Hey all!
I have been working through Wolfgang Vondey’s newest book, People of Bread: Rediscovering Ecclesiology. (“Ecclesiology” means “the study of the Church as a biblical and theological topic”) Now the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Regent University’s School of Divinity, Vondey is a COGTS alumnus. He is originally from Germany and was raised Roman Catholic. But now he is an ordained minister in the Church of God. It reminds me of what a good friend said a few years back, “Catholics make good Pentecostals.” (But that’s another post altogether.)
This week, I would like to explore some important points in chapter one – A New Image for the Church: Reviving the Theological Imagination
Throughout the Scriptures there are numerous images which represent greater (sometimes ineffable) objects and/or realities.
Whether pictures, symbols, figures, metaphors, or analogies,¹ these images “stand between us and the reality we envision, often because we have no direct recourse to the object itself” (p. 14). This is not to say that the image is just like the object which it represents, but that there is a relationship between the image and its object. ”Images help us visualize, illuminate, and comprehend, in the true sense of the word, ‘to imagine’ a reality that is otherwise distant, invisible, and incomprehensible” (p. 14). And no one biblical image portrays the fullness of God, the Church, etc. Hence, there are various images used in the Scriptures which together portray the dynamic reality behind what they represent.
When talking about the nature and purpose of the Church, early Christian writers commented on images used especially in the NT. Of note, the most popular images discussed were concerning the Church as the people of God, the Body of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Such an emphasis was “greatly influenced by the emerging doctrine of the Trinity” (p. 16). Yet, there were other early Christian writers who suggested additional images.
- Clement of Rome (1st century bishop) used the image of the Church as Christ’s army.
- The 2nd century document, Shepherd of Hermas, used the idea of the Church as a primal creation of God, represented by the image of an old woman.
- Cyprian of Carthage used the image of Noah’s ark, the sun and its rays, a tree and its branches, and a fountain and its many streams to illustrate the unity of the Church.
- Cyprian, Tertullian and Augustine often called the Church “mother.”
- Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose and Jerome also referred to the Church as a woman.
Importantly, when the early Christian writers used additional images, they were careful to relate such images to the thought world of the NT.
What are some images of the Church which you have heard or used that attempt to capture the nature and purpose of the Church (or God, salvation, etc.)? What are some of the benefits of the image/s? What are some dangers in these images? Is there a particular image that you remember from childhood (or another time) that helped you understand a difficult theological idea?
Peace,
Shannon
¹ Paul Minear notes some ninety-six images of the Church in the NT. See Vondey, People of Bread, p. 15.
