Creating Communion: The Theology of the Constitutions of the Church Book

	Foreword	9
	Introduction	15
	The Problem	18
	The Intuitive Grasp of "Communion" as a Unifying Theme	21
	Discerning the Genuine Meaning of Communion	22
	The Structure of This Book	25
	Notes	26
Chapter 1	Roman Catholic Theology of the Church Prior to Vatican II	27
I.	Ecclesiologies Before Vatican II	30
A.	The Viewpoint of the Counter-Reformation	30
B.	The Church as a "Perfect Society" (Societas Perfecta)	32
C.	The Spirit-Animated Organism of Mohler and the Tubingen School	35
II.	Mystici Corporis Christi: Pope Pius XII's Encyclical on the Body of Christ	37
A.	Central Concerns	38
B.	Mystical Body as the Primary Metaphor	39
C.	New Questions	40
D.	The Impact on Theology	43
III.	The Ecclesiology of Yves Congar, O.P.	44
IV.	Toward a Deeper Ecclesiology on the Eve of Vatican II: The Church is a Communion	48
	Notes	50
Chapter 2	The Ecclesiology of the Constitutions on the Church	53
I.	An Ecclesiology Out of the Documents	53
II.	Sacrosanctum Concilium	54
III.	Lumen Gentium	56
Chapter 1	The Mystery of the Church	58
Chapter 2	The People of God	60
Chapter 3	The Church is Hierarchical	66
Chapter 4	The Laity	74
Chapter 5	The Call to Holiness	75
Chapter 6	Religious	77
Chapter 7	The Pilgrim Church	78
Chapter 8	Our Lady	78
IV.	Summaries of Some Decrees and Declarations Bridging Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes	80
	Unitatis Redintegratio, Christus Dominus, Nostra Aetate, and Apostolicam Actuositatem	80
	Dignitatis Humanae	82
V.	Gaudium et Spes	84
	Title and Preface	85
	Introduction: The Situation of Man in the World Today	86
Part I	The Church and Man's Vocation	87
Part II	Some More Urgent Problems	92
	Conclusion	93
VI.	Three Heuristic Keys to the Documents: Three Interrelated Concepts	94
A.	Theological Foundation: Renewed Pneumatology	95
B.	Dominant Image: Community	95
C.	Organizing Concept: Sacramentality	97
	Notes	98
Chapter 3	Understanding the Triad that Creates Communion	100
	Introduction	100
Part I	The Holy Spirit--The Giver of Life	103
	The Holy Spirit in Scripture	103
	Pneumatology in the Theological Tradition	115
	Pneumatology and Spirituality	117
	Pneumatology and the Charisms	119
	Conclusion: The Work of the Spirit in the Church and the World	121
	Communion Pneumatology	124
Part II	Community--"Members One of Another"	126
	Understanding the Conditions for Genuine Community: The Philosophy of Josiah Royce	127
	The Three Essential Charisms that Create and Sustain Community	138
	Constituting the Christian Community	140
	Defining the Church of Christ as a Community of Communities	142
Part III	Sacrament and Sacramentality--The Church as a Sign of the Reign of God	147
	Symbolic Structure of All Reality	148
	Types of Signs	150
	The Chain of Sacramentality and the Catholic World View	153
	Sacrament and the Seven Sacraments	155
	The Special Sacramentality of the Word in the Catholic Tradition	158
	The Church as a Genuine Icon of Christ	159
	The Significance of the Church in the Post-Modern World	161
	Conclusion: Communion and the Pneumatological Principle	165
	Notes	168
Chapter 4	The Church as the Sacrament of Communion for the World	170
	Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes: The Constitutions of the Church in the World	171
	The Church as a "Sure Seed of Unity, Hope, and Salvation for the Whole Human Race"	171
	The Role of the Church in the Post-Modern and Hyper-Modern World	173
	Notes	184
	Acknowledgments	185