Dogma in Relation to the Corporate Destiny of Mankind - Essay Example

Order 194092 Material and spiritual aspects interlace to compose human life - a life created, according to the Christian belief, by God, who made man as a being that resembles Himself, that bears his characteristics. Duality is a term often used to describe human nature. Living both on the material and spiritual level, he needs guiding lines to help him move throughout both fields of existence. There are various institutions that guide man's physical or material life - economic, judicial, political institutions - even the educational system, which although partially dedicated to conveying spiritual values, stresses more on the preparation of the young person for a competition based social-material life. Based on principles like love and sacrifice, the Church is an institution that deals with the transcendent and the concept of salvation - salvation of the human soul, which can only be achieved by believing and growing spiritually. Church, as the only institution whose fundamental preoccupation is man's relationship with God, should constitute itself in a center of spirituality. The task of the church becomes, thus, very important. It has to get man close to God and make him aware of the fact that there is also another way of life besides the material one. In a continuously changing society, a society that develops in various directions, the individual has a large number of choices and is subject to a wide range of influences. And this makes it difficult for him to find the right path and to make the correct choice. Duality raises tensions in man. He is a god-like but also finite being, composed of eternal but also ephemeral elements. And in order to find equilibrium, he has to balance the antitheses within himself, to make peace and to find peace. It's here that the church should show its presence, in helping the individual find the source of the tensions within himself and in guiding him in their understanding. Church cannot show man what exactly he must do with or in his life but it definitely can incite him to meditate, the first step in becoming aware of the existence of a greater and more profound meaning. It's also the first step in the process of understanding that he (the man) is part of a greater system of life than the one he physically perceives. It's not by imposing that church can help man but by trying to explain and by opening man's mind. Church should be central to man's life but only as long as it is, indeed, a means of connecting man with the universal mystery, with God. Involving in man's life, establishing a connection with people, opening towards people, this is how Church will accomplish its mission, that of connecting man to the divine. Unfortunately, it's not always that the church accomplishes the goal of helping people have the revelation of the transcendental truth -because it doesn't have or use the proper methods. And man finds himself alone in a world of confusing alternatives. It's much harder to conceive or imagine a world you cannot see. The physical world is right here- you can perceive it - visually, auditory, you can feel it and smell it. But the beyond surpasses the laws that we follow here. You cannot really describe it and for a lot of people it's even difficult to believe in its existence. So we can realize how different and difficult the task of the Church is as compared to the task of other institutions. Church is more than a common institution. It doesn't have a perceivable object and it doesn't address man's mind or reason, it addresses the soul. It prepares man for the passage to a new life and teaches him about the essence which he won't be able to find in the material. Henri de Lubac expresses, in his book Catholicism: a Study of dogma in Relation to the Corporate Destiny of Mankind, the fact that the Church's mission is "to reveal to men that pristine unity that they have lost, to restore it and complete it."(19) It's a divine unity, all men, all souls, are one, are the Whole. The same author analyses other conceptions connected to the Church's identity and role. Thus the Church is "a mother" (19), "Jesus Christ spread abroad and communicated" (17), "the invisible body of Christ."(23) We come thus to the understanding of the fact that the Church is, in fact, twofold. We talk about the Church as an institution, or the visible church, as it is defined in the work above quoted and the invisible Church present in all men. The etymologic meaning of the word "church" is in fact that of gathering. People gather in an attempt to recreate the primary unity, as parts that all have Christ within. They gather in order to achieve a communion where God's presence be felt. As an institution, the Church has a well defined hierarchical organization and governance that varies depending on whether we talk about the Catholic, Orthodox or other Churches. But no matter the name, Church as an institution and the invisible Church are closely connected. As an institution, the perceivable Church has the purpose of awakening man, of making him realize the presence of Christ, of the invisible and eternal Church within himself and within the others. So, we may say that the institution should have an unleashing role. As it is difficult to imagine something that is beyond your experience, you need in a first stage to make analogies with the things you know or lived. So you must start from what is familiar in order to be able to get to what is not achievable by using only reason, but by opening your soul. The Church, as the only means of assisting the individual in this sensitive matter, should find the appropriate methods to help individual open his soul to the beyond and to himself. As a secondary task to that of being a means of discovering and connecting to God, we may also talk abut a social involvement of the Church. By spreading the Christian values and principles, the Church may contribute to the moral aspect of society, because as we all know, many of the Christian values enter the field of ethics. They speak about love - a love that should be directed both towards your friends and relatives and towards your enemies, but they also speak about being fair, just and truthful. We can, of course, refer to other social actions that the Church as institution undertakes: helping the poor, raising funds for the under-privileged social classes, actions that are not neglectable, but the fundamental role of the Church goes beyond materiality. "Men were not made for the church, but the church was made for men." (26)This is another idea that appears in Henri de Lubac's book. So, the purpose of the Church is that of serving men, of working for them. And this statement is completed by another one: "We do not believe in the Church in the same sense in which we believe in God, for the Church herself believes in God, and she is the Church of God." (29) So, we go to church to be close to God, or to understand that we are already close to God. We shouldn't mistaken the means with purpose. The purpose is that of finding the profound meaning and the real sense of existence, the Church is the means or a sort of intermediary. We notice the personification in the quote - the Church is referred to as "she" and further in the text we are explained why: the Church is seen as "the bride that Christ has chosen, for the love of whom he gave himself up, whom he has made clean by baptism."(21) To conclude we may say the Church is the one that unifies - man with Good and man with man. Its work is connected to the divine mystery and the meaningful existence. And the essential role of the visible Church is that of assisting the individual in his search of the meaning contained within the invisible Church. Bibliography 1. De Lubac, Henri. Catholicism: A Study of Dogma in Relation to the Corporate Destiny of Mankind. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1958. Read More