Ø The
basic theme that is dealt with, in the chapter is – The kingdom.
Ø The
mission of the church is - To proclaim
and establish among all peoples, the kingdom of Christ and kingdom of God.
Ø The
Church: is on earth the seed and the beginning of the kingdom.
Ø On
one hand church is a sacrament – a sign and instrument of intimate union with
God and the unity of the entire human race. = the sign and instrument of the
kingdom.
Ø Therefore
she is a called to proclaim and establish the kingdom.
Ø On
the other hand, church is the people gathered by the unity of
·
The Father,
·
The son and
·
Holy Spirit.
Ø Therefore
she is kingdom of Christ already present in the mystery
Ø And
constitutes its seed and the
beginning.
Ø Kingdom
of
God has an eschatological dimension. It’s true that it’s a reality present in
time but its full realization will come only with the completion or fulfillment
of the history.
· Kingdom of God
· Kingdom of Christ
|
·
Sacred scriptures
·
Documents of the magisterium
·
Fathers of the church
|
Not
exactly same
Nor
Their relationship to
Church =Mystery
Human concept can’t
contain
·
| |||||||
ü Therefore,
there can be various theological explanations of these terms. However, none of
these possible explanations can deny or empty in any way the intimate
connection between Christ, the kingdom, and the Church.
·
In fact, the kingdom of God which we know from
revelation, cannot be detached either from Christ or from the Church...
·
If the kingdom is separated from Jesus, it is no longer
the kingdom of God which he revealed.
·
The result is a distortion of the meaning of the kingdom,
which runs the risk of being transformed into a purely human or ideological
goal
ü A
distortion of the identity of Christ, who no longer appears as the Lord to whom
everything must one day be subjected (cf. 1
Cor 15:27).
ü Likewise, one may not separate the kingdom
from the Church. It is true that the Church is not an end unto herself, since
she is ordered toward the kingdom of God, of which she is the seed, sign and
instrument.
ü While remaining distinct from Christ and the
kingdom, the Church is indissolubly united to both.
............................................................................................................................................................
v To state the inseparable relationship between Christ and
the kingdom is not to overlook the fact that the kingdom of God even if considered in its historical phase is
not identified with the Church in her visible and social reality.
v In fact, the
action of Christ and the Spirit outside the Church's visible boundaries must
not be excluded.
v One must also bear
in mind that the kingdom is the concern of everyone: individuals, society and
the world.
v Working for the kingdom means acknowledging and promoting
God's activity, which is present in human history and transforms it.
v Building the kingdom means working for liberation from
evil in all its forms.
v In a word, the kingdom of God is the manifestation and
the realization of God's plan of salvation in all its fullness
v In considering the relationship between the kingdom of
God, the kingdom of Christ, and the Church, it is necessary to avoid one-sided
accentuations, as is the case with those conceptions which deliberately
emphasize the kingdom and which describe themselves as kingdom centred.'
v At times, they stress the image of a Church which is not
concerned about herself, but which is totally concerned with bearing witness to
and serving the kingdom. It is a Church for others,' just as Christ is the man
for others'.
v This has positive and negative repurcurssions:
v First, they are silent about Christ: the kingdom of which
they speak is theocentrically' based, since, according to them, Christ cannot
be understood by those who lack Christian faith, whereas different peoples,
cultures, and religions are capable of finding common ground in the one divine
reality, by whatever name it is called.
v For the same reason, they put great stress on the mystery
of creation, which is reflected in the diversity of cultures and beliefs, but
they keep silent about the mystery of redemption.
v Furthermore,in the kingdom, as they understand it, has no
much room for the Church or undervaluing
the Church in reaction to a presumed ‘ecclesiocentrism' of the past and
because they consider the Church herself only a sign, for that matter a sign
not without ambiguity.
v
These theses are contrary to Catholic faith because they
deny the unicity of the relationship which Christ and the Church have with the
kingdom of God.
Personal critique:
Positives:
Document show a subtle form of social responsibility
when it asks to work for the liberation of the world and transform it.
I do agree with the document when it presents Christ
as the savior or the redeemer.
Negatives
1.
Church as the seed and the beginning of
the kingdom: it’s a reference to the Jesus event. What about the whole of the Old
Testament faith perspective?
2.
How far, the document is justified, in
stressing the name of Christ and Christ alone, in reference to Kingdom.
3.
On the one hand, the document speaks of
the full realization ( of the kingdom)
will come only with the completion or fulfillment of the history and on the
other refuses to think of the church which
is a symbol of the kingdom, in any other name than that of Christ.
4.
The argument here is not the kingdom
without Christ, but the other names this reality of Christ bears in other
religions.
Scriptural:
1.
Matthew:28:20 Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations , baptizing
them in the name of the father and of the sin and of the holy spirit.
a.
A
literal interpretation of the text, seem to be taken into consideration. But still Jesus has not precisely stressed
his point.
2. Mt
4,17: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand….. This call was for all; to jews and gentiles. Jesus went out of the
boundaries to call the outcastes. Does this document, making the name
exclusive, tries to exclude people, where once Jesus tried to include them?
3. In
the story of the Good Samaritan, Lk 10,
25ff it
was a Samaritan, an outcaste is projected as the worthy man. The good deeds that precede over the religion
in the teachings of Jesus. Jesus, did not mingle religion with good deeds. This
in other words, as I understand, Jesus has hinted at the invisible church,
outside the commonly visible boundaries.
4.
Ephesians 1, 10: As a plan for the
fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things
on earth. This gives us an idea of cosmic
gathering. Things will be gathered in HIM, no compromise in it. But closing
doors to the idea, that Christ can be manifested in other religions in
other names seems to be narrowing down the things.
NOSTRA
AETATE
In this
declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship.
One is the
community of all peoples, one their origin, for God made the whole human race
to live over the face of the earth.(1) One also is their final goal, God. His
providence, His manifestations of goodness, His saving design extend to all
men,(2) until that time when the elect will be united in the Holy City, the
city ablaze with the glory of God, where the nations will walk in His light.(3)
The
questions that deeply stir the hearts of men: What is man? What is the meaning,
the aim of our life? What are death, judgment and retribution after death?
What, finally, is that ultimate inexpressible mystery which encompasses our
existence: whence do we come, and where are we going?
From ancient times down to the present, there is
found among various peoples a certain perception of that hidden power which
hovers over the course of things and over the events of human history; at times
some indeed have come to the recognition of a Supreme Being, or even of a Father.
This perception and recognition penetrates their lives with a profound
religious sense.
Thus in Hinduism, men contemplate the divine
mystery and express it through an inexhaustible abundance of myths and through
searching philosophical inquiry. They seek freedom from the anguish of our
human condition either through ascetical practices or profound meditation or a
flight to God with love and trust. Again, Buddhism, in its various forms,
realizes the radical insufficiency of this changeable world; it teaches a way
by which men, in a devout and confident spirit, may be able either to acquire
the state of perfect liberation, or attain, by their own efforts or through
higher help, supreme illumination. Likewise, other religions found everywhere
try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by
proposing "ways," comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred
rites.
The Catholic
Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards
with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and
teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and
sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all
men.
The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that
through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions,
carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and
life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and
moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.
Lumen Gentium says.
"Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines."
"Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines."
In Indian Context
·
George Saurus Prabhu’s inter textuality
and triple dialectics.... keeping the texts of different religions juxtapose
reveal the richness and the depths of the divine found in other religions. But
as the document presents, we have the totality of truth and others need to draw
from there. Our context of multi religiosity seems to contradict this idea. May
be the document is a bit narrow , in having a glance at the Christ beyond
Christianity.
·
Omega Point is a term coined by Teilhard in The
Future of Man (1950), the universe is constantly developing towards
higher levels of material complexity and consciousness . For Teilhard, the universe can only move in
the direction of more complexity and consciousness if it is being drawn by a
supreme point of complexity and consciousness. Thus Teilhard postulates the
Omega Point as this supreme point of complexity and consciousness, which in his
view is the actual cause for
the universe to grow in complexity and consciousness. Teilhard argued that the
Omega Point resembles the Christian Logos, namely Christ,
who draws all things into himself, who in the words of the Nicene
Creed, is "God from God", "Light from Light",
"True God from true God," and "through him all things were
made."
From
Christology:
The idea of Cosmic person by Bede Griffiths: He identifies Jesus Christ with the cosmic
person.
According to him, “A cosmic person contains within
himself the whole universe and whole humanity. He is the cosmic person who is
recognized as the Lord of creation, the Thatgatha of Buddhism, the supreme Dharmakaya of Buddha, the Purushottaman or
Paramatman in Hinduism, and the universal man in Islam…. Understanding of this
sort, will help in fulfilling the words of Jesus in Mt 28,20- “ make disciples”.
Panickar:
“ Chirst is the
Christian name for the Cosmo Theandric
Reality.”
He also says, in the book, “ the unknown
Christ of Hinduism” - Reality is many
names and each name is a new aspect, a new manifestation and revelation of it.
Yet each name teaches or expresses, as it were the undivided mystery.
Thus, the
document is rich , keeping Christ as the centre, though there are a few elements that look narrow. Deep down
there is a basic commitment to Christ who proclaimed the kingdom of God.
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