Essay On Church Identity Summary

The doctrine of the church has been a major concern in that there are many opinions on the true identity of the church. In addition, there are many aspects and viewpoints upon which one can define the church, its identity, and the way of live of Christians. The following are some for the views on the identity of the church from various contributors.
Martin Luther outlines seven aspects that distinguish the true church from the rest; preaching and hearing the word of God, baptism and the altar sacraments, ministry, proper public worship, bearing the cross, among others. He further claimed that the church cannot be defined based on the institutional continuity. Lesslie Newbigin argues that the missionary ecclesiology is aimed at the restoration of harmony between man and God, man and man, and man and nature on the basis upon which the first creation was made. The second Vatican council reflected on the Catholic Church as defined by the Frist Vatican Council. Its main aim was to connect the Catholic Church with thee Bible by creation of a new imagery of the church based on the scriptures.
George Dragas on the Orthodox ecclesiology focus on the Orthodox traditions in the identity of the church. The main focus of Dragas was on the Trinitarian foundations. Stanley Hauerwas focused on the ethics of church and how such are applied by Christians. Stanley asserts that the morality and the ethics of the church cannot be tied to the history of the institution, but must be based on the characteristics of God, and Jesus Christ as the Bible envisages the lives of Christians. Methodius focuses on how the resurrection of the body can be used in the identity of the church and how one can relate to such resurrection. The role of the Holy Spirit is also brought about in the day of Pentecost as well as the death and resurrection of Jesus.