M1 Lesson 1 Discussion: What is Ecclesiology?

Etymological meaning of Ecclesiology

The roots of the word ecclesiology come from the Greek (Links to an external site.) ekklēsia and Latin (Links to an
external site.) ecclesia (Links to an external site.), meaning "congregation (Links to an external site.), church (Links
to an external site.)" and Greek (Links to an external site.) logia (Links to an external site.), meaning "words",
"knowledge", or "logic", ; Latin logos, meaning "study".

Ecclesiology, then, is a study of the Church, or Communion, or Society of Christians which may regard people as
they are members of that society.

Real meaning of the Church

The word Church is the English translation of the Greek (Links to an external site.) ekklēsia and Latin (Links to an
external site.) ecclesia. This is now the term used to translate the earlier Hebrew word Qahal, which means "sacred
assembly".

So when we we talk of a Church, this is not just about mere groups of people, but a group of people who are
gathered together for sacred purposes. The term Qahal was first used in Antioch, one of the Roman provinces in
which Christians rapidly increased in number. They gathered together not just for meals but also for prayers and to
celebrate the Eucharist. It was, then, that they were called "qahal" - "sacred assembly".

So what is really a Church?

Church is a community of men and women, who, united in Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, press onward towards
the Kingdom of God, and bearers of the message of salvation for all people.

(Ang Simbahan usa ka katilingban sa katawhan, kinsa nagkahiusa diha kang Kristo, giniyahan sa Espiritu Santo, nga
nag ganayan paingon sa Gingharian sa Dios, diin nagdala sa mensahi alang sa kaluwasan sa tanang katawhan.)

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Mt18:20)

The difference between Church and church

If a Church is a community, meaning a group of people, then why is it that when we ask people like "where is the
Church?", they would usually point a finger towards a building: a chapel or cathedral?

It is, because, the Church or the people are officially gathered in that chapel or cathedral when they pray or
celebrate the Eucharist. When we point our finger towards the chapel or cathedral, we actually mean the "people"
who are gathered in that particular building.

So when we mean the people, it is Church. The building or the structure where the Church/people are gathered
together is called a church.
M1 Lesson 2 Discussion: The Four Marks of the Church

The Four Marks of the Church, also known as the Attributes of the Church, is a term describing four distinctive
adjectives—"One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic"—of traditional Christian ecclesiology as expressed in the Niceno-
Constantinopolitan Creed completed at the First Council of Constantinople in AD 381

A. The Church as One

This Unity if patterned after The Holy Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Its source (God the Father),

Its founder (God the Son),

Its soul (God the Holy Spirit).

The first of the four marks is oneness. Pope Francis explains that the Church “is one because her origin is in the
Triune God, the mystery of unity and full communion”. Here we can understand with Saint Paul that unity is of the
essence of the Church even though within the body of Christ there is great diversity, just as there are many parts of
one body (1 Corinthians 12:13).

The Church is one also because of her founder, Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh who came among us to restore
the unity of all in one people and his one body. Oneness is shown as well as in the Church’s “soul,” that is, the Holy
Spirit who dwells in those who believe and who “brings about that wonderful communion of the faithful” (CCC
813).

This communion is visible in a variety of ways. The Church is one in the faith that its members believe and profess.
It has an essential unity of divine worship, especially of the sacraments. The Church in one region, organized under
a local bishop, is united with the Church throughout the world, with other dioceses in a common allegiance to the
Pope as the successor of Peter (CCC 815-16). Pope Francis, like the popes before him, is a sign and servant of the
unity of the Church.

Even though there are, contrary to Jesus’ will, divisions among Christians as we proceed in our pilgrim journey on
earth, the Spirit reminds our hearts of our unity in Christ. Particularly in these times when Christians are under
attack – as in the Middle East – Protestants, Orthodox and Catholics have come together in solidarity to pray and
bear witness to Christ. We are still a long way from full communion, but in small ways we can all work to unify
Christians as sisters and brothers in one family of God.

In our time, for a variety of reasons, many of the Christian faithful are also unsure of exactly what the Church
teaches. This is all the more reason to pay heed to the words of Pope Francis when he says, “Since faith is one, it
must be professed in all its purity and integrity. Precisely because all the articles of faith are interconnected, to
deny one of them, even of those that seem least important, is tantamount to distorting the whole. . . . Indeed,
inasmuch as the unity of faith is the unity of the Church, to subtract something from the faith is to subtract
something from the veracity of communion” (Lumen fidei, 48).

Our faith calls us to see in what the Church teaches, in her sacramental life and in her challenge to unity, the far
deeper reality that will develop and mature into a universal oneness before God if we allow it. Our task is to be
unifiers who bring people who are wavering – or who have left the Church – back to the joy and confidence that
come with our communion with the Church.

B. The Church as Holy

Holy: divine, balaan, banal, or sagrado.

"The word holy means set apart for a special purpose by and for God."

When we profess in the Creed the identity of the Church, we speak of the qualities of unity, holiness, universality
and rootedness in the Apostles, present, verifiable and interrelated in such a way that one sign or mark supports
the others. The purpose of these identifying marks, which grow out of the very nature of the Church, is to help
strengthen the faith of the believer and at the same time attract the attention of an unbeliever and lead that
person to investigate more fully the Church.

At the same time, we recognize that each of these signs has a human dimension. You and I look at ourselves and at
one another, and we know that we fail. Even great saints made frequent use of the Sacrament of Confession.
There is an undeniable measure of sin in the world and even in the lives of very good Christians.

So why do we say the Church is holy when we know better? We must remember that the marks of the Church,
while diminished in its human membership in the world, are nonetheless real and enduring. In the mystery of the
Church, we can rightly dare to profess that yes, the Church is holy and perfect even while we acknowledge that the
members of the pilgrim Church here on earth are imperfect sinners.

The Church is indeed made up of you and me, members who are frail, fragile, failing, but it is not man-made. The
Church is composed not only of flesh, but also of Spirit. It is not us humans, but the grace of God that makes the
Church, the body of Christ, holy.

We can say the Church is holy because holiness exists in its founder, Jesus Christ. From him and from the Holy
Spirit comes all true holiness. The Apostles Paul and Peter remind us in their letters that Jesus “Christ loved the
Church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her,” that is, to make her holy (Ephesians 5:25-26). He made
the Church “a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9).

In the Church, the Lord is with us, always, until the end of time (Matthew 28:20). The Holy Spirit sanctifies us even
though individual members may not live up to that gift. Because of Christ’s presence and the guidance of the Spirit,
the doctrine the Church teaches is holy; it remains unalterably Christ’s teaching that brings us to salvation. The
Church’s worship is holy. The sacraments it administers to the members of the Church throughout the whole world
make it possible for every believer to live a truly Christian life conformed to Jesus Christ.

It is to this holiness that the Church invites all of us. In this holiness, rooted in the presence of the Holy Spirit and
manifested in the sacramental life of the Church, particularly the Eucharist, the Church continues in spite of the
many sins of its members.

We see all around us the fruits of holiness in the lives of truly faithful followers of Christ, even in an imperfect
world marred with failure, compromise and sin. Wherever the Catholic faith is lived sincerely, Jesus brings forth
healthy fruit that only a good tree can bear. Our own era is not without its testimony to such holiness as found in
the lives of many faithful women and men. While we cannot easily identify the hidden crosses that many people
carry or the silent sorrows they bear, their persistent fortitude and courage rooted in their faith in God’s loving
care sustains them and us in ways not always visible.

In the Creed, we profess our faith in “the communion of saints.” This includes the holy ones in heaven, the faithful
departed being purified for heaven, and can and should include each of us here on earth. Saint Paul reminds us
that we, though sinners, are called to be “holy ones,” that is, saints (Colossians 1:2).

The Church is possessed of a divine gift. We hold God’s grace, the Holy Spirit, sacramental power, yet we hold it all
in earthen vessels. This paradox will be with us until the end. We know that we are not yet living the fullness of the
life of Jesus Christ. Yet we know too that with the Lord, imperfect as we may be, we can by his grace be made holy.

C. The Church as Catholic

The word "catholic (Links to an external site.)" is derived from the Greek (Links to an external site.) adjective
katholikos, meaning "general", "universal".

It is associated with the Greek adverb katholou, meaning "according to the whole", "entirely", or "in general“.

The adjective "catholic" means that in the church, the wholeness of the Christian faith, full and complete, all-
embracing, and with nothing lacking, is proclaimed to all people without excluding any part of the faith or any class
or group of people.

The Church is universal in two ways.

First, the Church is catholic because all baptized people are part of the Church and the Church possesses the
means of salvation.
Second, the mission of the Church is universal because the Church has been sent to proclaim Christ to the entire
human race.

D. The Church as Apostolic

The Church is apostolic in three ways:

1. She is built on "the foundation of the Apostles," those witnesses chosen by Christ.

And so I tell you, Peter: you are a rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will
ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be
prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19)

We cannot think of anybody aside from Christ Himself who started this Church. Think of some other religions or
protestant groups like Lutheranism, and others, and search about their founders and you will end up talking about
a particular founder like Martin Luther, Gregorio Aglipay, Felix Manalo and so on.

2. The Church hands on the teaching of the Apostles (the deposit of faith).

God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth": that is, of Christ Jesus. Christ must
be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:

God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their
entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.

The Gospel was handed on in two ways:

- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the
institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of
life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";

- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same
Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".

3. The Church is guided by the successors of the apostles, the bishops in union with the Pope. Jesus is "the eternal
shepherd who never leaves his flock untended“.
"In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their
successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority." Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is
expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the
end of time."

This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture,
though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and
transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes." "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a
witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life
of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."

The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the
Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy
Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads
believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness." (Catechism of the
Catholic Church)

M 1 Lesson 3 Discussion: Scriptural Models of being a Church

The Church is a complex reality. No words can fully describe as to what the Church exactly is.

The Holy scripture, however, is very clear in providing us different pictures of what the Church is like: Church as
People of God, Church as Body of Christ, and Church as Temple of the Holy spirit.

Church as People of God

At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him. He has,
however, willed to make people holy and save them, not as individuals without any bond or link between them,
but rather to make them into a people who might acknowledge him and serve him in holiness.

Characteristics of the People of God

The People of God is marked by characteristics that clearly distinguish it from all other religious, ethnic, political, or
cultural groups found in history:
1. It is the People of God: God is not the property of any one people. But he acquired a people for himself from
those who previously were not a people: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation."

2. One becomes a member of this people not by a physical birth, but by being "born anew," a birth "of water and
the Spirit," that is, by faith in Christ, and Baptism.

3. This People has its Head, Jesus the Christ. Because the same anointing, the Holy Spirit, flows from the head into
the body, this is "the messianic people."

4. "The status of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit
dwells as in a temple."

5. "Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us." This is the "new" law of the Holy Spirit.

6. Its mission is to be salt of the earth and light of the world. This people is "a most sure seed of unity, hope, and
salvation for the whole human race."

7. Its destiny "is the Kingdom of God which has been begun by God himself on earth and which must be further
extended until it has been brought to perfection by him at the end of time."

A priestly, prophetic, and royal people

Jesus Christ is the one whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and established as priest, prophet, and king.
The whole People of God participates in these three Missions of Christ and bears the responsibilities for mission
and service that flow from them.

On entering the People of God through faith and Baptism, one receives a share in this people's unique, priestly
mission. The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated to be a spiritual house
and a holy priesthood."

"The holy People of God shares also in Christ's prophetic mission" by being Christ's witness in the midst of this
world. As prophets, we should always tell and stand for the truth, renounce those crooked practices, and be ready
to leave something behind just to embrace Christ, making Him as the center of our life.
Finally, the People of God shares in the kingly mission of Christ. We exercise our kingship mission by drawing all
people to God. Christ, King and Lord of the universe, made himself the servant of all, for he came "not to be served
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." "To reign is to serve him," particularly when serving "the
poor and the suffering, in whom the Church recognizes the image of her poor and suffering founder." As People of
God, we fulfill our kingly mission by being able to serve Christ through our neighbors, specially those who are in
need.

Church as Body of Christ

A. The Church is communion with Jesus

From the beginning, Jesus associated his disciples with his own life, revealed the mystery of the Kingdom to them,
and gave them a share in his mission, joy, and sufferings. Jesus spoke of a still more intimate communion between
him and those who would follow him: "Abide in me, and I in you. . . . I am the vine, you are the branches." And he
proclaimed a mysterious and real communion between his own body and ours: "He who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood abides in me, and I in him."

When his visible presence was taken from them, Jesus did not leave his disciples orphans. He promised to remain
with them until the end of time; he sent them his Spirit. As a result communion with Jesus has become, in a way,
more intense: "By communicating his Spirit, Christ mystically constitutes as his body those brothers of his who are
called together from every nation."

The comparison of the Church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his Church. Not
only is she gathered around him; she is united in him, in his body. Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ
are to be more specifically noted: the unity of all her members with each other as a result of their union with
Christ; Christ as head of the Body; and the Church as bride of Christ.

B. "One Body"

Believers who respond to God's word and become members of Christ's Body, become intimately united with him:
"In that body the life of Christ is communicated to those who believe, and who, through the sacraments, are
united in a hidden and real way to Christ in his Passion and glorification." This is especially true of Baptism, which
unites us to Christ's death and Resurrection, and the Eucharist, by which "really sharing in the body of the Lord,...
we are taken up into communion with him and with one another."
The body's unity does not do away with the diversity of its members: "In the building up of Christ's Body there is
engaged a diversity of members and functions. There is only one Spirit who, according to his own richness and the
needs of the ministries, gives his different gifts for the welfare of the Church." The unity of the Mystical Body
produces and stimulates charity among the faithful: "From this it follows that if one member suffers anything, all
the members suffer with him, and if one member is honored, all the members together rejoice." Finally, the unity
of the Mystical Body triumphs over all human divisions: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put
on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you
are all one in Christ Jesus."

C. "Christ is the Head of this Body"

Christ "is the head of the body, the Church." He is the principle of creation and redemption.

Christ unites us with his Passover: all his members must strive to resemble him, "until Christ be formed" in them.
"For this reason we . . . are taken up into the mysteries of his life, . . . associated with his sufferings as the body
with its head, suffering with him, that with him we may be glorified."

Christ provides for our growth: to make us grow toward him, our head, he provides in his Body, the Church, the
gifts and assistance by which we help one another along the way of salvation.

Christ and his Church thus together make up the "whole Christ". The Church is one with Christ.

Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ himself. Do you
understand and grasp, brethren, God's grace toward us? Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ. For if he is
the head, we are the members; he and we together are the whole man. . . . The fullness of Christ then is the head
and the members. But what does "head and members" mean? Christ and the Church.

Our redeemer has shown himself to be one person with the holy Church whom he has taken to himself.

A reply of St. Joan of Arc to her judges sums up the faith of the holy doctors and the good sense of the believer:
"About Jesus Christ and the Church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter."

D. The Church is the Bride of Christ

The unity of Christ and the Church also implies the distinction of the two within a personal relationship. This aspect
is often expressed by the image of bridegroom and bride. The theme of Christ as Bridegroom of the Church was
prepared for by the prophets and announced by John the Baptist. The Lord referred to himself as the
"bridegroom." The Apostle speaks of the whole Church and of each of the faithful, members of his Body, as a bride
"betrothed" to Christ the Lord so as to become but one spirit with him. "Christ loved the Church and gave himself
up for her, that he might sanctify her." He has joined her with himself in an everlasting covenant and never stops
caring for her as for his own body:239

This is the whole Christ, head and body, one formed from many . . . whether the head or members speak, it is
Christ who speaks. He speaks in his role as the head (ex persona capitis) and in his role as body (ex persona
corporis). What does this mean? "The two will become one flesh. This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to
Christ and the Church." And the Lord himself says in the Gospel: "So they are no longer two, but one flesh." They
are, in fact, two different persons, yet they are one in the conjugal union, . . . as head, he calls himself the
bridegroom, as body, he calls himself "bride."

Church as Temple of the Holy Spirit

"What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church." "To this Spirit of
Christ, as an invisible principle, is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the body are joined one with the other
and with their exalted head; for the whole Spirit of Christ is in the head, the whole Spirit is in the body, and the
whole Spirit is in each of the members." The Holy Spirit makes the Church "the temple of the living God":

The Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body." He works in many
ways to build up the whole Body in charity: by God's Word "which is able to build you up"; by Baptism, through
which he forms Christ's Body; by the sacraments, which give growth and healing to Christ's members; by "the
grace of the apostles, which holds first place among his gifts"; by the virtues, which make us act according to what
is good; finally, by the many special graces (called "charisms"), by which he makes the faithful "fit and ready to
undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church."

Charisms

Whether extraordinary or simple and humble, charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly
benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world.

Charisms are to be accepted with gratitude by the person who receives them and by all members of the Church as
well. They are a wonderfully rich grace for the apostolic vitality and for the holiness of the entire Body of Christ,
provided they really are genuine gifts of the Holy Spirit and are used in full conformity with authentic promptings
of this same Spirit, that is, in keeping with charity, the true measure of all charisms.
It is in this sense that discernment of charisms is always necessary. No charism is exempt from being referred and
submitted to the Church's shepherds. "Their office is not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and
hold fast to what is good," so that all the diverse and complementary charisms work together "for the common
good."

M 1 Lesson 4 Discussion: Church Models in History

Christianity can be traced to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in Roman-occupied Jewish Palestine about 30 CE.
The Church holds that Jesus established his disciple St. Peter as the first pope of the church (Matthew 16:18).

Now the Church has been existing for almost 2,000 years ago. To discuss about the history of the Church requires a
lot of time so we can arrive at an exact detail on the major events that occurred from the moment of its very
existence. Our time, however, does permit us to do so. What we can do is focus on some highlights of those that
happened within the Church at a certain period of time. We base our discussion on the different models of the
History of the Church.

1st: Small Communities of Love and Sharing (33-100AD or 1st century)

The Church was established by Jesus Himself a short moment before He died. The gospel of St. Matthew
(Mt.16:18) records the detail in which Jesus entrusted His Church upon Peter as the first leader. The 12 apostles
where the very first believers of Jesus, thus, the first members of this so called Christianity.

Right after the death Jesus, the apostles were so afraid of the Roman authorities. They met in a closed door to
celebrate the Eucharist that which Jesus first celebrated during the Last Supper. They had to continue that certain
celebration because Jesus told them to do so: "Then he took a piece of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and
gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in memory of me'.” (Luke 22:19)

After 50 days of Jesus' resurrection, the Pentecost happened.

When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. Suddenly there was a
noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. They
were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak. There
were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world. When they heard
this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because each one of them heard the believers speaking
in his or her own language. (Acts 2:1-6)
It was the beginning of the Church. The apostles no longer stayed in closed room, but came to an open place and
started preaching about the Good News. A lot of people were converted to Christianity.

From year 33-100AD, the model of the Church during this time is called Small Communities of Love and Sharing.
Why? This is best described in the Acts of the Apostles as follows:

Many miracles and wonders were being done through the apostles, and everyone was filled with awe. All the
believers continued together in close fellowship and shared their belongings with one another. They would sell
their property and possessions, and distribute the money among all, according to what each one needed. Day after
day they met as a group in the Temple, and they had their meals together in their homes, eating with glad and
humble hearts, praising God, and enjoying the good will of all the people. And every day the Lord added to their
group those who were being saved. (Acts 2:43-47)

The first Christians were just Small Communities who share their belongings. They were filled with joy. This is how
the first Christian communities lived. This must be a perfect community. But this Church model lasted only until
year 100AD.

2nd: Church of Martyrs (100-300AD or 2nd to 4th century)

The word "martyr" means - a person who is killed because of their religious beliefs.

The persecution of Christians was already happening at the early beginning of the Church. St. Stephen was the first
Christian martyr. He died around 36AD. Saul, who was later converted to Christianity with the Christian name Paul
was responsible for the death of St. Stephen.

The persecution continued specially in 64AD where all Christians in Rome were arrested and being put into prison.
St. Peter and St. Paul were among those who died during this time under Nero, the emperor of Rome.

In the year 100AD, martyrdom is now the model of the Church. This model is best described in three ways:

Dying oneself for the sake of Faith

Christians were happy to die for Christ

The Church, the more continued to increase in number as members were being persecuted
The early Christians faced different kinds of brutal executions, depending on the style of every emperor who
elevates in the position.

The persecution lasted for 200 years, until such time that the Emperor himself was converted to Christianity.

Hence, the Church model after 300AD is changed.

3rd: Institutional Church (300-400AD or 4th to 5th century)

What does "Institutional Church" mean?

An institution is an established public organization. The term institutional church refers to organized groups of
professing Christians who meet in designated time and place.

Institutional Church - belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established. The Church
at this time is typically characterized by an official doctrine or dogma, a hierarchical or bureaucratic leadership
structure, and a codification of rules and practices.

Constantine became the Western emperor in 312 and the only Roman emperor in 324. Constantine's mother,
Helena, exposed him to Christianity. He was, then, the first emperor to adhere to Christianity. Writing to
Christians, Constantine made clear that he believed that he owed his successes to the protection of the High God
alone. He issued an edict of Milan in 313 that protected Christians and declared that Christianity is legal and
converted to Christianity on his deathbed in 337.

Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Constantine's decision to cease the
persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as
the Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift.

With this, the Church started to acquire its power. Constantine donated a lot of properties to the Church. He
transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope.

The Church is now focused on structuring, organizing, engaging in commerce and businesses.

4th: Monastic Church (500-800AD or 4th to 7th century)

A group of Barbarians from Europe descended to Rome. They were no read no write people. The Church taught
them livelihood and formed them a certain community where their focus is on work and prayer. They are called
Monks. Evangelization, then, at this time was to meet the needs of the people.

5th: Christendom Church (6th-13th C.)

The word “Christendom” means "Political Christian World"

The Church is now possessed with power

The Pope crowns the emperor

Popes are sponsoring exploration, organize crusades and colonization

The Church amassed wealth

Corruption entered the Church

The persecuted Church before is now the persecutor

The majority of the population was Christian, and “Christian” at this time meant “Catholic” as there was initially no
other form of that religion.

The rampant corruption of the Church during this time gave rise to reformers such as John Wycliffe (1330-1384)
and Jan Hus (1369-1415) and religious sects, condemned as heresies by the Church, such as the Bogomils and
Cathars, among many others. Even so, the Church maintained its power and exercised enormous influence over
people's daily lives from the king on his throne to the peasant in the field.

The Church regulated and defined an individual's life, literally, from birth to death and was thought to continue its
hold over the person's soul in the afterlife. The Church was the manifestation of God's will and presence on earth,
and its dictates were not to be questioned.

A dramatic blow to the power of the Church came in the form of pandemic of 1347-1352. During this time, the
people began to doubt the power of the clergy. Even so, the Church repeatedly crushed dissent, silenced reformers
until the Protestant Reformation in 1517-1648 which broke the Church's power and allowed for greater freedom of
thought and religious expression.
Martin Luther, German, Augustinian Monk.

Martin Luther took a stand against the papal actions. He condemned the excesses and corruption of the Roman
Catholic Church, especially the papal practice of asking payment—called “indulgences”—for the forgiveness of
sins. On October 31, 1517, he composed his Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, better known as the Ninety-
Five Theses.

He argued that the practice of relying on indulgences drew believers away from the one true source of salvation:
faith in Christ.

The Church commanded him to be silent, but he refused, however, and in 1521 Pope Leo X formally
excommunicated Luther from the Catholic Church. That same year, Luther again refused to recant his writings
before the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Germany, who issued the famous Edict of Worms declaring Luther an
outlaw and a heretic. Protected by Prince Frederick, Luther began working on a German translation of the Bible, a
task that took 10 years to complete.

6th: Protestant Revolt vs. Katoliko-sarado Church (16th century)

In the early 16th century, movements were begun by two theologians, Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli , who
aimed to reform the Church; these reformers are distinguished from previous ones in that they considered the
root of corruptions to be doctrinal (rather than simply a matter of moral weakness or lack of ecclesiastical
discipline) and thus they aimed to change contemporary doctrines to accord with what they perceived to be the
“true gospel.”

The beginning of the Protestant Reformation is generally identified with Martin Luther and the posting of the 95
Theseson the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Early protest was against corruptions such as simony,
episcopal vacancies, and the sale of indulgences. The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate
doctrinal changes, such as sola scriptura —”scripture alone”—and sola fide —”faith alone.”

The three most important traditions to emerge directly from the Protestant Reformation were the Lutheran,
Reformed (Calvinist, Presbyterian, etc.), and Anglican traditions, though the latter group identifies as both
“Reformed” and “Catholic,” and some subgroups reject the classification as “Protestant.”

John Calvin was a French cleric and doctor of law turned Protestant reformer. He belonged to the second
generation of the Reformation, publishing his theological tome, the INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, in
1536, and establishing himself as a leader of the Reformed church in Geneva, which became an “unofficial capital”
of Reformed Christianity in the second half of the 16th century.

Calvin’s theology is best known for his doctrine of (double) predestination, which held that God had, from all
eternity, providentially foreordained who would be saved ( the elect ) and likewise who would be damned ( the
reprobate ). Predestination was not the dominant idea in Calvin’s works, but it would seemingly become so for
many of his Reformed successors.

The English Reformation

Unlike other reform movements, the English Reformation began by royal influence. Henry VIII considered himself a
thoroughly Catholic King, and in 1521 he defended the papacy against Luther in a book he commissioned entitled,
The Defense of the Seven Sacraments, for which Pope Leo X awarded him the title Fidei Defensor (Defender of the
Faith). However, the king came into conflict with the papacy when he wished to annul his marriage with Catherine
of Aragon, for which he needed papal sanction. Catherine, among many other noble relations, was the aunt of
Emperor Charles V, the papacy’s most significant secular supporter. The ensuing dispute eventually leads to a
break from Rome and the declaration of the King of England as head of the English Church. What emerged was a
state church that considered itself both “Reformed” and “Catholic” but not “Roman” (and hesitated from the title
“Protestant”), and other “unofficial” more radical movements such as the Puritans.

Protestant Revolt (Summary)

The Protestants attacked the Church, its creed, code and cult. They stopped following the Church teaching and
taught that the Bible was the only source of salvation. They rebelled against the authority of the Pope; removed
the Mass and other Sacraments, even ridiculed our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the other Saints. Many
different religious denominations (Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, Methodists, etc.) appear in the scene. They attacked
the Catholic Church and dragged many Catholics to join them. The Catholic “Defenders of the Faith” engaged
enemies with endless debates in town plazas. In Europe, Protestants and Catholics were putting to death those of
the other religions. WAR!

Katoliko-sarado Church

The Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation is known as the Counter Reformation , or Catholic
Reformation, which resulted in a reassertion of traditional doctrines and the emergence of new religious orders
aimed at both moral reform and new missionary activity. The Counter Reformation reconverted approximately
33% of Northern Europe to Catholicism and initiated missions in South and Central America, Africa, Asia, and even
China and Japan. Protestant expansion outside of Europe occurred on a smaller scale through colonization of North
America and areas of Africa.
Catholic missions was carried to new places beginning with the new Age of Discovery, and the Roman Catholic
Church established a number of Missions in the Americas and other colonies in order to spread Christianity in the
New World and to convert the indigenous peoples.

At the same time, missionaries, such as Francis Xavier, as well as other Jesuits, Augustinians, Franciscans, and
Dominicans were moving into Asia and the Far East. The Portuguese sent missions into Africa. While some of these
missions were associated with imperialism and oppression, others (notably Matteo Ricci’s Jesuit mission to China)
were relatively peaceful and focused on integration rather than cultural imperialism.

Katoliko-Sarado Church (Summary)

The Church had to defend itself. How could it continue if it did not exist anymore? Counter-Reformation (counter
attack) was the response of the Church. To preserve unity, there must be uniformity. Everything we do must be
done as in Rome. The Latin language was imposed even on the Mass. It was a sin to violate the commandments of
the Church even the ceremonies at Mass. It became forbidden, a sin, to associate with Protestants even in
weddings and funerals, a sin to enter their churches. It was forbidden to attend schools run by Protestants. The
Church became cultic, clerical and in many places, elitist.

Council of Trent (1543-1565): The Pope called the bishops and ordered all Catholics to obey all the decrees of the
Council and prohibitions in dealing with the Protestants in and out of the churches.