolos". Also, the ministry of Christ is called apostleship: in the Epistle to the Galatians it is written: “When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His [Only Begotten] Son” (Gal. 4:4). “Sent” (in Greek “exapestile”) comes from the same root as the word “apostle.” Thus, Christ is, if I may put it this way, an Apostle of God the Father.

Christ's apostolate is also borne by His Church, which is the Body of Christ. From this we can understand one of the meanings of calling our Church “Apostolic Church.” The Church bears this high title according to the purpose of its existence. The mission of the Church in the world is the mission of Christ, the apostolic one. The church is given the commandment: “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). This is a very important point - the great command of Christ is addressed not only to the apostles and their successors, the bishops, but to the entire Church, and concerns us all. If the responsibility to preach their faith lay only with bishops and priests, then church history would not know the face of equal-to-the-apostles laity. There would be no Equal-to-the-Apostles Thekla, nor Saint Nina of Georgia, nor Grand Duke Vladimir and Princess Olga, nor Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helen in our calendar. These people did not have holy orders, but they enlightened thousands of people with the light of Christianity. Or, for example, Saint Gregory, the enlightener of Armenia, although he took holy orders, it was only after, thanks to him, Christianity became the official religion of Armenia.

Of course, brothers and sisters, this does not mean that we should all run out into the street today with a Bible in our hands and start throwing ourselves at passers-by. No. You can preach in different ways, and that’s not what we’re talking about now. It is important to realize the very idea: the whole Church is called to preach. And how this thought will be realized in the life of a believer is a personal matter for each of us.

So, the Church is called apostolic because of the purpose of its existence. Further, it bears this name based on its foundation. Paul writes in Ephesians that the Church is built on “the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20). What does it mean? It was the apostles who stood at the origins of the historical existence of the Church, transmitted to it the teaching of faith and life, established the Sacraments and sacred rites according to the commandment of the Lord, and laid the foundation for its canonical structure. The Apostles are the founders of a number of Local Churches, which then, in turn, became the mothers of many other Local Churches.

Further, the Church is called apostolic because the apostolic Tradition has been preserved in it. This point is the most important. If all Orthodox Christians were well acquainted with this situation, it is unlikely that anyone would find compelling reasons for converting from Orthodoxy to Protestantism (which, unfortunately, happens). Starting from the day of Pentecost to our time, the living stream of grace of the Holy Spirit, transmitted through the Sacraments, continuously flows in the Church, and the correct teaching about the economy of our salvation is proclaimed. And this is the main point. What does a person need to be saved? Right faith and the grace of God. A person comes to church and hears words of truth and common sense. He comes and receives forgiveness of sins and grace-filled strength for growth in faith. The Church of Christ gives man the greatest treasure: correct teaching on how to be saved, and effective means for achieving his salvation. All this is contained in the Apostolic Tradition.

So, here are three reasons why the Orthodox Church calls itself apostolic: by the purpose of its existence, by its foundation, by the presence of the Apostolic Tradition in it.

All this, it would seem, should make an Orthodox person love the apostles of Christ, read their books, pray to them, study their lives. However, there is some damage in our church life regarding this topic. Firstly, in Orthodox circles it is considered absolutely normal not to know the apostolic epistles. Secondly, in our church piety there is no obligatory column about frequent and fervent prayer to the apostles of Christ. We pray much more to St. Nicholas, Spyridon, Panteleimon, Tatiana, than the twelve apostles. For some reason, Christ’s disciples do not deserve to become “our own”, “relatives” to us. This will be clearly visible if you pay attention to how many people are standing in the church in the service of St. Nicholas and how many are in the service of, say, the Apostle Thomas. Or at the service of the Great Martyr Barbara and at the service of the Evangelist Matthew. It is good that we love Nicholas and Varvara so much, but at the same time, unfortunately, the inferiority of our missionary consciousness is clearly revealed.

That is why, brothers and sisters, our self-awareness as an apostolic Church is so important. This is why Paul emphasizes that we must bear the “seal of apostleship.” The apostolate of the Church is not just words, but a worldview. One of the modern theologians wrote that a Christian is one who looks at the world through the eyes of the apostles. The apostolate of the Church is a spiritual reality in which we must live and be saved. Our faith originates from the apostles, and it will lead to them. For this is what is said about the heavenly Jerusalem, in which all Christians who please God will dwell: “The wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb” (Rev. 21:14). In the city founded on the apostolic names, the Lord will settle all those who have the seal of apostleship on them, and we should all be like that.

May the words of today's reading help us patch up some of the holes in our church life, of which we have many, brothers and sisters. And we don't need to be afraid to admit it. An Orthodox person should always be ready to learn and improve. When the Orthodox Church says that everything is perfect in Her, then from minute to minute we can expect the end of the world. But as long as there are people who admit their illnesses and agree to be treated in Christ’s hospital called the Church, the world will stand. And first of all, it depends on us, to whom Paul, and in his person the other apostles, says today: “If I am not an Apostle to others, then I am an Apostle to you; for the seal of my apostleship is ye in the Lord.”

United Church. Who belongs to her?

Today, Christians of some denominations refer to the concept of the One or One Church of God only to themselves. Popular historical churches believe that their denomination is a continuation of the one church that was under the apostles, and all other denominations broke away from them - that is, from their one church over time. Everyone says that we are the cup, and others say that we are the handle that fell off the cup.

And that is why they have questions about the possibility of saving Christians from other churches. Believers of any one denomination think: “If we are the One Church of God, then how can Christians from other churches be saved if they do not belong to our only One Church of God?” Let's look at what the Bible calls a church and whether the church was ever united.

The word church in the original New Testament is represented by the Greek word ecclesia, which has the translation: national gathering, assembly. For many Christians this will seem strange, but the word church is found not only in the New, but also in the Old Testament, namely in the Greek translation of the Old Testament Scripture, the so-called Septuagint, in the texts of Deut. 23:1,2,3,8, Joel 2:16, etc. This translation was made in the 2nd century BC, that is, even before the First Coming of Jesus. And this word church - ecclesia, that is, a meeting of believers, refers to who do you think? Of course to the Israelis! In the New Testament we see confirmation of this. Stephen's description of God's people at Mount Sinai uses the word "assembly" - eklessia, that is, church.

Acts 7:38 This is he (referring to Moses) who was in the assembly (the original word used is ekklesia, that is, church) in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, and who received living words so that pass it on to us

This means church - as a collection of believers, this is not an exclusively New Testament concept. By the way, the Hebrew word synagogue also has a close translation - a place of meeting. It is also worth noting that we do not know for certain what word was used by Jesus and the apostles in the languages ​​they spoke - Aramaic and Hebrew. After all, their words were written down in the New Testament in Greek, where the word church immediately appears.

In the New Testament we see Jesus organizing His Church

. What is the basis of His church, that is, this assembly of believers?

Matthew 16:18 on this Rock

.
I will create My Church .
By the stone, Jesus meant Peter's statement in verse 16 that He, Jesus of Nazareth, is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! (read about this in the chapter of the book “Returning to the Origins of Christian Doctrine” “The Rock on which the Church is Founded”). That is, the Church of Christ is based on the belief of people that Jesus is not a simple preacher from Nazareth, but Christ the Lord.

Therefore Jesus goes on to say:

Matt. 18:20 “ Where

two or three
are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them
"

Is Jesus talking here about some kind of single church - denomination? As we see - no! Thus, in the New Testament, the Christian church refers to the people who follow Jesus, believe in Him as the Christ, and gather together in His name to grow in His teachings.

If we look carefully at the Biblical texts, we will see that the One Church of God in the New Testament is described not as any one denomination, but as the Body of Christ, consisting of the head - Jesus Christ and all Christians - members of the body, having different gifts and callings from God

Col. 1:18 “He (Jesus) is the head of the body of the Church”

1 Cor. 12:27,28 “You are the body of Christ, and individually members. God appointed others (Please note, members have a calling not from the Church, but from God) in the Church: firstly, apostles, secondly, prophets, thirdly, teachers; further, to others he gave miraculous powers, also gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.”

It is clear that believers in God’s unified church differ not by denomination, but by gifts - talents from God, intended to bring the good news in word or deed.

In the New Testament we will not see that there was once a Christian United Church in administrative and doctrinal terms. Yes, Jesus wanted Christians to be one, just as He is with the Father. But in practice this was not the case. However, there was unity of the Christian spirit

, which is very important!

Initially, churches were called communities of Christians in different cities, that is, gatherings of believers in Christ in different places. The New Testament uses the word church in the plural many times: churches, churches. In the Bible we see that these churches in different cities had differences in doctrine. In particular, from Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, Corinthians, and Thessalonians, it is obvious that the apostle gives them specific instructions regarding their errors. And if Paul had not explained the truth to them, it would have turned out that they would have remained in error, for example, regarding the fate of the dead (see 1 Thess. 4:13-18). But did this make them stop being Christians?

Of course not!
We see that Paul praises believers for many Christian deeds, for example, he calls the Thessalonians “sons of light” (see 1 Thess. 5:5). That is, the presence of errors regarding the great truth does not immediately lead to the exclusion of believers from among the people of God.
Remember chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation. Jesus there addresses seven churches and points out their errors to almost all of them, but still praises them for something and calls them churches. Analyzing the words of Christ, we see that initially the churches, some more and some less, departed from the true teaching of God, but faithful people remained in these churches. Jesus makes a clear distinction between the churches as a whole and the individual believers within them. Let's look at Jesus' warning to the believers in the city of Thyatira. Almost all theologians agree that the addresses to churches were prophetic, pointing to the future, but at the same time they were messages to real churches at the end of the first century:

Open 2.18 And write to the angel of the church of Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like a flame of fire: 19 I know your works, and your love, and your service, and your faith, and your patience, and that your last works are greater. first. (you see he praises the believers of this church) 20 But I have a few things against you, because you allow the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and mislead My servants to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent of her fornication, but she did not repent. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. (Who is the Lord punishing? The entire Church of the city of Thyatira? No. Only the image of Jezebel and her followers, who, following the errant spiritual leaders, apparently fell into some kind of pagan teaching, since Jezebel, as we know in history, distinguished herself by leading Israel to a pagan god Baal) 23 And I will smite her children with death, and all the churches (look here for the word churches, as I mentioned, in the plural) will understand that I am the one who searches the hearts and the reins; and I will reward each of you according to your deeds. (and here comes the explanation that each will be demanded according to his deeds). 24 But to you and to the others who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching and who do not know the so-called depths of Satan, I say that I will not place another burden on you; 25 Just hold on to what you have until I come. (from these texts, it is obvious that punishment does not await all Christians of the church of Thyatira)

That is, as we see, the judgment will not be based on belonging to a particular church, but on the deeds of a person. Of course, we are not talking about salvation by works here. We must clearly understand that we are saved through the grace of Christ's substitutionary sacrifice. But for this you need to admit your sin and repent. When does sin occur?

Rom.7:9 When the commandment came, sin revived

I think people will be judged by their attitude towards God’s law revealed to them, by their reaction to the convictions of their conscience. After all, as we know, the Holy Spirit tries to influence us through our conscience. But some people, for the sake of their own benefit, step over their conscience and as a result, their conscience becomes callous, no longer allowing the Holy Spirit to influence a person.

History also proves that since the first centuries of Christianity, churches in different cities have had differences regarding certain aspects of religious teaching. For example, there were very heated, lengthy disputes over Easter, which even received the name “Easter disputes” in history. The lack of unity is not surprising, because in the first centuries there was no centralized government in Christianity and after the Council of 49, which is described in the 15th chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, there were no more general Christian councils until 325, when the church voluntarily came under the wing of the state.

Until the time when the Ecumenical Councils began to take place in Christianity, different doctrinal movements existed in parallel in a relatively calm manner. For example, Arianism, Nestorianism, Monophysitism and other doctrines were preached by many Christian ordained bishops and supported by their large communities. Basically, the differences between them were in the definition of the hypostases of Christ, but they all recognized Jesus as the Christ who came down from Heaven to Earth for the salvation of mankind. That is, according to the definition of Christ, which we discussed above, these believers were His churches. Only at the first Ecumenical Council of 325 and at several subsequent Ecumenical Councils were some religious movements recognized as errors and anathematized. After which some Christians, with the support of the military force of the state, persecuted and killed other Christians, even the erring ones. But attention! We must not forget that all these religious movements, until they were recognized as errors, existed for a long time in parallel within Christianity, and not somewhere outside it. Tens and hundreds of thousands of Christians, led by bishops, believed in this! There were even different Christian schools - Antioch, Alexandria and others. And many of these teachings are still present in Christian denominations.

So it is a fact, proven both by the Bible and by history, that the early churches had differences in doctrine. That is, they were never united in religion

. If we apply an analogy, the situation in Christianity in the first centuries is very similar to the Christian denominations existing today. Only then did Christian denominations, as it were, unite around the churches of large cities - dioceses led by bishops.

But both before and now, many Christians from different earlier dioceses, and today denominations, love God and they are confident

that do His will.
Yes, there are misconceptions in the beliefs of churches, but many people are sincerely mistaken
.
And like the Christians of the first churches, Jesus also calls modern denominations churches, because the church is a meeting of believers in His name as Christ the Lord
.

Let's sum it up: People themselves are important to God. Both salvation and punishment will depend not on belonging to a confession, but on people’s actions in relation to God’s law revealed to them and their reaction to convictions of conscience. A person can respond to the influence of the Holy Spirit, or he can close his ears to Him, which is called “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” (see Matt. 12:31).

If salvation and punishment do not depend on confession and the fullness of the truth revealed to people, then can we really say that God’s people are only parishioners of one “one church”, and all other believers are not God’s people? I think we have no right to say so.

Let’s take a little look at the concept of “God’s people.” The Old Testament shows that God's people were not only Israelites by blood. The Lord initially provided the opportunity for every person

become part of God's people. A person of another nationality, as he was called, a stranger, a proselyte or a ger, in order to join God's people, had to promise to try to fulfill the terms of the covenant with the Lord, which the Israelites accepted on Mount Sinai. And as a decisive action showing the seriousness of his intentions, he had to perform circumcision. Circumcision of the flesh symbolized circumcision of the heart, renunciation of personal ambitions and selfishness in favor of following God's will.

Exodus 12:48 “If a stranger...settles with you, then you shall circumcise all his males...and he will be like the natural inhabitants of the land.”

And these newly converted Gentiles were given all the blessings and responsibilities as God's people.

Number 15:16, 29 “ There is one law and one right

Let it be for you and for the stranger who sojourns among you... Let there be one law for you, both for the natural inhabitant of the children of Israel, and for the alien who sojourns among you.”

After the coming of Jesus Christ, the era of the New Testament began. If previously all worship of God took place in one place on Earth - in the Jerusalem Temple, and all knowledge of God was concentrated in one people, which included the Israelites and the pagans who joined them, now, within the framework of the New Testament, faith in the Living God began to actively spread throughout world, no longer being tied to a geographic center, and the number of God's people included followers of the Son of God Christ of all races and nationalities.

The Apostle Peter spoke about it this way, addressing the pagans who had converted to Christianity:

Peter 1:9,10 “You... were once not a people, but are now the people of God

».

Now look at how the Apostle Paul, through Christ, connects non-Israelite Christians with Abraham and God's people:

Gal.3:29 If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.

But what about the Israelis who did not accept Christ? They are no longer one church, not God’s people, will they no longer be saved? And in this case, one cannot speak in general about all Israelis. Read Romans chapter 11 carefully. God did not forget his promises to the Israelites. Many Jews are sincerely mistaken; they simply cannot believe in Christ, because their spiritual shepherds tell them lies about Christ and Christians, forbid them to read the New Testament and listen to the sermons of Christian theologians. And the Christians themselves did a lot to prevent the Jews from trusting Christ. As we know, in many Christian churches the law of God was changed and some Christians persecuted and oppressed the Jews. Therefore, the Jews will also be judged - individually according to the truth revealed to them and according to their conscience. It is very difficult for the Jews, because they are still waiting for the Messiah - Christ and mourning the temple, not realizing that the temple was only a symbol of Jesus, where sacrifices were made for the sins of people, pointing to the true substitutionary sacrifice - the Lamb of God.

Let's summarize. The United Church of Christ is not just one denomination, but people who believe in Jesus of Nazareth - as Christ, the Son of God, who came down from Heaven to Earth to die for our sins. And God’s people are not some nationality or church, but all believers who seek God’s will in their lives!

A natural question arises. What benefits does belonging to any religious group give if believers from different faiths are saved? In fact, it is very important for a person what church he attends. Undoubtedly, it is better for a believer to attend THAT church, which correctly conveys to people the teachings of the prophets and apostles, that is, the message from God. Therefore, all church canons must be verified with the Bible. Of course, the more fully a believer understands the character of God and fulfills His will, the better it will be for himself and his loved ones. The fewer mistakes a person makes in his life, the happier he will be internally and of course he will save more people for eternity!!!

Valery Tatarkin
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