The rubric below was created on a matrix consisting of a protestant understanding of the four marks of the church in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed and my own three-part ecclesiological perspective. This rubric is an evaluative tool that can be used to assess the practiced ecclesiology of a theologian, a local congregation, ecclesiological movement.
Excerpted from
AN ARTICULATION AND EVALUATION OF AN EMERGING CHURCH ECCLESIOLOGY
By Laura K. Springer
Th.M. Thesis, May 2008
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
Reader: Robert L. Saucy, Ph.D.
AN ARTICULATION AND EVALUATION OF AN EMERGING CHURCH ECCLESIOLOGY
By Laura K. Springer
Th.M. Thesis, May 2008
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
Reader: Robert L. Saucy, Ph.D.
The Church is One
- The church is one in her connection to Christ.
- Individual churches have structures and practices that express and encourage internal, local, and global connection.
- Individual churches model and draw others toward the unity of the people of God.
The Church is Holy
- The church is holy in that she consists only of those who are in Christ, those who are and are becoming holy by God’s grace.
- Individual churches have structures and practices that expect and nurture corporate and personal holiness among those in Christ.
- Individual churches model the right belief and right practices that glorify and reflect God.
The Church is Catholic
- The church is catholic in that she consists of all those who are in Christ.
- Individual churches have structures and practices that provide for and encourage breadth of proclamation and depth of cultural expression.
- Individual churches declare and glorify the grace and sovereignty of God.
The Church is Apostolic
- The church is apostolic in that she attends and submits to the Scriptures, received and recorded by the Apostles of Jesus.
- Individual churches have structures and practices that provide for and encourage personal/corporate submission to and alignment with Scripture.
- Individual churches experientially and verbally declare the Good News of God in Christ.
