What is meant by the church.
The Greek word is EKKLESIA meaning called out ones.
How do we interpret that? Is it one particular group which is socially identifiable or is it referring to those who are called out by God, and indwelled by the Holy Spirit of Truth.
-Thank you, Carl. If you are asking in regard to my Catholic belief, I will try and show you the Catholic Church' beliefs and teachings from my Catholic Bible studies, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, (CCC) Early Church Fathers, (ECF) Vatican II documents, (LG) etc.
-As for 1 Tim. 3:15, let's also look at the verses prior and after vs. 15.
"I am writing you about these matters, although I hope to visit you soon. 15 But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth. 16 Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion, who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory."
-My Catholic Bible studies say Paul still plans to join Timothy in Ephesus; however, he has confidence that, should he be delayed, Timothy will know what is expected of him as a member of God's "household" of the Church. So, in what two ways does Paul define the Church? Firstly: It is the "household ...of the living God."; and secondly: it is the "pillar and foundation of truth."
-The terms pillar and foundation refer to the structural support of a building. Christ established His Kingdom of the Church and set it firmly in place to support the edifice of the Gospel of truth (who Christ is) and salvation (what He does). The Holy Spirit secures the Church's future through the disciples and successors of the Apostles, like Paul and Timothy. The Holy Spirit enables them, beyond their limited human capacity, to preserve the apostolic faith from the distortion of false doctrine and corruption from forces outside and within. Paul also refers to the Apostles Peter (Kephas) and John Zebedee and St. James the Just, first bishop of Jerusalem, as pillars of the Church:
And when they recognized the grace bestowed upon me, James and Kephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas their right hands in partnership, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised (Gal 2:9).
But you are fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone (Eph 2:19b-20).
-In the CCC, it reads in Chapter 171,
The Church, "the pillar and bulwark of the truth", faithfully guards "the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints". She guards the memory of Christ's words; it is she who from generation-to-generation hands on the apostles' confession of faith. (1 Tim 3:15; Jude 3.) As a mother who teaches her children to speak and so to understand and communicate, the Church our Mother teaches us the language of faith in order to introduce us to the understanding and the life of faith.
-And in Chapter 768,
So that she can fulfill her mission, the Holy Spirit "bestows upon (the Church) varied hierarchic and charismatic gifts, and in this way directs her. (LG 4) Henceforward the Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the Kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is on earth the seed and the beginning of that kingdom. (LG 5)
-And Chapter 2031,
The moral life is spiritual worship. We "present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, (Rom 12:1) within the Body of Christ that we form and in communion with the offering of his Eucharist. In the liturgy and the celebration of the sacraments, prayer and teaching are conjoined with the grace of Christ to enlighten and nourish Christian activity. As does the whole of the Christian life, the moral life finds its source and summit in the Eucharistic sacrifice.
-Hope this helps.
John tells us that those with the Holy Spirit's anointing do not need to ask about the Truth as Truth indwells them and they know it. (1 John 2:20-27) This then is the promise to all believers irrespective of social grouping.
In the USCCB bible, it explains 1 Jn.2:20-29 as:
(2:20) The anointing that comes from the holy one: this anointing is in the Old Testament sense of receiving the Spirit of God. The holy one probably refers to Christ. True knowledge is the gift of the Spirit (cf. Is 11:2), and the function of the Spirit is to lead Christians to the truth (Jn 14:17, 26; 16:13).
(2:22–23) Certain Gnostics denied that the earthly Jesus was the Christ; to deny knowledge of the Son is to deny the Father, since only through the Son has God been fully revealed (Jn 1:18; 14:8–9).
(2:24) Continuity with the apostolic witness as proclaimed in the prologue is the safeguard of right belief.
(2:28–29) Our confidence at his judgment is based on the daily assurance of salvation. Our actions reflect our true relation to him.
-And from the CCC, Chapters 91-93:
91: All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them53 and guides them into all truth. ( Jn 16:13)
92: "The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals." (LG 12; cf. St. Augustine, De praed. sanct. 14,27
L 44,980.)
93: "By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium), . . . receives. . . the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. . . The People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life." (LG 12; cf. Jude 3.)
We are warned to rightly divide the body of Christ (1 Cor 11:29) this is a serious issue. Before taking the bread and wine we must have a humble attitude regarding our own salvation and the salvation of others. To limit God's Grace to one social grouping rather than seeing His work in hearts as He wills is critical.
See how Jesus responded to this issue when His disciples complained about it...
-As for this passage Carl, Catholics believe for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning (diakrino) the body, eats and drinks judgment (krima) on himself. Also in this passage, there is a series of wordplays using the Greek words for judgment, krima (Strong's G2917) in 11:29, 34 and krino in the word diakrino (Strong's G1252) in 11:29 and 31. The Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature gives two primary meanings for the word diakrino in verses 29 and 31: to differentiate or judge (active voice), and to doubt or waver. (Middle or passive voice)
-We also see in 1 Cor. 11:29 and 31 (diakrino Strong's G1252), Paul uses diakrino in the active voice. Therefore, he refers to judging or distinguishing in a sense of evaluation. In verse 31, notice that self-examination is contrasted with God's judgment (also see Strong's G1252 in 1 Cor 6:5 and 14:29; see the related word diakrisis, "judicial estimation," Strong's G1253 in 1 Cor 12:10 and Heb 5:14). For a comparison of diakrisis with other verses, see the use of the same word in the Septuagint translation in Deuteronomy 8:5-6; Proverbs 3:12; and Revelation 3:19.
-What does Paul mean by discerning/recognizing or judging the "body"? There are two options for defining "body" in this verse: "Body" may indicate Christ's presence as in the body of Christ on the cross that is made present in the Eucharist. "Body" may indicate the body of believers as the Body of Christ. However, Paul is clearly referring to what is consumed in the Eucharist when he warns: without discerning [diakrino] the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. Therefore, he must be speaking of judgment associated with not discerning the Real Presence of Christ in what is consumed. Keep in mind that the Body of Christ is fully present in both species.
-Recognizing or discerning "the body" depends on recognizing two interrelated concepts applicable to the Eucharist and related to Christ's death on the cross: The reality of His Divine Presence in what was formerly bread and wine but is now transformed by the Holy Spirit into His Flesh and Blood as He promised in the Bread of Life Discourse (Jn 6:51-58) and announced at the Last Supper. The reality of Christ's atoning work in the gift of forgiveness of sin brought about by His unblemished sacrifice on the cross. It is the same sacrifice received by the community of believers to whom Christ gives Himself, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in the Eucharist.
- In verses 27-28, "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup." The judgment for receiving the Eucharistic Body and Blood of Christ is also connected to how one comes to the Eucharistic table. The CCC, Chapter 1385, reads:
To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. (1 Cor 11:27-29.)
-Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion. So, one might ask, "What is the necessary condition for receiving the Eucharist in addition to discerning the Body and Blood of Christ?
CCC, 1415, "Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.
-The believer must come in a state of grace, having done an examination of conscience and having determined that he/she is free of sin. If a person is conscious of a mortal sin, that person must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.
Mark 9: 38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.
-John Zebedee, the "least" of the Apostles if Bible scholars are correct in identifying him as the youngest, has apparently not learned from the previous teaching. An unnamed man's success has evidently sparked the jealousy of the Apostles who were unsuccessful in casting the demon out of the boy earlier. So, we have to ask, what is Jesus' point in telling John and the others to let the man heal in His name? Well, for Catholics, the ministers of the Kingdom are not "exclusive" they are "inclusive." There is no room for jealousy in the spiritual warfare that is necessary to advance the Kingdom.
-This incident is reminiscent of Joshua's complaint to Moses that two men in the Israelite camp had not received Moses' anointing but were also filled with the spirit of God and prophesizing (Num 11:24-29). In that episode, Moses rebuked Joshua in the same way Jesus rebuked John, saying, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets! Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!"
-As Baptized Christians charged with continuing the good works of Jesus through the Kingdom of His Church, we must reject exclusivism in the apostolate—the idea that "good is not good unless I am the one doing it." The principal value and merit of good works lie in the demonstration of the love of God by which our good deeds are carried out. Saint Jose Maria Escriva wrote, "a little act, done for love, is worth so much" ("The Way," 814). And Saint Francis de Sales wrote: "Do you see that glass of water or that piece of bread which a holy soul gives to a poor person for God's sake; it is a small matter, God knows, and in human judgment hardly worthy of consideration. God notwithstanding, recompenses it, and forthwith gives for it some increase of charity" ("Treatise on the Love of God," book 2, chap. 2).
-God regards as worthy any act of services to others, however small, as a holy act of love in His name. Tolerance in working with others to advance Jesus' kingdom leads us to live a loving openness towards others. It reaches the depths of the heart and knows how to look forward to finding out what goodness is in every person. The Christian who is humble in doing good works is capable of maintaining an open and understanding attitude. Pride has no place in doing the work of Christ in Christian charity. Saint Jose Maria Escribe wrote that a lack of humility is like a curved mirror that distorts the reality of things, and he who is humble can be objective in being respectful toward others including the most flagrant sinner who is desperately in need of God's mercy whether they know it or not ("In Conversation with God," 21.3).
- And finally, The Virgin Mary teaches us how to be generous in working with others in charity. When her host ran out of wine at the wedding at Cana, she did not criticize the lack of wine but worked with the servants to facilitate her Son's miracle by finding a solution to the need. Humility in working with others to do the works of God changes the heart so that there is room in it for all men and women of all stations in life and all ethnic identities, even those who don't understand us or who fail to respond to our acts of love in the name of Jesus Christ.
The church then is all who believe, not a social grouping - just as Jesus said.
Thanks Carl, but could you reference this statement with Scripture please?
Also, sorry about the lengthy response/post, but I felt it was important that you see the Catholic view of these passages.
Have a Blessed day!