Introduction To The Mystery Of The Church (thomistic Ressourcement)

Introduction to the Mystery of the Church is an ecclesiological survey presenting a doctrinal synthesis of the Church. The author's intention is to propose an overview of this mystery in connection with the entirety of the Christian mystery. The book is divided into two major parts, the first presenting the foundations in the Bible and the tradition up to our day, and the second being an explanatory proposal introducing the reader to the Church's definition and personality and concluding with an exposition of the four properties enunciated in the Creed (one, holy, catholic, and apostolic). The value of this way of proceeding is first and foremost in the proposal of a synthesis that allows one to situate each question in its rightful place, such study being oriented toward a better overall grasp of the subject. As the title suggests, the book is an introduction that should allow the reader to apprehend the mystery in its internal coherence in order subsequently, with the aid of other texts, to be able to enter more deeply into the study of one or other specific point. While this ecclesiology treatise is written from a Catholic point of view, an ecumenical perspective is often present, either through the presentation of divergent views from other Christian confessions or through the proposal for a theological convergence. Images Of The Church And The Kingdom Of God -- The Church Is The Body Of Christ -- The Church Is The Temple Of The Spirit -- The Church Is The People Of God -- Recapitulation: The Church Is A Mystery -- Ekklēsia In Scripture -- History Of The Question -- General Critique -- The Intellectual Method -- Proposed Definition -- Some Philosophical Ideas Recalled -- The Question About The Personality Of The Church -- The Church Is One -- The Church Is Holy -- The Church Is Catholic -- The Church Is Apostolic -- The Question Of The Church's Indefectibility. Benoît-dominique De La Soujeole, Op ; Translated By Michael J. Miller. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 629-631) And Index.