Calvin’s Concept of the Church as mater fidelium (Mother of Believers), Viewed through His Concept of Accommodation

Is the church distinctive from us or are we ourselves the church? Unlike many protestant believers who understand the church as assembly of believers, Calvin defines the church as mater fidelium (mother of believers), just as the Catechism of Catholic Church describes, following Cyprian. To review i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of reformed theology
Main Author: Cha, Jaeseung (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2015
In: Journal of reformed theology
IxTheo Classification:KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
KAG Church history 1500-1648; Reformation; humanism; Renaissance
KDB Roman Catholic Church
KDD Protestant Church
NBN Ecclesiology
Further subjects:B Accommodation Augustine Calvin church Cyprian mater fidelium
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:Is the church distinctive from us or are we ourselves the church? Unlike many protestant believers who understand the church as assembly of believers, Calvin defines the church as mater fidelium (mother of believers), just as the Catechism of Catholic Church describes, following Cyprian. To review in what ways Calvin’s view is similar to—and differentiated from—that of Catholicism, this article discusses the concept of the church as ‘Mother’ in the early church, focusing on Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine. Then, it deals with Calvin’s concept of mater fidelium and move on to Calvin’s concept of accommodation in his ecclesiology. It concludes that Calvin’s use of the concept in four different ways is similar to Augustine’s rather than to Cyprian’s, and that Calvin’s concept of accommodation as God’s relationship to the church can overcome the tension between the church as ‘mother of believers’ and the church as ‘believers themselves.’
ISSN:1569-7312
Contains:In: Journal of reformed theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15697312-00902015