What is the Communion of the Saints?

It depends. How one understands the communion of the saints depends on how one understands the “leakiness” of the barrier between “up there” and “down here.” Generally speaking, Christians have understood this in three different ways. Before we can investigate them, we need to know three key terms and one key verse of Scripture.

Key Terms

The key terms we need to understand are the church militant, the church suffering, and the church triumphant. The unity of the church plays an important role in understanding the communion of the saints, so it is important to establish what is meant by these terms.

• The church militant: the church as it exists on earth.
• The church suffering: the souls in purgatory (Catholic only)
• The church triumphant: the church in heaven.[1]

Orthodox, Protestants, and most Anglicans do not accept purgatory. It is only taught in the Apocrypha (2 Maccabees 12:42-45).[2] One’s view on purgatory should not impact his view on the communion of the saints.

Key Scripture: Hebrews 12:1

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1, emphasis added).

This verse bears on the communion of the saints in three specific ways. First, it is the logical conclusion of Hebrews 11. Second, it was written before the persecutions. Third, it is written in the present tense.

Hebrews 12:1 is the logical conclusion of Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 starts by defining faith (11:1) and then lists the acts of faith of many Old Testament exemplars finally concluding that they did not receive what we have received (11:39-40). Hebrews 12:1 begins with “therefore.” As the old saying goes, we must always ask what the therefore is there for. The writer, having just shown the previous exemplars of the faith now shows what it means for Christians today. The word therefore changes the discussion from history to application. What is the application? It is that Christians live each day surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. This leads us to the second way this verse bears on the communion of the saints.

It is written before the persecutions. The writer of Hebrews says that we are surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses.” What word is used for witness? It is the Greek word martyr (μάρτυς) which simply means witness, such as a witness in a court trial. During the subsequent persecution of church, the word martyr would take on a technical meaning (one who died rather than deny Christ), but Hebrews was written before there was widespread persecution of Christians. At the point when Hebrews was written, Christians were still seen as a sect of Judaism and so were protected under the same laws that protected Jews. It is highly unlikely the writer of Hebrews has the technical meaning of martyr in mind. He is only referred to the more general sense of witness. So, who are the witnesses? They are the believers he has just written about in Hebrews 11, the exemplars of faith in the Old Testament.

It is written in present tense. The writer says, “we have,” present tense. Our English translations have this as a present tense verb, but in Greek it is a participle.[3] The upshot is that time is not in view so much as proximity, the closeness of the witnesses to Christians. He is saying that these witnesses are surely and certainly surrounding believers. This is up close and personal.[4] Now, this is not to say that Christians are constantly surrounded by the ghosts of dead Christians. Hebrews is telling us that the church triumphant (and for Catholics the church suffering) has a clear view of how members of the church militant are living and what they are experiencing.

Protestants contend that the cloud of witnesses are for inspiration only. They serve as past witnesses from which we can draw inspiration in the present. This does not imply that that they have direct and immediate knowledge of earthly events.[5] Further, the very next verse tells us that Christians are to set their eyes on Jesus, not on the saints in heaven (12:2). We are to live for an audience of one, not for an audience of myriads of saints in heaven. In response, I wonder why knowing that we are surely and certainly surrounded by a cloud of witnesses automatically means that I am taking my eyes off Jesus. Why is this either/or rather than both/and? While I grant the temptation to take my eyes of Jesus exists, that is an issue of Christian discipleship and maturity, not an argument against the reality of the saints in heaven having knowledge of my life on earth.

Three View on the Communion of the Saints

What is the communion of the saints? As I said previously, it depends on your view of the barrier between heaven and earth. Do the saints in heaven (a.k.a., the church triumphant) have knowledge of us on earth (a.k.a., the church militant)? For Catholics, does the church triumphant have knowledge of the suffering church, and does the suffering church have knowledge of the church militant? How one answers these questions will largely determine one’s understanding of the communion of the saints.

At a high level, Christians have clustered around three positions. There is a minimal view, a plene (Lat., fullest) view, and finally a middle way between minimalist and plene; I call it the fuller view.[6]

The Minimal View. The minimal view is explained best in the Westminster Confession of Faith. In chapter twenty-six, it states that all Christians are united to Christ by faith and “have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory.” Additionally, Christians are united to each other in love and so “have communion in each other’s gifts and graces.”[7] The rest of the Confession discusses the responsibilities Christians have to other Christians here on earth. There is no mention of the saints in heaven. For the minimal view, the focus of Hebrews 12:1 is on Christians “down here.” The minimal view is held by many Protestants, especially Reformed Protestants.

The Plene (Lat., Fullest) View. The plene view is unsatisfied with the Minimalist view. Although it accepts it as far as it goes, it takes it much further. The plene view is that the church in both states, church militant and church triumphant (also the suffering church for Catholics) are in communion.[8] On this view, although distinctions can be made between the church militant, the suffering church, and the church triumphant, they are still the same church. Christians are branches united to the vine (Christ, John 15:5), and that bond is never broken. Therefore, the church may exist in multiple states, but it is still the same church. As the Catechism states, “The communion of saints is the church.”[9]

The communion of the saints has two closely linked meanings: the communion in holy things (sancta), and the communion among holy people (sancti).

To understand the communion in holy things, consider the actions of the early church:  And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). Here we see the communion in holy things. Specifically, there is:

• Communion of the faith. “The faith of the faithful is the faith of the Church.”[10] It was received from the apostles, and it is enriched by being shared.” [949]
• Communion of the sacraments. The sacraments link us to Christ and to each other. The most notable sacraments for communion of the saints are baptism, the entrance into the church, and the Eucharist.
• Communion of charisms. The Holy Spirit distributes different graces to all believers for the building up of the church and for the common good (1 Cor 12:7)
• Communion of possessions. Christians should always be ready and eager to share his possessions with those in need. “A Christian is a steward of the Lord’s goods.”[11]
• Communion of charity. “In the sanctorum communio, ‘None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.’” (Rom 14:7) “In this solidarity with all men, living or dead, which is founded on the communion of saints, the least of our acts done in charity redounds to the profit of all. Every sin harms this communion.”[12]

 

The other meaning is the communion among holy people. The union of believers with believers in the other states of the church is not interrupted; it is “reinforced by an exchange of spiritual goods.”[13] In Ephesians 4:16, Paul calls on the church to grow up in all aspects of Christ “from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Does Paul refer only to the church militant, or also to the church that has gone before us? Are the saints in heaven in such a state of spiritual perfection that they have no more room to grow and no further exploration into the unfathomable riches of Christ that there is any meaningful room left for spiritual growth? (Rom 11:33; Eph 3:8). Of course not. What Paul writes in Ephesians 4:16 is as applicable to the saints “up there” as it is to the saints “down here.”

When preparing the Eucharist in most Eastern rite Catholic churches, the celebrant will use the phrase sancta sancti’s! (“God’s holy gifts for God’s holy people”). This saying perfectly encapsulates the two meanings of the communion of the saints in the plene view.

The Plene view is the “leakiest” of the three positions. There is no difference between communing with the saints physically present and with the saints in heaven (or purgatory). All Christians are in communion together. Orthodox churches make extensive use of icons in their places of worship. This is the physical reminder that when we worship, we are surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses in heaven.

The plene view is the official position of the Catholic church though many individual Catholics do not accept it. It is also held by some Anglicans, some Lutherans, and most Orthodox, although in all three cases they reject the teachings on purgatory.

The final view is what I call the Fuller view. It is a middle ground between the Minimalist and Plene views. The Fuller view is that the communion the church militant has with the church triumphant is a communion of joint worship. “When we worship we join in worship that is already going on in heaven.”[14] The position is that when the church militant worships on earth, it is joining with the worship that is already and continuously happening with the church triumphant. We share in their worship, but there is no direct knowledge of events in the church militant.[15] On this view, the thrust of Hebrews 12:1 is primarily on the church here on earth except as it pertains to worship. This view is shared by many Protestants, some Lutherans, some Anglicans, and some Orthodox.

 

(This is Part 2 of a 3 part series. Read part 1 here. Read part 3 here.)

 

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[1] Jennifer Brinkler, “Pray | Church Militant, Suffering and Triumphant,” October 18, 2021, https://www.archstl.org/pray-church-militant-suffering-and-triumphant-5180, accessed 3/2/2023

[2] The teaching is indirect, a necessary conclusion from an event unlike anything seen in Scripture. I understand many readers will object to my continued use of the church suffering, but I will do so because it is an important part of the Catholic understanding of the communion of the saints.

[3] As of this writing, New Testament Greek scholars are in a food fight about whether tense refers to time or aspect. Additionally, present tense participles have a different temporal relationship than indicative verbs. But since the impact of tense is the same in each case, I will just note the issue for those who have studied Greek and move on.

[4] The text of Hebrews 12:1 presents an interesting challenge for those who hold to an “unleaky” view between “up there” and “down here.”

[5] “Communion of the Saints | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.Org,” Ligonier Ministries, accessed February 28, 2023, https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/communion-saints. accessed 3/1/2023

[6] The names of these three views (or positions) are my own creation. You will not find them in a textbook. I use them to distinguish between the positions the various traditions take.

[7] “WCF Chapter 26: Of the Communion of Saints,” accessed March 2, 2023, http://thewestminsterstandards.com/wcf-chapter-26-of-the-communion-of-saints/. Para. 1

[8] My explanation of this view is pulled primarily from the Vatican. “Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText,” accessed March 2, 2023, https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2B.HTM. I.2.3.9.5, accessed 3/2/2023.

[9] “CCC.” I.2.3.9.5.946.

[10] “CCC.” 1.2.3.9.5.949.

[11] “CCC.” I.2.3.9.5.952.

[12] “CCC.” I.2.3.9.5.953.

[13] “CCC.” I.2.3.9.5.955.

[14] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1994). 821, footnote #19.

[15] J. Ligon Duncan, “I Believe in the Communion of the Saints,” Reformed Theological Seminary, accessed February 28, 2023, https://rts.edu/resources/i-believe-inthe-communion-of-the-saints/, accessed 2/28/2023.