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Title: Models of the Church by Avery Dulles ISBN: 0-385-13368-5 Publisher: Image Pub. Date: 01 April, 1991 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Good Overview
Comment: In this book, Dulles offers a simplistic yet useful overview of the way the church has been viewed throughout its history. He focuses primarily on the Catholic church. From Dulles' analysis, there are five basic ways to understand the church. He explores how these models have been used over time, as well as their particular strengths and weaknesses. In the rest of the book, Dulles explores some of the issues surrounding ecclesiology. He has also added a new model which is a synthesis of the other five. My only complaint about the book is that it makes divisions too simple and straightforward. Rarely is there a church that fits all of the descriptions of one model or does not somehow combine several models. The book is helpful, however, to pastors who seek to understand the thought patterns of the members of their church. It is also helpful to congregants who desire to understand more fully what it means to be the church. All things considered, this book is an asset to pastors, students, and anyone involved in ministry.
Rating: 4
Summary: Old but never dated
Comment: First copyrighted in 1974, this five-way look at the Church expanded the viewpoint of many Catholics beyond the institutional model. It is a pretty easy read, with very little in the way of intense or primary-source theology. I recommend it for teachers of secondary students to help them cope with the various questions adolescents ask about the Church.
Rating: 5
Summary: Outstanding overview of concepts in ecclesiology
Comment: Ecclesiology is the study and theory of what the Christian Church constitutes. Dulles presents several "models" which illustrate various aspects of the what Church is like. In one sense, it's an earthly institution, a formal organization of people with specific roles and responsibilities, lay and clergy. Complicating this picture is the reality that Christianity has fractured over the centuries into a variety of denominations, institutionally separate from each other.
In another sense, the Church is a mystical communion or fellowship of people with shared beliefs. In this model, the institution takes a secondary role, being formed to provide shape and support to this body of people. According to a third model, the Church is a sacrament, an instrument bridging the gap between earthly and divine, a conduit for divine grace to humanity. In a fourth model, the Church is a herald, charged with proclaiming the Christian message to the world, and reinforcing it among believers. In a fifth model, the Church is a servant, responsible for encouraging good works and helping those in need. Dulles says that many more models can be discussed, but he sees these as the most basic ones.
Dulles does not claim to write for the lay (in the sense of non-academic, rather than non-clergy) reader, but this book actually is in clear, concise, non-technical prose that nearly anyone should grasp. While Dulles himself is a Roman Catholic, he gives the perspectives of Protestant and Orthodox Christians a full and fair hearing; this book definitely is not a defense of an "official" Roman Catholic viewpoint. In fact, he points out how Rome's "official" views became increasingly more nuanced, even in the years befor Vatican II.
Avery Dulles, by the way, is the son of former Secretary of State (under Eisenhower) John Foster Dulles, was raised a Presbyterian, became an agnostic by his teens, turned into a religious "seeker" while an undergrad at Harvard, then entered the Roman Catholic Church and later the Jesuit order after graduating. This personal journey clearly lends some perspective to his work. Dulles recently was named a cardinal, in recognition of his work as a theologian. This is a most unusual honor for someone who is neither a bishop nor a key leader in church government.
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Title: Models of Revelation by Avery Robert Dulles ISBN: 0883448424 Publisher: Orbis Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 1992 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: The Churches the Apostles Left Behind by Raymond E. Brown ISBN: 0809126117 Publisher: Paulist Press Pub. Date: 01 May, 1984 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: An Introduction to Ecclesiology: Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives by Veli-Matti Karkkainen ISBN: 0830826882 Publisher: InterVarsity Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Vatican Council II: The Conciliar & Post Conciliar Documents by Austin P. Flannery ISBN: 0918344395 Publisher: Costello Publishing Co Pub. Date: 01 June, 1987 List Price(USD): $22.50 |
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Title: The New Jerome Biblical Commentary by Raymond Edward Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Roland Edmund Murphy ISBN: 0136149340 Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: September, 1989 List Price(USD): $75.00 |
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