Christianity is a human religion. The most important thing in it is the person. He is the measure of all things. And what is the Church in the true sense of the word? This relationship is the God-Man of Jesus Christ and a simple mortal Christian. All the rest - bells, buildings, church institutions - are formal side effects. Read more about this in our article.
What is the Church in its age-old understanding?
The fullest concept of the Church of Christimplies a direct meeting under a single Chapter - the Lord Jesus Christ - all believers in Him on earth and in Heaven, all those who do His will, abide in Him, Communes Christ's Divine Life. It is believed that the growth of the Church was promoted by dogmatic formulations, and not by Scripture.
Jesus Christ on Calvary
Calvary is an image of suffering. It is he who explains well what the Church is. Calvary for all time, "seen" different people: warriors, robbers and so on. For a moment it could seem that Jesus Christ Himself is not there! But that's where He was. It was on Calvary that Christ was crucified, crushed and crucified.
What is the Earthly and Heavenly Church?
Conditionally the Church can be divided into Heavenly andEarthly. The first is the Most Holy Theotokos and all the saints, as well as Christians who have escaped from error. The second is the Militant Church, leading in the earthly world "war with the devil and his servants."
The Church is the Body of Christ
To the Church, that is, the Body of Christ,living and now departed Christians who truly believe in Jesus Christ, unite with Him in the sacraments of the Eucharist and Baptism through His grace. All believers are members of the Body of Christ, and the body of the God-man is the Church itself, the unity of the Spirit, which dwells in people who try to live according to the Holy Gospel.
What is the church as an institution?
Today, the "church" refers to a certaincommunity of believers in Jesus Christ of people. It has its own hierarchical component, organizational structure. In this case, the word "church" is written with a lowercase letter. These are God's churches and temples, serving as the place of various sacraments, which are the basis of any religious cult.
The sacraments are physically visible signs of the invisibleGod's grace. These are the actions established by Jesus Christ, designed to save people and their blessings. The symbolism of any church Sacrament helps a believing person to physically realize the love of the Lord for mortals.
In addition to the Orthodox Church, there is also the Catholic Church. But how are they different? About this further.
Catholic Church. Its similarity and difference with the Orthodox
Similarities
Both churches equally recognize the seven sacraments:
However, the understanding of the meanings of these sacraments in the Catholic Church is quite similar to that of the Orthodox Church.
Difference
It is between the two churches that some or other external forms of the realization of the sacraments historically develop in different ways. Some church legal regulations can also be included here.
