The flexibility of church structures : a Protestant view

Abstract

This contribution reflects on Protestant attitudes towards the institutional aspects of church life, including church law and church polity. First, it describes 'Protestantism' from an historical and a terminological perspective, concluding with observations on the visible and the invisible aspects of the church as background to the views of Rudolf Sohm. Secondly, it focuses on the Reformed tradition, with special attention to the ideas of John Calvin and Karl Barth.