Rubric for the Theological Evaluation of an Ecclesiology

The rubric below was created on a matrix consisting of a protestant understanding of the four marks of the church in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed and my own three-part ecclesiological perspective. This rubric is an evaluative tool that can be used to assess the practiced ecclesiology of a theologian, a local congregation, ecclesiological movement.

Excerpted from
AN ARTICULATION AND EVALUATION OF AN EMERGING CHURCH ECCLESIOLOGY
By Laura K. Springer
Th.M. Thesis, May 2008
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
Reader: Robert L. Saucy, Ph.D.

The Church is One

• The church is one in her connection to Christ.
• Individual churches have structures and practices that express and encourage internal, local, and global connection.
• Individual churches model and draw others toward the unity of the people of God.

The Church is Holy

• The church is holy in that she consists only of those who are in Christ, those who are and are becoming holy by God’s grace.
• Individual churches have structures and practices that expect and nurture corporate and personal holiness among those in Christ.
• Individual churches model the right belief and right practices that glorify and reflect God.

The Church is Catholic

• The church is catholic in that she consists of all those who are in Christ.
• Individual churches have structures and practices that provide for and encourage breadth of proclamation and depth of cultural expression.
• Individual churches declare and glorify the grace and sovereignty of God.

The Church is Apostolic

• The church is apostolic in that she attends and submits to the Scriptures, received and recorded by the Apostles of Jesus.
• Individual churches have structures and practices that provide for and encourage personal/corporate submission to and alignment with Scripture.
• Individual churches experientially and verbally declare the Good News of God in Christ.

NOTE: This is a rumination ("1. The act of pondering; meditation. 2. The act or process of chewing cud." American Heritage Dictionary) in search of synergy ("1. The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.")

Tag(s): theology

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