by alecto » October 21st, 2008, 3:22 pm
It seems to me that the debate going on here is whether the EOC (by which I mean the congregation of human beings on Earth that actually calls itself "the Orthodox Church") or any other congregation, is actually the Church (as Christ discusses it). Related to this is the question: what group of individuals (in one or more congregations) constitutes the Church? One might also ask, is the Church an idea rather than a group of people? Part of what I keep hearing sounds like, "is the orthodox church really the Orthodox Church?" It seems to me like what I want is secondary to determining the answer to such a question. Simply accepting the word of a church leader is not sufficient, because it begs the question of the authority of the church leader. This kind of question got us the Reformation, which originally was at bottom an attempt (done badly in my opinion) to go back to the Bible only as a source of authority. The Mormons believe that all congregations (though not all individuals) lost authority, so that the "latter day saints" were appointed by God to renew the Church. It is all the same question coming up again and again, "is any mundane church the Church, and if so, which one?
Sentio ergo est.
