§ 50. The Properties of the Church

The Orthodox Church confesses its faith “in one, holy, universal, and apostolic Church.”[1] By this its fundamental properties are indicated. It is called holy, and is holy, because its foundation, laid by the Son of God Himself, is holy; because He dwells in it without ceasing; because through the grace-bearing gifts of the Holy Spirit it sanctifies its members and unites them with God; and because, as such, it is infallible.[2] It is called universal, or catholic,[3] because it has the task of preaching the work of redemption to all peoples and of converting them all to Christ; because by its essence it cannot be bounded by any condition of time or place; and because, remaining ever one, it endures and will endure to the end of the ages.[4] It is apostolic, because Christ gave His authority in the Church to the apostles, because by that authority the apostles organized it, and because that apostolic authority passed to the bishops, who exercise it by uninterrupted succession and will exercise it to the end of the age, and by which succession the truth and lawfulness of every part of the Church is proved.[5] Above all these properties now mentioned stands the property of the unity of the Church, on which all the others depend; and since this property bears directly on law, it must be treated separately.

Footnotes

[1] Πιστεύομεν … εἰς μίαν ἁγίαν καθολικὴν καὶ ἀποστολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν. The Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. The above-mentioned ὅρος of the Jerusalem council repeats the same faith: Πιστεύομεν τὴν λεγομένην, μᾶλλον δὲ τὴν οὖσαν ἁγίαν καθολικὴν καὶ ἀποστολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν, εἰς ἣν καὶ πιστεύειν δεδιδάγμεθα, πάντας τοὺς ἐν Χριστῷ πιστοὺς καθόλου περιέχειν. (Harduini. XI, 240). Cf. Art. 10 of the “Epistle of the Patriarchs on the Orthodox Faith.”—The Orthodox Church confesses its faith “in” the Church, as a divine institution, and not simply in its existence, for, according to the fundamental observation of Archim. Ioann (A Course of Church Law. I, 2), only a divine institution can be the object of faith, and in no way some human institution, or some association of believers. Gregory the Theologian in his 31st Oration on the Holy Spirit says: “it is not the same thing to believe in something (εἰς τί) and to believe something (περὶ τινος); for we believe only in something divine, while one can believe in every work (even a human one) as well.” Augustine (tract. 29 in Joh.) says: “The Savior says: this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent, that you believe in him, and not simply believe him; for it is one thing to believe someone, and another to believe in someone.” Cf. Archim. Ioann, cited page, note 3. In the Roman Catholic Church this article of faith reads: “Credo… et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam ecclesiam.” Decretum conc. Trident. de Symbolo fidei, hence quite differently than in the Orthodox Church.

[5] Tertullian (de praescr. haeretic. c. 32): “Edant ergo haeretici origines ecclesiarum suarum; evolvant ordinem episcoporum suorum, ita per successiones ab initio decurrentem, ut primus ille episcopus aliquem ex apostolis vel apostolicis viris, qui tamen cum apostolis perseveraverint, habuerit auctorem et antecessorem. Hoc enim modo ecclesiae apostolicae census suos deferunt, sicut Smyrnaeorum ecclesia Policarpum a Joanne conlocatum refert, sicut Romanorum Clementem a Petro ordinatum edit. Perinde utique et ceterae exhibent, quos ab apostolis in episcopatum constitutos apostolici seminis traduces habeant”; Irenaeus of Lyons: “Traditionem apostolorum in toto mundo manifestatam in omni ecclesia adest respicere omnibus, qui vera velint videre; et habemus annumerare eos qui ab apostolis instituti sunt episcopi et successores eorum usque ad nos, qui nihil tale docuerunt, neque cognoverunt, quale ab his deliratur.” (Contra haer. III, 3. n. 1. Cf. IV, 33. n. 8); Jerome (dialog. adv. Lucifer.), Augustine, (Contra adver. leg. et prophet. I, n. 39), Ambrose (de poenit. 7, n. 33.) and others.

§ 50. The Properties of the Church

§ 50. Својства цркве