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A Critical Study of Hans Kung’s EcclesiologyThe Unity of the Church

A Critical Study of Hans Kung’s Ecclesiology: The Unity of the Church [In 1962, Küng begins his discussion about the ontology of the church with the external appearance of the church, which discloses his attitude to its unity. Thus, the fact that the church is one should never be only an external reality in the sense that it strikes the eye by stirring feelings of awe. The manifestation of the church and of its true nature should not be “very magnificent and impressive:”1 The church as characterized by unity should never look like a community that is biased to totalitarianism, silences free initiative, and manipulates all things that happen inside of that organization. At the same time, the essential quality of the church of being truly one should never mean that its leadership is accepted without any hint of criticism and with all enthusiasm just for the sake of keeping its affairs untouched by any problems whatsoever. The church is fundamentally one, and this is true of all local churches,2 whenever its unity is truly intrinsic and manifested by means of the two essential characteristics of all sincere Christians— namely, faith and love.3 So, the unity of the church is a spiritual reality4 that is always based on and strongly anchored in faith and love.5] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Critical Study of Hans Kung’s EcclesiologyThe Unity of the Church

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References (4)

Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan US
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Nature America Inc. 2008
ISBN
978-1-349-37288-1
Pages
3 –11
DOI
10.1057/9780230613393_1
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[In 1962, Küng begins his discussion about the ontology of the church with the external appearance of the church, which discloses his attitude to its unity. Thus, the fact that the church is one should never be only an external reality in the sense that it strikes the eye by stirring feelings of awe. The manifestation of the church and of its true nature should not be “very magnificent and impressive:”1 The church as characterized by unity should never look like a community that is biased to totalitarianism, silences free initiative, and manipulates all things that happen inside of that organization. At the same time, the essential quality of the church of being truly one should never mean that its leadership is accepted without any hint of criticism and with all enthusiasm just for the sake of keeping its affairs untouched by any problems whatsoever. The church is fundamentally one, and this is true of all local churches,2 whenever its unity is truly intrinsic and manifested by means of the two essential characteristics of all sincere Christians— namely, faith and love.3 So, the unity of the church is a spiritual reality4 that is always based on and strongly anchored in faith and love.5]

Published: Nov 4, 2015

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