The Klaas Schilder Reader - The Essential Theological Writings

Links: Ecclesiology, Klaas Schilder
Tags: #non-fiction
Created: 1641013200000

Bibliography

Schilder, Klaas. 2022. The Klaas Schilder Reader: The Essential Theological Writings. 1st ed. Bellingham: Faithlife Corporation.

Notes

24-25) Context of lecture: 1924 Synod Kalamazoo deposed Herman Hoeksema for not following three points of common grace
- 1.God had a certain favor or grace with humanity in general, 2. A restraint of sin, 3. The unregenerate can perform such civic good.
1. rejecting common grace will put you at odd with the forefathers
1. "Genesis 1 is very real for me."
Common grace does not provide a unity between God’s favor and God’s wrath
- We can not draw conclusions about God through his attitude/ anthropomorphisms. “God regretted” God’s abounding love, grace, and kindness are like that too and cannot be taken to be scientific.
- Two things are true: God rejoices in creation, God is angry about sin
  - God rejoices insofar as that humans are made in the image of God, logic, endeavors that remain faithful to the creation order
  - God hates the sinful nature of man
  - Thus common grace ‘ignores’ this second list.
Rather: grace is the delight in creation before and after the fall, mandate is the appreciation of the cultural/ obligations humans have.
KS on 3 points of Kalamazoo
1. God allows creation to move forward, connect that to creation
2. God restrains sin, under the proclamation of the Word and other factors. But there is also a restraint of grace. God deserts the person who deserted him. Pedagogic function: to get the sinner to repent.
3. Unclear meaning, God is pleased with that which moves within the confines of his ordinances.

![[Theses on the Church (Schilder).pdf]]
19 Theses, (division by JVV) Class Notes on these Theses

1. A church Exists, but cannot be seen
2.No one has ever observed the Church, for it is not finished, it has not come fullness.
1. Therefore there is not a visible Church, just a temporary and local activities. In certain times or places.
1. Therefore, since we can not truly speak about the visible church, the language of 'invisible church' falls.

1. The church is being built and will continue being built. Arguments about the church based on phenomenologically (the lived phenomenon/experiences of the church members) are not valid since the Church is not yet complete, it can not be fully experienced, since it can not be fully experienced, phenomenological arguments can not be used to divide the one Church. Further, there is only one Church, yet it is 'divided' over two words, therefore; we again can not really understand its true "concept, or essence"
1. Gathering of members into the Church is ongoing, in the "imperfect tense" many concepts fail to take this in to account (Church as visible/invisible, organism/institute)
1. subject of the the Son's prayers
1. Election, faith, works of the individual are not what holds members together, but it is Christ. 'Christ gathers his elect out of us and through us.'
1. Church as institution for salvation is in error.

1. Mark of the church: the will and deed of gathering believers into the one body. Will of ecumenism is the primary mark of the Church.
1. other marks can not contradict or be 'abstracted' from the primary mark.

1. Don't build ecclesiology with personal experience
1. Invisible/visible church makes distinctions based on personal experience (true faith) thus, it is not valid. (same with militant/triumphant)
1. These distinctions could be used of a business or club, that have both true employees who care to work hard, and hypocrites who have lazy thoughts. A Christian group of friends can have distinctions of militant-triumphant, etc.
1. Such distinctions creates confusion

1. Invisible / visible looks at church from an overly personal point of view: If someone is a believer, even in a false church, he is still a member of the (invisible) church, but this is not church-gathering view. What are members doing to gather with Christ is neglected.
1. Militant / triumphant also looks at church from an overly personal point of view: Some believers have gone on to glory and triumph. But, as a whole, the church is still triumphing every day and still struggling everyday
1. Sectarianism is abhorrent. Counter to the prayers of Christ.
1. the church is still triumphing every day and still struggling everyday.

Matters of discussion inherited from scholasticism. the visible church and invisible church, the church as institute and the church as organism, the teaching church and the listening church [ecclesia docens and audiens], and the church militant and the church triumphant [ecclesia militans and triumphans].

a) Kuyper believes that Christ's teachings are like a white light, while the apostles teach a refracted prism made light. Yet, the apostles work was not of a lower quality.
b) K: visible church marks, and visible church attributes
c)