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Orthodox Doctrine (Summary of Christian Divinity)
Metropolitan Platon of Moscow, tr. Pinkerton, 1814
4. Part 2, Section 4: The Different States of the Church
The church of Jesus Christ being founded at the beginning of the world, was first governed by oral and traditionary revelations of the will of God; afterwards by the written law, and the doctrines of the prophets; and at last is governed by the Gospel.
The three states of the Church.
1. Above, in Section iii. we have shewn, that it is necessary to go back to the foundation of the world for the beginning of the church of Jesus Christ. There is, therefore, nothing in this world more ancient, than the faith which we profess, and the church which preserveth the treasure of faith in herself. This church, from the very beginning of the world, is one and the same, and will remain such till the end of time; even so the faith which she holds is unchangeable: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.” Heb. xiii. 7.
But the conditions of the church have been various. They are reckoned three. The first includes the state of the church from Adam to Moses; the second, from Moses to Christ; and the third, from Christ to the end of time.
The first state of the church God governed by his oral revelations, which Adam having received, communicated to his posterity, even to Noah: this was easy for him to do, on account of his long life. Noah communicated them to his children and posterity. All the ancient patriarchs, according to the testimony of Paul, were in the faith; Heb. xi. 2. But sometime after the flood of Noah, by reason of the wickedness of mankind, the revelations of God began to be forgotten or disregarded, and then idolatry, hateful to God, began to be introduced; Joshua xxiv. 2. Therefore God was pleased, as the only means of saving the human race, to renew these revelations of his will to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their posterity, even to the days of Moses. All these revelations were made in the strength of the gospel, that is, they pointed at faith in Jesus Christ, as the Mediator and reconciler of God and man. Hence the divinely wise Paul, having enumerated the ancients from the beginning of the world, and having borne witness to their belief, at last concludes, that Jesus was the author and finisher of their faith; Heb. xii. 2.
Why was a written law given?
2. The great confusion that exists among men, and their proneness to forget honesty and virtue, though these feelings are stamped on the heart of every one, excited the most merciful God to give unto erring mankind assistance, and this assistance is the written law. This law contains in itself perfect rules to regulate the actions of men, and is a most evident representation of the internal law of the heart, which had been darkened by men’s evil deeds.
God made choice of that most zealous man Moses, to whom he delivered this law, and through whom it was more immediately communicated to the children of Israel, and intended for mankind in general. But as this law was not sufficiently powerful to keep men from following the bent of their corrupt inclinations, so God sent prophets, who, by declaring the divine wrath, as well as by a strict personal observance of the law, and by promises, strove to reform the children of men.
Thus began the second state of the church from Moses to Christ, governed by the written law, and the doctrine of the prophets. It is also necessary to keep in remembrance, that the law of Moses, and all the prophets, and all who lived under the law, were founded in Jesus Christ, as the only hope of man for salvation. Thus Paul writes: Our fathers “did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ;” 1 Cor. x. 3, 4.
3. The third state of the church is the most splendid and perfect, and began with the appearance of our Saviour, when the truths of the gospel, beginning at himself, were preached by the apostles through all the world, and were sealed by the blood of innumerable multitudes of martyrs. In this state, the church is founded on the perspicuous doctrines of the gospel, and supported by ordinances; and, according to the apostle, she is not under the law, but under grace, Rom. vi. 14; and now we are not taught by hidden predictions and dark types, “but we all, with open face behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord;” 2 Cor. iii. 18. This state will continue till the end of time, “when he (Jesus Christ) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; and when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power;” 1 Cor. xv. 24.