The Church Catholic

There is an interesting distinction between the Greek word katholikos (catholic) and the Slav Sobornost in that, while the first gives a more static definition of the Church the latter, Sobornost, conveys a dynamic aspect. This term that was developed by the Russian theologians expresses the ancient Orthodox ecclesiology as a community of catholicity while at the same time being in unity with the Holy Spirit: “In one Spirit were we all baptized into one body (l Corinthians 12:13). Roman Catholic ecclesiology shares with the East this basic doctrine of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, the “fullness of Him Who filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1.23).

The visible unity of the Church is defined by the fundamental doctrine of the Orthodox Church, that as Christ is the unique Savior of Mankind (Acts 4:12) in the same sense the Church is the one single source of the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments); in other words: the unique Ark of Salvation. Before the final establishment of the Church catholic, the leaders of the Church had to come to grips with what universalism (catholicity) implied as this was a new, yet unknown concept at the time. At the first Council held in Jerusalem (Acts 15), the church was lead by the Holy Spirit that the Church community was open to all who would repent and be baptized, not merely Jews. Of incalculable significance for the universalizing of the Church was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. The Church, in fact, encompassed the true Israel of God (Gal. 6:16); but with St. Paul the Church went forward to summon men of every race and region to become members of the new world-embracing community, the universal Church of Christ.

It is clear from Christ’s mandate to the Apostles that the Church was to reach all mankind throughout the world. He Himself promised to be with his bride (the church) until the end of time in accomplishing her mission. It is revealed throughout the Acts of the Apostles that the holy faith spread everywhere in a short time due to the compelling guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So widespread was the growth of the Church by 107 A.D. that St. Ignatius of Antioch attached to it the name catholic.

The Ecumenical Councils

Just as the early Apostles Council mentioned in Acts 15, so the subsequent Councils from the fourth though he ninth centuries were both de jure and de facto the highest authority in the Church; which always have been understood to be divinely inspired as infallible for its purpose of promulgating the true faith. Most significantly, the Fourth Ecumenical Council explicitly reiterated this understanding when it declared: We will permit neither ourselves nor others to overstep even by so much as a syllable what our fathers at Nicaea determined, mindful of the saying, “Remove not the landmarks which thy fathers have set. Gregory the Great said: I esteem them [the Councils] as I do the four Gospels. The Ecumenical Councils presented themselves to posterity with this authority, and the same authority descended in due course upon each of the later representative assemblies of the whole Church. The infallibility of the Church thus can be defined as follows: The dogmatic decrees of the episcopacy in Council are infallible; for the hierarchy represents the Universal Church. Thus, the institution of the Church Council – which the Holy Apostles have established for the preservation and the explanation of Christ’s doctrines – is also exempt from error.

We can see the influence of the Holy Spirit at work molding men and society according to His Will, preserving for succeeding generations the divine plan of redemption revealed by His Son and described in primitive outline by the writers of the New Testament. The conciliar period is one of the great formative ages of Christianity, an era to which every succeeding generation has owed an inescapable debt.

The Councils, especially the first four, stand out clearly among a host of similar assemblies at which some of the same questions were discussed, but from which conclusions of the same ultimate importance failed to emerge. As we have seen, from the very beginning it had been the custom for Church leaders to convene and decide – with the guidance of the Holy Spirit – on the common ground in faith and action. After Constantine became sole Emperor in 312, he superseded local councils by inaugurating the period of the general Councils, which we now call Oecumenical Councils. What made these Councils ecumenical was the fact that their promulgations reflected Orthodoxy and thus were readily accepted by the true Church.

The findings of the Councils were ratified by the Emperors who summoned them. At the same time it was amply recognized that the work done was that of the Church not the State. The doctrinal decrees stood fast. Securus iudicat orbis terrarum. The world-wide, i.e. universal (=catholic), Church as the final authority, promulgated the divinely-inspired truth, throughout all ages. The Holy Spirit guided His Church and led it into all truth until the end of times (Matthew 16:19 and 18:15-18). The Ecumenical Councils, according to Orthodox theology, have no authority ex sese, but only when they express the truth which exists in the Church as a whole. And the decisions of a Council in order to be Ecumenical must be accepted by the whole Church, which alone possesses the infallible prerogative to speak ex cathedra though her Councils. Thus, all dogmatic proclamations can only be executed by the Councils, because their function lies not only in their decisions, but also in their investiture with the authority of the whole of the Orthodox Church. In turn, as the Council’s promulgations are met with universal acceptance, the faithful confirm the dogmatic and moral mind of the Universal Church.

The Church Fathers

There are ten most preeminent Church Fathers: St. Athanasius (296-373), St. Basil (329-79), St. Gregory Nazianzen (325-90), St. John Chrysostom (347-407), St. Augustine (354-430), St. Ambrose (339-97) 7), St.Gregory of Nyssa (372), St. Maximus the Confessor 580-662); St. Jerome (346-420), St. Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022).

The primarily Greek Holy Fathers produced literature that was accepted throughout the entire Byzantine period as the ultimate expression of Church tradition, the consensus patrum. In their effort to reject heresies the Church Fathers often struggled to maintain Orthodox unity. They knew that ecclesial peace and assured salvation were to be found only in the completeness and coherence of the Orthodox faith. True salvation must embrace the whole man and the whole community in which he lives.

Orthodoxy is often introduced as appealing to the whole person, to all senses and faculties of mind and body. As readily can be observed, this “wholistic” approach is missing in many of the Western forms of Christianity. The Greek word orthodoxos (orthodox), as often defined, has the two components, that of true doctrine and that of true worship. While true worship encompasses the whole of the human person (not just his rationalistic elements), so must the faith be in complete harmony and thus unity with the truth as revealed by the Holy Spirit to the Church in her Scriptures & Councils. That is Christianity. That is what makes one truly Orthodox!