Synopses & Reviews
Theologians today take for granted that the principal achievement of the Second Vatican Council was its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. The central core of this central document - its Vision of Church as communion - is also being taken for granted. But this Vision was hard won - or, rather, recovered - at the Council, and its significance should not be allowed to fade with time or familiarity.
The Church: A Spirited Communion emanates from the ecclesiology of Vatican II as a systematic treatment of this Vision of communion: graced, prophetic, sacramental, spiritual, and ministerial. It is about a Church in communion with the laity, the hierarchy, and with al the Churches. Since Church" is God in communion with the faithful, this book is primarily theo-logical and only secondarily ecclesio-logical. It is primarily about the God who is Triune, who calls the Church into existence, and who seeks in every age a people who adhere to "God rather than men" (Acts 5:29)."
Synopsis
It is taken for granted today among theologians that the principal achievement of the Second Vatican Council was its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium. It is beginning to be equally taken for granted that the core of this central document is its vision of Church as communion. Communion, Pope John Paul II has said, is the very mystery of the Church. Church: A Spirited Communion grows out of the ecclesiology of the Council as a systematic treatment of this notion of communion. Church: A Spirited Communion is not, however, a book only about the Church. It is a book about the God whom Christians confess as Triune, who calls the Church into existence and who seeks its commitment in every age. It is a book about the Church only to the extent that the Church is in communion with this God. To the extent that it is a book which is primarily theo-logical and only secondarily ecclesio-logical, it is a book which adheres to God rather than to men and summons the Church to do the same.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-153) and index.
About the Author
Michael G. Lawler, PhD, Amelia and Emil Graff Professor Emeritus of Catholic Theology at Creighton University, received his training in theology at Dublin, Oxford, Rome, and St. Louis. He was a member of the Theology Department at Creighton for thirty-five years and is a prolific lecturer and writer. He has published twenty-two books and some 150 scholarly essays on topics related to sacraments, marriage, and sexuality. His most recent books are co-authored with Todd Salzman: the award winning and best-selling The Sexual Person: Towards a Renewed Catholic Anthropology (Georgetown University Press, 2008); Sexual Ethics: A Theological Introduction (Georgetown University Press, 2012). Dr. Lawler and his wife Susan have three adult children and four grandchildren.