Exalted Church
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 Exalted Church | |
|---|---|
| Ecclesia Elevatum (Latin) | |
 Dismas receiving the Exaltation | |
| Scripture | Bible |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Structure | Communion |
| Board | Camera |
| Language | Latin, native languages |
| Founder | Saint Dismas, according to tradition |
The Exalted Church, also known as the Exalted Church of the Penitent Faithful, is a Christian church and denomination with a large number of followers. It operates under a supervisory system in which the officials of particular dioceses operate independently, but are subject to review from the church's synod.
The theology of Exaltationism is described by the Apostolic Creed. The Exalted Church teaches that, while there are many paths to salvation described in the Bible, it is the preferred or "exalted" method of Jesus. Exaltation differs from other forms of salvation because of the elevation of St. Dismas, who was personally guaranteed an unconditional place in paradise by Jesus. The church maintains that it alone may grant exalted status and that it may even exalt those who are already dead.
The church is known for its use of the phoenix as a symbol of the rebirth of both man and God.
Name
Exalt (from Latin "exaltō") is a term used for the treatment of Saint Dismas by Jesus during the early years of Christianity. Later, Jesus was considered an exalted form of God according to an interpretation of Matthew 28:18. Finally, The church claimed to have discovered the True Cross, which it opted to called the Exalted Cross. These three exaltations form the basis of the church's authority and theology.
Saint Dismas is referred to as a "penitent thief" in Christians traditions, which is why the church refers its members as penitents and to itself as an organization of the penitent faithful.
Organization
Camera
The Exalted Church is based in the authority of individual revelations of church leaders throughout history. There is a unified board of governors, called the Camera of Charity, which oversees the theology and officers of the church. The Camera is, however, explicitly designed for the purposes of oversight rather than administration, so while they have a very strong influence on the church, they are not empowered to direct its affairs. The Camera appoints and dismisses bishops, who have authority over the temporal and spiritual affairs within their individual churches and serve until dismissed. Death is considered insufficient grounds for a dismissal and the Camera must allow time for bishops to be resurrected, a common occurrence in the church's history of itself.
In addition to overseeing and reviewing the actions of bishops, the Camera practices discernment over the testimonies of revelation. Most testimonies are considered "personal revelations", which means that they have meaning to an individual, but are not important to the whole church or are testified in such a way that makes them difficult to understand. Over the centuries, however, there have been many "complete revelations," which are divinely inspired and excellently testified truths. These truths are collected and published by the Camera and form its canon.
When members of the Camera resign or die for an extended period of time, a new member of the Camera is appointed by the remaining members. This person is almost always a sitting bishop, but exceptions have been made for members of the church who have shown remarkable discernment. Three times in history, all members of the Camera have died and remained dead simultaneously; in these instances, someone within the church has come forward and testified a revelation from the deceased that they are called to establish a new Camera.
Dioceses
The diocese take two forms; they are either practical territorial divisions in which there are many individual church communities with a particular priest or they are special "votary diocese" which are bishops who have authority over a holy order or other non-territorial body of the church. Bishops have a great deal of authority and autonomy in their role as leaders of a church. They personally own all of the property in their diocese and have direct control over money donated to them. While they are subject to review by the Camera, their decisions may not be overruled by any person except their own successors to their particular office.
Bishops ordain new priests and accept the vows of votaries.
Theology
The theology of exaltationism is drawn primarily from interpretations of the words of Jesus Christ. While there are other forms of truth and other sources which may inform Christians on right action, these are considered secondary and dispensable. Other theology comes through revelations to individuals from God and the testimonies of those individuals. All people experience revelations, which are real and unquestionable contacts with God. The testimonies of individuals are, however, prone to faults. For this reason, the official theology of exaltationism is composed only of testimonies that are accepted by the synod.
While official theology is governed strictly by the synod, there is no effort to the faulty testimonies of individuals. Since the revelations that people experience are real, despite their potential misunderstanding of them, all people are encouraged to share their revelations regularly.
God
Exaltationists believe that there is one supreme God who has several, mutually exclusive incarnations. The first incarnation was the Holy Spirit, which created everything and existed in a primordial state for the eternity prior to creation. After God created mankind and the covenants, the Holy Spirit's godhood was reincarnated as God the Father. The Holy Spirit continues to exist, but is no longer God. God the Son was incarnated as Jesus, who inherited the Father's godhood upon his death. The Father continued to exist, but is no longer God. Only Jesus, the Son, is God.
Trinitarianism is rejected by Exaltationists as a form of idolatry which implies that Jesus is not actually omnipotent and must share power with other persons. This makes it an incomplete form of faith.
Jesus too will eventually pass on godhood in the end times. The final form of God, which will exist in the new heaven and the new earth, will be an unmasked form of godhood which supersedes all incarnations. This form of God will not be an incarnation, but rather will be the eternal and essential God. This form is currently hidden to give mankind time to prepare by accepting salvation.
Palingenesia
Jesus claims in Matthew 28:18 that he has been given authority over all things in heaven and on earth. Exaltationists believe that this means either God the Father is dead or inferior to Jesus, aka God the Son. Jesus is therefore the totality of God, since he has authority over all things, which means he is God made new in an exalted form.
The transmission of godhood, or the palingenesia, is one of the mysteries of the church which all of its members are encouraged to contemplate. Each stage of God's existence has important lessons for mankind to learn and the church's teachings reveal these truths.
Complete Faith
Complete faith refers to a rejection of vicarious atonement--humans being saved by the sacrifice of Jesus--and exclusive acceptance of the word of Jesus that people are saved. Justifications and explanations for why people are saved by Jesus constitutes an "incomplete" faith to Exaltists, since it depends on human understanding in a very literal sense, and because it implies that there is more information required for faith and salvation than the information provided by Jesus himself.
Part of the complete faith is also the rejection of Jesus as the sacrificial lamb. Jesus, being God, was in no way required to die in order to grant salvation to anyone at any time. The concept of the sacrificial lamb implies a limit to Jesus's authority, which constitutes an incomplete faith.
Only the complete faith results in complete salvation. There are other acceptable, but less complete faiths that may or may not result in salvation, but if they do, that salvation will be less than the exalted, complete form.
Ecclesiology
The Exalted Church views itself as the best path to salvation because it offers the unconditional and unjustified forgiveness of sin and reward of paradise. It also claims authority over other churches because of the exalted cross, which it claims to possess in addition to the cross of St. Dismas; these are symbols of the ability of the church to grant exaltation. The ability to grant exaltation has been inherited by the church through St. Dismas, who was with Jesus in hell and later ascended to paradise. This power has not been transferred in a continuous line of living apostles, but rather through the Resurrected Saints who met St. Dismas and Jesus in hell.
Practices
Sacraments
Commensalism
Commensalism is an important practice in the worship of the penitent faithful. The penitent accept the narrative of the Last Supper as a commandment to eat together in rememberance of Jesus, therefore many exaltationist practices incorporate consuming food, especially bread and wine. The Bible contains several miraculous meals--including manna and the feeding the multitude--which the penitent believe is analogous to the nature of the complete faith. The miracles associatioted with commensalism are completed without explanation and there is no theological explanation for the physical appearance or reduplication of foos, similarly there is no explanation or possible understanding of the complete faith, which is achieved through the spoken authority of Jesus.
Some groups with the Exalted Church take this belief to the extreme that eating in isolation is innappropriate or sinful and will fast until in the company of believers. This influences other cultural behaviors of the penitent, such as working outside of the religious community or traveling alone. Under certain conditions, such as a shipwreck or imprisonment, church authorities have declined to admonish penitents for eating alone. A famous example of commensal devotion is Saint Joseph the Gaunt, an 11th century missionary, who was the sole survivor of a shipwreck and survived without eating for three months until he was rescued by penitents.