Marks of the Church (Protestantism)
Script error: No such module "about". The Marks of the Church are those things by which the True Church may be recognized in Protestant theology. Three marks are usually enumerated: the preaching of the Word, the administration of the sacraments, and church discipline.[1]
The Belgic Confession devotes a chapter (Article 29) to the "Marks of the True Church" and lists them as follows: Template:Quote
The Anglican Thirty-nine Articles states in chapter 19:
The Baptist Orthodox Creed defines the True Church in Article 30:
Louis Berkhof notes that Reformed theologians have differed as to the number of marks: Theodore Beza spoke of only one (preaching), John Calvin and Heinrich Bullinger spoke of two (preaching and sacraments), while Peter Martyr and Zacharias Ursinus spoke of three – preaching, sacraments and discipline.[2] Nevertheless, Edmund Clowney points out that Calvin "included discipline in the proper observance of the sacraments."[3] Albert Mohler calls church discipline the "missing mark" of the church.[4]
See also
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References
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
- ↑ Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (London: Banner of Truth, 1949), 576.
- ↑ Edmund Clowney, The Church (Contours of Christian Theology; Downers Grove: IVP, 1995), 101.
- ↑ Church Discipline: The Missing Mark by R. Albert Mohler, Jr.