5. THE MISSION AND CONSUMMATION OF THE CHURCH
As the recipient and mediator of salvation the church has its enduring foundation in the triune God. Its ultimate goal is consummation in God's kingdom. God will create his eternal and universal kingdom of righteousness, peace and love, and himself will bring about his own definitive reign and salvation. God has chosen and established the church by grace in this age and for this age, so that it proclaim his gospel to all creatures (cf. Mk 16:15), worship him unceasingly and praise him for the "riches of his grace"(cf. Eph 1:3-14) and in witness and service makes known to all people his loving kindness and goodness of heart (cf. Tt 3:4-6), until he himself dwells ultimately in our midst and makes all things new (cf. Rev 21:3-5). Thus while in this age the church does indeed have its responsible missionary task of proclaiming the gospel (cf. 1Cor 9:16) and serving God and humanity (cf. Mt 22:37-40), it also goes on its way through this age in the certainty of God's mercy and grace (cf. 2 Cor 12:9) and in joyful confidence in the return of the Lord. Jesus has said to us, "But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well"(Mt 6:33); and he has taught us to pray, saying "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come" (Lk 11:2).
5.1 The Church's Mission
Everywhere Lutherans and Catholics find themselves repeatedly confronted by the same challenges challenges which vary greatly in the different regions of the world and can also change very quickly (5.1.1). This leads Lutherans and Catholics to address these challenges together and to reflect afresh on the mission of the church in the light of the message of justification (5.1.2). We are agreed that our missionary task represents a true if limited participation in God's own realization of his plans as Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier (5.1.3). Regarding the most important elements in our task as churches evangelization, worship and service to humanity no essential differences divide us (5.1.4). Such a broad consensus demands of our churches that we intensify and expand their field of practical cooperation on every level in serving the gospel of Jesus Christ.
5.1.1. Common Challenges to our Churches in a Constantly Changing World
The challenges facing the churches throughout the world are often quite varied, corresponding to the different regional contexts; but in a given place they confront Lutherans and Catholics and in the same way. In South Africa racist thinking has not stopped at the doors of just one church. In other countries of Africa and in parts of Asia Christians of all confessions see themselves threatened or even persecuted by a militant Islam. In the south-east part of Europe the churches face the challenge to overcome extreme ethnic and national allegiances in a situation of flagrant violation of human dignity up to genocide. In the countries of Latin America the incredible differences between poor and rich cut across all the churches and confessions. Religious alienation in the secular context of many European countries never affects only one church by itself.
Many problems arise not only in the one or the other context; they confront our churches worldwide: the reawakening of nationalism, extreme rightist tendencies, increasing readiness for violence and violence itself. These and similar common challenges make the churches look afresh at their missionary task and confront them with the inescapable question, how far they can and really want to make common cause in the face of such challenges. An example of a common quest for answers to today's questions in the light of the gospel and of the various church traditions is the conciliar or ecumenical "process of mutual commitment to justice, peace and the integrity of creation" to which the Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Vancouver called in 1983, That led to the European Ecumenical Assembly "Peace with Justice" in Basel in 1989 and the "World Convocation" in Seoul in 1990, as well as to activities in many countries and regions of the world.
How quickly contexts can change has become very clear in those countries of Eastern Europe that have in virtually bloodless revolutions liberated themselves from many years of one party's and ideology's position of supremacy. The complexity of human living conditions and the speed of social change in our age call for the churches to test constantly the challenges of the changing contexts in the light of the gospel, in order to fulfill their task of mission authentically and contextually. The "signs of the times" are thus a call to the churches to reflect on their own origins and to make appropriate responses. Together they can contribute to perceiving present forms of the enduring struggle between faith and unbelief, sin and justice, the old and the new creation, correctly. In so doing the church must pay particular attention to how people today express both their distress and their hopes.
A church which has been called together by Christ to serve his work on earth will therefore always have to make an effort to realize to the utmost its missionary opportunities. The gospel message of grace and reconciliation compels those who have heard and accepted it to bring it to those who have not yet heard it or who have still had no proper opportunity to accept it. We must be alarmed when we think about those who have forgotten or estranged themselves from God's good news. Catholics and Lutherans together must accept their missionary calling as disciples of Jesus Christ. They must in common face the challenges of constant renewal in their churches under the influence of the Holy Spirit, so that they become common instruments for God's saving plan in ever more authentic ways.
In reflecting on the common challenges we are fully aware of the inner relationship between church and unity. The existing separations between Lutherans and Catholics are an obstacle for the one ministry of reconciliation to which we are called. Discord among Christians openly contradicts as Vatican II says "the will of Christ, provides a stumbling block to the world, and inflicts damage on the most holy cause of proclaiming the good news to every creature".340 Therefore the changing world in which we live offers a great challenge to our churches to pursue with new energy our ecumenical pilgrimage towards visible unity.
5.1.2. Reflection on the Church's Mission in Light of the Message of Justification
The late prophetic testimonies of Israel already give us an inkling of a fundamental dimension of our life and calling in the church. The Lord God showed his saving power by gathering his people from the countries to which they had been dispersed and reestablishing them as his chosen servants (cf. Is 41:8-10; 43:1-7). But God's salvation is intended to reach all the ends of the earth (cf. Is 45:22 f.) and one day all peoples are to flock into the city of the Lord (cf. Is 60:3 f.,10,14). At the same time those who belong to the people of Israel are described as "witnesses" who are to testify to the mercy of the Lord and the almighty work by which he realizes his plan of salvation (cf. Is 43:10,12; 44:8). And finally some of those gathered by the Lord from different nations and tongues shall be sent to "the coastlands far away" in order to proclaim the glory of the Lord and bring new worshipers into the house of the Lord (cf. Is 66:18-21 ).341
What was already in evidence in Israel in the period after the Exile reached its consummation in Jesus Christ. As church we find our identity in him, especially in his own mission to Preach the gospel (cf. Mk 1: 15; 1: 2 8 f.), to call not the righteous but sinners (cf. Mk 2:17), and to give his life as a ransom for many (cf. Mk 10:45). Jesus found his own task of mission outlined by the prophets, to "bring good news to the poor" and "to proclaim release to the captives" (Lk 4:18); and this has continuing relevance for us as his disciples, as a guideline for our own decisions and preferences in the service of love.
Jesus sent out his disciples to spread his message and healing ministry throughout Galilee (cf. Lk 9:1f). Thus at the same time he anticipated what was still to come. After his resurrection Jesus passed on his mission to the disciples, which still today is his legacy for Christians: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (Jn 20:2 1). In all the gospels we find this commission of the risen Lord, which defines the church. "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation" (Mk 16:15). "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you" (Mt 28:19 f.). "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Lk 24:46 f.; cf. Acts 1:8).
As individuals and communities we know ourselves to be addressed by these words and in obedience we accept the commission of our Lord to evangelize, to win new disciples and to spread his healing presence throughout the world. The full significance of this commission passes our understanding. But we know that we live through him who died "to gather into one the dispersed children of God" (Jn 11:52). The church has received "fellowship... with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 Jn 1:3), a fellowship which is meant for all people. As the church we are chosen and destined to go out into the world and bear fruit (cf. Jn 15:16) by spreading the knowledge of the one true God and Jesus Christ, who is eternal life (cf. Jn 17:3).
This call to service, so emphatically entrusted to us by the Lord, plainly exceeds our human striving and performance. The missionary sending of the church is at all times made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, just as that power was given to the apostolic community for their witness to the risen Christ (cf. Acts 2:33-36; 3:12-15; 5:30-32; 13:1-4, 30-33). The church knows that it is filled with "power from on high" and that it is thus enabled to proclaim God's own conquest of human wickedness and his call to repentance (cf. Lk 24:47-49; Acts 2:23f). In the spirit of Pentecost the church summons men and women to baptism and to new life in congregations of apostolic teaching, to the sharing of resources and gifts, to the breaking of bread and to prayer, praise and intercession (cf. Acts 2:42-47; 4:32-35). Further evangelizing must still be carried out in our world, and our churches are confident that the Holy Spirit which was once poured out will continue to overcome human obstacles (cf. Acts 10:44-48), open hearts to the gospel (cf. Acts 16:14) and create new congregations which are brought to life by the apostolic witness to Jesus Christ.
In faith we look back on these unrepeatable beginnings through which God has deeply impressed the missionary command on the nature of the church. We bear a treasure for the world. We stand together in that ministry of reconciliation which affects the whole world. Although as individuals and communities we are only earthen vessels, we are encouraged by the Spirit of God to accept the missionary task of speaking about him in whom we believe, Jesus Christ. We have the task of preparing the ways by which he can come to human beings as their reconciler, as God's own righteousness and as the beginning of the new creation (cf. 2 Cor 5:17-21).
5.1.3. Mission as Sharing in God's Activity in the World
Catholics and Lutherans are agreed that the mission of the church to proclaim the gospel and serve humanity is a true even if also limited sharing in God's activity in the world toward the realization of his plan as Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Reflection on the nature of our calling and authority as church has priority, and we are grateful that our dialogue enables us to do this together (5.1.3.1). But God's activity in the world is more comprehensive than what he carries out through the church. And the commission to Christians to let themselves be taken by him into service goes beyond the sphere of the church. Both our traditions have developed their own ideas about this: the Lutheran doctrine of God's two kingdoms and the Catholic doctrine of the rightful autonomy of creation,342 of earthly spheres and realities (5.1.3.2).
5.1.3.1. Common Understanding
We have learned to understand the nature of our missionary task in the church by considering the activity of our God whom Holy Scripture reveals as Creator of heaven and earth, Redeemer of lost humanity and Sanctifier of those who are brought to the Lord Jesus Christ. Through God's grace and call, the mission of the church shares in the continuing activity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The church serves God's missionary activity in his world. Our ministry is therefore characterized by what we ascribe to the divine Persons, i.e., their respective activities in creation, redemption and sanctification. God graciously accepts our words and deeds by accomplishing his own plan to save and to bless.
In effectual and sustaining love God the Creator is devoted to everything he has created and be shows his special love for human beings, whom be has made in his image (cf. Gen 1:26). Conversely human beings are called to be God's fellow-workers. As stewards they are entrusted with care for creation and to them is committed the promotion of justice and well-being for all, for which purpose God has given them reason and conscience as well as specific institutional structures as instruments of his creative and sustaining love. We know of course from the teaching of the faith and from our own experience that this love has to operate in the context of the fallen world which is characterized by sin. Justice and protective measures, which must be established here, can do no more than limit the effects of evil; they cannot uproot it.
The call and commitment to serve God's creative and sustaining will applies to everyone, both Christians and non-Christians. They are to strive together for peace, justice and the integrity of creation. With the aid of their reason they must together look for practical ways and for a mode of organizing the institutional order which in their period of history will best serve to realize those purposes that God has appointed. Here church members have no greater competence than their non-Christian sisters and brothers who are made in the image of God; on the other hand there may be differences of opinion between them regarding the best way to achieve common objectives.
In relation to the creative and sustaining will of God, church members have no additional call to obedience and no special competence beyond that of their fellow-humans. But in view of the obscuring of the creative and sustaining will of God in this sinful world, they have a special responsibility. Transformed by the gospel, individual Christians already a new creation in faith have, like the Church as a whole, a sharpened awareness of the standards and tasks that hold good for all human beings, and advocate them with unprejudiced hearts. Where necessary, vis-ΰ-vis other persons as well as on their behalf, Christians are to step in both by admonition, advice and action and by their own style of life in the cause of human dignity, fundamental human rights, and for freedom, justice and the integrity of creation. They are to alleviate distress and suffering. Thus as individuals and as a church community they point to God-given values and standards of creation. At the same time they draw the attention of their fellow-creatures to the limited objectives and possibilities of their social and political activities and preserve them from excessive ideological demands and from the temptation to totalitarianism.
God sent the Son as Redeemer in order to proclaim unconditional divine grace for sinful humanity. In the form of a servant Jesus took sin upon himself in order to conquer it and make available to all believers a share of his righteousness, and of new life and access to the Father in the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the center of the missionary task of the church, which recognizes that he has commissioned it to bring his liberating message and grace to all peoples. Here lies the special mission of the church: to fulfill Jesus' commission, to missionize the world and to build up communities of disciples who, transformed by faith already here on earth, radiate the firm hope of future fulfillment of the kingdom of God on the day of eschatological consummation. Church members rejoice in their regeneration through baptism, in which they have been anointed in Christ through the Holy Spirit to be members of a priestly, prophetic and royal people. From baptism they receive their supreme dignity and their responsibility to serve the mission of Jesus Christ in dependence on him and conformed to him. This includes the priestly ministry of praise, self-sacrifice and intercession. Part of this is the prophetic commission to expose evil, proclaim salvation and also witness to the hope of glory in the midst of the afflictions of this age. Royal dignity is therein epitomized by living in Christian freedom from sin and from the contrarieties of the world (cf. Rom 8:31-39), and thus serving humanity fearlessly by word and deed, so that the dominion of sin will be overcome, creation will serve human welfare and preferential love will be shown to our weak and ill-treated brothers and sisters.
God sent the Spirit into the world to bring people to faith by means of word and sacrament, to justify sinners and to call together the church as a koinτnia, in this way attaining the ends of the mission of the Son. Thus in the midst of the old world the new creation is already raised up in holiness. In baptism, through the Spirit, men and women are made members of a community which acts as instrument of the Spirit's mission. Through proclamation in different forms, through actions which testify to the new world which has dawned though still marked by ambiguity and limitation and, where necessary, through acting representatively and critically for the present world, Christians implement this task and thus minister to the saving rule of God which has already begun with the death and resurrection of Jesus and with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
5.1.3.2. Two Traditions
Lutherans and Catholics understand the mission of the church as sharing in God's activity in the world; they also know, however, that God's activity in the world goes beyond the sphere of the church. Even if bounds are set to the God-given task of the church, Christians are aware that they must serve God in all areas of society. How this is understood and practiced is differently expressed in our two traditions.
5.1.3.2.1. The Lutheran Teaching on the Two Kingdoms
In order to do justice theologically and pastorally to this situation, the Lutheran tradition developed the doctrine of the "two kingdoms (realms)" of God. This is not a concrete socioethical program, but it does define an ethical locus for Christians who already live their lives as citizens of the new world while also continuing as citizens of the old world. How can Christians, whose rule of life is the Sermon on the Mount, hold responsible positions in politics, administration of justice, law enforcement, economy or the military? The two kingdoms cannot be equated with the distinction between the church and the world; they are also to be found within the church, because the church is a corpus permixtum and every Christian is still a sinner.
The real life-context of Christians is the spiritual kingdom of the communio sanctorum. Here Christ is head of a spiritual realm, as through word and sacrament in the Holy Spirit he brings people to faith and preserves that faith.343 The behavior appropriate to this kingdom is the radical love that corresponds to the Sermon on the Mount,344 a love that arises out of faith and is made possible by the Holy Spirit: unreserved readiness to serve, waiving one's own rights, non-resistance, non-violence in following Jesus Christ and in his strength. Such love makes visible already in the present world the new world desired by God.
Because this love is the fruit of the heart transformed in faith, it cannot be elevated to the status of law nor advocated as a general standard for social life. Indeed in the context of the fallen world that would mean giving evil the upper hand and handing over human society to the selfishness and arbitrariness of the powerful.345 Where faith does not prevail, that is, among non-Christians, but also in regard to Christians themselves, since they too remain sinners, it is necessary to have a social order which checks evil, and which despite evil guarantees the best possible life. This will be an order which cares for the protection of life and limb and for civic justice.346 Its instruments are not the word and the Spirit but the law347 and institutions which are equipped with power and make use of force where there is no other possibility.348 The social order does not operate through the transformation of hearts but by imposing obligations and calling for obedience, and in the last resort through compulsion.
Although this ordering of life does not correspond to God's real intentions for humanity it is nevertheless also an instrument of his love, as his "worldly kingdom", through which he preserves and forms creation even in its fallen state. Such ordering of life must therefore be affirmed as "instituted and ordained by God for the sake of good order".349 As distinct from the spiritual kingdom the instruments of the worldly kingdom are not contingently and particularly effectual, rather its standards are embedded in the consciences of human beings350 and established in the institutions of human society.351 That is to say, they can and must claim universality and prove themselves in human society. Consequently the actual structuring of political and social life is entrusted in great measure to human reason and expertise, whether of Christians or non-Christians,352 and may vary according to context and historical perspective.353 All structuring possibilities aim at and are limited by the contribution they make to the preservation and just ordering of the world.
The two kingdoms have to be strictly distinguished with regard to their goals, instruments and methods.354 If this does not happen, either the spiritual kingdom is robbed of its uniqueness, as the renewed heart and corresponding ethic of radical love and renunciation are reduced to conventional morality and sociopolitical justice, or conversely the worldly kingdom is ruined. It is ruined because society, thinking its members are already wholly good, dispenses with erecting the barriers of external order, laws and needed institutional force against evil and thus leaves the field open for it, or because the attempt is made to influence hearts and achieve unselfish, idealistic acts by whatever criteria one measures these - with the use of compulsion.
Nevertheless, distinguishing between the two kingdoms does not mean separating them. They cannot be parceled out between two separate groups as if the renewed heart and its corresponding ethic were something for only a few, while the mass of Christians could do without them. Rather they are given with faith itself and are common to all Christians.355 But all Christians continue to be also citizens of the unredeemed world and as creatures of God together with all other human beings they have the responsibility of caring for its preservation and organization and of committing themselves to serving God's worldly kingdom. Thus Christians, according to their respective station in society (one's "calling") will also hold and exercise power, help in promoting and enforcing law, and put down violence even by the use of disciplined opposing force instead of renouncing power, law and force in the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount .356 Whether they act in the one way or the other depends on whether they are acting on their own behalf or for others. Here the spheres frequently overlap so that Christians can decide which principle they must follow according to their own consciences only. But they can be certain that even where because of societal responsibility they exercise or appeal to power, law and force they are not contradicting God's will but serving it.357 Indeed they have to regard this service as a duty in the practical and disinterested fulfillment of which they demonstrate their Christianity in the world.358 In such activity, even if they do nothing other than is done by all persons of good will, they will do it differently, by bringing into evidence something of the love and readiness to forgive which is a special characteristic of Christian faith.359 But they will also be aware of working to preserve and order a world in which evil still lurks and sets limits to the good that may be achieved.
In contrast to the sixteenth century, the doctrine of the two kingdoms requires modification in many respects today. For historical changes and the unsettled nature of social structures, with the resultant opportunities and difficulties, are more obvious today than before. Also the fact that justice and the ironing out of social inequalities not only among individuals but also among groups, nations and continents is perceived in an entirely different way today, as memoranda and other church statements of the last few decades show. But all this does not change anything in the fundamental assertions of the doctrine of God's two kingdoms itself. It continues to show the way by making it possible to maintain the eschatological existence of believers but at the same time to assert their place and responsibility for the world, which remains God's creation but is still unredeemed, without the two spheres being confused or separated.
Thus on the one hand the doctrine of the two kingdoms secures that the life of faith has another foundation, other instruments and another shape than sociopolitical life in the world. Neither are worldly authorities entitled to intervene in spiritual concerns, nor can faith and its ethical fruits become worldly themselves by becoming a social program, whether utopian or of a clerical and theocratic nature. And on the other hand it makes clear that the conservation and ordering of the world, even in its unredeemed state, are subordinate to the will of God, but that this is to be worked out in ways which are not specifically Christian and comprehensible only to believers, but which claim to apply for everyone. Thus the doctrine of the two kingdoms makes it possible to allow autonomy in sociopolitical actions over against the gospel and to endorse the secular character of the ordinances of the world though this autonomy may not set itself against God's purpose of conserving and properly ordering the world. Those who are aware that ethical standards are based in the will of God must be especially vigilant in insisting on this, in view of the manifold obscuring elements in the life of society. The doctrine of the two kingdoms imposes on Christians a life and activity in tension between two systems of reference, but this is the same tension present in the very nature of the life of faith, that of being in the world and not of the world. This tension will be resolved only with the full and definitive dawn of the kingdom of God.
5.1.3.2.2. The Roman Catholic Teaching on the "Proper Autonomy of Earthly Affairs"
Catholic teaching also recognizes the limits of the church's task, especially by its acknowledgment of the proper "autonomy of earthly affairs".360 This autonomy does not leave human activities in the political and economic fields to arbitrary decisions. But neither can these fields be directly explained or shaped by the biblical revelation and the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Catholic view of autonomy rests on the perception that the Creator has endowed all his creatures with their own specific nature and inner development, with their own structures, values and modes of action. Human experience, studies and rational reflections are entitled to explore creation. Moreover the values which permeate this world impinge on the human moral conscience on all levels.
Reason and conscience operate together in molding the order of this world. Nevertheless Christian faith places the realities of the world in a new horizon of meaning and integrates them there. Christian values, such as the dignity and freedom of each person as well as mercy, kindness and gentleness in social legislation, are to be integrated into responsibility for the world. Therefore faith makes it possible to challenge critically destructive tendencies in society, politics, economics and culture and to strengthen the positive impulses of a secular ethic.
"Christ, to be sure, gave His Church no proper mission in the political, economic or social order. The purpose which he set before her is a religious one".361 He commissioned his disciples to spread his gospel, build up congregations, promote holiness and guide people to eternal life. These religious priorities free the church from any essential ties with a particular form of human culture or a specific political, economic or social system. The church lays claim to no power over the secular sphere no matter how much it strives for the freedom to operate in society, to serve selflessly and to testify to Christ's message. Catholic doctrine addresses Christians as "citizens of two cities" and reminds them of the profusion of their professional, political and social duties.362 Calling people to action in this world is in fact stimulated by Christ's call to conversion and newness of life. Christian formation stimulates new energies and a new sensitivity which are discernibly advantageous to the secular world. It promotes, for example, a vision of unity which transcends all differences of nationality, race and class, a detachment from possessions as the standard of personal dignity and a dynamic of love for humanity for whose salvation Christ died.
On the basis of new social, political and economic challenges in the last two centuries, challenges which did not previously exist, Catholic theology has developed a social teaching which to a great extent has been received magisterially. This teaching of the popes, the Second Vatican Council and numerous bishops' conferences is primarily directed towards molding the moral conscience of church members but is also concerned with persuading all people of good will and thus influencing public order. This socioethical doctrine has developed, and will go on developing, in the effort to keep pace with the rapid changes in the modern industrial world and the gap between North and South. By nature it is a doctrine regarding human beings in society, human dignity, human rights and the moral values that must determine social action. Pope and bishops have not flinched from denouncing systematic exploitation and injustice. The same socioethical doctrine has however refrained from offering ready-made models and promoting the implementation of technical solutions for problems. it has left open the field where rational research and personal values converge as the basis of options for the creation of a social order. It is even officially acknowledged that within the church there can be differences of opinion between honest and faithful Catholics in regard to their individual modes of procedure in the promotion of the common good.363
This comprehensive body of social teaching, whose individual statements are issued with different degrees of binding character, represents an aspect in contemporary Catholic life and teaching to which, for the theological reasons explained above, nothing in the Lutheran churches corresponds. At a future stage in our dialogue this aspect of asymmetry between our churches must be dealt with in regard to socioethical questions and, more fundamentally, in relation to the extent of the church's competence in moral questions.
5.1.4. The Fundamental Components of the Church's Missionary Task
Lutherans and Catholics are agreed on the priority of the task of evangelizing the world (5.1.4.1), on the central significance of proclaiming and celebrating the grace of God in worship (5.1.4.2) and on the commandment to serve humanity as a whole (5.1.4.3). They also agree that "martyria, leiturgia and diakonia (witness, worship and service to the neighbor) are tasks entrusted to the whole people of God".364
5.1.4.1. Commission to Evangelize
The essential task which our Lord gave his church is the proclamation of the good news of his saving death and his resurrection. As Christians we share in the Lord's missionary commission and, like the apostolic preaching on the Day of Pentecost, our message too contains the invitation to baptism and to sharing in the promised Spirit of new life and freedom (cf. Acts 2:38). We are convinced that evangelism brings with it God's unique gift of grace to the world and we agree with the words of the Apostle Paul, "... woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel!" (1 Cor 9: 1 6).
Evangelism lays claim to the whole person for witness to Christ; it demands the witness of a life which corresponds to the gospel in faith, hope and love. Here it is not simply a question of the work done by those sent out as missionaries but also of the witness of each individual Christian and each Christian community. Although the specific objective of evangelizing is bringing people to faith and not creating a new order of society, it nevertheless has a profound effect on the life of society. For Christians today insist on the strict observation of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, and in common with all people of good will they are especially watchful and zealous in supporting the conservation and humane structuring of the world, and enter the lists against discrimination, oppression and injustice. By the way in which they do these things, they make evident the love and forgiveness of God that has been bestowed on them.
We recognize that it is particularly necessary nowadays to enter into interreligious dialogue, paying respectful heed to those who belong to other religious traditions, It is imperative to respect the convictions of others in order to create a basis for peace in societies where Christians live as neighbors of adherents of other great world religions. We keep ourselves open to the idea that God can be active in hidden ways in non-Christian religions too, and we therefore enter into dialogue with other religions in a trusting readiness to learn. Beyond such dialogue, however, we also see ourselves as obliged by the gospel to bear credible witness to the grace and truth which have been given to the whole world in a unique way in Jesus Christ, and we hope that this witness encounters faith.
In our day a special task is the re-evangelizing of traditionally Christian areas where large numbers of the baptized have lapsed into mere nominal Christianity. We are thus commissioned to invite our contemporaries to recognize afresh the glory of God that shines in the face of Jesus and to accept the message of reconciliation (cf. 2 Cor 4:6; 5:19). A precious treasure has been entrusted to us which we should pass on to all people.
5.1.4.2. Centrality of Worship
Our dialogue has already expressed a common understanding of our calling to join in the great eucharistic doxology in the presence of our Lord: "through him, with him, in him in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father now and forever". For our unity with Christ leads to the everlasting Father through the power of the Holy Spirit in preaching, thanksgiving and praise, intercession and self-offering.365 Worship is thus central to our mission as a Church, for in it we celebrate our justification in Christ and proclaim as a priestly people the marvelous works of him who has called us "out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Pt 2:9).
Common worship is by its nature not a means to any other end. Worship is rather the most important matrix of faith and an essential expression of it, for in worship our faith is induced and nourished through the proclamation of the gospel of Christ and our common sharing with others in the same gospel and the same sacramental life. In worship we are linked with Christians of every age right back to the apostles and joyfully celebrate the grace of communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Jn 1:3). Worship may therefore never be made to serve an ideology or be reduced to an educational tool. Services of worship are intended to attract and invite people and to radiate an aura of the kindness and benevolence of our God, who has redeemed us because of his mercy (cf. Tt 3:4-6).
In worship our church community, the church at a particular time and in a particular place, becomes concrete and visible in a special way. The annual round of the liturgical seasons and feasts, with their climaxes at Christmas, Good Friday/Easter and Pentecost, deepens our ecclesial identity as the people of God, the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit. When we gather together to confess our sins, to hear God's saving word, to remember his great deeds, and to sing hymns and songs, to intercede for a blessing on everyone and to celebrate the eucharistic meal, we are a people of faith in the most pregnant sense. This is our proper task as church, and we accept it as such with a sense of responsibility to offer our Creator and Redeemer adoration and praise in the name of all creatures, through our Lord Christ. In worship the existence of the church as an existence for others becomes particularly clear in "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings" (1 Tim 2:1 f.) for all people, particularly also for those responsible in government, which the congregation assembled in the Holy Spirit in the presence of Christ offers to God. Here too we must remain aware that as justified sinners we ourselves are constantly in need of repentance and conversion. Since we have been called to such a ministry of reconciliation we lament all the more the scandal of separation and the divisions among us, which are an obstacle to the full expression of the unity of the one priestly people that comes before God to praise him and be renewed through his word and Spirit.
5.1.4.3. Responsibility of the Church and the Service of Humanity
Our task must bear the deep imprint of Jesus' view: "For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mk 10:45). In following him, who in "the form of a slave" (Phil 2:7) became the mediator of the grace we have received, we have been called to an attitude and behavior like his. In obedience to him who affirmed the Creator's will for the world, we must contribute to its preservation and well-being. Thus as Christians and as communities we are instruments of God in the service of mercy and justice in the world.
God's activity in the world is more comprehensive than what he does through the church. Fulfilling the commission of evangelism and worship is the service due to all humanity. By striving in common with all people of good will for healing, protection and promotion of human dignity, for respectful and rational handling of the resources of creation, for the consolidation of social unity, respect for social diversity and for deepening of the general sense of responsibility, Christians are servants of the Creator's love for the world. Through their readiness to do without and their unselfish charity they reflect the light of Christ even where his name is not confessed.
Together with their non-Christian brothers and sisters, but also where necessary over against them, Christians serve humanity by championing human dignity and inalienable and inviolable human rights. Knowing that these are received by human beings from their Creator, the church interprets them as expressions of an obligation toward God and speaks to others of the transcendent dimension of their lives. If necessary, the church also must address specific political and social problems in the effort to raise consciousness regarding human distress and the demands of civil justice.
Christians serve human society by supporting structures in politics, law, administration, education and economics which promote holistic human development. They contribute towards awareness and the strengthening of ties that bind all human beings in one family despite racial, cultural, national and socioeconomic differences. They are eager to provide generous aid in situations of special distress, and they work on projects directed towards promoting long-term solutions to overcome misery.
The contribution which Christians make in all areas of social life in politics, education and nurture, health, science, culture and the mass media is to work like yeast in dough. Such action, determined by competence and dedication, is an essential part of the task which Christians are to fulfill in order to stop the destructive flood of evil and to promote lives in accord with human dignity and reverence toward God.
5.2. the Eschatological Consummation of the Church
Reflection on the church as the recipient and mediator of salvation as well as on its mission would remain incomplete if its eschatological consummation were not also taken into account. It is precisely in the eschatological consummation of the church, as seen by the New Testament and expressed in the creed, that we see the convergence in God of all the paths of the church as God's pilgrim people. God himself definitively causes his rule and his salvation to prevail. Thus the church's role as recipient and mediator of salvation once again becomes plain in terms of its end and consummation. In what follows, the eschatological consummation of the church will be considered from a twofold standpoint: first, in regard to the communion of saints (sanctorum communio) as it is confessed in the Apostles' Creed (5.2.1), and second, in regard to the New Testament message of the kingdom and rule of God (5.2.2).
5.2.1. Sanctorum Communio
5.2.1.1. Common Faith
Lutherans and Catholics confess "the communion of saints" (sanctorum communionem) in the Apostles' Creed. According to Luther's Large Catechism this means the church: a "Christian congregation or assembly", "a holy Christian people". It is a communion of saints because it lives harmoniously in one faith and in love under one head, Christ, and by the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit every member of this "holy community" shares in everything and especially in the word of God. The Holy Spirit constantly remains with the church, sanctifies it, strengthens its faith and produces its fruits.366
The Catechismus Romanus understands the expression sanctorum communio similarly as the explanation of what the church is, for communion "with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" is realized in this community of the saints (1 Jn 1:3). "Communion of saints" means communion on the basis of the confession of faith and the sacraments, especially baptism and the eucharist, and on the basis of the interrelationship of all members of the body of Christ. It is a unity and community brought about by the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit sees to it that whatever gift anyone has belongs to the whole communion.367
Catholics and Lutherans confess in common that the "communion of saints" is the community of those united in sharing in the word and sacraments (the sancta) in faith through the Holy Spirit, the community of "those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus [and] called to be saints [the sancti]! (1 Cor 1:2).
5.2.1.2. Community of Perfected Saints
Beyond the circle of believers in Christ who live on earth, the "communion of saints" is seen as a community of those who have been sanctified, cutting across all the ages and reaching into the eternity of God, a community in which one shares and into which one enters through the church. The patristic church believed "the communion of saints" to the glory of God, honored God himself in the saints and thus kept alive the longing for the life to come. In the Lutheran Confessions too there is a fundamental adherence to the idea of a living communion with the saints, for despite criticism of invocation of the saints it is not denied that we should give "honor to the saints": in thanks to God for their gifts of grace, in the strengthening of our faith because of their example and in "imitation, first of their faith and then of their other virtues, which each should imitate in accordance with his calling".368 It is granted "that the angels pray for us" and that "the saints in heaven pray for the church".369 From ancient times therefore in the preface of the liturgy it is said: "Through him the angels praise your majesty, the heavenly hosts adore you, and the powers tremble; together with the blessed Seraphim all the citizens of heaven praise you in brilliant jubilation. Unite our voices with theirs and let us sing praise in endless adoration: Holy, holy, holy".370 Vatican II placed the ideas of the Fathers and the practice of venerating the saints in an ecclesiological context.371 It stresses the eschatological character of the church as the pilgrim people of God and speaks of that people's "union with the Church in heaven".372
5.2.1.3. Communion of the Church on Earth with the Perfected Saints
In confessing the sanctorum communio our common faith in the triune God who will perfect the church finds expression. For the communio with God which has already been given and realized on earth through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit is the foundation of Christian hope beyond death and of the communio between Christ's saints on earth and Christ's saints who have already died. The communion of saints reaches beyond death because it is founded in God himself. Only through death and judgment can individuals and the church as a whole reach consummation (cf. 1 Cor 4:4 f.; 2 Cor 5:10; Acts 10:42; Heb 11:6; 9:27; 1 Pt 4:17). Thus belief in the communion of saints as the consummation of the church in no way makes light of sin, death and judgment. Because our fellowship with the dead is in God alone, our relations with the dead are in the safe keeping of the mystery of God. Such an unfathomable difference exists between the present temporal and the future eternal life (cf. 1 Cor 15:37-57) that we cannot adequately comprehend eternal life in words. We can express it only in images of hope, as Holy Scripture indicates (cf. 1 Cor 2:9). Nevertheless we believe in the fundamental indestructibility of the life given us in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit even through the judgment and beyond death.
Because of the horror of death we mourn the dead at the grave, but because we arc Christians we mourn as those who have hope. Our common Christian hope is the crucified and risen Lord through whom God will also lead the dead to glory with Christ (cf. 1 Thess 4:14). Those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus will be "with the Lord forever" (1 Thess 4:17) even through death and judgment. Christians believe in God, who is not a God of the dead but of the living (cf. Mk 12:27 par), for "to him all of them are alive" (Lk 20:38b). Paul confesses that we do not live or die to ourselves but that "whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's" (Rom 14:7-9) and that nothing, not even death, can separate us "from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8:35-39). Therefore the pilgrim people of God are aware that they look "for the city that is to come" (Heb 13:14) of the sanctified church, "the heavenly Jerusalem, ... the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, ... and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect" (Heb 12:22 f.). The communion of saints, the unity of the pilgrim and heavenly church, is realized especially in worship, in the adoration and praise of the thrice-holy God and the Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Rev 4:2-11; 5:9-14). The pilgrim church reaches its goal and thus its end and consummation when "the last enemy... death" is deprived of its power and the Son hands over everything to the rule of God the Father so that "God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15:24-28).
5.2.2. The Church and the Kingdom of God
5.2.2.1. New Testament View
According to the witness of the Synoptic Gospels the reign of God is the core of the preaching of Jesus of Nazareth (cf. Mk 1:15; Mt 4:17), the petition for the coming of his Father's kingdom is the center and fulcrum of his prayer (cf. Lk 11:2; Mt 6:9f) and the reign of God comes to human beings as the reality proclaimed as well by his deeds (cf. Lk 11-20; Mt 12:28). Thus through and in Jesus himself the reign of God becomes present, and thus God's Lordship establishes itself among those whom Jesus healed and who were affected by his preaching (cf. Lk 17:20 f.).
By his preaching and practice of the kingdom of God Jesus wished to call all Israel and prepare them to be eschatologically renewed and recreated by God. Especially the calling and sending out of the twelve (cf. Mk 3:14; 6:7 and Mt 10:6) is a luminous sign that the reign of God presumes an actual people, in and through whom that kingdom can be established. The coming of the kingdom of God and the eschatological new creation of Israel belong inseparably together. Right up to his death Jesus maintained this, as shown by the eschatological perspective of his eucharistic words (cf. Mk 14:25 par; Lk 13:29; 14:15; 22:30). Jesus' last meal, as an anticipation and interpretation of his death, becomes a bequest ensuring that God's offer is renewed for all Israel through Jesus' death as an atonement. Without merit or limit sins are forgiven and new life bestowed (cf. Mk 14:24 par).
Even if God has created for himself in the church an actual people made up of Jews and Gentiles (cf. Eph 2:11-22) who owe their existence to the death and resurrection of Jesus and to the sending of the Spirit, this "new" people of God, which believes in the Messiah as having come, is still fundamentally related to Israel as a whole. The will of Jesus to gather Israel together held good then and still does. Seen in this way, Jesus' will to gather the eschatological people of God in wholeness and fullness, and under the rule of God, already includes the post-Easter church. Paul confirms this in his reflections on Israel in relation to salvation- history: in the church consisting of Jews and Gentiles it is specifically the Gentile Christians who must never forget the origin of salvation-history. Israel became salvation to the nations and will also be saved (cf. Rom 9-11). For the church this means that it is the actual people of God in whom the reign of God is already kindled and through whom it is to extend. The church is the dawning and the sign of the kingdom of God.
5.2.2.2. Lutheran View
Though the Lutheran Confessions contain no specific reflections on the theme of the kingdom of God and the church, there are nevertheless enough indications that the church is oriented towards the kingdom of God and taken into service for that kingdom, and that hidden in the church the kingdom of God or of Christ has already dawned and is at work. in the explanation of the second petition in the Lord's Prayer the Large Catechism equates the kingdom of God with the saving activity of Jesus Christ who was sent "into the world to redeem and deliver us from the power of the devil and to bring us to himself and rule us as a king of righteousness, life and salvation". This he does in the Holy Spirit through his word. This kingdom is a "kingdom of grace" which is already actively present here on earth but will be consummated in eternity and will bring its citizens to their destination there. Coming to us temporally "through the Word and faith" it will become manifest "in eternity" and definitively on the return of Christ.373
According to the Apology the church is the kingdom of Christ as the congregatio sanctorum, as he rules by the word and by preaching, works through the Holy Spirit and increases in us faith, the fear of God, love and patience within the heart.374 The church is not identical with the ultimate and all-embracing kingdom which God will introduce at the end of the ages but in the church it already begins here on earth 375 and is already hiddenly present.376 In good works as fruit of faith it is already visible before the whole world.377 In itself, however, the kingdom is "hidden under the cross", like Jesus before he entered his heavenly dominion.378 Mingled with unbelievers (cf. Mt 13:36 ff.,47 ff.; 25:1 ff.) and still sinners themselves, the holy members of the church cannot yet represent the kingdom of God unambiguously. In spite of the fact that the church is not a "Platonic republic",379 the kingdom has already broken in. Only the notae, the marks of the church, i.e., the "pure teaching of the Gospel and the sacraments" are unequivocal. This tension will cease only when at the end of the ages Christ himself totally realizes and reveals the kingdom.380
5.2.2.3. Catholic View
Catholics are also persuaded that the kingdom of God is inseparably linked with the person of Jesus Christ. "In Christ's word, in His works and in His presence this kingdom reveals itself to men".381 In Jesus the reign of God has dawned and he himself is the reign of God in person. The Council speaks in a more nuanced way about the church. On the one hand it says that it receives from the exalted Lord "the mission to proclaim and to establish among all peoples the kingdom of Christ and of God", but on the other hand it stresses that despite its gradual growth the church "strains toward the consummation of the kingdom".382 Its destiny is "the kingdom of God which has been begun by God Himself on earth, and which is to be further extended until it is brought to perfection by Him at the end of time. Then Christ our life (cf. Col 3:4) will appear".383 In this way the Council clearly highlights the church's being taken into service for the kingdom of God and on the other hand keeps open, in the eschatological reservation, the fact that the kingdom of God is not at human disposal. God himself will establish and perfect his reign. The church is only "the kingdom of Christ now present in mystery",384 the "initial budding forth of that kingdom" on earth.385
Thus, taking up the sacramental ecclesiological thinking of the Council, one can also speak of the church as the sacramental sign of the kingdom of God through the presence of the Lord in the Holy Spirit.386 Because the crucified and risen Lord is with his church "always, to the end of the age" (Mt 28:20), it is with trust in this promise the sacramental sign of the kingdom of God. The presence of the Lord is made actual in the Holy Spirit and is communicated in the word of God, the celebration of the eucharist and the other sacraments, and in the community of brothers and sisters. The Spirit does indeed "blow where it chooses" (Jn 3:8) but in and through the church this Spirit accomplishes the saving activity of God and his reign. The Spirit works in the world in the witness and service of the church and in the Spirit the church fulfills its adoration, its intercessions and its advocacy for everyone before God. Thus the church serves the reign of God for the world. It is directed towards the kingdom of God as its eschatological salvation.
The kingdom of God is therefore the church's constant orientation, abiding motivation, critical court of appeal and final goal. The power of the coming kingdom is already really present in the church through its Lord in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit effects forgiveness of sins, sanctification and life in the church. The Spirit supports its mission and perfects its catholicity. In the miracle of tongues at Pentecost the "divisiveness of Babel" is indeed fundamentally overcome.387 Nevertheless the Spirit makes the church repeatedly cry, Come! so that the dispersed children of God may ultimately be gathered together (cf. Rev 22:17-20; Jn 11:52). Seen in this way, the church is the place where the reign of God has already dawned, and thus it is the recipient of salvation. But at the same time it is also an instrument and sign for the reign which God himself implements, and thus it is the mediator of salvation. At the end the church will be taken up into the kingdom of God, i.e., it will come to an end because it is no longer needed as sign and instrument. But this end is also the consummation of its earthly form as the place of God's reign and the beginning of its new, definitive existence in the eternal kingdom of God.388
5.2.2.4. Perspective in Ecumenical Dialogue
In ecumenical dialogue too the church is seen in various ways as sign and instrument of the presence of Christ, the mission of Christ and the kingdom. Thus the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches states that "the Church is called to be a visible sign of the presence of Christ, who is both hidden and revealed to faith, reconciling and healing human alienation in the worshiping community".389 In its report on the meeting in Bangalore the same Commission says, "The Church is a sign and instrument of Christ's mission to all humankind".390 In the message of the 1980 World Conference on Mission and Evangelism in Melbourne it was said that "the good news of the kingdom must be presented to the world by the church, the Body of Christ, the sacrament of the kingdom in every place and time".391 Despite all the inadequacies of the churches as they actually exist, the reality of their character as signs of the eschatological rule of God is highlighted and stressed: "Yet there is reality here. The whole church of God, in every place and time, is a sacrament of the kingdom which came in the person of Jesus Christ and will come in its fullness when he returns in glory".392
Similar pronouncements are to be found in the bilateral ecumenical dialogues. Thus in the Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue in the USA the mission of the church is seen "to be an anticipatory and efficacious sign of the final unification of all things when God will be all in all".393 The Anglican-Lutheran dialogue calls the church "an instrument for proclaiming and manifesting God's sovereign rule and saving grace",394 but also indicates that an "authentic fellowship of the reconciled"395 is a precondition for the proper exercise of the mission and service of the church. Thus a necessary reservation is pointed out in order to evaluate realistically talk of the church as a sign of the kingdom of God. It is an ongoing task of the church to be a credible sign of the kingdom. Its credibility will repeatedly be distorted by human weakness and sin and become blurred by lack of contrition. Therefore the church always needs purification through repentance and renewal. The Report of Section III of the World Conference on Mission and Evangelism in Melbourne speaks of a frightening claim, "frightening, because it causes everyone of us to examine our personal experience of the empirical church and to confess how often our church life has hidden rather than revealed the sovereignty of God the Father whom Jesus Christ made known".396
5.2.2.5. Common Witness
Lutherans and Catholics together regard the church as the dawning and the instrument of the kingdom of God. Two things should be maintained together. On the one hand there is the reality of the powers of the kingdom of God, especially in the proclamation of the word of God and the celebration of the sacraments as the means of salvation, but also in the reconciled community of sisters and brothers as the place of salvation. On the other hand there is the interim nature of all words and signs in which salvation is imparted, but also the inadequacies in preaching, worship and the serving community as these exist in practice among believers. To this extent the church always lives on the basis of letting itself be lifted up into the coming kingdom, remembering its own provisional nature. The earthly church will find its eschatological consummation only when the kingdom has come. Then when God's kingdom dawns the church will be consummated and all hiddenness fully revealed.
The assembly of the faithful as a community of the perfected is the consummation of the church in the unveiled, pure presence and reign of God who is love, with whom and in whom all those made perfect have community and are in constant touch with each other: "God may be all in all" (1 Cor 15:24-28). "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away'. And the one who was seated on the throne said, See, I am making all things new'" (Rev 21:3-5 a.).
ENDNOTES
UR 1.
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Cf. Redemptoris Missio, 12.
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Cf GS 41.
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Apol 16; BC 222 ff.; cf. also CA 28, 8 f.; LC III, 53.
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LC 1, 5th Commandment; BC 390 f.; WA 6, 36 f., 43; 15, 300 f.; 11, 245-250; 30/II, 111 f.
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WA 15, 302; 11, 252 f.; cf. Apol 16:6.
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CA 28, 11.
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usus civilis legis.
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CA 28, 11.
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CA 16; BC 37; cf. Apol 13, 15; BC 213.
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FC SD 5; BC 564 ff.
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LC 1, 141 f.; 150; BC 384 ff.
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WA 40,III, 221-223.
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WA 18, 818; 24, 6-9.
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CA 28, 12; BC 83; Apol 16, 2; BC 222.
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LC 1; BC 390 f.; WA 6, 37 f.; 11, 245, 249 f.; 18, 308 f.
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Apol 15:25 f.; BC 218 f.
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Apol 16:13; BC 224.
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CA 27:49; BC 78 f. ; Apol 27:37; BC 275.
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Apol 4:121 f.; BC 124; cf. also WA 11, 279; 7, 544 f., 600; 15, 293.
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GS 36.
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GS 42.
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GS 43.
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Cf. GS 43.
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The Ministry in the Church, 13.
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The Eucharist, 12; 29-37.
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Cf. LC 11, 3; BC 417 ff.
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Cf. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, I: X, 23-26.
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Apol 21:4-7; BC 229 f.
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Apol 21:8 f.; BC 230.
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The Eucharist, 39.
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Cf. LG 50 f.
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LG 50.
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LC III, 51 ff.; BC 426 f.
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Apol 16:54; BC 222 f.
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Ibid.
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Apol 7:17; BC 171.
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Apol 4:189; BC 133.
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Apol 4:189; BC 17 1; see above 142 f.
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Apol 7:20; BC 17 1; "civitas platonica".
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Apol 7:17-20; BC 17 1.
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LG 5.
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Ibid.
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LG 9.
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LG 3.
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LG 5.
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See above 121-125.
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AG 4.
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Cf. LG 48 f.
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Uniting in Hope. Accra 1974, 93, Faith and Order Paper 72.
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Sharing in One Hope. Bangalore 1978, 239, Faith and Order Paper 92.
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Your Kingdom Come, World Council of Churches, Geneva, 1980, 235 f.
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Ibid. 193.
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"Differing Attitudes Toward Papal Primacy" 1, in: Papal Primacy and the Universal Church, Minneapolis, 1974.
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Anglican-Lutheran International Conversations, London 1973 (Pullach Report), 59, in Growth in Agreement, 13-34.
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Ibid.
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Your Kingdom Come, 193.
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