Abstract
Unlike his ecclesiological discourse in 1962, Küng now presents the church without resorting to the traditional categories represented by the signs of the church. Thus, Küng is no longer interested in the being of the church but rather in the function of the church. Consequently, he starts with a discussion about the spirit of the church,1 which he identifies as the traditional Holy Spirit described in the New Testament and the early Christian creeds.2
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Notes
See also Rahner, Theologicallnvestigations, vol. 5, 241.
For the importance of creeds, see Dagmar Heller, “Baptism-The Basis for Church Unity? The Question of Baptism in Faith and Order,” The Ecumenical Review 50 (1998): 489.
This is because Christ works in the church through the Spirit. See von Balthasar, Theo-Drama, vol. 4, 350.
Kung, On Being a Christian, 468.
See also von Balthasar, who is convinced that anthropology can attain its true stature within Christology. For details, cf. von Balthasar, Theo-Drama, vol. 2, 202.
For Schillebeeckx, this is a sign of the universality of the church. See Schillebeeckx, Christ, the Christian Experience in the Modern World, 470.
Although there must be a close connection at least between ethics and ecclesiology. See John W. De Gruchy, “Church Unity and Democratic Transformation. Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ethics in South Africa,” The Ecumenical Review 49/3 (1997): 362.
Mongrain, Systematic Thought ofHans Urs von Balthasar, 39.
Kung, On Being a Christian, 469–70.
See also Kiing, The Church Maintained in Truth, 84.
Rahner, I Remember, 108.
See Schillebeeckx, God among Us, 103.
See also Rahner, who writes that the church is the visible sign of the eschatological presence of God’s salvation in the world. For details, Rahner, Theological Investigations, vol. 5, 55.
Christ as Lord is not only the Lord of the church but also the Lord of all history. See Marmion, The Spirituality ofEveryday Faith, 303.
For further information about the love of God, especially as present in the human being, see Taylor, God Is Love, 145.
See also Rahner, Theologicallnvestigations, vol. 1, 301.
Kiing, On Being a Christian, 470–1.
Jossua, OP, Y ves C ongar, 96.
Ola Tjerhom, “The Church and Its Apostolicity. The Porvoo Common Statement as a Challenge to Lutheran Ecclesiology and the Nordic Lutheran Churches,” The Ecumenical Review 52/1 (2000): 200.
The common character of the Spirit determines the common faith of the church. See Dagmar Heller, “Baptism-The Basis for Church Unity? The Question of Baptism in Faith and Order,” The Ecumenical Review 50 (1998): 486.
See also Rahner, Theologicallnvestigations, vol. 1, 300.
For the relationship between Jesus and the Spirit, cf. Rahner, Theological Investigations, vol. 10, 54.
For details, see Kong, On Being a Christian, 358–66.
See also Fields, SJ, Being as Symbol, 80.
van Erp, Art of Theology, 152.
Cf. von Balthasar, Theo-Drama, vol. 5, 328.
For the idea of gift as applied to the church, see Richard Marzheuser, “Globalization and Catholicity: Two Expressions of One Ecclesiology?” Journal ofEcumenical Studies 32/2 (1995): 186.
On the other hand, however, the Spirit is a spiritual reality that makes the church a spiritual reality. See Yves M.-J. Congar, OP, ed. Redfern, 65.
In other words, believers must live in Christ. See Mark S. Burrows, “Globalization, Pluralism and Ecumenics: The Old Question of Catholicity in a New Cultural Horizon,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 29/3–4 (1992): 354.
See Hans Kiing. His Work and His Way, ed. Haring and Kuschel, 55.
For details about church unity in Kiing, see Rebeiro, The Church as the Community of the Believers, vol. 2, 194.
See also von Balthasar, Theo-Drama, vol. 1, 116.
Man can be accomplished as a free being only in Christ. See von Balthasar, Theo-Drama, vol. 2, 202.
For further information about the fact that the church must actively deal with the reality of sin, see Sobrino, Spirituality of Liberation, 129.
See also Thils, En dialogue, 59.
Such a view would surely upset von Balthasar because the doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of love. See von Balthasar, Glory of the Lord, vol. 6, 87.
This is contrary to de Lubac, who stresses that the purpose of the church is to bring us together into the heart of the life of the Holy Trinity. See Henri de Lubac, 92.
For details about the unity among the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, see Henri de Lubac, 92–3.
Rahner would strongly disagree because the doctrine of the Trinity that reflects God’s unity is fundamental for the unity of the church. See Rise, Academic and the Spiritual in Karl Rahner’s Theology, 119.
See Kiing, On Being a Christian, 472.
For the importance of the event of salvation, see Faith in a Wintry Season, ed. Imhof and Biallowons, 143.
This is in line with Schillebeeckx, who is convinced that the entire theology of the church must always be directed toward salvation. See Schillebeeckx, Revelation and Theology, 176.
Kiing, On Being a Christian, 473.
Also check Woods, A Look at the Christology ofHans Kung, 64.
Kiing, On Being a Christian, 474.
This notion is very dear to Kung so defending it against other doctrines is imperative. For more details about ecumenism in general with special reference to Protestantism, see Catholicity ofthe Reformation, ed. Braaten and Jenson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 94.
Cf. Wong, Logos-Symbol in the Christology ofKarl Rahner, 151.
Kiing, On Being a Christian, 475–6.
See also Rahner, Theologicallnvestigations, vol. 5, 124.
This is because the culmination of God’s revelation is Christ, see Schillebeeckx, Concept of Truth and Theological Renewal, 91.
This would not please von Balthasar, who underlines that the existence of God is a confirmation of the existence of the church because the existence of God is to be found in his work and his creation that includes the church. See von Balthasar, Glory of the Lord, vol. 2, 100.
Hans Kiing. New Horizons for Faith and Thought, ed. Haring and Kuschel, 36.
Cf. Woods, A Look at the Christology ofHans Kiing, 64.
See MacDonald, Church and World in the Plan of God, 48.
See also von Balthasar, Glory of the Lord, vol. 3, 218.
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© 2008 Corneliu C. Simuţ
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Simuţ, C.C. (2008). The Spirit of the Church. In: A Critical Study of Hans Kung’s Ecclesiology. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230613393_6
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