Characteristics of the True Church
Today’s numerous churches and
various sectarian cults make it difficult for many to understand which of these
is the true Church and whether, indeed, there exists one true Church in our
time. Perhaps, some think, the original Apostolic
Church gradually disintegrated, and
now only fragments exist of her former spiritual richness, blessedness, and
truth. With this view of the Church, some consider that she can be
reconstructed from existing Christian denominations by means of agreement and
mutual compromises. This point of view is notable in the contemporary
ecumenical movement, which does not consider any one church to be the true
Church. Perhaps, others think, the Church never actually had anything in common
with the formal established churches but always consisted of the faithful
believers belonging to the various church groups. This latter belief, advanced
by contemporary Protestant believers, is reflected in the teaching of those who
call it the "invisible church." Finally, for many Christians it is
unclear that there need be any church at all if man is saved through his faith.
All these contradictions and, in reality, false concepts about the Church
flow from a misunderstanding of the central teachings of Christ on man’s salvation.
When we read the Gospels and the epistles, it becomes clear that, in the words
of Christ, man cannot save his own soul individually and independently but
rather in unison with other Christians who comprise the blessed kingdom
of God on earth. Indeed, in its
battle against the Church, the kingdom of evil, governed by the power of
darkness, works in a unity of which the Savior reminded us, saying, "If
Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom
stand?" (Matt. 12:26).
In addition, despite the diversity of contemporary thought on the Church,
the majority of righteous Christians agree with the view that in the apostles’
time there existed one Church of Christ
as a single community of the saved. The book of the Acts of the Apostles
testifies to the existence of the Church in Jerusalem when, on the fiftieth day
after the Resurrection of our Savior, the Holy Spirit, in the form of flaming
tongues, descended on the apostles. From that day on, the Christian faith
spread quickly to various parts of the Roman Empire. As
a result of the dispersion of the faithful, there developed Christian
communities, called churches, in cities and towns. In their daily life, because
of the great distances between them, these congregations were more or less
isolated. However, they considered themselves part of the organization of the
one, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church.
They were united in one faith, in a single source of enlightenment, and steeped
in the blessed sacraments: Baptism, Holy Communion, and the laying on of hands.
Originally, these blessed sacraments were performed by the apostles. However,
soon after, helpers were needed, and among the members of the Christian
congregations, the apostles selected worthy candidates chosen to be bishops,
priests, and deacons. The apostles instructed the bishops in their
responsibility to follow pure Christian teaching, to teach the faithful to live
piously, and to ordain new bishops, priests, and deacons. Thus, the Church,
during the first century, like a tree, constantly grew and spread its branches
over various countries, enriched by spiritual experiences, religious
literature, church services, and, later, by church choirs, the architecture of
the churches, and ecclesiastical arts, but always preserving the essence of the
true Church of Christ.
The Gospels and Epistles did not appear right away or even simultaneously.
For many decades after the establishment of the Church, the source of teaching
was not the Holy Scriptures as we have them today, but the oral preaching that
the apostles themselves called "the Tradition," that is, the true
religious teaching. In the Church it has always had the deciding significance
in the question of what was right and what was not. Whenever something arose
that was not in agreement with apostolic teaching — be it with regard to faith,
administration of the Sacraments, or Church organization — it was recognized as
false and rejected. Continuing the apostolic Tradition, bishops of the early
Church laboriously checked all the Christian manuscripts and gradually
collected the works of the apostles, the Gospels and Epistles, into one
complete set, which is called the New Testament, and together with the books of
the Old Testament, comprises the Holy Bible we have today. This process of
compilation was completed in the third century. Books that were claimed to be
apostolic but were subject to debate and were not in complete agreement with
the apostolic tradition were rejected as false or "apocryphal." In
this manner, it was apostolic Tradition that had the overriding significance in
determining which books would be included in the New Testament — the written
treasure of the Church. Today, Christians of all denominations use the New
Testament — often arbitrarily, without reverence, not realizing that it is the
property of the true Church — a treasure carefully collected by it. It is
important to remember that "the Bible came out of the Church; the Church
did not come out of the Bible."
Thanks to those writers who came before us, disciples of the holy apostles
who wrote commentaries, we know many valuable details about the life and faith
of the first century Christian era. At that time, the faith in the existence of
the one Holy, Apostolic Church
was universal. It is natural that the Church then had its own visible
expression — in the "suppers of love" (liturgies) and other services,
in its bishops and priests, in the prayers and church singing, in the canons
(the apostolic rules), regulating life and the relations among different church
communities, and in all the manifestations of the life of Christian societies.
Thus it must be recognized that the teaching about an "invisible"
church or one lacking any order or authority is new and false.
Having agreed with the fact of the existence of a single real Church in the
first centuries of Christianity, is it possible to find a historic moment when
the Church was broken up and ceased to exist? The honest answer ought to be —
no! The fact of the matter is that deviations from the purity of apostolic
teaching — heresies — started to crop up even during apostolic time. The
Gnostic teachings, which added elements of pagan philosophy to the Christian
faith, proved to be particularly dynamic then. In their epistles, the apostles
warned Christians against these teachings and maintained that adherents to
these sects had turned away from the true Faith. The apostles behaved toward
heretics as toward dry branches that had dropped away from the tree of the
Church. In like manner, the successors of the apostles, the bishops of the
early centuries, also did not acknowledge as competent those who had deviated
from the apostolic Faith and excommunicated from the Church persistent
adherents of these teachings, following the admonition of the Apostle Paul: "But
though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:8)
Thus, in the first century of Christianity the question about the unity of
the Church was clear: the Church is a single spiritual family of believers,
bringing from apostolic times the true teaching, the only sacraments, and the
unbroken succession of grace, transferred from bishop to bishop. For the
successors of the apostles there was no doubt that the Church is completely
necessary for salvation. She safeguards and proclaims the pure teaching of
Christ, she sanctifies believers and leads them to salvation. Using figurative
comparisons of Holy Scripture, the Church in the first centuries of
Christianity thought of itself as the guarded "fold" in which the
Good Shepherd, Christ, protects His sheep from the "wolf," the devil.
The Church was the vine from which believers, like branches, received spiritual
strength necessary for Christian living and good works. The Church understood
itself as the Body of Christ, in which each believer, like a physical member,
must work for the benefit of all. The Church was like Noah’s Ark,
in which believers sailed over the sea of life and reached the harbor of the Kingdom
of Heaven. The Church resembled a
high mountain, rising above human delusions, and leading its travelers towards
heaven, to commune with God, the angels, and the saints.
In the early centuries of Christianity, to believe in Christ meant to
believe also in that which He accomplished on this earth, the means which He
gave believers for their salvation, which cannot be abused or taken away by the
devil. The prophets of the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His
apostles definitely taught about the existence of the Church until the end
times of the world. "And in the days of these kings shall the God of
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed . . . it shall break in
pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever," an
angel foretold to the prophet Daniel (Dan. 2:44). And the Lord promised the
Apostle Peter: "Upon this rock (of faith) I will build my Church, and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).
In like manner, if we believe in the promise of Our Savior, we must
recognize the existence of His Church in our times and until the end of the
world. We have not yet indicated where the true Church is but only expressed
the principle precept that she must exist in her sacred, whole, and real
nature. Fragmented, injured, evaporated — she is not the Church.
So where is she? In what signs can she be found amidst the numerous
contemporary Christian faiths?
First of all, the true Church must support the undamaged pure Christian
teaching, preached by the apostles. In offering truth to people, which consists
in the coming of the Son of God to this earth, Jesus said before His
crucifixion and suffering, "to this end was I born, and for this cause
came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one
that is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18:37). The Apostle Paul, teaching his disciple Timothy
how to perform his pastoral duties, writes in conclusion, "that thou
mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is
the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Tim. 3:15). With regret, we must admit that in the
teaching of contemporary Christians there is much discord. In principle it is
necessary to agree that not all can teach truth. If, for example, one church
insists that communion is the Body and Blood of Christ, and another that it is
not, then it is impossible that both are right? Or, if one church believes in
the reality of spiritual power of the sign of the cross, and another rejects
this power, apparently one of them has strayed. The true Church must be that
one which does not disagree in the faith of the Church of the early Christians.
When a person objectively compares the teaching of contemporary Christian
churches (as we will further discuss), he must come to the conclusion, that
only the Orthodox Church confesses the true Faith of the ancient, apostolic
Church.
Another sign by which we can find the true Church is in the blessing or
power of God, with which the called Church enlightens and strengthens the
believers. Another blessing is an invisible strength. It, however, exists in
the outward realm which can be observed by its existence or absence; it is an
apostolic continuity. From the time of the apostles, blessings were given to
the believers in the sacrament of Baptism, Holy Communion, the laying of the
hands (anointing the clergy), and others. Those who accomplished these
Sacraments were at first the apostles, then the episcopate and clergy. The
right to perform the Sacraments of the laying of the hands was passed on
exclusively by apostolic succession, since the apostles selected bishops,
priests and deacons. Apostolic succession is like a sacred fire, from which one
candle lights the others. If the fire is extinguished or the apostolic chain of
succession is broken, then there are no true spiritual leaders or valid
Sacraments. The means of salvation for the believers are lost. This is the
reason that ever since the apostles’ time, the rite of apostolic succession was
always faithfully observed, such that the bishops passed the succession on to
deserving bishops. Thus, the laying of the hands comes from the first apostles.
The bishops who fall into heresy or behave unfittingly were deposed and lost
the right to perform the Sacraments and to participate in the consecration of
new bishops.
In our time, only a few churches exist in which this apostolic succession
presents no disbelief. The Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and
several non-orthodox eastern churches such as the Coptic Church. Modern
"Christian" denominations, in principle, reject the necessity of
succession of the apostles and clergy. Thus, for this reason alone, they reject
the Church of the first century and cannot be called the true Church.
Of course, the spiritually sensitive person needs no outward proof of God’s
infinite Grace, since he experiences the warmth and peaceful relationship which
he receives from the Sacraments and worship in the Orthodox Church. Christians
must differentiate God’s Grace from the harmful spiritualism of ecstasy, which
is artificially evoked by sectarians, such as the "Pentecostals" at
their prayer meetings. Signs of true blessing consist of peace of soul, love
towards God and one’s neighbor, kindness, faithfulness, patience, gentleness
and other similar fruits of the Spirit named by the Apostle Paul in his epistle
to the Galatians (5:22-26).
Another sign of the true Church is seen in her suffering. If people find it
difficult to determine which Church is the true one, the devil, her adversary,
understands this well enough. He despises the Church and attempts to destroy
her. Familiarizing ourselves with the history of the Church, we see in truth
that her history is written with tears and blood of her martyrs for their
faith. At first, this persecution was started by the Jewish high priests and
scribes during the time of the apostles. Then came three hundred years of
persecution by the Roman emperors and governors. After them, the sword was
raised against the Church by the Arab Muslims, then the invasion of Latin
Crusaders from the west. They ripped apart the physical strength of Byzantium
to such a degree that the stronghold of Orthodoxy could not withstand the
attack of the Turks in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Finally, atheistic communists inflicted their cruelty, destroying more
Christians than all the past enemies of the Faith combined had done. But herein
is the miracle: the blood of the martyrs becomes the seed for new Christians,
and, as Christ promised, the gates of hell cannot destroy the Church.
Finally, a correct comparison is an easy way to distinguish the Church of
Christ from false teachings. The true Church must continue to exist from the
time of the apostles. It is not necessary to delve into all the details of the
development and dissemination of all of the other forms of
"Christianity." Suffice to say that when some church appears in the
16th or another such century, but does not originate at the time of
the apostles, it cannot be the true Church. Thus, it is proper to express a
protest when other denominations consider themselves the Church of Christ,
having their origin in Luther, his followers, or some other sectarian. Such
denominations include the Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, and later, the
Baptists, Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostals and others
like them. These denominations were not established by Christ and His apostles,
but by false prophets: Luther, Calvin, the founders of the Church of England,
Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, and other latter day "prophets."
The real purpose of this brochure is to acquaint the Orthodox reader with
the historical development of the major contemporary "Christian"
faiths and the content of their teaching, so that he might see how they differ
from one holy and apostolic Church established by Christ. At the time of
"Christological disputes," from the 4th to the 8th
centuries, several heretical groups broke away from the Church. They included
the Arians, Macedonians, Nestorians, Monophysites and Monothelites,
iconoclasts, and others. Their teachings were condemned by the seven Ecumenical
Councils, and their heresies, while very dangerous, have often taken new and
"modern" forms in various sects, denominations, cults, and the
"new age movement." We will not discuss all of these early heresies
here, but will examine the current "religions" claiming to be
Christian. First, though, let us examine the true Church.
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