The Church:

Sacrament of
Salvation
Unit 1
Christ Establishes the
Church
 Definitions of the
Church
• All persons, individual or corporate, have an inherent right to provide
their own identity. These can be in accord with their own ideals and they
can be critical.
• Secondarily, persons from outside may attribute definitions to entities.
These similarly can be critical or sympathetic with self-identity.
These perspectives can form important contributions to self-identity, but
they not as important initially.
• What is the Church?
 What is the
Church?
• Self-definition: the one, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic people whom God
has called from the ends of the earth, drawing its life from the Word and
from sacraments particularly the Eucharist. The Church is the
sacramental presence of Christ.
• Define: The Marks of the Church (one, holy, Catholic, Apostolic)
• Define: sacrament
 Definitions: the 4 Marks of the
Church
• One: Salvation for all people comes through the Church through Christ, its Head.
Despite ritual and cultural differences, the Church remains essentially united in Christ.
• Holy: The holiness of the Church derives from Christ, superceding the sinfulness of
its members and even the sinfulness of the institution of the Church. The Church is
holy because it belongs to Christ and manifests Him in the world.
• Catholic: universal, wholeness. This indicates that the Church possesses the fullness of
the means of salvation through Word and sacraments. The Church is universal in respect
to the completeness of its doctrine, its mission to the entire world, and its full
manifestation in each local diocese.
• Apostolic: The Church maintains an unbroken line of popes and bishops extending back
to the apostles, and through the Holy Spirit faithfully maintains the teaching of Christ,
known as the Deposit of Faith.
 Definition:
Sacrament
• Sacrament: efficiacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted
to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by
which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces
proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them
with the required dispositions. (CCC 1131)
• In strict sense, the Church defines seven sacraments: Baptism, Penance,
Eucharist, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders,
Matrimony.
• The Church itself may be understood as a sacrament.
 The People of God
• The Church includes the entire people of God: Hierarchy, religious, laity, living
and dead, the saints in heaven and souls in purgatory. This follows from the
identity of the Church as the Body of Christ.
• The Communion of Saints: the union of the People of God to each other in
Christ
• Not restricted to the Hierarchy (pope, Cardinals, bishops, deacons)
• Not restricted to the living, but embodies the dead though our fidelity to the
tradition, appeal for the intercession of saints, and prayers for the souls in
purgatory
• The Church is not a democracy.
 The Church: Secondary Definitions
(not defined by Catholic doctrine)
• A civil legal institution, one of many
• The Hierarchy
• Inclusive of all denominations
• The visible and invisible church of Calvinist
doctrine
• A building
 A. The Origin, Foundation, and
Manifestation of the Church
• The Church was foreshadowed in God’s reaction to the Fall; i.e. to our
sinfulness. The history of covenants with Israel prepared us for the
Church.
• Salvation history begins with the history of covenants, sin, and redemption,
continuing today.
• Covenants indicate our adoption by God into His family.
• As members of the Body of Christ, we share in the communion and
love that exists within God’s self; we share in the life of the Trinity.
 Christ Founds the
• First promisedChurch
by Jeremiah, the New Covenant replaces the old
covenants and cannot be broken by human infidelity.
• Christ preached that the fulfilment of the New Covenant, the Kingdom
of God, was at hand. He was establishing the Church through His
mission, which was completed in His death and Resurrection.
• The Church carries the tension of being “not yet and already.” We
look forward to the Second Coming while recognizing the presence of
Christ among us today. The Church is both holy and sinful.
 B. The Holy Spirit Reveals the Church
at Pentecost
• The Holy Spirit made the Church known at Pentecost through the gifts
that enabled the spread of the gospel and sacraments.
• The Easter season ends with the celebration of Pentecost, known as the
birth of the Church.
• Through the Spirit and by virtue of Pentecost, the Church makes
Christ available to the world.
 C. Holy Spirit Present in the
Church
• Hierarchic Gifts: Christ established fundamental levels of authority to ensure
unity and fidelity. The basic division of authority is: pope, bishops, priests,
deacons.
• By virtue of these gifts, the pope, bishops, priests, deacons, and laity each have
the
ability in correct circumstances to administer sacraments and to spread the
gospel.
• While the organization of the Church has changed over the centuries, the
fundamental structure and the principle of a hierarchic structure remains
consistent.
• Charismatic gifts: 1 Cor 12. Pull the Church outward in ministry
 Different Gifts, One
Body
• Members of the Hierarchy are not Lords: they are servants and children
of the Church as a whole.
• Even in a democracy, leaders are not subject to the laws that bind others
in certain circumstances: Police can speed, military members can kill or
take prisoner, governments can confiscate property. This is not the case
in the hierarchy.
• The Church is not a democracy in that the essential laws are from God,
not
human discretion.
 D. The Holy Spirit Inspires the
Apostles’ Mission
• Apostolic Succession: Bishops do not merely have the same office of
the Apostles, they partake of the same gifts of the Spirit through their
ordination.
• The Great Commission: Matt. 28:18-20. Promise of Christ’s continual
presence in the Church through the sacraments, by which disciples are
made.
 Peter Preaches at
Pentecost
• The effect of the Holy Spirit was that Peter, as leader of the Apostles,
had the courage and ability to preach to all nations. The people
responded by asking forgiveness and becoming baptized.
• Today, preaching the word to those inside and outside the Church leads
to the sacraments.
• The leadership of Peter at Pentecost confirms the leadership of the
Pope today.
 Growth and Persecution of the
Church
• After Pentecost, the previously frightened Apostles suddenly had the
courage to preach publicly. Similarly, Paul, after being called by Christ,
found the courage to preach. Paul and most of the Apostles were
matryred.
• The efforts of Paul and other missionaries led to the dramatic growth of
the Church among the gentiles, fulfilling the promise that all nations would
be blessed through Abraham.
 E. Handing on the Teaching of
Jesus
• The Church becomes the Mystical Body of Christ; this means the people
are united with Christ in communion in the same way Christ is present in
the Eucharist. This is particularly true in two ways:
• Christ is present in the Church physically in the sacraments, especially
the Eucharist.
• Christ is also present through Apostolic tradition, which guarantees
the teaching of the Church and in which scripture is rooted.
 Sacred
Scripture
• The Gospels were formed in three stages: 1) the Life of Christ, 2) the
Oral Tradition, and 3) the written gospels and formation of the canon.
• The New Testament can be understood as a response to the Old
Testament, and a completion of creation (ending with Revelation). The
two testaments are critical to understanding the single story of salvation.
Some early heretics, like Marcion and some Gnostics, attempted to exclude
the Old Testament.
 F. Role of the Apostles in the Early
Church
• The Apostles saw their role as distinctive and permanent, as evident by the
selection of Matthias as a successor to Judas. More bishops were
selected as the Church grew.
• At the Council of Jerusalem, the Church gathered and decided together that
salvation was through Jesus Christ, not through the Law, so that gentiles
who became Christian did not have to convert to Judaism (become
circumcised) before being accepted in the Church.
• The Hierarchical structure of the Church was evident at this early date.