What is the Church, exactly? It has certainly been talked about in lots of different ways: as both the ‘body’ of Christ and the ‘bride of Christ’; as a ‘perfect society’ and as the ‘pilgrim people of God’. And people have very different encounters with church: vibrant, life-restoring encounters; dreary, mundane encounters; sometimes even terrifying, destructive encounters. Each week, millions of Christians profess their belief in ‘one, holy, catholic and apostolic church’ - but what does it mean to say that the church is ‘holy’, when is it sinful, or ‘one’ when it is divided and at odds with itself?
This course introduces ‘ecclesiology’ – the theology of Church – in view of these, and other questions. We ask what Church is, what it should be, and what it has to do with the other essential elements of Christian belief. Participants will explore some of the most influential figures that have shaped recent ecclesiology, read some key theological texts, and reflect on how to connect these ideas with their own experience of, and encounters with the Church.
1. Mystery and Models of Church
This session introduces two themes to which we will return throughout the course: the idea that the church is a mystery; the different ‘models’ that might be used to understand it. It is often said that the Church is a mystery; but in what sense? Is it because of its ‘unholy holiness’; because it is both visible and invisible; or because it is ‘one’ despite being fractured in many ways, and changing from age to age? We look at Avery Dulles’ influential book Models of the Church, which explores how these models shape our understanding and practice, as well as some of the limitations that accompany each. We also sketch out some of the important tensions that accompany any understanding of what church is, and what it should be.
2. Church in the New Testament
In this session we examine the origins of the church in the New Testament, and explore how different New Testament writers use the term. We also think about a central problem in any ecclesiology: the connection between the ‘Kingdom of God’ and church. The idea of the Kingdom of God is the central theme of the preaching of Jesus. So what is the relationship between kingdom and the Church? As the French theologian Alfred Loisy expressed the situation: ‘Jesus foretold the kingdom, and it was the Church that came.’ Does this mean that the Church is the kingdom? Or does the Church exist for the Kingdom?
3. The People of God: On Vatican II
Lumen gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, is one of the most important documents of the Second Vatican Council. It put forward the idea of the Church as ‘the People of God’, a theme which drew more heavily on Scripture, especially the Old Testament, than a more institutional, and hierarchical model of Church. In this session we examine some of the key ideas of Lumen gentium, as well as some of the controversies with which it is linked.
4. Communion and the Body of Christ
St Paul uses the image of a body to explain how Christian believers should think of their belonging to the Church. The idea that the Church is the ‘Body of Christ’ implies something like an organic unity, or a communion. In this session we explore this theme, with particular attention to a Yves Congar, who despite being prevented from teaching at one point by Pope Pius XII, was a central figure in the theology of Vatican II.
5. Word, Witness and Spirit
What if we should think of the Church simply in terms of that to which it witnesses – the Word of God in Christ? In this session we look at the thought of perhaps the most influential twentieth century theologian, Karl Barth, and think about how to understand the relationship between the Church and ‘the good news of Jesus Christ’. We then take a final look at the role of the Holy Spirit, especially in the idea of ‘synodality’, and the current synodal process underway in the Roman Catholic Church.
Questions for reflection
Using the model described in the talk (Aristotle’s four questions, or ‘causes’), think about the following four questions:
1. What is the Church made up of, or from?
2. What brings the Church into existence? What causes it to exist?
3. What makes Church Church? What is Church, essentially?
4. What is Church for? What is its goal, or purpose?
Please come to the session prepared to discuss your responses to these questions – along with any other thoughts you have in response to the talk.
You can find the relevant section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is referred to in the audio, here.
In this session we examine the origins of the church in the New Testament, and explore how different New Testament writers use the term. We also think about a central problem in any ecclesiology: the connection between the ‘Kingdom of God’ and church. The idea of the Kingdom of God is the central theme of the preaching of Jesus. So what is the relationship between kingdom and the Church? As the French theologian Alfred Loisy expressed the situation: ‘Jesus foretold the kingdom, and it was the Church that came.’ Does this mean that the Church is the kingdom? Or does the Church exist for the Kingdom?
Questions for reflection
1. How close is the ‘servant’ model of Church to your own, intuitive way of understanding what Church is (and should be)? Why?
2. As Dulles describes it, ‘the Church’s mission, in the perspectives of this theology, is not primarily to gain new recruits for its own ranks, but rather to be of help to all men [sic] wherever they are.’ (p. 89) What do you make of this idea? And how do you think that the Church should be ‘of help’, primarily?
3. How do you connect ‘the kingdom of God/heaven’ with other corporate agencies outside the Church? Is it possible to build the kingdom of God without being called to the Church, do you think? (p. 93)
Lumen gentium is available in its entirety below, and there is another pdf which contains a few of the selections that I make reference to in the audio.
*note: if you want to avoid some pretty detailed discussion of one contentious Latin phrase, you might want to skip from 17.25to 24.20!*
Questions for reflection
1. What do you make of the claim that the Church is necessary for salvation, or that there is ‘no salvation outside the Church’?
2. If salvation is available outside the Church (in some sense, under certain conditions), what is the role of the Church in regards to salvation?
3. How do you connect the ‘incarnational’ character of Christianity with these discussions? What do you make of Ratzinger’s claim, that ‘the institution [of the Roman Catholic Church] is not an inevitable but theologically unimportant or even harmful externalization, but belongs in its essential core to the concrete character of the Incarnation.’?
Questions for reflection
1. How would you understand the meaning of the claim that the Church is ‘one’? How does this connect to the image of the Church as the ‘body’ of Christ?
2. How do you connect the ‘communion’ that theologians associate with Church with ordinary experiences of belonging to a group?
3. What do you make of Balthasar’s claim that the desire for a ‘more perfect communion’ goes beyond what is possible in earthly life?
Questions for reflection
1. What do you make of Barth saying that ‘the event of real proclamation is the life-function of the Church which conditions all the rest’?
2. Do you think – as Barth seems to – that an emphasis on apostolic succession authority can detract from belief in divine freedom and sovereignty, or the thought that church ‘takes place’ where and when the Spirit moves?
3. How do you understand the dependence of the Church on God? How does this dependence compare to the dependence of all thing son God as creator?
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
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Stuart graduated with a degree in Literature and Theology from the University of Hull in 2000. From 2003-9 he studied Philosophical Theology part-time at the University of Nottingham, whilst continuing to work in the third sector with vulnerably-housed or homeless people, and young asylum seekers (as well as pulling pints in a pub). He was Lecturer at York St John University for almost a decade, before moving to London Jesuit Centre in 2021. He now lives in South East London, and spends as much time as he can in the woods.
