There is today a dramatic reexamination of structure, authority, dogma
-- indeed, every aspect of the life of the Church is held up to
scrutiny. Welcoming this as a sign of vitality, Avery Dulles has
carefully studied the writings of contemporary Protestant and Catholic
ecclesiologists and sifted out six major approaches, or models, through
which the Church's character can be understood: as Institution, Mystical
Communion, Sacrament, Herald, Servant, and, in a recent addition to the
book, as Community of Disciples. A balanced theology, he concludes, must
incorporate the major affirmations of each. The method of models or
types, observes Cardinal Dulles, can have great value in helping people
to get beyond the limitations of their own particular outlook and to
enter into fruitful conversation with others... Such conversation is
obviously essential if ecumenism is to get beyond its present impasses.
This new edition includes a new Appendix and Preface by the author.