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November 26, 2005

Archbishop Williams - Four Marks of the Church

Last month the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, addressed a conference of the Anglican leaders of the "Global South", meeting in Egypt. The "ABC", in addition to being the "first among equals" for all Anglican clerics, is a noted theologian and author.

This address has been noted among some Anglicans as one of the Archbishop's best; "worthy of being slowly read and reflected upon." It concerns the "four marks of the church", the familiar description from the Nicene Creed, that describes the church as "one, holy, catholic and apostolic." That Christian churches are so clearly not unified in a visible way makes this ancient formula seem anachronistic.

Williams finds a perspective on the four marks that is uneffected by the schisms and disagreements that have divided us. He places the unity of the church in the fundamental singularity of Christ. There is only one Christ, and to be in him is to be one.

But the simple thing I want to say is that all four marks of the church are about Jesus Christ. The church is one because Jesus Christ is one; the church is holy because Jesus Christ is holy; the church is catholic because Jesus Christ is the saviour of all; the church is apostolic because, as the Father has sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us. In other words, if we are to understand the nature of the church at all, we are to understand who Jesus Christ is and what he does.

And to see the nature of the church in these terms is, I believe, to be liberated from any idea that the oneness, the holiness, the catholicity, the apostolicity of the church are either characteristics that we possess in our own right, or even goals that we can plan for. Before we can even begin to think about what belongs to us or about what goals we should have, we must think about Jesus Christ.

The Archbishop explores the scriptural support for this understanding of the marks, and does not shy away from modern examples both of success and failure. Later in the address he speaks about the final mark, "apostolic."

...And it is as we perform this apostolic task that of course we are drawn back again and again and again to where we started. The one Christ, the one source of divine life and power. Because you see the apostles in the New Testament are not heroes; they are saints and martyrs but they are not heroes. They struggle, they fail, they repent, they return. Peter himself betrays his lord and is called afresh. Paul speaks of how he’s not even worthy to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church of God. And Paul in 2 Corinthians with great irony spells out just what it is to be an apostle; a series of stressful heart-breaking, body-breaking experiences and humiliation, failure and struggle, yet sustained always by the one Lord.

So, just as the unity of the church is a solidarity sometimes in sin and struggle, so the apostolicity of the church must be seen in that light of failure, repentance, restoration. An apostolic church which continues the labour and witness of the apostles is a church always engaged in repentance, always open to renewal, always trusting the one Lord for his faithfulness, always depending on him for its future.

All I’ve said this morning is really an attempt to put before you a vision of the church; a church so deeply focussed on Jesus Christ that, in a sense, it finds its unity, its holiness, its catholicity, almost by accident; not by human planning, but by faithfulness to Jesus. What would St John have said if someone had tapped him as he lay against Jesus’ shoulder at the Last Supper and said ‘Would you like to explain to me something about the oneness, the holiness, the catholicity, and the apostolicity of the apostolic band around the table?' I think St John would have said, perhaps rather fiercely — he was after all a ‘son of thunder’ — ‘I’m listening to the Lord. Shut up!’

The full text of the Archbishop's address can be found here.

As long as we are hearing the Archbishop, spend some time with this very different address from last week. Dr. Williams gave this address to a largely Muslim audience in Pakistan, and his objective is to explain the basic beliefs of Christianity. As Ruth Glendil, religion writer for The Times (London), said, remarking on the clarity of the Archbishop's presentation, "maybe he should in future address the rest of us as if we were Muslims."