The Singular Grace of Division's Wound

Ecclesiology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-27
Author(s):  
Christopher Wells
Keyword(s):  
Vatican Ii ◽  
The Body ◽  
Spiritual Intelligence ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Church

AbstractGiven the persistence of ecclesial unity—that the Church is one—as a fact of grace, is it possible to understand the concurrence of division between Christian communities as a provision of providence? A hallmark of the ecumenical movement has been its consciousness, at least, of this uncomfortable question, granting, as it does, the evangelical authenticity of various self-differentiated 'churches'. In this context, one may understand the spiritual intelligence of the Catholic Church's solution to the problem at and after Vatican II, writ in terms of the body of Christ. Christian divisions are wounds, Catholic leaders have suggested, that would form the faithful in their vocation of mutual self-offering and -emptying 'in' Christ crucified, 'in' one body. Such an approach to ecumenical reconciliation seems both requisite and promising, as may be seen with reference to the present 'lexicon' of Anglican-Catholic engagement.

The Two Bodies of Christ: Communion Frequency and Ecclesiastical Discourse in Pre–Vatican II Australian Catholicism

2010 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 359-409
Author(s):  
Gavin Brown
Keyword(s):  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Receive ◽  
The Church ◽  
Two Bodies

Today, most Catholics attending Mass come forward to receive communion as a matter of course. But this fact actually belies a very long history of low communion frequency and an institution's often losing struggle to have Catholics regularly receive the body of Christ. Already by the end of the fourth century, communion frequency in the Church, both East and West, had declined rapidly. Thereafter, outside small circles of especially devout communicants, communion at Mass remained for most Catholics an infrequent act. Yet during the mid-twentieth century, in the space of just a few decades, this situation showed signs of quite dramatic reversal. In the nineteenth century in Australia, average communion frequency among most practising Catholics was relatively nominal—perhaps three or four times a year was typical. On the eve of the Second Vatican Council, however, most Catholics in Australia were partaking of communion fortnightly and even weekly. Why this shift? What happened in the course of a generation which turned around a situation spanning many centuries in the Church's tradition of eucharistic worship?

Die kerk in die Nuwe Testament

1995 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M.M. Pelser
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
People Of God ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The People ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Church

The church in the New Testament The article explores the documents of the New Testament in search of the concept church' and finds that,  in a nutshell, the answers are as follows: the  Spirit-controlled, charismatic togetherness of people 'in Christ' (Paul); cross-bearing followers of Jesus (Mk); the people of God on their way through history (Lk-Ac); the faithful locked in battle with Satanic powers, but with the expectation of occupying the heavenly Jerusalem (Rv); the  community with which Christ became solidary, and which is heading for its heavenly place of rest (Reb); the poor but pious community, putting their faith into practice (Ja); the body of Christ in which his universal reign can be experienced (Col); the sphere in which salvation is  realized (Eph); disciples following Jesus as God-with us, experiencing the  rift between synagogue and church (Mt); friends and confidants of Christ, living at loggerheads with the synagogue (In); the household of God, governed by householders (Pastorals); and the socia-ly ostracized elect of God whose way of life should be a demonstration of their otherness as Christians (1 Pt).

scholarly journals A Baptismal Theology of Accountability

2021 ◽  
pp. 095394682110097
Author(s):  
Andrew Torrance
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
In Christ ◽  
The Church ◽  
Do So

This article addresses the question of what it means to be accountable to God based on a baptismal theology that we find in the New Testament. It argues that various passages in the New Testament lead us to the view that we are accountable to God in Christ. Such a view is not straightforward, and so much of this article will be spent unpacking what this could mean. To do so, I elaborate on what it means for God to create humanity to find fulfilment in and through Christ. This leads me to argue that humans experience fulfilment in and through the body of Christ into which baptism initiates a person. It is by participating and finding belonging in the life of the Church that humans can begin to discover what it means to be accountable to God in Christ, and, in so doing, form the virtue of accountability.

The Church: Towards a Shared Vision

Exchange ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 302-316
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Salazar-Sanzana
Keyword(s):  
Shared Vision ◽  
The Body ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
Pentecostal Movement ◽  
Everyday Practices ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
The Church

Pentecostalism has taken its own diverse paths, also with regard to its relation with the ecumenical movement. However, most of the Pentecostal movement has developed with an aversion to ecumenism. This reflection considers its limitations, because of the diversity of Pentecostalism and because of the fact that the written theological reflection is very much dissociated from the everyday practices of communities. One must consider the fragility of the ecumenical movement against the Pentecostal versatility. In Pentecostalism, the church as the body of Christ in unity and communion is understood as centred in the gospel, guided at all times by Christ himself as path, truth and life. This is where we can find points of convergence with the ctcv document. This contribution comes from an optimistic conviction about ecumenism, in resonance with this process of dialogue and other reflections for strengthening the church and its witness.

scholarly journals Relational Priesthood in the Body of Christ: A Scriptural, Liturgical, and Trinitarian Approach

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 799
Author(s):  
Kimberly Hope Belcher ◽  
Christopher M. Hadley
Keyword(s):  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Ordained Ministry ◽  
Eucharistic Prayer ◽  
The Church

A liturgical phenomenology of Roman Catholic priesthood based on the experience of images of priests and people in scripture and liturgy lends itself to a renewed appropriation of Vatican II and post-conciliar approaches to priesthood. The authors interpret the relational dynamics of Christ’s own priesthood using the pericope of Christ’s anointing at Bethany (Mark 14:1–9), followed by a phenomenological examination of the dialogical introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer or anaphora in the Roman and Byzantine Eucharistic rites. The way ordained ministry is exercised in dialogical and symbolic fashions then provides the impetus for a new look at the significance of prostration in the context of Good Friday and of the Roman Catholic ordination rite. The trinitarian implications of the unified but differentiated priesthood of the Church are the theme of the final section.

scholarly journals O leigo no Vaticano II. Sujeito cristão na sociedade e na Igreja

2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (291) ◽  
pp. 559-574
Author(s):  
João Décio Passos
Keyword(s):  
Vatican Ii ◽  
The Body ◽  
Single Subject ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The Church

A presente reflexão interpreta a noção de leigo oferecida pelo Concilio Vaticano II a partir do conceito moderno de sujeito: individuo consciente, autônomo e ativo. O leigo é visto pelo Concilio como sujeito coletivo e individual que tem sua dignidade e ação derivadas da condição de batizado: membro do Corpo de Cristo. é dessa condição que advém sua missão dentro e fora da Igreja, seus direitos e deveres como membro da Igreja e, no coletivo, como segmento eclesial organizado.Abstract: The present reflection interprets the notion of laity offered by Second Vatican council, from the modern concepts of subject: self-conscious individual, autonomous and active. The laity is seen by the council as a collective and single subject, that has his dignity and his actions are derived from the condition of the baptized: member of the body of Christ. It is by this condition comes his mission inside and outside of the church, his rights and duties as member of the Church and, in the collective, as an organized segment.Keywords: Council Vatican II. Sugject. Layman. Mission.

La metáfora de la 'ecclesia mater' en la literatura antidonatista

Augustinus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-225
Author(s):  
Paola Marone ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
African Theology ◽  
The Church

The modern scholars have studied the maternity of the Church independently from the anti-Donatist literature. But a careful study of the anti-Donatist documents reveals many interesting elements. According to Optatus and Augustine the notion of mother was abscribed to all believers, because the body of Christ was formed of all those the Church bore as children through the baptism. According to both African bishops also the donatists gave a valid baptism, but only Augustine demonstrated how the salvation could be found outside of the viscera Ecclesiae. Then this article deals with the image of the Ecclesia mater as illustrated in the Adversus Donatistas of Optatus published in answer to the donatist bishop Parmenianus and in all that Augustine penned against the schismatics (Tractatus, Sermones, Epistulae). By doing so, it presents a picture of the African theology of the fourth century.

What is Distinctive about Methodist Ecclesiology? A Response to Papers by Miriam Haar, Justus Hunter and Robert Martin

Ecclesiology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Kenneth Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The Body ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
Per Se ◽  
The Church

Does Methodism want a distinctive ecclesiology? British Methodism assumes its ecclesiology from the Church of England which explains its lack of ecclesiological thinking, its genuine desire for reunification, and indeed its focus on ecclesia in actu. But there can be no ecclesia in actu apart from ecclesia per se. Being and doing are one in God. The Church, grounded in the dynamic being of God in Trinity, celebrates in the action of the Eucharist the wholeness of God’s presence with his world. Proleptically the Church includes the whole of creation and all people. Hence, when as the Body of Christ we pray the Our Father with our Lord, we pray on behalf of all, not just for ourselves. But what then do we mean by apostolicity? Perhaps in Methodism we would be well occupied exploring more keenly with the Roman Catholic Church what we each mean by being a society within the church. Outler may have been right when he opined that Methodism needed a Catholic Church within which to be church.

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