This thesis seeks to address the broad question of how the Church is more effectively herself in the world. It represents a multi-modal response to the issue of how in the immediacy of the Church’s <i>present</i>, she can uncover her own integrity. It moves through questions of creation and temporality, to consider the nature of reconciliation, apostolicity, redemption and governance. I assert that whilst both history and eschatology are key components in and discussion of ecclesial identity, the temporal present <i>itself</i> is shaped by the primal and extreme events of the <i>Pascha </i>of Jesus Christ – the eschatological within the historical – which embrace the world through the dynamism of Pentecost. Chapter Two explains how social temporality is focussed on the immediacy and integrity of the present. It argues that the Church’s own temporality is shaped by a deep immersion in the relationality of Pentecost, which reaches more deeply into the world through the exercise of the Church’s apostolicity and thus moves the world towards the <i>eschaton</i> and fuller sanctity. I argue that this temporality can be understood as expressed in the most formal sense through the Liturgical Calendar, in Advental and Pentecostal streams. Chapter Three addresses questions of how the Church articulates the world’s cry for reconciliation, and explores what the characteristics of a life lived in the light of a Pentecostal-Advental shaping might be through engaging with the Great ‘O’ Antiphons of Advent. Through this Christological data from the heart of the Church’s worshipping life I seek to pay close attention to the depths of the content of the Church’s message of reconciliation. Chapter Four is broadly about redemption, and asks how the Church’s apostolicity can embrace the plurality of modern culture. I identify the Church’s apostolicity as two radically related streams of prophecy and priesthood, and argue that it is through such engagement with the cultures in which she is embedded that these cultures grow into fuller sanctity. Chapter Five considers how the Church herself is best ordered to live this apostolic life in the world, and focuses on governance. Only when the Church lives a prophetic and priestly life can the charism of “kingship” or governance complete the ecclesial <i>munus triplex</i>. The basis of my work here is a confidently refurbished theology of the local Church gathered around and by the human figure of the bishop, and constituted eucharistically.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:603864 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Hawkey, J. D. T. |
| Publisher | University of Cambridge |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0095 seconds