Despite this shared high view of the church, there remain, of course, major ecclesiological differences between the CCC and the 1689 BCF. The historical backgrounds of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith.
The Purposes
The Product
Statements of individual church fathers have whatever authority they had before they were included in the Catechism (1995:10). The introduction to The Catechism of the Catholic Church Compendium (2005:12) clearly indicates how the CCC is arranged in four parts.
The Historical Background of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith
46 Expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith Ch. 47 The 20th article of the 39 articles of the Church of England. This persecution formed the central theological and social context for the eventual founding of the 1689 BCF.
Conclusion
The Theological Frameworks of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith and the implications of their similarities and. This chapter will discuss how the different, yet overlapping theological frameworks of the CCC and 1689 BCF produce their different conclusions.
The Theological Framework of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
Another strong indication of how seriously the CCC takes Scripture is found in the footnotes53 of the CCC. 54 By which the CCC means "...the coherence of the truths of faith between them and within the whole plan of Revelation" (CCC 114).
The Magisterium58 is the interpretive authority of the Catholic Church and consists of the bishopric headed by the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), who has authority over the bishops, as individuals and as a body. 85 The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, is solely entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church. On Divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens devotedly to this, guards it with surrender and articulates it faithfully.
At the same time, the CCC clearly affirms in paragraphs 109-114 that the Holy Spirit is the Interpreter of Scripture.
Thus, in Catholic theology, liturgy, in its living relationship to Scripture, is at the same time part of the ecclesiology of the church, and from that relationship with Scripture, an instrument to shape ecclesiology. As Head of the church present in the liturgy, the Lord Jesus Christ is not shaped by creeds, confessions and catechesis, but rather the shaper of them. In this sense, the liturgy of the church is a source, and not merely a substance, of the CCC.
As will be shown later, the Puritan regulative principle of the Church, as set forth in 1689 BCF 22:1, is incompatible with such a view.
Where some of the major state churches have sought to maintain a balance between 'scripture', 'tradition' and 'reason', Baptists have declared. Hence the desire of Baptists to model the life of their church after the New Testament church. The Puritans and Reformed Baptists of the seventeenth century saw the traces of Catholicism in the Anglican formative principle of the Church, as this principle was expressed in The Book of Common Prayer.
This is a very important difference between the theological framework of the CCC and 1689 BCF.
Conclusion
It is unlikely that Reformed Baptists will one day soon accept the doctrine and liturgy of the Church along with Scripture as a framework for ecclesiology. The concept of "Church", the designations of the term in Christian usage and the constitution of the Church according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This chapter identifies and discusses the differences and similarities between the CCC and 1689 BCF understanding of the term "church" and the designations of the term in Christian usage.
After that, the constitution of the church (what constitutes the true Church and how the true church is constituted) is examined according to the CCC and BCF 1689, respectively.
The Concept “Church”
However, important differences begin to emerge between how each understands what the term signifies in Christian usage.
Designations of the Word “Church” in Christian Usage
The 1689 BCF's point of conflict with the Catholic view of the Church as a Eucharistic gathering is not captured in anything explicitly said in the chapter on ecclesiology. However, the remarkably short chapter of two paragraphs (chapter 28), entitled On Baptism and the Lord's Supper, is diametrically opposed to the view of the church as a liturgical, and above all eucharistic, congregation. Five things are mentioned that characterize the perverse celebration of the Lord's Supper by Roman Catholics: denying the cup to the people...;.
These comparisons and observations are sufficient to demonstrate precisely how contradictory the 1689 BCF is to central aspects of the CCC's conception of the Church as a Eucharistic assembly, and all that that concept entails.
The Constitution of the Church
An Important Agreement
There is a strong implication in these paragraphs from Lumen Gentium and the CCC that the Church in the world has been established as the new Israel. Waldron therefore agrees with the CCC and Lumen Gentium that the church is the new Israel of God. Apart from this disclaimer, there is agreement between the CCC and the BCF of 1689 (or at least Waldron's presentation of it) that the church is the new Israel of God.
So it is clear that the CCC and the BCF of 1689 agree that it is the New Covenant that establishes the church as the church and that the church is the Israel of the New Covenant.
Here, in two very simple statements, is everything the 1689 BCF really has to say about the Church's constitution. According to the BCF of 1689, the New Covenant therefore constitutes the church, as the new Israel.
It must be carefully noted that the Petrine principle is stated as "before all else" in the structure of the church. Another section of the CCC is of great importance with regard to the constitution of the church. 79 The Anglican communion accepts orders and the Eucharist as constitutive elements of the church.
Dominus Iesus a document published in 2000 by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the (while Ratzinger was still its Prefect) emphasized this distinction.
Conclusion
This chapter will discuss the differences between the CCC and the 1689 BCF regarding the characteristics, or characteristics, of the church. The section on the catholicity of the church includes a discussion of who is part of the church according to the CCC and the 1689 BCF. In this way, the CCC identifies four characteristics or essential characteristics of the church: unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity.
Of these four characteristics of the church, the 1689 BCF only states and describes the catholicity of the church in those terms (1689 BCF 26:1).
The Unity of the Church
87 There is an ongoing discussion inside and outside the Catholic Church about how exactly it should be understood. The correct meaning of living in affects the definition of the Church and how the Catholic Church understands itself. And such a sin that hurts the unity of the church, the CCC humbly acknowledges on both sides.
The holiness of the church is the next characteristic of the church to consider.
The Holiness of the Church
The last paragraph of the CCC on the sanctity of the church (829) presents the Virgin Mary as the one in whom. Since the BCF of 1689 is largely silent on the sanctity of the church and primarily refers to the sanctity of church members, there are no directly expressed points of contention between it and the CCC. Such points of contention will be between the CCC's chapter on the holiness of the Church and the BCF's 1689 chapter on sanctification, and are therefore not part of their statements on ecclesiology.
But this is the only point of conflict between the two documents regarding the sanctity of the church.
The Catholicity of the Church
This is not to say that it does not hold a high view of the universal church. This question was dealt with briefly in the earlier discussion on the unity of the church. Sixth, "the Church's bond with non-Christian religions (especially Hinduism and Buddhism) is first and foremost the common origin and end of the human race" (CCC 842).
This principle makes it clear that membership in the church is for the regenerate only.
The Apostolicity of the Church
The most important differences are related to the question of who is part of the church and who is not. In contrast to the Petrine principle and apostolic succession of the CCC as elements of apostolicity, the BCF from 1689 adheres to congregationalism and an eldership (bishopric), which each congregation elects for itself. In an important sense, this affirms something very similar to what is known as the Baptist principle of the priesthood of all believers, as stated in part in the 1689 BCF Chapter 26, Paragraph 11:
Nevertheless, it remains true that there are also important differences between the Baptist principle of the priesthood of all believers and the CCC's statements regarding the apostolate.
Conclusion
Second, the Church is Catholic because Christ sent her on a mission for all humanity. Implications of the similarities and differences between the ecclesiologies of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Baptist Confession of 1689. This dissertation has been an attempt to critically compare the ecclesiologies of the Baptist Confession of 1689 and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
I turn now to the claim that the main remaining difference with Rome has to do with the nature of the church.
