The opening essay by Jenson and the closing essay by Gunther Gassmann set the whole discussion within an ecclesiology of communio. By thus assigning to the unity of the Church the significance the Creeds and Scriptures give it, and by relating the unity of the Church to the unity of the trinitarian God, they set aside the common Protestant assumption that divisions in the Church are a harmless expression of pluralism. Real external fellowship is necessary, and the scandal must not be minimized to preserve the uniqueness of the divided fellowships. Jenson further concludes that communio requires an ordained ministry that is “fundamentally a ‘ministry of unity.’“ The communio of the Church includes the living and the dead, he points out in a passage of real ecumenical importance: “Insofar as Catholics thus provide a pure example of experienced fellowship with the saints in heaven, Protestants should be moved to its freer practice.” Leonard R. Klein
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 18:35:22 +0000
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