What is Church--P2--When Christendom coopts the church

In the fourth and fifth century, several things happen

• Constantine converts to Christianity
• Constantine makes Christianity the Roman world's official religion
• Constantine takes initiative to make the church define itself through a belief system--CREEDS
• This unites the established church, and the belief system both solidifies governmental power and church power individually, and together 

This had several results:

• "We go from thinking about church as something we do to a church as an article of belief"
• If we extract a belief out of practice is moves the church toward coercion"

Examples based on "one, holy, apostolic, catholic church"

• "one"
• What happens when unity becomes something we believe instead of something we do?
• Reconciliation becomes forced from the top down
• see confession, excommunication
• See Radner "Brutal Unity"
• "holy"
• Holiness becomes an article of faith that needs to be enforced
• "Whenever you extract belief out of practice of the church it becomes coercive. God cannot change people through coercion.
• "Catholic
• references a universal church made up of all believers
• "church is a way of life not a thing you go to"
• this establishes on church as THE institution
• "apostolic"
• Used two ways
• "sentness" of the church
• apostolic succession
• The practice of being sent gets lost in Constantinian church
• "Words only make sense by their use"
• "If we don't have a word that uses the practice to change lives we have lost its meaning"
• "We extract belief from practice and it turns into something enforced"
• "Coercion does not work in Post-Christendom"
• "Church is in mission if it starts with practices that embody beliefs as a way of life"
• FIND SLIDES: HOW ARE YOU ORGANIZING FOR MISSION

• Belief doesn't make sense apart from practice.
• Wittgenstein--"Words don't make sense apart from their use'
• James--Faith without works is dead