Pub Date : 2024-08-07DOI: 10.1163/17455316-bja10041
Charles Amarkwei
The Lord’s Supper is viewed as a miracle meal by African Pentecostals. However, it is suggested that a miracle notion only partly conveys the meaning embedded in the Lord’s Supper. The study adds that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic ritual that involves spiritual and mystical participation in God’s economy by grace through faith in Jesus Christ in the Spirit. Admission to the Lord’s Supper should be based on faith in Jesus Christ and a preparation process that includes instruction, baptism, confirmation, and regular penitential prayer such as the ‘speaking’. The essay argues that infants can partake in the Lord’s Supper based on the faith of their parents or guardians, while children of responsible age can participate if they go through the confirmation rite. The discussion covers church governance principles and suggests that limiting the covenantal rights of offending members is just insofar as the church remains an ethical institution.
{"title":"Towards an African Theology of the Lord’s Supper that is more than a Miracle Meal","authors":"Charles Amarkwei","doi":"10.1163/17455316-bja10041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-bja10041","url":null,"abstract":"The Lord’s Supper is viewed as a miracle meal by African Pentecostals. However, it is suggested that a miracle notion only partly conveys the meaning embedded in the Lord’s Supper. The study adds that the Lord’s Supper is a symbolic ritual that involves spiritual and mystical participation in God’s economy by grace through faith in Jesus Christ in the Spirit. Admission to the Lord’s Supper should be based on faith in Jesus Christ and a preparation process that includes instruction, baptism, confirmation, and regular penitential prayer such as the ‘speaking’. The essay argues that infants can partake in the Lord’s Supper based on the faith of their parents or guardians, while children of responsible age can participate if they go through the confirmation rite. The discussion covers church governance principles and suggests that limiting the covenantal rights of offending members is just insofar as the church remains an ethical institution.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"129 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141932076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-07DOI: 10.1163/17455316-bja10040
Edda Wolff
This essay explores the less examined facets of communion and sacramentality within the church, emphasizing the dynamic nature of the church as continually ‘in-becoming’. It applies the concept of ‘negative work’ to approach dynamics of difference, disruption, and transformation, spotlighting the church as an evolving entity in a continuous state of ‘becoming’. The essay reevaluates sacramentality, shifting from establishing unity to emphasizing the mysterious and uncontrollable. By employing ‘negative work’, and analysing its implications for the understanding of sacramentality and communion, it explores a church as oriented towards transformation and ‘negative’ participation.
{"title":"Walking the Path of Sanctification Together – Negative Work as an Approach to the Sacramental Dimension of Communion","authors":"Edda Wolff","doi":"10.1163/17455316-bja10040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-bja10040","url":null,"abstract":"This essay explores the less examined facets of communion and sacramentality within the church, emphasizing the dynamic nature of the church as continually ‘in-becoming’. It applies the concept of ‘negative work’ to approach dynamics of difference, disruption, and transformation, spotlighting the church as an evolving entity in a continuous state of ‘becoming’. The essay reevaluates sacramentality, shifting from establishing unity to emphasizing the mysterious and uncontrollable. By employing ‘negative work’, and analysing its implications for the understanding of sacramentality and communion, it explores a church as oriented towards transformation and ‘negative’ participation.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141932079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-07DOI: 10.1163/17455316-bja10044
Edwin Chr. van Driel
This essay unearths the metaphor from the Epistle to the Ephesians of ‘all things summed up into Christ’ as a critical component of Lesslie Newbigin’s Christology. First, it shows that references to this image form an as yet undetected but consistent line of thought in Newbigin’s work. Second, it argues that the logic of Newbigin’s theological imaginary follows the logic embedded in the Ephesians metaphor. Third, it shows that detecting the particular shape of Newbigin’s Christology allows one to map his project onto wider Christological conversations, and it suggests that one most fruitfully reads him in the context of a supralapsarian Christological approach. Finally, it argues that read in this way, Newbigin’s work can once again make a fresh contribution to the conversation as contemporary practitioners are looking for a new narrative to support their work in this missional era.
{"title":"All Things Summed Up Into Christ: On the Christological Impetus of Lesslie Newbigin’s Missional-ecumenical Project","authors":"Edwin Chr. van Driel","doi":"10.1163/17455316-bja10044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-bja10044","url":null,"abstract":"This essay unearths the metaphor from the Epistle to the Ephesians of ‘all things summed up into Christ’ as a critical component of Lesslie Newbigin’s Christology. First, it shows that references to this image form an as yet undetected but consistent line of thought in Newbigin’s work. Second, it argues that the logic of Newbigin’s theological imaginary follows the logic embedded in the Ephesians metaphor. Third, it shows that detecting the particular shape of Newbigin’s Christology allows one to map his project onto wider Christological conversations, and it suggests that one most fruitfully reads him in the context of a supralapsarian Christological approach. Finally, it argues that read in this way, Newbigin’s work can once again make a fresh contribution to the conversation as contemporary practitioners are looking for a new narrative to support their work in this missional era.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141932077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-07DOI: 10.1163/17455316-bja10042
Jeremy Worthen
‘Missional’ accounts of ecclesiology, developed in the light of the theology of missio Dei since the 1950s, include some that carry a sacramental emphasis, treating the dominical sacraments as primary for the church’s being and also recognized continuity in the ordering of ministry as integral to this sacramental identity. Nonetheless, continuing tensions are evident in the literature on missional ecclesiology and in controversies around church policy and practice. One factor here is an underlying contrast between an approach that locates the church’s participation in the missio Dei in its action towards the world and another that puts the weight instead on its sustaining a distinctive form of being-in-relationship. Treating the relation between gospel, communication and communion as the critical theological framework for articulating the church’s participation in the missio Dei, the article proposes that this can support an ecclesiology that, constructively addressing this contrast, is both thoroughly missional and deeply sacramental.
{"title":"Can a Missional Ecclesiology Be Sacramental?","authors":"Jeremy Worthen","doi":"10.1163/17455316-bja10042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-bja10042","url":null,"abstract":"‘Missional’ accounts of ecclesiology, developed in the light of the theology of <jats:italic>missio Dei</jats:italic> since the 1950s, include some that carry a sacramental emphasis, treating the dominical sacraments as primary for the church’s being and also recognized continuity in the ordering of ministry as integral to this sacramental identity. Nonetheless, continuing tensions are evident in the literature on missional ecclesiology and in controversies around church policy and practice. One factor here is an underlying contrast between an approach that locates the church’s participation in the <jats:italic>missio Dei</jats:italic> in its action towards the world and another that puts the weight instead on its sustaining a distinctive form of being-in-relationship. Treating the relation between gospel, communication and communion as the critical theological framework for articulating the church’s participation in the <jats:italic>missio Dei</jats:italic>, the article proposes that this can support an ecclesiology that, constructively addressing this contrast, is both thoroughly missional and deeply sacramental.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"32 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141932078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-06DOI: 10.1163/17455316-20010002
Matteo Campagnaro
This article aims to contribute to an intelligent examination of Pope Francis’ magisterium and to the development of post-conciliar Latin American theology which acquired its maturity during the third Episcopal Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean in Puebla, Mexico in 1979. Firstly, this article examines the genesis of the Puebla Conference: how it came about, and the social and ecclesiastical environment that inspired it. In the second and third parts, the contents of the Final Document are explored. The article focuses on the birth of the Theology of the People and on the synodal ecclesiology that is derived from it, two fundamental themes that advance post-conciliar ecclesiological discourse.
{"title":"The Puebla Conference: The Origins of Pope Francis’ Synodal Ecclesiology","authors":"Matteo Campagnaro","doi":"10.1163/17455316-20010002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-20010002","url":null,"abstract":"This article aims to contribute to an intelligent examination of Pope Francis’ magisterium and to the development of post-conciliar Latin American theology which acquired its maturity during the third Episcopal Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean in Puebla, Mexico in 1979. Firstly, this article examines the genesis of the Puebla Conference: how it came about, and the social and ecclesiastical environment that inspired it. In the second and third parts, the contents of the Final Document are explored. The article focuses on the birth of the Theology of the People and on the synodal ecclesiology that is derived from it, two fundamental themes that advance post-conciliar ecclesiological discourse.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"85 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140565904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-06DOI: 10.1163/17455316-bja10038
Griffin Gooch
This article explores the influence of celebrification and celebritisation within Western ecclesial contexts while addressing the ways in which this phenomenon bolsters pressures to structure orthopraxy around pragmatism, popularity, and efficiency. Examining the social effects of celebritisation, such as ‘parasocial relationships’ and ‘mimicry’, on ecclesial dynamics, the article argues that such influences lead to the elevation of those who exhibit impressive or culturally ‘popular’ traits, while marginalising those who ‘fail’ according to the larger system’s standards. Further study elucidates the intersection of celebritisation with Western leadership models, critiquing a perceived over-reliance on strict, ‘ladder’ hierarchy. Western ecclesial contexts have suffered from a celebritisation that is contradictory to communal health, and the paper concludes that its mitigation will require a reorientation of ecclesial structure and practices. Proposing a rejection of these trends, the study first advocates the mitigation of celebrification through internal self-emptying among ecclesial leaders, before suggesting an undermining of celebritisation through trading a ‘ladder’ hierarchy for a ‘lattice’ hierarchy that will serve to enhance community participation.
{"title":"On Mitigating Celebritistic Culture in Western Ecclesial Contexts","authors":"Griffin Gooch","doi":"10.1163/17455316-bja10038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-bja10038","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the influence of celebrification and celebritisation within Western ecclesial contexts while addressing the ways in which this phenomenon bolsters pressures to structure orthopraxy around pragmatism, popularity, and efficiency. Examining the social effects of celebritisation, such as ‘parasocial relationships’ and ‘mimicry’, on ecclesial dynamics, the article argues that such influences lead to the elevation of those who exhibit impressive or culturally ‘popular’ traits, while marginalising those who ‘fail’ according to the larger system’s standards. Further study elucidates the intersection of celebritisation with Western leadership models, critiquing a perceived over-reliance on strict, ‘ladder’ hierarchy. Western ecclesial contexts have suffered from a celebritisation that is contradictory to communal health, and the paper concludes that its mitigation will require a reorientation of ecclesial structure and practices. Proposing a rejection of these trends, the study first advocates the mitigation of celebrification through internal self-emptying among ecclesial leaders, before suggesting an undermining of celebritisation through trading a ‘ladder’ hierarchy for a ‘lattice’ hierarchy that will serve to enhance community participation.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140565898","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-06DOI: 10.1163/17455316-bja10037
Silviu Chivu
This article aims to critically and comparatively explore a recent model of ecclesiology from below as worked out by a contemporary Ukrainian Orthodox theologian and worldwide known scholar, Cyril Hovorun (b. 1974). In order to discern Hovorun’s original contribution to the field of Orthodox ecclesiology and its ecumenical potential, his doctrine of the church is placed in a wider scholarly context by emphasising the way in which the Ukrainian theologian is influenced by his main sources. Afterwards, the concrete implications of Hovorun’s ecclesiology from below are examined and some critical remarks are further articulated. Finally, this study sheds light on the strengths and shortcomings of Hovorun’s approach when compared with one of the most influential ecclesiological perspectives in contemporary Orthodox Christianity, namely, John Zizioulas’ eucharistic ecclesiology.
{"title":"Ecclesiology from Below in Contemporary Orthodox Christianity","authors":"Silviu Chivu","doi":"10.1163/17455316-bja10037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-bja10037","url":null,"abstract":"This article aims to critically and comparatively explore a recent model of ecclesiology from below as worked out by a contemporary Ukrainian Orthodox theologian and worldwide known scholar, Cyril Hovorun (b. 1974). In order to discern Hovorun’s original contribution to the field of Orthodox ecclesiology and its ecumenical potential, his doctrine of the church is placed in a wider scholarly context by emphasising the way in which the Ukrainian theologian is influenced by his main sources. Afterwards, the concrete implications of Hovorun’s ecclesiology from below are examined and some critical remarks are further articulated. Finally, this study sheds light on the strengths and shortcomings of Hovorun’s approach when compared with one of the most influential ecclesiological perspectives in contemporary Orthodox Christianity, namely, John Zizioulas’ eucharistic ecclesiology.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140565896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-04-06DOI: 10.1163/17455316-20010001
Laura Dijkhuizen
The inclusion of women in leadership navigates between the issues of unity and what is considered biblical. Recent empirical research in two evangelical churches in the Netherlands indicates that addressing female leadership as a secondary topic relative to the centrality of the gospel facilitates local churches to meet both values. The classification secondary is clarified as well as challenged by the evangelical definition of salvation. This article argues that a broader understanding of what is seen as the heart of the gospel might be beneficial in the approach to contemporary topics like gender roles in the church.
{"title":"Gospel Truth in Gender Diversity Debates in Dutch Evangelical Churches","authors":"Laura Dijkhuizen","doi":"10.1163/17455316-20010001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-20010001","url":null,"abstract":"The inclusion of women in leadership navigates between the issues of unity and what is considered biblical. Recent empirical research in two evangelical churches in the Netherlands indicates that addressing female leadership as a secondary topic relative to the centrality of the gospel facilitates local churches to meet both values. The classification secondary is clarified as well as challenged by the evangelical definition of salvation. This article argues that a broader understanding of what is seen as the heart of the gospel might be beneficial in the approach to contemporary topics like gender roles in the church.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"197 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2024-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140565915","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-20DOI: 10.1163/17455316-19030003
Dennis M. Doyle
Abstract This tribute to Richard R. Gaillardetz was given as a lecture on September 24, 2022 at a conference held at Boston College honoring his contributions to the field of Ecclesiology. Gaillardetz, who is terminally ill, had delivered his own ‘last lecture’ the previous evening. This essay gives an overview of Gaillardetz’s work with a focus on the topic of authority in the Roman Catholic Church. Gaillardetz’s ecclesiological vision emphasizes how bishops should minister as witnesses to the faith in their local churches. Bishops and the pope have real and legitimate authority within a church informed by the Holy Spirit on all levels, including the entire People of God. Ecclesial structures are important, even essential, but still secondary to the ecclesial vitality brought about by the Spirit. Gaillardetz calls for a noncompetitive theology imbued with a sense of eschatological humility. Gaillardetz’s contributions to ecumenism and to the challenges of globalization are further explored.
{"title":"Richard R. Gaillardetz: An Appreciation of the Ecclesiologist and his Work","authors":"Dennis M. Doyle","doi":"10.1163/17455316-19030003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/17455316-19030003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This tribute to Richard R. Gaillardetz was given as a lecture on September 24, 2022 at a conference held at Boston College honoring his contributions to the field of Ecclesiology. Gaillardetz, who is terminally ill, had delivered his own ‘last lecture’ the previous evening. This essay gives an overview of Gaillardetz’s work with a focus on the topic of authority in the Roman Catholic Church. Gaillardetz’s ecclesiological vision emphasizes how bishops should minister as witnesses to the faith in their local churches. Bishops and the pope have real and legitimate authority within a church informed by the Holy Spirit on all levels, including the entire People of God. Ecclesial structures are important, even essential, but still secondary to the ecclesial vitality brought about by the Spirit. Gaillardetz calls for a noncompetitive theology imbued with a sense of eschatological humility. Gaillardetz’s contributions to ecumenism and to the challenges of globalization are further explored.","PeriodicalId":41078,"journal":{"name":"Ecclesiology","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135665697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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