Communion of saints
The communion of saints (Latin: commūniō sānctōrum, Ancient Greek: κοινωνίᾱ τῶν Ἁγῐ́ων, romanized: koinōníā tôn Hagíōn), when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of the Christian Church, living and the dead, but excluding the damned.
[3][4] The concept of the communion of saints is linked with Paul's teaching, as in Romans 12:4–13 and 1 Corinthians 12:12–27, that in Christ Christians form a single body.
[5][6][7] The New Testament word ἅγιος (hagios, 'saint') can refer to Christians who, whatever their personal sanctity as individuals, are called holy because they are consecrated to God and Christ.
'"[10] The persons who are linked in this communion include those who have died and whom Hebrews 12:1 pictures as a cloud of witnesses encompassing Christians on earth.
"It is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven; we seek, rather, that by this devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity the union of the whole Church in the Spirit may be strengthened.
Katie Shockley explains the communion of saints in the context of the Methodist sacrament of the Eucharist:[19] When we gather in worship, we praise God with believers we cannot see.
"[24] The Westminster Confession, which articulates the Reformed faith, teaches that the communion of saints includes those united to Christ – both the living and the dead.
"[27] Theologians classify six categories of saints within Eastern Orthodoxy:[27] # The Apostles, who were the first ones to spread the message of the Incarnation of the Word of God and of salvation through Christ.
[29][30][31][32][33] With regard to the various views held about the communion of saints, the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1907 wrote: Sporadic errors against special points of the communion of saints are pointed out by the Synod of Gangra (Mansi, II, 1103), St. Cyril of Jerusalem (P.G., XXXIII, 1116), St. Epiphanius (ibid., XLII, 504), Asteritis Amasensis (ibid., XL, 332), and St. Jerome (P.L., XXIII, 362).
chret., IV, 1, 3) insists that the phrase of the Creed is more than a definition of the Church; it conveys the meaning of such a fellowship that whatever benefits God bestows upon the believers should mutually communicate to one another.
That view is followed in the Heidelberg Catechism, emphasized in the Gallican Confession, wherein communion is made to mean the efforts of believers to mutually strengthen themselves in the fear of God.
Both the Scotch and Second Helvetic Confessions bring together the Militant and the Triumphant Church, but whereas the former is silent on the signification of the fact, the latter says that they hold communion with each other: "nihilominus habent illae inter sese communionem, vel conjunctionem".
The double and often conflicting influence of Luther and Calvin, with a lingering memory of Catholic orthodoxy, is felt in the Anglican Confessions.
On this point the Thirty-nine Articles are decidedly Lutheran, rejecting as they do "the Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints", because they see in it "a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God".
On the other hand, the Westminster Confession, while ignoring the Suffering and the Triumphant Church, goes beyond the Calvinistic view and falls little short of the Catholic doctrine with regard to the faithful on earth, who, it says, "being united to one another in love, have communion in each other's gifts and graces".
