HOLY SPIRIT SEMINARY COLLEGE OF THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY

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1 HOLY SPIRIT SEMINARY COLLEGE OF THEOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY Member College of PONTIFICAL URBANIANA UNIVERSITY Institute of Religious Sciences A Book Report on Models of the Church by Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J. KWOK CHI KEUNG (10908) RD306 Course Paper Lecturer: Sr. Maria Goretti Lau, SPB HONG KONG Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, 2011.

2 I. Introduction The Second Vatican Council is a watershed in many senses. The most conspicuous change the world witnesses is the bold experiment of liturgical reform. Lesser known to the laity is the mushrooming of no less bold theological opinions on various topics. Bracing the danger of oversimplifying the scene, the present author is of the opinion that before Vatican II, theology was done in a top-down manner. Afraid of raising heresies, theologians of various branches began with universally valid theses to deduce more valid theses. Consequently, theology became a huge artifact, abstract and dry. Thank God, the Vatican II had opened the windows of the Church to let in the Holy Spirit whose breath raises the dry bones to their feet, forming an exceedingly great host of theologians (Ezekiel 37:10). Nowadays, most theologians take another route, a bottom-up route, to do theology. They begin with concrete data which they attentively experience in their daily life; try to intelligently understand the data, reasonably reflect on the judgment reached and responsibly decide the actions to take 1. II. A brief biography of Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J. Cardinal Avery Robert Dulles, S.J. ( ) was raised a Presbyterian and converted to Catholicism in the fall of He entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained in He was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He spent most of his time teaching theology, authoring more than 700 articles on theological topics and twenty-two books. He served as president both of the Catholic Theological Society of America and American Theological Society and Professor Emeritus at the Catholic 1 Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology, pp. 15 1

3 University of America. He also served on the International Theological Commission and as a member of the United States Lutheran/Roman Catholic Dialogue and received many awards. 2 This outstanding CV explains the inclusivity of his theological views and the systematic style of his writings. His interest in ecclesiology did not stop at the writing of Community of Disciples as a Model of Church (1986) 3, an article that appears 12 years after publishing the first edition of Models of the Church. He continued to publish books such as The Catholicity of the Church (1987), The Priestly Office: A Theological Reflection (1997) and Magisterium: Teacher and Guardian of the Faith (2007) to further develop the ideas he touched upon in the present book. He also wrote articles to meet different audiences on topics about the Church, for professional theologians in and for laymen in III. Model as a methodology Cardinal Avery chose model as a methodology to approach ecclesiology. Nine years later, he did the same on the topic of revelation. Using models seems to be a trend in those days. To study concrete physical things, we are able to describe them without ambiguity. Colours, number, length, location, shapes, smell, sounds, texture and weight etc. are attributes we are able to perceive. However, 2 Avery Dulles, Wikipedia. 3 Avery Dulles, Community of Disciples as a Model of Church, Philosophy & Theology, vol.1, no. 2, Fall 1986, pp Avery Dulles, A Half Century of Ecclesiology, Theological Studies, 1989, pp Avery Dulles, A Eucharistic Church, America the National Catholic Weekly, December 20,

4 when we study intangible objects, it is difficult to be free from misunderstanding when we try to communicate our ideas. We resort to using images. In theology, we employ a lot of images and symbols in our discussions. Even then, we cannot guarantee that our audience understands what we mean them to understand. Model is an ideal type of images. It is useful in guiding investigation, in framing hypotheses, and in writing descriptions. 6 IV. A summary of the 5 models Cardinal Avery was an experienced professor of theology. The books he wrote are highly structured like textbooks. Models of the Church is no exception. In this book, he summarizes the major contributions of both Catholic and Protestant theologians in ecclesiology and classifies them into five models. To compare the models, he puts up three sociological questions and explains how each model deals with them. The three questions are: the bonds that unify the Church, the beneficiaries that are served by the Church, and the nature of the benefits bestowed by the Church. 7 As for the third question, he later clarifies that he meant the goals of the Church. 8 Then he gives his opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of each model. For a sociological analysis of the models, refer to a summary table on page 8. For a summary of strengths and weaknesses, refer to pp Bernard Lonergan, Methods in Theology, pg. 285 Avery Dulles, Models of the Church, pg. 40. Ibid, pg. 58 3

5 A) The Church as Institution Advocates: St. Bellarmine ( ) and numerous popes between Vatican I and Vatican II. In order to perform its mission, the Church needs some stable organizational features. Without them, the Church cannot unite men of many nations into a community of conviction, commitment and hope. Without them, the Church cannot serve the needs of mankind. 9 Bishop Emile De Smedt of Bruges characterized the Institutional Model of the Church with clericalism, juridicism and triumphalism. 10 Authority is hierarchical. All power is conceived as descending from the pope through the bishops and priests, thus clericalism. Such a view of authority is also juridicist. It models on the pattern of jurisdiction in the secular state and greatly amplifies the place of law and penalties. Such an ecclesiology is triumphalistic. The Church is looked on as an army fighting against Satan and the powers of evil. It also attaches crucial importance to the action of Christ in establishing the offices and sacraments that presently exist in the Church. The dogmas of the Church were affirmed to be part of the original deposit of faith, complete with the apostles. Mother and Teacher are images commonly conjured up in this model. 11 B) The Church as Mystical Communion Advocates: Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Protestant theologians like Rudolph Sohm, Emil Brunner and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and some Catholic theologians like Jérôme Hamer, Yves Congar, Emile Mersch Ibid, pp Ibid, pg. 39 Catechism of the Catholic Church, #36 4

6 and Heribert Mühlen. Dissatisfied with the formal organization model of the Church, they turn to the informal aspect. The Church is a communion. There is the horizontal dimension of fellowship between man and man. There is also the vertical dimension of the divine life disclosed in the incarnate Christ and communicated to men through the Holy Spirit. Such a model conjures up the images of the Body of Christ 12 and the People of God 13. The Mystical Body of Christ image has a long history and was re-affirmed by Pope Pius XII in 1943 and he stated that the Mystical Body is identical with the Roman Catholic Church. Lumen Gentium of Vatican II shifts the paradigm to the People of God and does not assert that the Mystical Body is coterminous with the Roman Catholic Church. The People of God is a Spirit-filled community and is not exclusively identified with any given societal organization, not even the Roman Catholic Church. It is more democratic in tendency and emphasizes the immediate relationship with the Holy Spirit who directs the whole Church. The People of God image differs from the Mystical Body of Christ in that it allows for a greater distance between the Church and its divine head. Members are individually free. It stresses the continual mercy of God and continual need of the Church for repentance. The Church is both holy and sinful, needing repentance and reform. However, this People of God variant of this model is rather egotistical and monopolistic. How can any particular group of men affirm that they, and they alone, are God s own people? This model is Ibid, #737 Ibid, #839 5

7 also old-fashioned because it is a metaphor of a military and political treaty entered into between a suzerain state and a vassal state in the ancient Near East. The Mystical Body variant is in danger of leading to an unhealthy divinization of the Church. If the Holy Spirit is the life principle of the Church, all the actions of the Church would be attributable to the Holy Spirit. This would obscure the personal responsibility and freedom of the members and make the mistakes made by the Church unintelligible. C) The Church as Sacrament Advocates: Cyprian, Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas; the mystic Matthias Joseph Scheeben ( ), Henri de Lubac, Karl Rahner and Otto Semmelroth. The Sacrament Model takes the best of both models mentioned before. It is able to deal with the institutional as well as the mystical aspects of the Church. The Second Vatican Council endorses this model. Simply put, they start with the basis proposition that Christ is the sacrament of God, thus the Church which Christ has commissioned to continue his mission on earth is also a sacrament which is a visible sign of the invisible grace of God. 14 The theology of sacrament these theologians embrace is not the traditional top-down type. It starts with the structure of human life. Man is seen as a polar unity of spirit and flesh. Without contact with the world through the body, the spirit simply would not actuate itself. Therefore, the structure of human life is symbolic. The corporal 14 Ibid, #775 6

8 expression gives the spiritual act the material support it needs in order to achieve itself; and the spiritual act gives shape and meaning to the corporal expression. In the supernatural plane, man share in the divine life in a human way consonantly with his nature as man. This is done through the sacraments. As a sacrament, the Church is a historically tangible form of the redeeming grace of Christ. It is able to trace its link back to the apostolic times, thus historical. It must incarnate itself in every human culture. Its institutional aspect is essential and visible but it is also a living community in which God s grace is at work effectively. D) The Church as Herald Advocates: St. Paul, Martin Luther, Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, his students Ernst Fuchs and Gerhard Ebeling; and Han Küng. Most advocates of this model are Protestant and they emphasize faith and proclamation over interpersonal relations, mystical communions and sacraments. The basic image is that of the herald of a king who comes to proclaim a royal decree in a public square. The Church is a congregation that is gathered together by the Word. However, the Word of God should never be imprisoned or bracketed by the Church. The correct attitude is for the Church to point away from itself to the Lamb of God. The Word of God is not a set of timeless ideas but an encounter with God. It makes God present here and now. The post-bultmannians draw on the philosophy of language of Heidegger and push the model to its edge by claiming that the language-event of proclamation constitutes the Church. 7

9 E) The Church as Servant Advocates: Catholic theologians like Teilhard de Chardin, Robert Adolfs, Eugene Bianchi, Richard McBrien; and Protestants like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Gibson Winter, Harvey Cox and John Robinson. The first four models are flawed in that the outlook is still very top-down. They give a privileged position to the Church with respect to the world. The Church is produced by God s direct action and stands as a kind of mediator between God and the world. But in reality, the modern world, through its advances in philosophy, science and technology, rebels more and more against the teachings of the Church. In reaction to the situation, the Church took a defensive stance until Pope John XXIII ( ) and Vatican II ( ) when the Catholic Church registers a dramatic change of attitude. Nowadays, the Church recognizes the legitimate autonomy of human culture. It seeks to serve the world by fostering the brotherhood of all men. Since Vatican II, numerous high level Church documents from both the Catholic and Protestant Churches continue to promote this servant image of the Church. 15 Theologians make the theology of servant Christocentric and at the same time, make the Church the focal point of love in the world. 15 The Servant Church, pastoral letter by Cardinal Cushing of Boston, 1966; the Presbyterian Confession of 1967; the Uppsala Report of the World Council of Churches in 1968; the Conclusions of the 2 nd General Conference of Latin American Bishops at Medellin in 1968 and Justice in the World issued by the Roman Catholic Synod of Bishops in (pg. 93) 8

10 A Summary of a Sociological Analysis of the five models Institution 16 Communion 17 Sacrament 18 Herald 19 Servant 20 Bond Doctrines, Grace and gifts of All social and Faith and The sense of sacraments, and the Holy Spirit visible signs of the proclamation of brotherhood among duly appointed grace of Christ the gospel those joining pastors Christian services Beneficiaries All church Membership is Active members of Those who hear the People who receive members spiritual the Church Word of God comfort or material help Goals To give members To lead men into To purify and To summon men to To actualize the eternal life communion with intensify men s put their faith in Kingdom of God the divine. response to the Jesus as their on earth grace of God. Saviour Models of the Church, pp Ibid, pp Ibid, pp Ibid, pp Ibid, pp

11 A Summary of the Strengths of the five models Institution Communion Sacrament Herald Servant Strengths Is endorsed in official Church documents Gives a strong sense of corporate identity 21 Has better scriptural and tradition basis Is ecumenically fruitful Agrees with official teaching Revivifies spirituality and life of prayer Meets the human need of belongingness 22 Supports the best of the 2 previous models Solves problems where they fail Gives ample scope to the workings of grace Integrates smoothly with other theological themes Makes room for honest criticisms towards the Church 23 Has good biblical foundation and prophetic tradition Gives a clear sense of identity and mission Encourages a spirituality that focuses on God s sovereignty Gives rise to a very rich theology of the word 24 Enables the Church to re-engage with the world Brings about a spiritual renewal within the Church Shows the world what the Church alone can give Encourages prophetic criticism of social institutions Ibid, pp Ibid, pp Ibid, pp Ibid, pp Ibid, pp

12 A summary of the Weaknesses of the five models Institution Communion Sacrament Herald Servant Weaknesses Has little basis Exalts and divinizes Little basis in Neglects the Lacks direct biblical in scripture and the Church scripture incarnational aspect foundation tradition Gives a vague sense Induces an of Christian The concept of Suffers of identity or mission attitude of revelation servant is ambiguous clericalism, Is the Church a social narcissistic Neglects a Doubtful if the Church juridicism network or a mystical aestheticism 28 communion of life has the mandate to Hinders communion of and love transform the world into development of grace 27 Focuses too the Kingdom of God fruitful theology exclusively on The Kingdom of God is Hinders witness to the not a collection of dialogue 26 neglect of action 29 abstract values Ibid, pg Ibid, pp Ibid, pp Ibid, pp Ibid, pp

13 V. Testing the Models Models don t just describe the phenomena under study. They also generate hypotheses to explain the phenomena. Therefore, their strengths can best be shown by how well they are able to explain. Cardinal Avery tests these five models with five theological topics, viz. eschatology, the true Church, the relation between the Church and the churches, ministry and revelation. A) The Church and eschatology Cardinal Avery disagrees with theologians who stress too much the separation of a this-worldly, man-made institution with the Kingdom of God at the end of times. They opine that after serving her purpose and finishing her pilgrimage, the Church would cease to exist when the Kingdom is finally actualized. Avery enlists the teachings of the Scripture, the Church Fathers, the Scholasticists and Vatican II to insist on the eschatological dimension of the Church. However, there are at least five different types of eschatology. 31 Due to the limitation of space, Avery chose to focus on the partially realized eschatology which practically all Christians embrace. According to the Institutional Model, Christ has left behind the threefold deposit of doctrine, ministry and sacraments to the Church. This deposit is an eschatological gift. The Church is eschatological insofar as she brings men to their ultimate goal in heaven. Therefore, as a means of grace, there is no real place for the Church in the final consummation. This model does not mention heavenly Church. 31 Ibid, pg

14 The Mystical Communion Model agrees with an inaugurated eschatology. The mystical communion begins on earth and is consummated in heaven. The Church is the pilgrim people of God still on the way to its completion. Therefore, the Church reaches its fullness in the life beyond. The Church on earth is an anticipation of the Church in heaven. However, the question of continuity is not yet settled. Some people still look upon the final parousia as a catastrophic and discontinuous event. The Sacramental Model sees the Church as the mystery or sacramental presence of the ultimate, consummated Kingdom. She must continually labours to become a credible sign of the future glory to which it points. Again, the question whether the Church will continue when history comes to a close cannot be settled with this model. Some theologians hold that the sacraments will cease because we shall have open access to the grace they represent. However, some hold that it is possible that the life of grace will still be expressed and communicated in visible embodiments. Only the ambiguity and discrepancy between the symbols and the effects will be removed. Man s experience of God will presumably be expressed through a network of tangible and social signs which constitute the heavenly Church as sacrament. Herald is eschatological. The Church announces the arrival of the last times and it helps to prepare for the final consummation. The Church Fathers and the Scholastic Doctors have always connected the Christian mission with eschaton. Preaching which evokes the response of faith is the event that constitutes the Church. Thus constituted, the Church is itself an eschatological reality. The Word 13

15 the Church preaches saves those who respond to it and condemns those that fail to respond. This implies heaven and hell. In the end, there will be no more need to proclaim the Word. For some theologians of the Servant Model, eschatology is less important because God is present in the process of history. Serving the human family by building this world into a better place to live in is more important than the end. Others think that the hope of the Kingdom is the motive for actions seeking justice and peace on earth. The values of human dignity, brotherhood and freedom are both to be realized within history and fulfilled in the final Kingdom. The task of the Church is to be a well-spring of prophetic, liberating criticism for the transformation of the world. 32 Cardinal Avery thinks that instead of passing judgment on the fruitfulness of each model, we can accept certain points from each of them. From the Institution Model, the Church helps its own members work out their salvation by giving them guidance, admonition and every kind of pastoral and sacramental assistance. From the Mystic Communion Model, the Church is a place where grace is realized and lived here on earth in the anticipation of the final Kingdom. From the Sacramental Model, the Church is a sign of salvation, a sign that will become clear and unequivocal when the final Kingdom arrives. From the Herald Model, God s saving and judging power is already at work in the Church when she proclaims the coming of the Kingdom. The Servant Model sees the Church introducing the values of the Kingdom into the whole of human society, preparing the world for the final establishment of the new heavens and new earth. Cardinal Avery 32 Ibid pp

16 concludes that the final coming of the Kingdom is the work of God. It will not be the destruction, but fulfillment of the Church which will be indivisibly united with the renewed cosmos. 33 B) The True Church Christians believe that the Church is the work of God. It is a mystery of grace, not knowable independently of faith. Naturally, they are concerned to make sure that the churches to which they belong are true ones and efforts have been made to establish criteria for determining the truth of Christianity. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed enshrines the basic tenets of what Christians believe in. Since then, four attributes have been assigned to the Church. It is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Cardinal Avery shows how each of the five Church models interprets the four attributes differently. The Institutional Model understands the four attributes as characterizing a visible society. Unity is understood as the subordination of all the faithful to one and the same spiritual jurisdiction and to one and the same teaching magisterium. Understood as such, the Church falls victim into a cult of uniformity that aspires to a single universal language (Latin), a single theological system (neo-scholasticism), a single system of worship (the Roman Rites) and government (Canon Law). Catholicity is understood as highly visible and measurable in terms of geography and statistics. Outside the Church, there is no salvation. Holiness is visible in the sacrifice of the Mass, the sacraments, the vows of religion, the priestly celibacy and the infallible magisterium. The Church tends to develop forms of piety that are showy and external. 33 Ibid pp

17 Apostolicity is interpreted as something belonging to the institution as a means of salvation. The retention of the apostolic deposit of doctrine, sacraments and ministry mean the legitimate succession of pastors, and the approval of the pastors from Rome. This results in an excessive concern with legalistic formalities to the neglect of the spirit and service. 34 The Mystical Communion Model sees the four attributes as qualities of a living community. Unity is not the external unity of an organized society but the interior unity of mutual charity leading to a communion of friends. Holiness is not so much the holiness of means but the lived holiness of an interior communion with God, pouring over into communion with one s fellow men. Catholicity is not geographical but the dynamic catholicity of a love reaching out to all and excluding none. Apostolicity is not concerned with the juridical succession of duly ordained prelates, but the perdurance of the magnanimity of the spirit that was originally poured forth on the Church at Pentecost. This spirit drives the Church ceaselessly to embrace more and more peoples into a diversified unity patterned on the three divine Persons. In the Sacramental Model, the Church is a divine sign. The sign of Christ must be extended in time so that it becomes definitive and abiding. The Church of every age must remain in visible continuity with Christ and the apostolic Church. It must have apostolicity. The sign of Christ must be extended in space so that it manifests and actualizes God s saving will to men of all regions and ethnic and cultural groups. That means the Church must be catholic. The sign of 34 Ibid, pp

18 Christ should be one that unites men with their fellows. The Church is called to be a representative sign, one that includes a sufficient diversity of men. The Church must be characterized by holiness otherwise it could not be a sign of Christ. Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, the Church constantly works to purify men from their sins. The Herald Model which sees the Church as a community of proclamation focuses on Christ and the gospel. The gospel is one and holy. It is directed to all peoples and thus it is catholic. The gospel is handed down from the apostles. Therefore, it is apostolic. Thus as long as the Church lives off the gospel, it shares these four attributes. Sacraments such as baptism, Holy Eucharist and ordination are essential components of the church life. Their administration is seen as a sign of fidelity to the gospel and an extension, a dramatization of it. The four attributes are not considered characteristics of a true Church. Rather, they are gifts that the Holy Spirit bestows on the Church to live off the gospel. The Servant Model sees the four attributes as characteristics of the new creation, the Kingdom of God rather than those of the Church. The Kingdom of God is a regime of universal brotherhood embracing all men and the whole of creation. Thus it is one and catholic. It is the gift of God, uniting men to God. Thus it is holy. It is apostolic in the sense that it continues what God began in Jesus Christ. The Church, as the servant of the Kingdom is one as a team collaborating for the realization of the Kingdom. It is holy insofar as it dedicates itself to the realization of the Kingdom. It is a catalyst of holiness in the human community, thus it is catholic. It is apostolic insofar as it 17

19 continues to labour for the extension of the Lordship of Christ. In conclusion, the Institutional Model identifies the true Church undialectically with a given existing body. The other models tend to depict the attributes as ideals that are incarnated in history. The true Church is not perfectly realized anywhere on earth. At the end of time, the Church will be without spot or wrinkle. Vatican II favours a compromise position. The one true Church of Christ subsists on earth in the Roman Catholic Church which is itself an imperfect realization of the Church of Christ. 35 C) The Divided Church It is one thing to talk about the unity of the Body of Christ accommodating a multiplicity of congregation and another to face the painful reality that there are rival and conflicting denominations rejecting each other s doctrines, ministries and sacraments. Cardinal Avery puts this issue of the divided Church in perspective in the light of the five models. The exclusivist Institutional Model would recognize the legitimate claim of only one denominational body to be the Church of Christ. This way of understanding is an obstacle to ecumenism. Therefore, two variants have arisen to cater for the needs of ecumenical dialogues. There was the branch theory of the Church in the 19 th century which maintains that the true Church of Christ exists as three mutually divided communions --- the Roman Catholic, the Orthodox and the Anglican --- all of which have preserved the apostolic deposit of faith, sacraments and ministry. This theory was rejected by Pope 35 Ibid, pp

20 Pius IX. The second variant holds that the Church of Christ exists fully in one communion. But it also exists in a real but deficient manner in other communions. This inclusive institutionalism is accepted by Vatican II. 36 On this model, there could be no possibility of organic reunion but only of conversion. 37 The Mystical Communion Model sees the Church wherever the Holy Spirit is at work, bringing men together into a fellowship of faith and love. However, Christians have to face the actual divisions among communities. How can the one and the same Holy Spirit be divided? In theory, spiritual perfection should correlate positively with institutional perfection. Surprisingly, the spiritual reality of the Church will be better achieved by a somewhat deficient institution. Three factors contribute to this: the Holy Spirit is free to bestow His graces with greater or less abundance, the individuals and groups are free to respond less perfectly to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and lastly, the imperfect implementation of the right institution. Thus division is inevitable. To achieve reunion, Christians should not look for a merger of business corporations but a mutual rediscovery of brothers who have never lost their kinship. 38 The Sacramental Model sees both the sign and the grace aspects of the Church. Thus conceived, the Roman Catholic Church does not have the monopoly of being the only sacrament of salvation for the world. The invisible reality of grace may be realized intensely both inside and outside the Church. Even on the sign level, Catholicism Ibid, pp Ibid, pg. 191 Ibid, pp

21 cannot deny the salvific presence of Christ in the confession of faith, the reading of Scripture, the celebration of the sacraments and the charity service in the name of Christ in other communities. These non-roman Catholic communities enjoy a certain sacramental status when they invoke Christ and worship God in his name. Granted that they are imperfect realizations of the sacrament of Christ, the Catholic Church would be self-righteous and impenitent to overestimate herself to be the Church of Christ. To achieve reunion, Christians should aim at a restoration of visible communion among Christian groups that need each other to become more adequately the sacrament of Christ. 39 The Herald Model is not deeply concerned with visible unity. Supporters of this model are happy as long as theirs are communities of faith and witness sustained by the active presence of the Lord. However, the present dividedness of the churches is proof of their failure to hear the word of the Lord. Each church must confess that it has yet to become, in any satisfactory sense, the Church of Christ. No one church can be taken as the norm. The only valid norm is the word of God. Thus the way to unity is Christ. Unity is not achieved through interchurch negotiation but the continual conversion of each congregation to Christ Ibid, pp Ibid, pp

22 The Servant Model sees the Church as an agent for the transformation of the world according to the pattern of the Kingdom of God. Thus, Christians of different confessions are drawn together into a community of action that transcends their present denominational barriers and paves the way for a richer unity in faith and worship. Lonergan argues that the Church is a constitutive, effective and cognitive community. The division between the churches rests mainly on cognitive factors. Therefore, it is important for Christians to act together in fulfilling the redemptive and constructive roles of the Christian church in human society, thus achieving Christian reunion. 41 To conclude, Cardinal Avery notes that the eschatological dimension of the Church makes it clear that Christian unity is an eschatological ideal. Separated Christians must seek to promote authentic unity by the various routes suggested by each of the five ecclesiological models. None of these approaches is invalid, non superfluous, and none by itself sufficient. 42 D) Ecclesiology and Ministry All Christian communities must have a certain structure to sustain their existence. There must be office bearers or functionaries who regularly exercise a special ministry. The Church of every age must adjust its structures and offices so as to operate effectively in the social environment it exists. The structure of a Church operating in a class society must somehow be different from that in a professionally organized society or in a media-dominated society Ibid, pg. 156 Ibid, pg

23 The Institutional Model sees the Church as a secular State. The clergy are viewed as the ruling class, ruling by divine right. Priesthood is viewed primarily in terms of power. This divine power enables a priest to supply or withhold the means of grace at his discretion, thus to confer or deny salvation. Modern secularization and democratization challenge such a system of clericalism. There arises a strong demand from within and without the Church for a greater lay participation and co-responsibility on all levels. The Mystical Communion Model calls for a concept of ministry as the fostering of fellowship. Pastors are ordained to build the community, to help the Church develop as a living community of faith. Ministers are inspirers, moderators and animators in preaching, in the administration of sacraments and in the service of love. The Sacramental Model sees the priest as a sacred mediator, a cultic figure mediating between God and men. The Church actualizes itself most fully in its sacramental worship and priesthood is the sign and guarantee of the Eucharistic unity of the Church. Not only is a priest a guiding pastor and a prophet of the Word of God, he is also the sacramental representative of the sacrificing Christ. Ordination is a sacred action and celibacy sets a priest off as an eschatological sign. However, overemphasizing the sacral concept of priesthood would easily lead to superstition and a great reliance of laity on priests. The Herald Model sees the ordained minister primarily as a preacher rather than an administrator of sacraments. He is a visible extension of the preached word, or a dramatic expression of the faith of God s people. Cardinal Avery insists that the priestly ministry is indivisibly a ministry of the word of God and the sacraments because both of 22

24 them are formative of Christian communities. The three traditionally recognized ministerial functions of preaching, sacramental worship and communal leadership should all be integrated in any complete theory of priestly ministry. The Servant Model sees a priesthood that does not turn inward on the Church itself, but outward to the larger society of mankind. Liberation theology stresses the need for priests to identify themselves with the oppressed in their struggle for liberation. In USA, political responsibility is part and parcel of a priestly responsibility and is integral to the mandate to evangelize. In conclusion, it is not desirable to construct a single tight definition of priesthood because it involves not only cultic offices but also prophetic, liturgical, sacred, secular, personal and bureaucratic offices. Priestly activities touch on all the four traditional functions of the Church: community, worship, preaching and charity work. These functions do not exclude one another. A given priest will not be equally involved in all four. E) The Church and Revelation The Church helps people communicate with God. Yet, modern people find it hard to accept the idea of revelation. Firstly, many traditional presentations of revelation are mythical. Secondly, people are told reports of revelation but they do not themselves experience revelation. Lastly, some feel that the acceptance of revelation impedes dialogue with philosophers, scientists and the rest of the human family. It is a complex issue which Cardinal Avery took up nine years later in another book, Models of Revelation (1983). 23

25 According to the Institutional Model, the Church is the guardian and conserver of revelation which is a body of doctrine that have come down from apostolic times. This highly juridical, authoritarian and propositional understanding of revelation gives rise to the doctrine of infallibility. Believers surrender their independent thinking to the Church and accept whatever the magisterium teaches. Such an interpretation would engender a certain indifference to the content of revelation. The Mystical Communion Model sees revelation as a personal communion with God. It is the illuminating influence of divine grace and the Church is a mystical fellowship of grace. Revelation is identified with grace and faith with the acceptance of grace. Revelation is an anticipation of the final vision of God. The Holy Spirit takes on a central role. It opens us up to see life as Jesus saw it. The revelatory grace opens men up to one another in fellowship. However, this approach tends toward subjectivism and emotionalism. The Sacramental Model acknowledges two levels in revelation: the implicit and the explicit. On the first level, revelation is an ineffable encounter, a pure experience of grace. It leads to expression through some kind of visible symbolization in words or deeds, in creed or sacrament. Thus said, revelation is essentially Christological and ecclesial. It is Christological because Christ is a symbolic revelation of God. The Church, as the sacrament of Christ, is also a kind of concrete revelation of the divine. The perseverance of the Church in the truth of the gospel gives it a certain qualified infallibility. Such a sacramental view of revelation may lend itself to aestheticism. 24

26 The Herald Model designates revelation as the word of God. Barth holds that the word of God occurs in three forms: the incarnate word, the written word and the proclaimed word. The Church appears as the herald or mediator of revelation. Nothing else about the Church is considered really important. Old Testament scholars hold that revelation consists chiefly in the mighty acts of God in salvation history. The Church will always remain a centre of faith and witness. Bultmann considers revelation as consists in the event of proclamation itself. It brings about an existential transformation of the hearer and opens up to him the possibility of authentic existence. These impacts help Catholics return to a more biblical and Christocentric theology of revelation. Cardinal Avery warns that this kerygmatic approach must need inputs from the Mystical Communion and Sacramental approaches. Otherwise it will become too extrinsic, too word-centred, too authoritarian and unappreciative of non-christian religious experience and too apathetic to the great events of secular history. The Servant Model entertains a more cosmic revelation theology. Christ is the Omega force working throughout creation. Revelation is viewed on the analogy of an evolutionary force whereby higher states of consciousness emerge from lower. The content of revelation is the inbreaking of the divine into history. The role of the Church is not simply to proclaim the biblical message to the world, but to enter into dialogue with all men of good will to discern the signs of the times, judging them in the light of the divine Word. The value of revelation is to contribute to the realization in the world of the values of the Kingdom of God: justice, freedom, plenty and brotherhood etc. As 25

27 Christ was the man for others, so must the Church become fully altruistic. This model tends to dissolve too much of what is distinctive to Christianity. To remain recognizably Christian, it must include elements from each of the other models. In conclusion, Cardinal Avery takes up the question of eschatology again. Allowance is made for the discrepancy between the present interim situation and the final eschatological fullness of revelation. For Institutional and Herald Models, the Church ceases to exist and the heavenly revelation will be an individual encounter with God independently of the Church. For the Communion Model, the heavenly Church will be a communion with Christ as head and vivifier of the Mystical Body. For the Sacramental Model, the Church in heaven will be a true sacramental presence of revelation. For the Servant Model, the final encounter will be mediated not simply by the Church but by the new creation. Whether the eschatological revelation will be a smooth continuity or a cosmic apocalypse remains a mystery. 26

28 VI. An Evaluation of Models Cardinal Avery proposes seven criteria to evaluate the five models. They are: basis in Scripture, basis in Christian Tradition, capacity to give Church members a sense of their corporal identity and mission, tendency to foster the virtues and values generally admired by Christians, correspondence with the religious experience of men today, theological fruitfulness and fruitfulness in enabling Church members to relate successfully to those outside their group. 43 The following table summarizes which criterion supports which models. Criteria Institution Communion Sacrament Herald Servant Scripture Tradition Identity Values Experience Theology Dialogue Cardinal Avery remarks that different types of persons will be attracted to different models and it is imperative at all costs to keep open the lines of communication between different theological schools and traditions. He invokes two principles to support a 43 Ibid, pp Cardinal Avery develops a more refined set of criteria in a latter book. They are: faithfulness to the Bible and Christian Tradition, internal coherence, plausibility, adequacy to experience, practical fruitfulness, theological fruitfulness and value for dialogue. (Models of Revelation, 1983, pp ) 27

29 reconciling approach. Firstly, what any large group of Christian believers have confidently held over a considerable period of time should be accepted. Secondly, men are more apt to be correct in what they affirm than in what they deny. Assertions implied in each of the five ecclesiological types are valid. They bring out certain important and necessary points. But each model suggests different priorities. Taken alone, each could lead to serious imbalances and distortions. To remedy the Institutional Model, the structures of the Church must be seen as subordinate to its communal life and mission. As for the Communion Model, one must call for patience, faith, and a concern for the greater and more universal good. The Sacramental Model needs to pay attention to the values of structures, community, and mission brought out in the other models. Supporters of the Herald Model must stress the necessity of incarnating one s faith in life and action. Lastly, the Servant Model must insist on the provisional character of any good or evil experienced within history. Cardinal Avery is optimistic that the models are sufficiently flexible to be mutually open and compenetrable. Except for the Institutional Model, he demonstrates how starting from any one of the remaining 4 models, say the Servant Model or Sacramental Model, one can blend the values of various other models together into a more powerful model. To conclude his book, Cardinal Avery prudently predicts the following five trends in Church life: modernization of structures, ecumenical interplay, internal pluralism, provisionality and voluntariness Ibid, pp

30 VII. An Epilogue: The Church, Community of Disciples Cardinal Avery wrote twelve years later to update his models of the Church. He admitted that writing in the 70 s, he had been too harsh towards the Institutional Model. Now, he put forth a variant of the Mystical Communion Model --- the Church as a Community of Disciples. The concept has basis in the Scripture and the Christian Tradition. Moreover, it is able to build bridges to the other four models. The concept has enjoyed warm reception in official documents. Cardinal Avery made a sketchy review of the concept of discipleship since Jesus time. In the public ministry of Jesus, discipleship meant walking the way with Jesus, sharing his redemptive sufferings. In the following three centuries, discipleship was nearly equivalent to martyrdom. Since Constantine, discipleship turned interior to embrace the values and priorities upheld by Jesus: poverty, humility, celibacy and altruistic service. In the meantime, the church has been such institutionalized that a class of clergy arose among the laity. In the light of discipleship, the clergy are seen to succeed certain positions held by the disciples while the laity has special responsibility to penetrate the secular sphere with the spirit of Christ and to leaven it with the yeast of the gospel. The Institutional Model is revitalized. Then Cardinal Avery goes through the four remaining models in the light of discipleship. He begins with the Sacramental Model and explains how worship and sacraments are related to discipleship. Next, he turns to the need of setting up more basic ecclesial communities for the formation of Christians in the de-christianized modern world. Lastly, he puts Herald and Servant Models together 29

31 into evangelization. The discipleship model makes every Christian, not just priests and religious, responsible for the spreading of faith. Besides proclaiming the good news, the Church, the community of disciples must combat poverty and disease, show compassion for the sick and dying and give assistance to the needy. Evangelization is linked with the struggle for justice, development, peace and liberation of the world. The discipleship model is not without its weaknesses, but Cardinal Avery thinks that these weaknesses are answerable. Firstly, this model tends to accentuate the features that set Christians apart from their fellow human beings in the world. Cardinal Avery answers that to be faithful to Jesus, Christians must break away from worldly values. This tension is inevitable in a universe deeply scarred by sin and disorder. Secondly, this model seems to make excessive demands on the average Christians. Cardinal Avery answers that this model reminds Christians that Christianity obliges all its members to put the call of Christ above family, friends, property and personal ambition. Lastly, this model seems to imply that the Church is a free association of individuals who wish to volunteer for generous service. Cardinal Avery answers that discipleship always depends on a prior call or vocation from Christ, a demanding call that brings with it the grace needed for its own acceptance. The discipleship model is not a supermodel. It is an enriched understanding of the Church and discipleship itself. 30

32 VIII. Some comments Reading Models of the Church is stimulating. It opens up many theological topics which are skillfully linked with the central theme of ecclesiology. As such, it widens our understanding of these topics. For those of us who have not yet already studied eschatology, ministry, missiology and liberation theology, the second half of this book, where Cardinal Avery applies the five models to deal with five different issues each of which is saturated with a lot of theological opinions, is eye-opening and yet leaves us a sense of déjà vu. For those of us who have studied the sacraments and the concept of the Herald of the Kingdom of God, this book is refreshing. When we read of the discussion of the merits of using models in physical sciences, we cannot but admire Cardinal Avery of his breadth of knowledge. With his Presbyterian background, Cardinal Avery was the most appropriate person to handle the issue of ecumenism which comes up frequently in different parts of the book. I admire his broadmindedness. He does not advocate any acquisition & merger approach. He does not seek uniformity but rather recognition of the mutual needs for each other. The brothers in Christ have been separated long enough to have developed their distinctive traditions with strengths and weaknesses. Has not this branching been foretold in the Parable of the Mustard Seed, that the Church puts forth large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade (Mark 4:32b)? For the salvation of humanity, it must have been God s will for the Church to have branched out to cater for the different needs of peoples living in different cultures. Acquisition and merger is out of the question. Rather, putting aside their differences, different denominations should engage in more dialogues and cooperation 31

33 in order to better serve humanity and bring forth the Kingdom of God. Yet in his discussion, Cardinal Avery refrains from mentioning the communion with the Roman Bishop. Perhaps this is a hornet s nest which is best left untouched in this textbook. But at least, he would discuss the Communion of Saints tenet of the Nicene Creed, or the three states of the Church: the Triumphant Church, the Pilgrim Church and the Suffering Church in the light of the five models. 45 Considering the limitation of space of a textbook, the choice of topics is his. Still, I suspect that research along this line is a treasure trove when we apply these five models together with the concepts of communion with the Roman Bishop and the saints in the investigation of the current situation of the Catholic Church in mainland China. If I am allowed to describe the Catholic Church in China as a persecuted Church, which model or combination of models best describe its situation? Can we find a better way out of the current impasse? In employing sociological conventions to analyze a social entity, the Church, Cardinal Avery looked at it from two different perspectives: a formally organized or structured society, thus the Institutional Model; and an informal or interpersonal community, thus the Mystical Communion Model which he chose two images as its representative: the Body of Christ and the People of God. This was a commendable endeavour because just as what the Servant Model has explained, the Church cannot afford to ignore the external world and its achievements. Cardinal Avery practiced what he preached. In order to better serve the world and bring in the Kingdom of God, Church people need to engage in dialogues with all men of good will. They need to be able to speak their languages in order 45 Catechism of the Catholic Church, #954 32

34 to reach out to them. In this case, Cardinal Avery tries to guide his readers into using the language of sociology. However, his formal-informal dichotomy is not warranted. Sociologists who follow the functionalism paradigm also employ the body image to describe the society, the formal as well as informal aspects. They regard norms and institutions as organs that work toward the proper functioning of the social structure under study. They employ biology analogies. 46 Thus the Mystical Body image does not exclusively belong to the Mystical Communion Model. The Institutional Model also claims it just as what the Vatican II documents and Catechism of the Catholic Church have done. This is just a minor flaw and is understandable for the sake of clarity of a textbook. Just in passing, though published in 1995, the ecclesiology of the Catechism of the Catholic Church has not advanced beyond the Model. In conclusion, the Church is not just geographical and social. It is also historical. In response to different demands in times and spaces, it evolves through different forms. The Church as an Institution is but one of the many forms it goes through. The Church is also mystical. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, this institutional form has served and will continue to serve the Church in more adaptive forms in the ages to come. Mother of the Church, pray for us. Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us. 46 Sociology. Retrieved from Wikipedia at 33