A Critical Study of Hans Küng's Ecclesiology: From Traditionalism to Modernism

206 Pages·2008·1.41 MB·English

by  Corneliu C. Simut

A Critical Study of Hans Küng’s Ecclesiology
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Other works by Corneliu C. Simut¸
Richard Hooker and His Early Doctrine of Justification. A Study of His Discourse
of Justification (2005).
The Doctrine of Salvation in the Sermons of Richard Hooker (2005).
The Ontology of the Church in Hans Küng (2007).
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A Critical Study of Hans Küng’s
Ecclesiology
From Traditionalism to Modernism
Corneliu C. Simuţ
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A CRITICAL STUDY OF HANS KÜNG’S ECCLESIOLOGY
Copyright © Corneliu C. Simut‚, 2008.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2008 by
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ISBN-13: 978–0–230–60540–4
ISBN-10: 0–230–60540–0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Simut‚, Corneliu C.
A critical study of Hans Küng’s ecclesiology : from traditionalism to
modernism / by Corneliu C. Simut‚.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0–230–60540–0 (alk. paper)
1. Church. 2. Küng, Hans, 1928– Strukturen der Kirche. 3. Küng, Hans,
1928– Christ sein. 4. Modernism (Christian theology)—Catholic
Church. I. Title.
BX1746.K853S56 2008
262.0092—dc22 2007047882
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: July 2008
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
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To my brother, Ciprian Simuţ
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
A Brief Introduction xi
Part 1 Traditional Ecclesiology in
Structures of the Church (1962)
1 The Unity of the Church 3
The Church and the Holy Spirit 3
The Church and Salvation 5
Unity as Spiritual Reality 8
The Necessity of Unanimity 9
2 The Catholicity of the Church 13
The Church, History, and Religious Experience 13
Variety as Essence of the Church 15
The Importance of the Holy Spirit 16
The Church between God and History 18
Healing the Schism by Ecumenicity 20
3 The Holiness of the Church 25
The Church and the Trinitarian God 25
Personal and Communitarian Morality 27
The Authority of the Holy Spirit 29
In the Spirit of God for the Gospel of Christ 32
4 The Apostolicity of the Church 35
A Definition of Apostolicity 35
The Church and Morality 38
The Church and the Apostles 39
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viii ● Contents
Part 2 Modern Ecclesiology in
On Being a Christian (1974)
5 The Scripture of the Church 53
Scripture and Inspiration 53
Scripture and Revelation 58
6 The Spirit of the Church 65
The Spirit and the Historical Reality of the Church 65
The Spirit and the Doctrine of the Trinity 70
7 The Diversity of the Church 77
The Church and Christ 77
The Church and Its Calling to be a Congregation of God 79
The Church as Local and Universal 81
The Church and Its Trinitarian Constitution 82
The Church and the Priesthood of All Believers 84
The Church and Its Freedom, Indiscrimination,
and Brotherhood 86
The Church and Pluriformity 88
The Church and Mission 89
The Church and Its Ministries 93
The Church and Petrine Ministry 99
8 The Work of the Church 101
The Church as Catholic and Protestant 101
The Church and Its Temporary Character 106
The Church and Service 108
The Guilt of the Church and the Sinfulness of Christians 109
Conclusion 113
Appendix: Reading Hans Küng’s Ecclesiology Today 119
Notes 143
Bibliography 179
Index 187
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Acknowledgments
The list containing the names of the persons to whom I ought to
say thank you for helping me bring this work to completion is
almost invariably the same: my wife, Ramona, for being so sym-
pathetic in putting up with me for such a long time when I was writing;
my little children, Ezra and Lara, for constantly asking me what I was
writing and whether it was a book or not; my colleagues, especially
Professor Paul Negruţ, the rector of Emanuel University, for allowing
me to leave aside my daily duties at our research centre whenever I
needed to do some research abroad, and Dr. Ioan Gh. Pop, for asking
me a thousand times when I was going to finish the book; Professor
Heinrich Löwen, formerly Rector of the Evangelical Theological Faculty
in Leuven, Belgium, for hosting me at the ETF campus during my stay
in the city; Professor George Newlands from the University of Glasgow,
for his valuable comments on the final draft of the manuscript; and the
last but not the least, my brother, Ciprian, to whom this book is dedi-
cated for helping me in any way he could whenever I asked him—and
we both know I asked more than dozens and dozens of times.
C C. S
Oradea, March 1, 2008
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