On the Universal and Local Church #

New Ritualist: Whatever you tell me, I will never agree that the universal Church of Christ can be in widowhood. Local or regional churches may be in widowhood—that is indisputable—but the entire universal Church can never be widowed.

Old Ritualist: And where is it written that the whole universal Church cannot be in widowhood? Show me.

New Ritualist: I cannot show you.

Old Ritualist: Why not?

New Ritualist: Because such an expression is not found anywhere—not in Holy Scripture, nor in the teachings of the holy fathers.

Old Ritualist: Precisely. This means that your teaching—that the universal Church cannot be in widowhood—is not based on Holy Scripture or the teachings of the holy fathers, but rather on human reasoning and your own inventions.

And not only this, but even what you say about the universal Church is not from Scripture. Tell me: in which Gospel did you find the very term “universal Church”?

New Ritualist: The Gospel does not contain this term.

Old Ritualist: And in the Epistles?

New Ritualist: It is not in the Epistles either.

Old Ritualist: And in the Creed, which Church do you confess: the universal Church, or something else?

New Ritualist: In the Creed, we read: “in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,” meaning that we believe in it.

Old Ritualist: You see, again, there is no mention of a “universal Church.” Why, then, do you speak about a universal Church when it is not mentioned in the Gospel, nor the Epistles, nor in the Creed?

New Ritualist: But our missionaries always speak about the universal Church.

Old Ritualist: One should follow the teachings of the Gospel, not the missionaries. And in the Gospel, it speaks not of a universal Church, but of the Church of Christ (Matthew, reading 63).¹ In the Creed, too, it speaks of “one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,” not a universal Church. The missionaries speak of a universal Church instead of the Church of Christ because they do not want to know or proclaim the Church of Christ, but rather preach about an “imagined” Church—a Church they have invented. In the book On Faith, it is written: “It is proper for every person to know the true Church, not an imagined Church, but the one pure and undefiled Bride (Christ) from the heavenly Bridegroom” (ch. 23, p. 216v). But you, New Ritualists, do not want to know the Church of Christ; instead, you have invented for yourselves a kind of universal Church, about which the Gospel does not even mention. This is only to obscure the truth and to argue against the Old Ritualists. If we speak of the Church of Christ, you New Ritualists will be defeated and shamed in your reasoning.

New Ritualist: How so?

Old Ritualist: Like this. Answer me this question: is a local church, such as the Church of Carthage, a Church of Christ or not?

New Ritualist: Of course, it is a Church of Christ.

Old Ritualist: And when it had no bishop, when it was in widowhood, whether due to bishops deviating into heresy or due to persecution, was it still a Church of Christ during that time, or not?

New Ritualist: Of course, it was a Church of Christ even when it was widowed without a bishop. But that is a local church, not the universal Church.

Old Ritualist: And is a local church not a Church of Christ?

New Ritualist: I already said that it is indeed a Church of Christ.

Old Ritualist: So then, a Church of Christ can exist without a bishop—in widowhood?

New Ritualist: A Church of Christ can be in widowhood without a bishop, but the universal Church cannot.

Old Ritualist: And if the universal Church were left without a bishop, in widowhood, what then?

New Ritualist: That could never happen, because if it did, the Church would cease to be a Church of Christ and would be overcome by the gates of hell.

Old Ritualist: Your reasoning is strange. For a local or regional church, being without a bishop is not disgraceful or harmful, yet for the universal Church, it would mean dishonor and ruin. Could the universal Church really be weaker than a local church? If being without a bishop is an evil, it is equally evil for both the universal and the local Church. And if it is not an evil for a local church, then it is not an evil for the universal Church either. If a local church, while remaining in widowhood without a bishop, does not cease to be truly a Church of Christ, then likewise the universal Church. In fact, even more so—if a part of the Church is not harmed or lost while it remains without a bishop, then all the more so for the whole universal Church. But tell me: do you still assert that a local church can be without a bishop—in widowhood?

New Ritualist: Yes. I have always asserted, and I confirm now, that a local Church can exist without a bishop and will not cease to be a Church of Christ if it holds to the Orthodox faith, but the whole universal Church cannot.

Old Ritualist: But the universal Church that you proclaim is itself also just a local church.

New Ritualist: How can that be?

Old Ritualist: Like this. Explain to me what exactly you mean by the terms “local church” and “universal church.”

New Ritualist: My understanding is this: the universal Church is all the believers, or the entire community of people living on earth right now. And a local church is a part of this community, located in a specific place, which is why it is also called a regional church.

Old Ritualist: What you said is correct, but incomplete. The community of people currently living on earth does not constitute the whole Church of Christ, but only a part of it. The entire Church of Christ consists of all the heavenly hosts, all the saints who lived from Adam to this present time; it includes all people currently living on earth who hold to the true Orthodox faith, and every Christian who fulfills all the commandments of the Gospel. Holy Scripture and the teachings of the holy fathers testify that the heavenly hosts also belong to the Church of God. Thus, the holy Apostle Paul writes in his Epistle to the Ephesians that God, “in the dispensation of the fullness of times, might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him” (Eph. 1:10, reading 217), and “raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Eph. 1:20-21, reading 218). Elsewhere he writes: “And he (Christ) is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven” (Col. 1:18-20, reading 251). And again: “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant” (Heb. 12:22-24, reading 332).

Blessed Augustine teaches: “The natural order of confession requires that the Church, built by the most holy and consubstantial Trinity, be as a dwelling for the inhabitant, a temple for God, and a city for its ruler. This Church is composed not only of the part that sojourns on earth from the rising of the sun to its setting, praising the name of the Lord and singing a new song after its ancient captivity, but also of the heavenly part, which is forever united to its Creator, never having experienced a single fall or evil. This Church abides among the holy angels, unblemished, assisting her sojourning part as is proper. This Church of angels and humans will share in eternity, being entirely established for the worship of the one God, united in love, always remaining one in union” (his book Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love, ch. 54).

In the book On Faith, it is also written: “The tabernacle of Moses and the temple of Solomon were images of the two churches of Christ—that is, the one on earth and the one in heaven. The church on earth was represented by the tabernacle of Moses; the heavenly church was represented by the temple of Solomon, built on the mountain. There are two churches in number, but one in faith. Of this one on earth, the Lord said: ‘upon this rock I will build my church’; and of the heavenly one, the Apostle said: ‘ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels’” (ch. 2, p. 17v).

From these irrefutable testimonies, it is clearly revealed that the Church of Christ consists not only of people who believe in God and fulfill His holy and saving commandments, but also of the holy and bodiless powers of God, so that the Church is composed, as it were, of two parts: heavenly and earthly, which, though two in number, are one in faith in God, united under one head, our Lord Jesus Christ (ch. 7, p. 57), who is the head of all things, “both which are in heaven, and which are on earth” (Col. 1:16, reading 250). Thus, it is evident that all true believers, not only those currently living on earth but also all who have lived from Adam to the coming of Christ, constitute only a part of the entire holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Christ; this is a local church in relation to the whole Church, which consists of angels and all the holy bodiless heavenly powers.

That all the saints belong to the earthly part of the Church of Christ, regardless of the time in which they lived—from Adam until the dreadful judgment of Christ—is attested by many testimonies in the teachings of the holy fathers, of which I will present a few here. Saint John Chrysostom, in his commentary on the words of the Apostle Paul, “One body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism,” says the following: “What is this one body? It is all the faithful throughout the world, those who are, those who have been, and those who will be; even those who were pleasing to God before the coming of Christ are one body. How? Because they too knew Christ. How is this revealed? Your father Abraham, he says, rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad” (John 8:56; Homilies on Ephesians, p. 1676-7, 10th homily). Likewise, in the Great Catechism, it is stated: “And again, all the faithful in the entire world, those who are now, who have been, and who will be, they are one holy, catholic Church, the house of God, which is the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15, reading 284). Later, it adds: “Finally, all the saints in paradise and in heaven are truly and rightly called the Church of God” (Great Catechism, ch. 25, p. 120v). The book On Faith also teaches this: “You are the body of Christ, and members in particular, for the Church is the body of Christ, which consists of the assembly of the faithful, of people of every age and rank, of the saints of God, of the righteous martyrs and venerable ones, and of all the pious throughout the ages, and it is called the Church” (ch. 2, p. 22).

Thus, the earthly Church, which represents only a part of the entire Church of God, which includes the angels, itself consists of several parts: of the saints who dwell in paradise and of the believers currently living on earth. Therefore, these believers, or the so-called “universal church,” are only a part of the whole catholic Church of God. And being only a part of the entire Church of God, the “universal church,” or the community of believers currently living on earth, is a local church. And you yourself insistently assert that a local church can exist without a bishop and still remain an Orthodox Church of Christ. Thus, our Old Believer Church of Christ, as a local church in relation to the whole Church of God, though it did not have an Orthodox bishop for one hundred and eighty years, was truly an Orthodox Church of Christ, even if in widowhood.

To fully clarify the truth about the universal Church, I consider it necessary to add the following. If, by your understanding, the universal Church is a society spread throughout the world, united by one faith, then I ask: is the Roman Catholic Church a universal (worldwide) Church? It is more widespread than any other throughout the world.

New Ritualist: It is universal.

Old Ritualist: And yours?

New Ritualist: Without a doubt, it is universal.

Old Ritualist: And the Armenian Church?

New Ritualist: The Armenian Church is also a universal Church.

Old Ritualist: Oh, how many “universal” churches you have, and they’re too numerous to count! Yet, according to the Creed, we must confess only one Church, not many. It is clearly stated: “in one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” If, as you admit, there are many universal churches, then tell me: which one of them is the true Church of Christ?

New Ritualist: The one that has its own bishops.

Old Ritualist: And does the Roman Catholic Church have its own bishops?

New Ritualist: Yes, it does.

Old Ritualist: So, then, it is the true Orthodox Church, is that right?

New Ritualist: No; it is heretical because it has heresies.

Old Ritualist: You see, you have come to the conclusion yourself that the true Church is recognized not by its bishops, but by the faith it holds: whether it is Orthodox or heretical. That is why the holy apostles, holy councils, and the holy fathers and teachers of the Church did not consider bishops as the primary mark of the Church’s Orthodoxy, since even heretics have bishops. Nor did they define it with the term “universal Church,” because heretical churches, as you yourself confirm, could also bear this title. Instead, they set Orthodox faith as the primary mark of the Church’s Orthodoxy. If a church holds the Orthodox faith, then it is the Orthodox Church, even if it is in widowhood without a bishop, and regardless of whether it is called universal or local.

The holy apostles and holy fathers, when defining the Orthodoxy of the Church, did not call it universal, local, or regional; rather, they called it “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church,” or simply “the Church of Christ,” “the Church of God,” and the like. This is because the terms “universal,” “local,” and “regional” do not signify Orthodoxy or heterodoxy of a church, but merely indicate its geographical spread: whether it is confined to one locality or spread throughout the world—and nothing more. Just as names like “Russian Church,” “Bulgarian Church,” “Greek Church,” “Constantinople Church,” and “Moscow Church” merely designate the place where the church is located, without indicating either its Orthodoxy or heterodoxy. Thus, the term “universal Church” merely shows that it exists throughout the world—and nothing more. Yet all heretical churches exist throughout the world; therefore, they too can be called universal churches, as you yourself admitted. For this reason, we should use names for the Church that distinguish it from heretical churches rather than place it alongside them. Such names, as I have already mentioned, are “the Church of Christ,” “the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” These names, given to the Church by the holy apostles, holy councils, and fathers, are fitting and fully applicable only to that Church which in all things preserves the Orthodox faith and the Church’s traditions unchanged, as stated in the Great Catechism:

Question: What is the catholic Church?

Answer: The catholic Church is that in which the doctrines handed down by all the holy seven ecumenical councils are kept; it is glorified with holy hymns and chants, and adorned with holy and divine icons; it was founded and established upon the relics of the holy martyrs; in it the holy and divine mysteries are performed; in it all the faithful receive the most pure body and precious blood of Christ our God, and thereby become partakers of the heavenly kingdom. This is what has been handed down to us by the holy apostles and by the holy and God-bearing fathers; for this reason, it is called the holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. This is the catholic Church, which believes in the whole Gospel and in all the teachings of the ecumenical councils, and not in part. This is the catholic Church, which does not believe in a faith devised by human reasoning, nor does it hold mysteries established by a single individual, but believes and trusts in that which the Lord God delivered, and which the entire world has accepted and approved in council (Great Catechism, ch. 25, p. 121v).

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