Synopses & Reviews
This book offers a comprehensive panorama of modern Roman Catholic ecclesiology as it springs from the vision proclaimed by the Second Vatican Council in Lumen Gentium. The author's central thesis is an ecclesiology built around the notion of communio: all members of the Church should be able to carry out their respective responsibilities toward the Church at all levels (pastors, bishops, the entire Church). The Church needs the honest experiences of the faithful in the world in order to recognize and to meet the demands of the times by drawing on its ongoing tradition together with the work of the Holy Spirit. From this emerges the need to re re-think of the universal Church as a community of local churches. Questions concerning the scriptural basis for the Church are handled in an exegetical section. Next a systematic treatment deals with the nature of the Church, its structures (communities and offices; the structure of its offices), and the Church's duties (evangelization; the relations between Church and society). Dr. Garijo-Guembe emphasizes the systematic description of important moments in the history of dogma. From this foundation the author takes up questions directed by the Orthodox and the Churches of Reformation toward the Roman Catholic Church and attempts to answer them.. A rich bibliography-international in its authorship and ecumenical in their confessional backgrounds-rounds off each chapter.
Synopsis
Modern Roman Catholic ecclesiology is best presented and understood as the complementary intertwining of pneumatology and Christology. This is the position of Lumen gentium and the Vision of Church the author explains and explores in this work.
The author's central thesis is an ecclesiology built around the notion of communio: al Church members carry out their respective responsibilities toward the Church at al levels.
Beginning with Scripture, the foundation of al theological reflection, the author asks: What ecclesiological perspectives can be found in the New Testament? Next, a systematic treatment of the nature of the Church, its structures (communities and offices), and the Church's mission (evangelization, the relationship between Church and society) reveals a universal Church centered in a community of local churches.
A bibliography 'international in its authorship and ecumenical in its contributor's confessional backgrounds 'completes each chapter.