On the Kata Holos of the Church

The Heavenly Council Reflected in the Episcopal Councils of the Church, Dante's Paradiso 31, Brescia, Italy, c. AD 1487

By Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West) 

Introduction 

For the very first time in Christian history, at the First Council of Nicaea held near Constantinople by Emperor Constantine in AD 325, all the bishops were free to gather together and state with unequivocal certitude the nature of the Apostolic Deposit that had been handed to them around the world, "once and for all given to the saints," silencing heresy and speaking with one, united, Christian voice for all time! 

A Contemporary Eastern Icon of the First Council of Nicaea, Attended by 318 Fathers of the Faith, Declaring the Nicene Creed and Our Faith in the Church as the Body of Christ

The Creed was expanded in AD 381 at the First Council of Constantinople to define the true nature of the Church, and teaches us what the Early Church believed about itself as a Body. Its ecclesiology is clear, biblical, and central to how the Gospel is to be shared, lives transformed, and the sacraments given. The phrase was established, using the language of St. Ignatius of Antioch’s “Letter to the Romans” (he was the little boy that Christ had taken on His knee to teach the Apostles about faith), that the Church was "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic." Catholic, or "Kata Holos" in Greek, does not mean "Universal", but means "a part of the whole." This means that, regardless of where the Church goes, as long as it retains right faith and apostolic practices are transmitted, the Church never loses its oneness in Christ. The local Church is always a "part of the whole."

All the Local Churches agreed on the truth of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, and, remarkably, it was incorporated into the liturgies of the Church from India, Socotra, Arabia, Nubia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Syria, Armenia, the Roman Empire, Gaul, Hispania, Northern Europe, and a few centuries later in the British Isle and China. The Nicene Creed was truly universal, and it shaped the interpretation of the Bible into something recognizably Christian today. No longer could Adoptionism or Judaizing argue that they were within the scope of Christian Orthodoxy. Binitarianism or a view of Jesus as a Hebrew prophet would no longer be tolerated. God was Three in One, One in Three, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, expressed fully in the Person of Jesus Christ, manifest and present in His Church, and expressed in the lives of each baptized believer in the active relationship with God made possible by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 

The Church was one in faith, with no room for heresy or Gnosticism, and its faith was plain for all to see!

The Biblical Basis for Our Understanding of the Church

 
ONE -

Ephesians 4:4 - There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;

Romans 12:4-5 - For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

1 Corinthians 10:17 - For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.

HOLY -

1 Peter 2:5 - Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9 - But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

Ephesians 1:4 - According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Ephesians 5:27 - That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

CATHOLIC -

Acts 1:8 - But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Matthew 28:19 - Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Mark 16:15 - And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

APOSTOLIC -

Matthew 16:18 - And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Ephesians 2:19-22 - Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Acts 2:42 - And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

The Application of the Truth of the Nicene Creed

We believe in an Ontologically One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The “Oneness” of the Church is through the power of the Holy Spirit, joining us to Christ in Baptism and in each Sunday’s Eucharist, and to all right-believing Christians through Christ’s Body. "One bread, one body, one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ", as the Apostle Paul so rightly said. 

The “Holiness” is God’s presence, His nature and attribute, given to the Church through the Holy Spirit’s work of grace in the Sacraments, transforming us into obedient witnesses of God’s will, faithful to the death. While the Church is always struggling with sin and fallenness, we are made holy in our relationship with Jesus, and in the midst of our repentance and struggle, He is making us more like Himself. We are "becoming holy" and from the eternal perspective, sitting with Him in the heavenlies, we already are!

Psalter of Robert de Lisle, Held in the British Library, London, England, c. AD 1310 

The “Catholicity” is that all the Churches share a common order, a Bishop who stands in the office of an Apostle, a Council of Presbyters to minister to the faithful, Deacons to serve the Altar and the needy in the Christian community, and the Laity, God’s washed, anointed, clothed and crowned people of Faith, who love God and one another in the power of the Holy Spirit. No matter where the Church goes, as long as its common life, structure, sacraments and doctrines are maintained, it is a part of the mystical whole, the Body of Christ, as is identifiable as such by other parts within the body. 

The “Apostolicity” of the Church is traceable and is propagated from one generation to the next by the laying on of hands. All Apostolic Churches can trace their origins to one of the Apostles themselves, and we know their lives, their deeds, and even where their bodies are today. They are the firstfruits of the Church, and an eternal witness to the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! This unbroken chain of the laying on of hands is found in the Bishops of the Church, who serve as its chief ministers, and who pastorally maintain the right teaching of the Scriptures, "rightly dividing the word of truth." 

Where the Bodies of the Apostles Rest Today

From this fundamental episcopal reality, canonical systems arise that attempt to protect and regulate weak and fallible bishops, who must have mutual accountability and submission in order to do their jobs. Much difficulty has occurred throughout Christian history when these canonical systems mistake themselves for the entirety of the Apostolic Faith or the source of the Church's power, which is not found in its canons but in its faithful relationship to the Holy Spirit. From this misunderstanding about the nature of the Church, many schisms and unpastoral practices have arisen, which have divided Christ's Body and now inflict great pain upon all believers. Therefore, in order to return to the "Oneness" of the first point of the Creed, bishops must submit themselves wholeheartedly to a genuine faith and love that is only found in true submission to the Holy Spirit, voluntarily humbling themselves and divesting themselves, like Christ did in His Incarnation. (Philippians 2:6-7) When they universally reject the power, prestige, money and honor that are associated with the episcopacy within all of the ancient Churches that have survived into the contemporary world today, they will be able to truly submit themselves to the Faith of the Nicene Creed and return the Church to its ontological state of Oneness in Christ. 

Summary

The ontological purpose of the Church, the "Telos" of the work accomplished by Jesus Christ for the transformation of the universe, is the reconciliation and re-creation of all things by the indwelling of the Uncreated within the Created, filling the world with God, so that God is "All in All." This is the "Last Day" and is the beginning of something even more beautiful and exciting than anything we can even hope or imagine in this fallen world - a "New Heaven" and a "New Earth" where things will be eternally as they were supposed to be. In this world, we will learn, grow, and fellowship with God and all of the Saints and Angels without end. In this great unity, the Church and the Universe are united through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, everything is made sacred, and all life is finally reunited to the source of life, the Eternal Communion of the Holy Trinity. 

Die Schedelsche Weltchronik, Nuremberg Chronicle, by Hartmann Schedel, c. AD 1493