Theology of the Church, Mentor's Guide, MG03

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T H E O L O G Y O F T H E C H U R C H

These questions are designed to highlight the main points associated with the first video segment. Again, we are using the various marks of the Nicene Creed, the Reformation teaching, and the Vincentian Rule to discern what are the most effective and biblically convincing marks of the true Church. As you discuss these marks, make sure that you cover how a mark may or may not reflect the Bible’s teaching on the nature of the Church. While these and other extra-biblical sources (that is, sources other than the Scriptures themselves) are important, they cannot eclipse or be seen as critical as the biblical witness itself on the nature of the Church. Therefore, make certain that you undergird all discussions about the true marks with reference to the Scriptures. The method that we are employing to discover the work of the Church (i.e., looking at images of the Church in the New Testament and drawing conclusions from them), deserves some explanation. Even a cursory glance at the various images of the Church in the New Testament reveals that a multiplicity of images and concepts exist, and these all possess different and correlated understandings of what the Church is and what the Church does. In a remarkable and important work on the Church, Images of the Church in the New Testament , Paul Minear identifies 96 different images of the Church in the New Testament. Among these, Minear categorizes these into five categories he calls minor images, the people of God, the new creation, the fellowship in faith, and the body of Christ. The richness of these images suggest that a tremendous wealth of insight waits to be mined in these images. To study the Church through this great diversity of images is the task of the serious Bible student. There will be many images which unfortunately will not receive any of the attention they so richly deserve: people of God’s possession, the salt of the earth, holy nation, epistle of Christ, branches of the vine, the elect lady, the bride of the Lamb, sojourners and exiles, the priesthood of God, the new creation, the sanctified slaves, friends, and the pillar and ground of the truth. Suffice it to say that God gave us these rich images that we might engage in serious and continuous study to understand his people through them. This rich company of images makes it both necessary and desirable to discern the nature of the Church indirectly through the concrete image we study. We encourage all students of

9 Page 129 Student Questions and Response

10 Page 130 Summary of Segment 2