T h e C h u r c h
The Evangelical Catholic Church is a part of that
Church which has existed ever since our ascended Lord commanded His Disciples to
be His witnesses to the end of the ages. Her faith, doctrine, and confessions are
evidence of this continuing link with the past, in contradistinction to both those
who separated from the medieval Church and submitted to the heretical claims of the
Papacy and its hierarchy (becoming the sectarian Roman Catholic Church at the Council
of Trent) and those radical reformers who jettisoned large elements
of the historic Christian Faith (consequently removing themselves from the Catholic
Church). The Confessions of The Evangelical Catholic Church repeatedly
insist that in Her doctrine there is nothing that varies from the Scriptures or
from The Catholic Church, and that She takes most diligent care that
no new doctrine should creep into our churches, for a new doctrine would
be neither Scriptural nor a universal Catholic doctrine. She believes and teaches
The Faith of the ancient undivided Church, firmly holding to the mystery of
The All-Holy Trinity (by all creation to be ever blessed, glorified and
adored) and acknowledging Jesus Christ as the one true God, the One Who is coming
again to judge the living and the dead.
As a testimony of Her faithfully preserving the wholeness of the full and true
Faith of Jesus our God, The Evangelical Catholic Church espouses
The Rule of Saint Vincent of Lerins (A.D. 434):
Id teneamus, quod
ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus est; hoc est etenim vere propieque catholicum.
We maintain what everywhere and always by everyone has been believed, this
being truly and actually Catholic.
This Vincentian Canon also stands as a bulwark against all unfaithfulness in
preserving and handing on the full and true Catholic Faith (e.g., against
those who have submitted to the unscriptural or purely political Papal claims, against
all others who have rejected such Faith).
Thus, although legally incorporated in The State of Arizona in 1976,
The Evangelical Catholic Church is not an interpretation of Christianity,
not a party or a denomination; She is an integral part of that Body which Our Lord
addressed when He said: I am the vine, ye are the branches; and Lo, I am
with you always, even unto the end of the ages. She believes and teaches
the pure apostolic testimony of The Gospel, while at the same time She is able to
trace Her existence historically, through the consecration of Her Bishops, directly
back to The Apostles (and through them to Our Lord).
This careful maintenance of an historical link with the Apostolic Church expressed
through the regular episcopal consecration of Bishops in Apostolic Succession, as
well as the ecclesiastical government of Bishops themselves, has been held and acknowledged
by the true Catholic Church from the earliest days. Our Confessions maintain this
historic view:
... it is our greatest wish to maintain church polity and the grades
in the Church, even though they have been made by human authority. For we know that
church discipline was instituted by the fathers, in the manner laid down in the ancient
canons, with a good and useful intention. . . . Furthermore, we wish here again to
testify that we will gladly maintain ecclesiastical and canonical government, provided
the bishops only cease to rage against our Churches. This our desire will clear us
both before God and among all nations to all posterity from the imputation against
us that the authority of the bishops is being undermined.
Apology XIV, 24
The Synods of The Evangelical Catholic Church have consistently
affirmed their acceptance of The Book of Concord of 1580, and have adopted
the clerical grades and ecclesiastical and canonical government which
it and Dr. Martin Luther espouse and prefer (the emergency long ago
having ended).
And Jerome observes: ". . . For in Alexandria, from the time of Mark the Evangelist to the time of Bishops Heracles and Dionysius, the presbyters always chose one of their number, set him in a higher place, and called him Bishop. Moreover, in the same way in which an army might select a commander for itself, the deacons may choose from their number one who is known to be active and name him archdeacon."
Treatise on the Power & Primacy of the Pope, 62.
The Evangelical Catholic Church sees Episcopal administration
and Apostolic Succession as analogous to the formulation of the doctrines of the
Trinity, Christology, Grace and the sacraments, i.e., a divinely willed,
Spirit-directed development within The Church, the character of which is really and
truly ecumenical because it took place uniformly both in the East and in the West.
In the tripartition of the priestly office (deacon, priest, bishop) vibrates the
triadic rhythm of the eternal divine life; in the monarchial bishop the ascended
Christ, the invisible Head of The Church, becomes visible; and in the chain of bishops,
consecrated by episcopal imposition of hands, the unbroken continuity is visualized,
which unites The Church of the 21st Century with The Church of The Apostles. Thus
the bonds of The Evangelical Catholic Church with those first days
in Nazareth and Galilee remain unbroken, assured both by its faithful proclamation
of The Gospel in all its apostolic purity and by its regular episcopal ordination
of Bishops in Apostolic Succession. The Evangelical Catholic
Church claims both a valid Apostolic Succession and a faithful transmission
of The Gospel in all its truth and purity.
The Evangelical Catholic Church recognizes that the sacred ministry
is a divine institution based upon a divine commission. The Church
is recognized externally, writes Father Martin Luther in On the Councils and
The Church, by the fact that She consecrates or calls ministers. From
the writings of The New Testament and from the teachings, traditions and customs
of Holy Mother Church, we know that the Priesthood is a necessary element of The
Church, and is included among Her constitutive marks (nota ecclesiae), having
received its beginning and its mission directly from our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and from The Holy Apostles (vide: Titus 1:5).
Wo man aber das Sakrament des Ordens wollte nennen ein Sakrament von dem Predigtamt und Evangelio, so hätte es keine Beschwerung, die Ordination ein Sakrament zu nennen.
Apology of the Augsburg Confession XII (VII), 11 (German)
The Episcopacy is de jure divino and not a mere human invention nor even a nice or convenient form of ecclesial polity. The Ministry of a Bishop is essentially three-fold: (1) Sacramental; (2) Magisterial; and (3) Administrative. It is within the Bishop's power de jure divino to administer the Word and the Sacraments, to guard Orthodox and Catholic Truth and denounce heresies, and to excommunicate the ungodly.
Any jurisdiction which claims The Augsburg Confession as a Confessional Document will abide by these words (make the Catholic doctrine of episcopacy known, valued, and exercised).
The Church Order of The Church of Sweden clearly reflects this understanding:
Since this ordinance was very useful and without doubt proceeded from the Holy Ghost, it was generally approved and accepted over the whole of Christendom. . . . It belongs to the office of the Bishop that he in his diocese shall ordain and govern with Priests, and do whatsoever else is required."
The Bishop, who is to feed the flock, scripturally has rule over
the flock (for if he does not have rule over the flock, then he is an hireling and
not a Christian priest). St. Paul admonishes all Christians:
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto
you the Word of God . . . Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves:
for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it
with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Heb. 13:7, 17
Thus Holy Scriptures, as well as the canons of the undivided Church, teach
a form of Church polity. The Bishop, who has been called as Christ's representative
by God into the Sacred Ministry, is to rule over The Church as a father governs his
household; he, the called, ordained and consecrated Bishop, shall be held accountable to God for
his administration. The Faithful are commanded here and in the Fourth Commandment
to obey their spiritual fathers, the ministers who have spoken unto you the Word
of God -- for The Faithful shall be held accountable to God for the obedience
they render their pastors.
According to divine right, therefore (as said above), it is the office of the Bishop
to preach the Gospel, forgive sins, judge doctrine and condemn doctrine that is contrary
to the Gospel, and exclude from the Christian community the ungodly whose wicked
conduct is manifest. All this is to be done not by human power but by God's Word
alone. On this account parish ministers and churches are bound to be obedient to
the Bishops according to the saying of Christ in Luke 10:16, "He who hears you
hears Me."
Augsburg Confession XXVIII, 21-22 (German)
In the Augsburg Confession, only the Bishop is mentioned, except for the two places where the Priest is mentioned. Deacons are mentioned in Art. XXIV, On the Mass. "That shows that the Bishop is considered to be the man with the full Ministry; he is the dispenser of it in different degrees through different ordinations. Here is the doctrine of the Catholic Church" (Fr. Gunnar Rosendal, Rector of St. Petri, Osby, Sweden, in The Catholic Movement in The Swedish Church).
We therefore conclude, in the words of Professor Leonard Hutter of Wittenberg University (1596 - 1616):
A so-called democratic form of Church polity, or congregational
rule/autonomy, where the children rule the father, is unscriptural, non-Catholic,
non-Lutheran, and a subversion of God's natural, revealed Order. The form of Church
government practiced by the LC-MS and ELCA (and almost all other expressions of American
Lutheranism) was condemned by Fr. Luther when Philip of Hesse (perhaps the most prominent
Prince within the Reformation Movement next to the Elector of Saxony), prevailed
upon the synod at Hamburg in 1526 to adopt a form of congregational government ordered
by a constitution accepted by all. In January 1527 Dr. Luther convinced Philip to
repudiate this plan for congregational government. Such polity (i.e.
, congregationalism) undermines The Gospel and usually leads to the distorted
view that, because The Faithful are a royal priesthood (I Pet. 2:9), all Christians
(the priesthood of all believers) possess the public office of the ministry.
Such a teaching (i.e., the mandate or justification of a congregational
form of Church polity) is not found in Holy Scriptures; such a practice does not
conform to the teachings of Dr. Luther. That is why, without a doubt, the Lutheran
Confessions nowhere mention such a "doctrine". The congregational
(or priesthood of all believers) form of Church polity has no foundation in
the Scriptures, the canons of the undivided Church, the Lutheran Confessions, or
the writings of Dr. Martin Luther. For this reason the canons of The Evangelical
Catholic Church state that the parish Pastor is the spiritual father of
his parish (XIII,1).
The Pastor is responsible for the spiritual, financial, and administrative
welfare of his parish; he establishes the character of life and goals of his parish;
he may organize his parish in any manner he deems appropriate, with the permission
of his Ordinary.
ECC Canons, XIII,2
An equality before God because of Jesus Christ does not mean that a
special office of the ministry, ordained by Christ, becomes superfluous. All who
are called to faith in Jesus are members of the royal priesthood, but not
all are called to the public priesthood. All who are called to faith in Christ are
members of a priestly nation, but each retains his station in life as he lives
among the Gentiles.
The Evangelical Catholic Church teaches that men cannot be
justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified
for Christ's sake, through faith, when they believe that they are received into favor, and that their sins are forgiven for Christ's sake. Our response to this free gift of salvation must be a vibrant faith manifested in the way we live our lives (i.e., good works). Just as soon as The Holy Spirit has incorporated us into The Body of Christ (i.e., The Church), He requires us, with the power and gifts He supplies, to fully participate (with all our intelligence, skills and being) in and at every stage of the process by which we are transformed by Him from sinners into holy people (Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration II, 65; XI, 21).
The Evangelical Catholic Church believes that The Holy Spirit is active in every aspect of the life of The Church, for The Church is constituted by The Spirit working through the Means of Grace and She is sanctified through The Word (the pure teaching) and Sacraments. Our Lord promises (in John 15:26) that "when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from my Father, the Spirit of truth which proceeds from my Father, He will testify concerning me." The Church, which cannot err, is taught and illuminated by The Holy Spirit working through the holy Fathers and Doctors of the Catholic Church. The Church is the pillar and bulwark of the truth, writes Dr. Luther, built on the rock, and called holy and irreproachable (Eph. 2:21). Thus one rightly and truly says, The Church cannot err, for God's word, which She teaches, cannot err. The Spirit is not found apart from The Church, for He is found only wherever The Word is preached in Its truth and purity and The Holy Mysteries are rightly observed (Apology IX,2).
The Evangelical Catholic Church, as part of The Catholic and Orthodox Church, affirms and acknowledges the Three Ecumenical Creeds: Apostles' Creed, Nicene (Niceno-Constantinopolitan) Creed (the only Creed specifically authorized by Ecumenical Councils--Nicea, 325 A.D.; Constantinople, 381 A.D. ), Athanasian Creed. We reject the secularly political addition to the Nicene Creed (filioque) first made by the Emperor Karl the Great (Karl der Große, Charlemagne) and subsequently authorized by the local Synod of Toledo in 589 A.D. (thus breaking from the unity and fellowship of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church by rejecting the decisions of the two Ecumenical Councils of the whole undivided Church). It is of the essence of The Good News in Christ Jesus that the New Life bestowed upon the individual at the time of Holy Baptism/Chrismation, from beginning to end, is soley the work of The Holy Spirit (Who proceeds from The Father through The Son).
The Evangelical Catholic Church confesses one Baptism (for adults and infants), and insists that Baptism is necessary to salvation. This Sacrament of Holy Baptism is the most decisive event in the individual's life for it incorporates one into The Body of Christ. To be baptized is to become a full member of The Church, to put on Jesus and become a living part of Him. "As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!" By this precious Mystery we receive salvation from sin and reconciliation with God by becoming participants in the Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus. In Holy Baptism God engrafts the individual into Jesus and raises him to New Life; God gives this Candidate for Baptism the priceless gift of saving faith and the power of The Holy Spirit to fulfill his vocation in this world and to reign with Christ in His eternal kingdom.
As in the earliest centuries of The Church, Chrismation (Confirmation) is seen as an integral part of Holy Baptism wherein the Candidate is sealed with The Sign of The Holy Cross and confirmed in The Faith with the gifts of The Holy Spirit. This is the individual's Pentecost. As The Holy Spirit descended visibly upon the Apostles in tongues of fire, so here He now descends invisibly with the same power and certainty.
Now when the Apostles at Jerusalem heard that the Samaritan people had accepted the Word of God, they sent to them Simon Peter and John, Who, when they went down, prayed over them that they might receive The Holy Spirit, For as yet it had not come upon them although they had been baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received The Holy Spirit.
Acts 8:14-17
The newly Baptized becomes an "anointed one" after the likeness of The Anointed One (Jesus The Christ). As Dr. Luther affirms in his Large Catechism (V,87), because children have been baptized and fully incorporated into The Church, they should also participate in the fellowship of Holy Communion.
"Darum wisse ein jeglicher Hausvater, daß er aus Gottes Befehl and Gebot schuldig ist, seine Kinder solches zu lehren oder lernen (zu) lassen, was sie können sollen. Denn weil sie getauft sind und in die Christenheit genommen, sollen sie auch solcher Gemeinschaft des Sakraments geniessen..."
As the witness of Scripture (e.g., Acts 8:14-17) and Tradition teach, there is no valid Biblical, historical, or theological reason for separating Chrismation from Baptism! (Just the opposite, in fact!) There is no justification for imposing our own personal or cultural standards defining when a full member of The Body of Christ is allowed to commune. The Faith of The Catholic Church is that the newly Baptized/Confirmed will, as part of the very same Mass, join The Household of God at The Family Meal (The Holy Eucharist) by fully participating in and receiving Holy Communion. The Lord's Supper is given to all members of The Church from the moment of their reception by Baptism/Confirmation onwards. This means that the Christian's earliest childhood memories of The Church will probably be associated with coming to receive Christ's Sacred Body and Most Precious Blood. The Believer's last conscious action in life will also, hopefully, be the reception of the medicine of immortality, the Holy Gifts of Our Lord's Body and Blood. The Faithful's experience of The Lord's Supper thus should extend over the whole range of his conscious life.
The Evangelical Catholic Church recognizes The Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist as the only form of public worship commanded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself warns that except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, ye have not life in yourselves. The Church has historically insisted that Masses are performed every Lord's Day and on the other festivals in which The Sacrament is offered to those who wish to use it. "Take! Eat! ... Drink of it, all of you! ..." These words urge all Christians to receive The Holy Eucharist in every celebration of The Divine Liturgy which they attend. Only the unbaptized and penitents (who have been excluded from receiving Holy Communion by their Pastor because of grievous sin) should not partake. We affirm the Biblical teaching of the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Mystery of Holy Communion, i.e., that after the consecration of the Bread and Wine in the Mass, the Bread is changed into the true Body of The Lord Jesus, Which was born in Bethlehem of the Ever-Virgin Mary, baptized in the Jordan, suffered, died, was buried, rose again, was resurrected, sitteth at the right hand of God The Father, and is to come again to judge the living and the dead; and the Wine is changed into the true Blood of The Lord Jesus, Which, as He hung upon the Cross at Calvary, was poured out for the life of the world. The Real Presence is certainly a magna, miraculosa et vere divina mutatio, such that after the consecration, The Body of Christ is "truly" and "substantially" present, exhibited and received. Thus Evanglical Catholics, according to Martin Chemnitz, are able to say, "We concede that there is some change; and indeed of such a kind that it can truly be said of the bread that it is the body of Christ" (Examination of The Council of Trent, Vol. 2, pg. 258; Concedimus igitur fieri mutationem aliquem: et quidem talem, ut de pane vere praedicari possit corpus Christi).
Against the misconstructions which the Reformed have put on the Lutheran doctrine of the sacramental union our dogmaticians have said (Hafenreffer): 'The sacramental union is a) not a transubstantiation of the bread into the body of Christ; b) it is not a consubstantiation, or commixture of the two substances, but in both the bread and the wine the substance of the body and blood of Christ remains unmixed; c) nor is it a local or durable adhesion or conjunction to the bread and wine apart from the use of the Supper; d) nor is it an impanation, that is, the inclusion of some small corpuscle lying hid under the bread; e) nor is it, finally, a personal union of the bread and body of Christ, such as exists between the Son of God and the assumed humanity. (Doctr. Theol., p. 571)."
The Lutherans very strenuously reject the charge that the real presence implies a local inclusion, or an impanation, or consubstantiation (localis inclusio, impanatio, consubstantiatio).
CHRISTIAN DOGMATICS by John Theodore Muelloer, CPH 1955. pp. 519-520; pg. 528.
We consequently reject transubstantiation (as taught by The Church of Rome), consubstantiation (as taught by uneducated Lutherans), impanation, receptionism (as taught by many American Lutherans), and all other human efforts to explain the real change of the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, for it is a Mystery and is meant to be received with faith.
This Mystery of The Holy Eucharist becomes a reality by the Word of God, hallowed by the invocation of The Holy Spirit, and perfected by the presence of the thing signified (i.e., the Body and Blood of Jesus). This necessarily precedes its use, as Dr. Luther testifies. Before Its use after the consecration within the Mass, in Its use, and after Its use, and what is reserved in the Tabernacles for the communing of those who are sick or about to die, It is in all respects the true Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. "In, with, and under" the form of Bread and Wine, the Faithful truly receive The Sacred Body and Most Precious Blood of Jesus our God and Redeemer! (Vide: WA, Tischreden, 5, 55.)
Each time we participate in The Holy Eucharist we are:
- Reminding ourselves of all that God has done for us through His Son, Christ
Jesus our Lord and Saviour;
- Publicly confessing our faith in Jesus as God and Saviour;
- Celebrating our unity with angels and archangels and all the hosts of Heaven,
our oneness with all who have, do now, or will in the future believe in Jesus as
God and Saviour;
- Receiving, in the true, corporeal, physical Body and Blood of Jesus, the
Medicine of Immortality;
- Receiving "the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation;"
the assurance that God does forgive all the sins of those who confess and repent;
- Receiving the spiritual strength to endure and overcome all the temptations
of Satan, the world, and even our old sinful nature (the Old Adam);
- Offering and sacrificing to God -- in thanksgiving for all that He has
given us in love through Christ Jesus -- all that we have and are (i.e.
, we rededicate ourselves to God, reäffirm our Baptismal vows).
That is why Jesus said: This do often, as you do it, in remembrance of Me. The visible center of The Church's spiritual life, as well as that of each individual member of The Church, is The Holy Altar and the sacrament of redemption which is celebrated thereon.
The Evangelical Catholic Church, together with the entire Church
Catholic, affirms that there is a proper use of the Reservation of The Holy Sacrament when given to the sick, the dying, or as an indication of intercommunion. Its use at these times is, in fact, a most salutary testimony to the unity of The Body of Christ. She affirms the appropriateness of Eucharistic devotions within the celebration of The Divine Liturgy and She does not deny private devotions concerning the Reserved Sacrament. She proscribes and condemns, however, together with Her Confessions, all abuses and misuses of the Sacramental Elements (e.g., Exposition of the Sacrament, processions with the Sacrament, Benediction of The Blessed Sacrament, etc.).
The Evangelical Catholic Church believes and teaches that The
Mystery of The Holy Eucharist can be celebrated by none other than a Priest who has received the Sacrament of Ordination (Apology XIII, 9-13) from an Orthodox, Catholic and Canonical Bishop, as is the doctrine, true confession, and most ancient tradition and practice of the true Catholic Church.
The Evangelical Catholic Church, guided by God's certain Word (e.g., I Cor. 14:34-37, I Tim. 2:11-12, Gen. 3:16-17) and the clear understanding and teaching of the Early Church (e.g., The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles [c. 380 A.D.], Didascalia Apostolorum [c. 245 A.D.], The Council of Nicea, Canon XIX [325 A.D.], The Council of Laodicea, Canons XI & XLIV [343-381 A.D.], The Council of Quinisext, Canon LXX [692 A.D.]), rejects the innovation of female clergy. "For this is one of the ignorant practices of Gentile atheism, to ordain women priests to the female deities, not one of the constitutions of Christ" (The Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Ante-Nicene Fathers," Vol. VII, pg. 429).
"Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church . . . the things I write to you are the commandments of the Lord."
I Cor. 14:34-35, 37
With the Church Catholic, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther, we affirm that children, women, and other persons are not qualified for this office, even though they are able to hear God's Word, to receive Baptism, the Sacrament, absolution, and are also true, holy Christians . . . Even nature and God's creation makes this distinction, implying that women (much less children or fools) cannot and shall not occupy positions of sovereignty, as experience also suggests and as Moses says in Genesis 3[:16], You shall be subject to man. The Gospel, however, does not abrogate this natural law, but confirms it as the ordinance and creation of God.
Illud etiam a quibusdam suggestum est, ut contra Apostolicam disciplinam incognito usque in hoc tempus in ministerium feminae nescio quo loco leviticum videantur adsumptae. Quod quidem, quia indecens est, non admittit ecclesiastica disciplina et contra rationem facta talis ordinatio distruatur. Providendum, ne quis sibi hoc ultra praesumat.
Canon II, The Council of Nemaunense, France; A.D. 394
Feminism, so strongly a part of secular pagan society at the time of the Early Church, continually intruded into the Scripturally ordered Christian society. The ever-present pagan feminism always stood in opposition to the teachings and traditions of The Apostles. Yet we have the clear Word of God and faithful witness of The Church against such human wisdom and theological shallowness evident in present day Christendom. If we give up the passages of Scripture that have been clear historically and used by orthodoxy to defend the rule of faith in favor of passages where exceptions have been made, we give up the rules in favor of exceptions. Those who believe conflicting interpretatons of God's Word exclude there being one correct interpretaion have given up the Bible as truth simply because others deny that truth (Fr. Paul R. Harris, "Raw Nerve or FEBA?" in The Bride of Christ, Vol. XXIII, No. 1, 1998).
For many decades now, the god of Mohammed (i.e., Satan) has enduced and convinced previously Christian jurisdictions to adopt and espouse a theology and practice of The Holy Priesthood outside that commanded by God in Holy Scripture and historically taught and maintained within The Body of Christ since Her founding. With the ordination and acceptance of the first female clergy, such jurisdictions abandon The Church; they are thus theologically and doctrinally dead. Their ministry thus ceases to be a Christian ministry; they cease to be within or part of The Church . Those clergy who oppose this imposition of such an anti-Christian practice yet remain within these jurisdictions now allowing (or even encouraging) it (e.g., PECUSA) are silently (and perhaps unknowingly) accepting their status within a New, Pagan "ministry" outside and apart from that instituted by Our Lord and Redeemer, Jesus the Christ. By remaining within a jurisdiction which is clearly not Catholic and certainly not Orthodox, they "accept" the new "Order" within their church and thus became pagan clergy themselves.
Once a previously Christian jurisdiction gives up the clear Word of God and the faithful witness of The Church against such human wisdom and theological shallowness and adopts this pagan, secular ideology by which to govern, proclaim and interpret its doctrine and practices (i.e., ordaining females to the office and work of the priesthood), it is only a matter of time (as recent history clearly demonstrates) before it is ready to adventure into other areas of secular philosophy and pagan theology.
When females are admitted to the offices of deacon, priest, and/or Bishop, such a jurisdiction allowing this pagan custom no longer has a valid, Biblical, historic, Catholic or Orthodox priesthood. And without a valid priesthood, what DOES such a jurisdiction possess? What can it offer? What does it teach/profess? Can any of the Sacraments (with the possible exception of Holy Baptism) be considered valid by The Church when celebrated by a member of such a pagan and non-Biblical priesthood?
The "theological" arguments supposedly supporting the ordination of women to the priesthood are ultimately opposed to the Christian Faith and its teachings about salvation. This "theology" shares a secular feminist philosophy, strengthened by the pagan Women's Movement. And thus it is a secular ideology and not The Holy Spirit which has undergirded and promoted the cause of women's ordination. Any jurisdiction which therefore ordains women as priests has clearly and unequivocally placed itself outside The Body of Christ (The Church) and aligned itself with paganism.
The Evangelical Catholic Church retains The Sacrament of Repentance (Augsburg ConfessionXI & XXV), which is an effective means of imparting the grace of God. I will not allow anyone to deprive me of private confession, Dr. Luther writes, nor would I exchange it for all the treasures of the whole world, for I know what strength and consolation it has given me. When the Christian's new life in Christ is lost through sin, it needs to be restored. When it is endangered through complacency, lethargy, or weakness, it needs to be strengthened. For these purposes God instituted the ministry of Private Absolution. We are forgiven, not because of our contrition, but because of the promise of Christ to His priests: Whatever you will bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven (Apology IV, 397). Hence the
voice of the priest pronouncing absolution is to believed in no other way than as
the living voice of The Gospel (Apology XII, 40).
The Evangelical Catholic Church accepts the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of The Old and The New Testaments as the sole rule and standard according to which all doctrine and practice, together with all priests and teachers, should be estimated and judged (ECC Canons, II,2). We believe, with the entire Church Catholic, that The Book of The Church, The Holy Bible, is the verbally inspired, inerrant, Spirit-breathed Word of God which contains all things necessary to salvation and that the other elements of Holy Tradition are in full accord with Its contents. Our Lord and The Apostles first taught orally; when their teachings were written down, they were recognized and "canonized" by The Church (during the last half of the 2nd century) as "The New Testament." We do not read the Scriptures as isolated individuals, interpreting it only by the light of our private understanding or in terms of current speculations about source, form, or higher criticism. We read The Holy Bible as members of The Church, in communion with all the other members throughout the centuries. It is only with the consensus of The Church, guided by The Holy Spirit, that a proper interpretation of Holy Scripture is possible.
"It is one thing to reject the books [of the Holy Bible] as a whole . . . as the pagans reject our Scripture . . . and it is another thing to say, 'This holy man wrote only the truth, and this is his epistle, but some verses are his and some are not.' . . . Such a method, rather, is but the last gasp of an heretic . . . "
St. Augustine, Contra Faustum, XI,2
We believe it is most appropriate -- as did the ancient Fathers -- that the Holy Scriptures be considered part of the Holy Tradition of The Church. Important elements of Holy Tradition also include the Ecumenical Creeds, Scriptural interpretation, and The Divine Liturgy. These other elements of Holy Tradition remain in full accord with the contents of Holy Scripture. Any element of Tradition which deviates from the standard of The Holy Bible indicates thereby that it is not Holy Tradition.
The Evangelical Catholic Church, with The Council of Ephesus
(A.D. 431), confesses Saint Mary as Theotokos -- God-Bearer,
a title affirmed in The Formula of Concord (VIII, Ep.
12; Solid Declaration, 24). In this title, Theotokos
(Mother of God), She confesses that a single, undivided person Who is God and
man at one and the same time, was born of a sinful human being. The Evangelical
Catholic Church also considers Saint Mary Ever Virgin, a title
affirmed in The Smalcald Articles (Part One, IV [Latin]),
and She recognizes her as that Most Praiseworthy Virgin (Augsburg
Confession III, 1 [German]; Formula of Concord VIII;
Solid Declaration 100 [Latin]). Ever mindful that, although Blessed
Mary prays for The Church, she does not receive souls in death, overcome death, nor
give life (Apology XXI, 27), The Evangelical Catholic Church
gives God-pleasing honor to The Blessed Virgin and to all the saints.
This honor is threefold. The first is thanksgiving: we should thank
God for showing examples of His mercy, revealing His will to save men, and giving
teachers and other gifts to The Church. Since these [saints] are His greatest gifts,
we should extol them very highly; we should also praise the saints themselves for
using these gifts, just as Christ praises faithful businessmen (Matt. 25:21,23).
The second honor is strengthening of our faith: when we see [Saint]
Peter forgiven after his denial, we are encouraged to believe that grace does indeed
abound more than sin (Rom. 5:20). The third honor is the imitation, first of their
faith and then of their other virtues, which each should imitate in accordance with
his calling.-- Apology to the Augsburg Confession, XXI, 4-7
We thus include in The Kalendar the following feasts of Our Lady:
February 2: The Purification
March 25: The Annunciation
July 2: The Visitation
August 15: The Dormition
September 8: The Nativity
The Evangelical Catholic Church, acknowledging that the ancients
spoke of prayer for the dead, does not forbid such a practice. Our Confessions
(Apology XXIV, 94,96) state the following: Epiphanius testifies
that Aerius believed that prayers for the dead were useless [Epiphanius, Panarion,
75:2,3,7]. This he rejects. We do not support Aerius either. As The
Society of The Incarnate Word reminds us, we should remember when considering
prayers for the dead that we do not pray in order to change God's mind or
to make Him remember something He has forgotten. Rather, we pray in order that WE
might remember that all things come from God, that He has in His keeping our departed
loved ones.
We certainly do not pray the departed out of Purgatory, nor do we believe that
our prayers change the state of the dead. Rather, our intercessions are a declaration
of our faith that God is giving the faithful departed peace and rest, they are a
form of thanking God for the examples He has given us in the lives and deeds of our
fellow-members in the communion of saints, and they are a reminder that we
are called to imitate their faith.
The Catholic Church has never condemned prayers for the faithful departed.
Perhaps the best way to explain how and why Christians pray for their dead is to
quote the parody of Dr. Luther's Small Catechism, as written by
The Society of The Incarnate Word:
God gives peace to the faithful departed indeed without our
prayer, but we pray in this petition that He would lead us to know it and to acknowledge
it with thanksgiving.
Thus The Evangelical Catholic Church emphasizes Her Catholicity.
It is important to do so. Without such an emphasis our vision of The Church is narrowed
to one particular denomination, to one very limited period of time, to one locality,
to one national or ethnic group. She claims as Her own the magnificent heritage and
the world-wide scope that Christ has bestowed upon His Holy Bride; She is a contemporary
manifestation of The Church of all times, of all people, of all places.
© 2003, The Evangelical Catholic Church, All Rights
Reserved
ECC-102.9
Check these Links!
Home Page of
The Evangelical Catholic Church
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The Communion
of Infants
ECC By-Laws &
Canons on the Reception of Clergy
Sample Parish Constitution
The Divine Liturgy of The Evangelical
Catholic Church
The Confraternity -- The Intercession Paper
The ECC Kalendar
Apostolic Succession within the ECC
The Order of The Servants of The Holy Cross
Commissionings & Ordinations
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The Evangelical Catholic Church
P. O. Box #28624
Scottsdale, Arizona 85255-0160
