The Three Marks of the Visible Church—Part 1

Note to My Readers: Due to the length of this article, I have divided it into several parts, and will be posting each part of the article separately with links to the earlier parts of the article and the previous article, “Recognizing the Visible Church,” in this series.

The purpose of this article series and a number of future articles and articles series that I am planning is to acquaint Anglicans and Episcopalians in North America with a major part of their Anglican heritage about which most of them sadly know very little or nothing. As Professor Gillis Harp observes in his Churchman article, “Rediscovering Confessional Anglicanism,” the present myopia of North American Anglicans and Episcopalians regarding the Reformation is a serious problem undermining the recovery of authentic historic Anglicanism in North America. They not only lack any knowledge or appreciation of this important part of their Anglican heritage, some of them are uneasy with it or even hostile toward it.

By Robin G. Jordan

The English Reformers distinguished three marks, or signs, by which the visible Church of Christ could be recognized—the preaching of the pure Word of God, the ministration of the sacraments with due order and discipline as ordained by Christ, and the faithful exercise of church discipline according to God’s Word. These three marks were how the true visible Church of Christ could be known from other bodies that claimed to be the visible Church of Christ.

The Reformers rejected the Church of Rome’s claim that a succession of bishops going back to the apostles is the only mark of the true Church of Christ. The Church of Rome asserts that the lineage of the Bishop of Rome goes back to the apostle Peter. As Christ founded his Church on the apostle Peter and made him the Prince of the Church, the Church of Rome maintains, the Bishop of Rome is Christ’s vicar on earth, standing in Christ’s place as his agent or deputy, and serving in that capacity as the vicegerent of God. The Church of Rome also claims that God has conferred upon the Bishop of Rome a special gift of the Holy Spirit so that when the Pope is speaking, God is speaking.

The Reformers found nothing in the Scriptures prescribing a particular form of government or polity for the Church of Christ, much less any basis for the Church of Rome’s claim of papal supremacy. They did, however, find strong evidence in the Scriptures for the Word, the sacraments, and discipline as the distinguishing marks of the true visible Church of Christ.

Contemporary Anglicans and Episcopalians who argue that bishops are of the essence of the Church are asserting a variant of the Church of Rome’s claim, as did the Tractarians and their Anglo-Catholic successors in the nineteenth century. The formularies of the reformed Church of England and authentic historic Anglicanism do not recognize such a claim.

The nineteenth-century Tractarians and their Anglo-Catholic successors formed what was essentially a Counter-Reformation movement in the Church of England. They did not disguise or hide their sympathy for the Church of Rome. They would embrace the dogmatic teaching of the Council of Trent that declared anathema, or accursed by God, anyone who subscribe to the doctrine and principles of the reformed Church of England. In their self-appointed task of changing the identity of the reformed Church of England they showed no respect for the rule of law, much less the rule of Scripture, and repeatedly broke canon and civil law as well as parted from the teaching of the Bible. They violated the subscription to the doctrine of the Articles and the Prayer Book, which they had made at ordination. They flaunted their lawlessness, Romanism, and ritualism in the face of the church and civil authorities.

Anyone who has read the reformed Church of England’s formularies—the Articles of Religion of 1571 (also known as the Thirty-Nine Articles), the Book of Common Prayer of 1662, and the Ordinal of 1661, the Books of Homilies of 1547 and 1563, the Proposed Canons of 1571, and the Canons of 1604—cannot fail to take note of the great importance that the reformed Church of England assigns to the Holy Scriptures. Article VI emphasizes the sufficiency of the Scriptures for salvation:

Holy Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.

Article VII recognizes the Catholic Creeds to be authoritative because they are agreeable to Scripture, not because General Councils of the undivided Church formulated them.

The three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius' Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed; for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture.

Article XX clearly subordinates the authority of the Church to the authority of the Scriptures.

The Church has power to decree rites or ceremonies and authority in controversies of faith; and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything contrary to God's word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church is a witness and a keeper of Holy Scripture: yet, as it ought not to decree anything against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce anything to be believed for necessity of salvation.

As Article XXI cogently points out, even the teaching of the General Councils must be tried by the test of God’s Word:

General Councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will of princes. And when they be gathered together, forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and word of God, they may err and sometime have erred, even in things pertaining to God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture.

Article XXII articulates an important principle of the reformed Church of England and authentic historic Anglicanism. Teaching that has no basis in Scripture and is contradictory or incompatible to Scripture has no place in a Church in which the Holy Scriptures are the supreme and final authority in all matters of faith and life:

The Roman doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, worshipping and adoration as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saint, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture; but rather repugnant to the word of God.

As we see from Article XXIV, the reformed Church of England and authentic historic Anglicanism do give a place to “the custom of the primitive Church” in the teaching of the Church.

It is a thing plainly repugnant to the word of God and the custom of the primitive Church, to have public prayer in the Church, or to minister the sacraments in a tongue not understood by the people.

However, it is a position that is decidedly inferior to Scripture as we see from Article XXXIV. Holy Scripture is paramount. Where the traditions of men and the Word of God disagree, men’s traditions must give way to God’s Word.

It is not necessary that traditions and ceremonies be in all places one or utterly alike; for at all times they have been diverse, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's word.

Whosoever through his private judgement willingly and purposely openly breaks the traditions and ceremonies of the Church which are not repugnant to the word of God, and are ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly that others may fear to do the like, as he that offends against common order of the Church, and hurts the authority of the magistrate, and wounds the conscience of the weak brethren.

Every particular or national Church has authority to ordain, change, and abolish ceremonies or rites of the Church ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying.

The English Reformers found no basis in Scripture for the Church of Rome’s claim that Scripture and Church tradition are never at odds with each other but they are invariably in agreement. They did take note of our Lord’s rebuke of the Pharisees for making void the Word of God for the sake of their own tradition.

Authentic historic Anglicanism, like other forms of Protestantism, espouses the principle that all human thoughts must be submitted to Scripture. This includes Church tradition no matter how ancient it may be. It rejects what is known as “the rule of antiquity.” It recognizes that even in apostolic times false teaching abounded.

Authentic historic Anglicanism takes the position that we cannot presume that since teaching comes from a time close to that of the apostles, it is apostolic. The Church of the time period may have taken it to be apostolic. However, the Church in every age is made up of men and men are fallible. Therefore, the Church is also fallible. Only the Scriptures are inerrant. Article XIX recognizes the fallibility of the Churches of antiquity.

…As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch have erred: so also the Church of Rome has erred, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith.

The rule of antiquity has proven a dangerous snare for previous generations of Anglicans such as the seventeenth century Caroline High Churchmen and the nineteenth century Tractarians and Anglo-Catholic successors. It has entangled the adherents of the Ancient-Future or Convergence movement in our own time.

Part 2 of this article continues our examination of the central place of the Holy Scriptures in the teaching and life of the reformed Church of England and its relationship to the English Reformers’ theology of the Bible and the Church.