Unmasking the true church.

A brief word on the notae ecclesiae in Reformation theology.

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Vital to the Reformation movement of the 1500s was not only a renewed resilience for the biblical doctrine of salvation but also a concentrated priority to properly define the church itself. The swollen institution of the church of Rome necessitated reforms from the inside out, but in so doing, the fabric of Europe’s ecclesiological landscape was, likewise, brought under re-evaluation. As the Protestant campaign matured, so, too, did the reformers’ articulation of the notae ecclesiae, or the marks of the church, which set out to establish a definition of the body of Christ that was consistent with Scripture. Although somewhat particular and contextual, the hallmarks of Protestant congregations consisted of the faithful preaching of Scripture, the proper administration of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the exercise of church discipline. Insofar as these were undertaken with the most solemn faith, parishioners could be confident that they belonged to the true church of God.

To that end, Martin Luther’s associate and theological successor, Philip Melancthon, drafted the Augsburg Confession in 1530, in which it was affirmed, “The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered” (47). John Calvin, the stalwart Genevan reformer and pastor, correspondingly says in his highly influential Institutes of the Christian Religion, “When we say that the pure ministry of the word and pure celebration of the sacraments is a fit pledge and earnest, so that we may safely recognise a church in every society in which both exist, our meaning is, that we are never to discard it so long as these remain, though it may otherwise teem with numerous faults” (2.4.291). Consequently, with these stipulations in mind, one is instilled with the discernment to notice the trademarks of a false church in order to decline its influence.

A counterfeit congregation would, therefore, be noticeable by its failure to proclaim the biblical gospel and instead inundate the laity with institutional obligation and ecclesiological tradition, steering the church away from the auspices of scriptural orthodoxy to the dogma of men. This parallels Christ’s denunciation of the Pharisees in Matthew 15, where he applies the prophetic polemic of Isaiah to the hypocrisy of the scribes who were “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). As biblical laxity and doctrinal compromise percolate, a church demurs its divine ordination to endure as an outpost of the kingdom of heaven, which is chiefly conferred through Word and Sacrament. As long as the church remains steadfast in dispensing these gifts and ordinances in accordance with the Scriptures, it retains a sense of orthodoxy, which allows its witness to the person and work of Christ to portend to freedom rather than delusion. In contradistinction to the fictitious church and its emphasis on human authority and performance, the augurs of the true church of God are indicative of Christ’s ongoing presence in and amongst his people.

Works cited:

Philip Melancthon, “The Confession of Faith: Which Was Submitted to His Imperial Majesty Charles V at the Diet of Augsburg in the Year 1530,” Triglot Concordia: The Symbolical Books of the Ev. Lutheran Church, translated by F. Bente and W. H. T. Dau (St. Louis, MO: Concordia, 1921).

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, translated by Henry Beveridge, Vols. 1–2 (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1863).