A Critical Reading of Avery Dulles’ Models of the Church

Borgjie Distura

Ecclesiology

Msgr. RegiePamposa

15October 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

CURRICULUM VITAE

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

B. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND SIGNIFICANCE

OF THE STUDY

C. METHODOLOGY AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

CHAPTER TWO: PRELIMINARIES

A. DULLES' TEACHINGS ON THE SUBJECT OF MODELS OF

THE CHURCH

B. THE USE OF MODELS IN ECCLESIOLOGY

CHAPTER THREE: THE SIX MODELS

A. THE CHURCH AS INSTITUTION

i. STRENGTHS

ii. WEAKNESSES

B. THE CHURCH AS A COMMUNION

i. STRENGTHS

ii. WEAKNESSES

C. THE CHURCH AS SACRAMENT

i. STRENGTHS

ii. WEAKNESSES

D. THE CHURCH AS HERALD

i. STRENGTHS

ii. WEAKNESSES

E. THE CHURCH AS SERVANT

i. STRENGTHS

ii. WEAKNESSES

F. THE COMMUNITY OF DISCIPLES MODEL

i. STRENGTHS

ii. WEAKNESSES

CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With all humility, the author does not claim to have finished this humble work by him all

alone. In fact, in the completion and realization of this mini-thesis, the author is ever grateful and

indebted to a number of persons who helped and inspired him to complete this humble work.

The author would like to express his debt to Rev. Msgr. Regie A. Pamposa and also his

teacher in Ecclesiology who urged and propelled him to work and without whose incessant

teaching and guidance this mini-thesis could not have been made possible.

Likewise the author would like to thank with deep gratitude his family, classmates and

the community of SMMRS, who in one way or another inspired him by their words of

encouragement.

Likewise to the seminary fathers of Sancta Maria Mater et Regina Seminarium, his

mentors and professors.

And most of all, to God who is the ultimate cause and end of this humble effort and for

preparing those generous persons who caused and contributed in the completion of this work.

Sem. BorgiieBacelonia Distura

October 15, 2011

CURRICULUM VITAE

Name: Sem. BorgjieBacelonia Distura

Address: Rizal, Pontevedra, Capiz

Dateof Birth: April6, 1987

Place of Birth: Rizal, Pontevedra, Capiz

Parents: Benjamin Distura

LeteciaBacelonia

Civil Status: Single

Nationality: Filipino

Religion: Roman Catholic

EducationalBackground:

o 1994 - 2000 Primary Course

Rizal, Elementary School

Rizal, Pontevedra, Capiz

o 2000 -2004 Secondary Course

St. Pius X Seminary

Lawa-an, Roxas City

o 2004 - 2008 Collegiate Course

Bachelor Of Philosophy (Ph.B.)

Sancta Maria Mater et Regina Seminarium

Cagay, Roxas City

o 2008-Present Post Graduate

Bachelor of Sacred Theology (Th.B.)

Sancta Maria Mater et Regina Seminarium

Cagay, Roxas City

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

D. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

We are in this contemporary culture that was preceded by the pre-modern and modern

time. All the negative happenings and unfulfilled promises of the modern period gave rise to this

present age. This contemporary period is characterized by disillusionment with all the harmony,

truths and prosperity promised, that didn't materialize during the modern era. According to

George Weigel in his foreword to Light of the World by Benedict XVI said that:

“the Pope sees a world that has lost its story: a world in which the

progress promised by the humanisms of the past centuries is now

gravely threatened by understandings of the human person that

reduce our humanity to a congeries of cosmic chemical accidents:

a humanity with no intentional origin, no noble destiny, and thus

no path to take through history.” (Michael J Miller and Adrian J

Walker, trans., Light of the World: the Pope, the Church, and the

Signs of the Times, by Benedict XVI (California: Ignatius Press,

2010), x-xi.)

Also the contemporary man challenges the Church with her claim on absolute truths.

However, the church is increasingly under pressure to be relevant andeffective in a post-modern

world where the church is only one generation away from extinction. (E. Gibbs and I. Coffey,

Church Next Quantum Changes in Christian Ministry (England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2001), 10-

11)

From this perspective Avery Dulles' operational models as presented by different church

traditions are evaluated in terms of their effectiveness in our contemporary period. These

operational models are researched and explained as an avenue to move people beyond their own

limitations and to open conversations between people with different outlooks (Avery Dulles,

Models of the Church (New York: Doubleday, 1987), 12).

And these models need to be evaluated in terms of its effectiveness in our contemporary

period; otherwise the church may become irrelevant in its approach to the post-modern man.

Therefore, through a model or models of the church, methods need to be established to reach the

contemporary man with the gospel.

E. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The church is increasingly under pressure to be relevant and effective in the context of

the contemporary world. Holy Mother Church must recognize that she faces a huge task as never

before. This challenge must be met in this present time.

The question that the author wished to answer, relevant to this study, is: WHAT ARE

THE MOST HELPFUL MODEL OR MODELS TO BE USED IN THE CONTEMPORARY

WORLD BY CHURCH? This question becomes significant in the light of Pope Benedict’s

assessment when he said:

“…religiosity has to regenerate itself anew in this large context –

and in doing so also find new forms for its expression and

comprehension…It means that we really are in an age in which a

new evangelization is needed; in which the one gospel has to be

proclaimed both in its great, enduring rationality and in its power

that transcends rationality, so that it can reenter our thinking and

understanding in a new way.” (Michael J Miller and Adrian J

Walker, trans., Light of the World: the Pope, the Church, and the

Signs of the Times, by Benedict XVI (California: Ignatius Press,

2010), 135-136.)

The subject under discussion is connected with ecclesiology, and it would be a significant

study if the author will be able to present which model or models of the church as introduced by

Dulles to be relevant and effective in this contemporary period. To address this matter, theology

enters the picture by studying the faith of the present period concerning the revelation of God

and the attitude of the people towards the Catholic Church. Thus, it is the author’s intention to

focus on this study.

F. METHODOLOGY AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This study will be done through literature review most especially the work of Avery

Dulles titled Models of the Church published in 1987. The focus will move to the six models of

the church described by Dulles. The research of these models will be mainly theoretical. The

evaluation of the models will then be incorporated and compared into the contemporary world.

It is a descriptive type ofresearch where the objective is to provide a description of each

model as and also aims to accomplish a model or models relevant to a contemporary world.

CHAPTER TWO

PRELIMINARIES

C. DULLES' TEACHINGS ON THE SUBJECT OF MODELS OF' THE CHURCH

The aim of this chapter is to assess the theology of the church through the models of the

church as considered by Dulles. He defines the mystery of the church in the following way: "In

selecting the term 'models' rather than 'aspects' or ‘dimensions’ I wish to indicate my conviction

that the church, like other theological realities, is a mystery. Mysteries are realities of which we

cannot speak directly. If we wish to talk about them at all we must draw on analogies afforded by

experience of the world. These analogies provide models. By attending to the analogies and

utilizing them as models, we can indirectly grow in our understanding of the church". (Dulles, 9)

Dulles' aim is to enhance the readers understanding of the church. Working with different

models simultaneously has this objective. He believes that the church can only exist within an

organization or structure. (Dulles, 10)

Dulles makes it clear that when focusingand dealing with models, a good ecclesiologist

always focuses on more than one model. Models can also be seen as a way of dealing with

problems in the church. Dulles explains this: "In order to do justice to the various aspects of the

church, as a complex reality, we must work simultaneously with different models. By a kind of

mental juggling act, we have to keep several models in the air at once" (Dulles, 10).

One of the outstanding attributes of a model is the fact that it can be broken down into

subtypes. In practice this means that models are a way of approaching theology from all

directions and not only from an ecclesiologist point of view. Dulles makes this approach towards

theology clear through the following words: "The method of models is applicable to the whole of

theology, and not simply to ecclesiology. "(Dulles, 12).

The idea of models is to help people move beyond their own limitations when being

church and to open conversation between people who have very different outlooks (Dulles, 12).

D. THE USE OF MODELS IN ECCLESIOLOGY

Models are used to standardize ways of measuring successes in the church. Dulles'

emphasizes the mystery of the church and causes him to criticize theologians who define the

church in terms of visible elements only. (Dulles, 16).

Dulles doesn't define the church with scientific speech and from this perspective he calls

the church a mystery. "Wecannot fully objectify the church because we are involved in it; we

know it through a kind of inter-subjectivity. Furthermore, the church pertains to the mystery of

Christ.

Christ is carrying out in the church his plan of redemption. He is dynamically at work in

the church through his Spirit" (Dulles, 17). At the heart of the church, one finds mystery. Dulles

makes it clear that mystery has been given many definitions from biblical and non-biblical

religions. From an ecclesiological point of view as an introduction to specific models Dulles

approaches mystery as God's plan of salvation as it comes to concrete realization in the person of

Jesus Christ. The mysterypar excellence is not so much God in his essential nature, or the

counsels of the divine mind, but rather God's plan of salvation as it comes to concreterealization

in the person of Christ Jesus. In Christ are ‘unsearchable riches’ (Eph. 3:8); in him dwells the

whole fullness of God (Col. 3:9); and this fullness is disclosed to those whose hearts are open to

the Spirit which is from God (1 Cor. 2:12)" (Dulles, 17).

Dulles identifies images as positive tools to illuminate the mysteries offaith. (Dulles, 18)

Thus Dulles works with images to formulate models. Within images Dulles identifies cognate

realities such as symbols, models and paradigms. Images are used for the purpose of gaining a

better understanding of the mysteries of faith. Dulles also identifies these images as models.

Within this understanding of models the approach is from the more visible images like temple,

vine or flock to the more abstract images like institution, society or community. Thus, the aim of

models is to touch and activate the whole person by influencing both themind and heart of a

person. (Dulles, 21-22).

Dulles agrees that any model used in isolation will lead to distortions because each model

exhibits only a particular reality given in our human experience of the world. The moment a

model succeeds in dealing with a number of different problems, it becomes an object of

confidence. Dulles identifies the danger of such a model being used to address questions not

outside the reality of the specific model.

CHAPTER THREE

THE SIX MODELS

This chapter deals on how Dulles explains and discusses individual models of the church

as partof an attempt to illuminate the mystery of the church.

G. THE CHURCH AS INSTITUTION

The image of the church as a ‘political society’ is that of the church as institution or

organization, but in a rather extreme form. It is understood as a ‘perfect’ society, in that it is not

subordinate to any other, and lacks nothing from an institutional point of view. This ‘political

society’ model tends to highlight to excess the external and organizational features of the church

by giving a one-sided emphasis to the church’s constitution or basic set-up, to its set of rules

(canon law), to its governing body, and to the members of the church as subjects of the authority

of its bishops, priests and deacons. While it makes much of the rights and powers of its officials,

it tends to downplay the rights and entitlements of its other members.

This model dominated from the late Middle Ages until 1962, the start of the Second

Vatican Council. An excessive focus on external structures, on the power and right of the few to

command and on the duty of the many to obey, however, leads to ‘institutionalism’, ‘a system in

which the institutional element is treated as primary’.( Dulles, 27) This is a type of ideology

which draws lines of separation between the church that teaches and the church that is taught

(overlooking the fact that the church that teaches must also be one that learns), between the

church sanctifying and the church sanctified, between the church governing and the church

governed. (Dulles, 30)

iii. STRENGTHS

In the years and centuries during which this model was dominant, it served to give Catholics a

strong sense of corporate identity and solidarity and a strong sense of institutional loyalty.

(Dulles, 35)

Some features of this model are still important in a Catholic understanding of the church, such as

the bonds of shared faith and beliefs, of shared prayer and sacraments, and of church leadership

and government.

iv. WEAKNESSES

The weaknesses of this model include the following: It has little support in scripture and early

church tradition, which suggest that the early church was anything but a single tightly-knit

society and functioned in less authoritarian and more communitarian modes than this model

suggests. (Dulles, 34)

Three defects flowing from it were identified at the Second Vatican Council. They are,

first of all, clericalism, i.e. control, domination and even oppression by ordained persons, on the

one hand, and passivity, blind obedience, and non-involvement of lay persons on the other.

Another defect identified is juridicism, i.e. an emphasis on law and order which tends to

turn the gospel into laws and obligations with a corresponding lack of attention to relationships

with God the Father, with Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, with fellow Christians and fellow

human beings generally.

A third defect identified is triumphalism, i.e. lording it over others, and putting others

down. Triumphalism places more importance on the prerogatives of authority stemming from

valid institutional appointment, than on prayerful discernment in the appointees of the gifts of the

Holy Spirit for ministry. An excessive emphasis on the hierarchy also tends to inhibit the role of

theologians as the church’s think-tank. As a closed society, it is out of touch with the demands of

the times. (Dulles, 37)

H. THE CHURCH AS A COMMUNION

Underlying this model is the conviction that the church is a community of interconnected

persons. It therefore emphasizes relationships. Love, acceptance, forgiveness, commitment, and

intimacy constitute the church’s very fabric. It is a community in which justice, peace and

mutual love are realized and lived.

i. STRENGTHS(Dulles, 51)

The strengths of this model include the following.

o It connects with the in-born need of every human being for sharing and intimacy.

o It is more democratic and less hierarchical than the previous one.

o It stresses the activity and gifts of the Spirit in all the members, and the dependence of all

on the contributions of each.

o It is very ecumenical, since it accentuates the biblical images of the Body of Christ, the

People of God, and the Temple of the Holy Spirit, all of which are dear to the hearts of

Orthodox and Protestant Christians.

o It harmonizes with the teachings of the great Doctors of the Church, Augustine and

Aquinas, and of the Second Vatican Council, that the church is essentially a fellowship of

the Holy Spirit, a shared communion (koinonia) of grace.

o It tends to revive Christian spirituality and the practice of prayer.42

o It is a reminder that the Holy Spirit both speaks to and inspires all kinds of persons in the

church and not merely those ordained.

o It can and should challenge office-holders to discover, utilize and coordinate the many

charisms among their people for the well-being of the whole community. As St Paul

wrote: ‘Do not quench the Spirit…but test everything and hold fast to what is good’ (1

Thessalonians 5:19-20).

o It is the ultimate basis of rich interpersonal relationships of love within warm, caring

human communities. So much so that it represents ‘the fulfilment of the age-old dream of

all humanity for union with God and fellow human beings in justice, peace, and joy’.

ii. WEAKNESSES

Weaknesses with this model of communion include the following:

o There is some obscurity about the relationship between the spiritual and the visible

dimensions of the church.

o Secondly, with its strong focus on the connection of the church with the divine, it may

give the impression that the church itself is as fully divine as Jesus, and be blind to the

fact that across the board, the church is made up of human beings, who for that very

reason are more or less weak, ignorant, sinful, inconsistent, unfaithful and unreliable.

o Thirdly, it does not provide any strong motivation for missionary work.

o Fourthly, there is some unresolved tension between the church as a network of friendly

interpersonal relationships and the church as a communion of grace.

o Fifthly, to be wrapped up in the joy and blessing of Christian fellowship may mean

forgetting the church’s mission as servant of the kingdom of God.

o Sixthly, members of close communities may feel at home only among themselves and

regard others as outsiders and intruders.

I. THE CHURCH AS SACRAMENT

A sacrament is a sign, a particular kind of sign. A simple sign is merely a pointer to or an

indicator of something else, usually of something absent. But a sacrament is a full sign, a sign of

something or someone that is really present. So, in the first place, a sacrament is a sign of grace,

i.e. a sign of the presence of Christ (acting in the Holy Spirit).

In order to bring together the external and internal aspects of the church into a

satisfactory synthesis, many Catholic theologians have viewed the church as a sacrament. They

reason that if Jesus Christ is the sacrament of God, the church is the sacrament of Christ. She

represents him, not just because she continues his work on earth, but also because she is the

continuation of his person. This is to say that the members of the church continue to be for others

his body, mouth, eyes, ears, heart, hands and feet. Their responsibility is to bring people into

contact with Christ and his Spirit.

As a sacrament itself, the church has both an outward and an inner aspect. The outward or

structural aspect of the church is its external organization. That is essential, for without it the

church would not be visible. (Dulles, 61) Its inner aspect is the presence of Christ (acting in the

Spirit) within the faith, hope and love of the members of his body.

iii. STRENGTHS

The strengths of this model include the following.

o It brings together the visible and the invisible dimensions of the church.

o It gives a boost to missionary work, by stressing that the community of the church is

meant to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

o It can motivate its members to work together for God’s kingdom of unity, truth, love,

integrity, justice, reconciliation, peace and joy.

iv. WEAKNESSES

Weaknesses with this model include difficulties in communicating it, at least at the

popular level, and the fact that it has not been taken up much in Protestant life and thought.

(Dulles, 67)

Another difficulty is that it does not offer concrete criteria for discerning, evaluating and

judging the divine and the merely human features of the church. (Dulles, 67)

J. THE CHURCH AS HERALD

This model sees the church as gathered, formed and constituted by the proclamation of

the word of God and its acceptance in faith. This model therefore sees the church as the herald of

God’s word. It views the church as having received an official message and the commission to

pass it on. ‘The basic image is that of the herald of a king who comes to proclaim a royal decree

in a public square.’ (Dulles, 69)

iii. STRENGTHS

Among the strengths of this model are the following:

o It is biblically-based in the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament63 and in the

preaching in the New Testament of Peter, Paul and others.

o Secondly, it gives a clear sense of identity and mission to the church, and especially to

the local church as a congregation heralding the good news of Jesus Christ. (Dulles, 76-

77)

o Thirdly, it fosters a spirituality that emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the distance

between God and human beings, (Dulles, 77) and God’s call in his word for repentance

and reform of life.

iv. WEAKNESSES

A major weakness of this model includes the fact that it can be too wordy, and overlook

or downplay the truth emphasized by Catholic Christians that the Word of God became flesh in

Jesus Christ,(Dulles, 77ff) and that he is still embodied in the church, his body on earth, and in

its sacraments.

Another Catholic critique is that it focuses too exclusively on witness to the neglect of

action. (Dulles, 79) It is too pessimistic in regard to human effort to cooperate with grace to build

a better. human society (and even the kingdom of God on earth), and that it fails to recognise the

duty of Christians to do so.

Lastly, it easily gives rise to biblical fundamentalism, one of the greatest threats to the

gospel message today.

K. THE CHURCH AS SERVANT

The basic attitude that goes with this model is that the church is in the world, not over against the

world, and that as part of the human family, it shares the concerns of other human beings. The

image which best goes with this attitude is that of the church as servant.

i. STRENGTHS

o A particular strength of this model is that it saves the church from being turned in on

itself, but rather turned out towards struggling and suffering human beings wherever they

are.

o It sees the church as an agent of social change.

o It continues the activity of Jesus himself, whose heart was moved with compassion for all

kinds of sick, broken and needy persons, and who frequently restored them to physical

and mental health.

o It is backed by what Jesus says about works of mercy in his Parable of the Great

Judgment (Mt 25: 31-46), ‘I was hungry…’

ii. WEAKNESSES

One suggested weakness is the inadequacy or ambiguity of the image of ‘servant’. It

suggests work done under orders and not freely, work done for the good of others but not for

oneself, and work that is humble and degrading. (Dulles, 91)

Another possible weakness is that in the NT the service (diakonia) mentioned is the

service Christians give to one another.

L. THE COMMUNITY OF DISCIPLES MODEL

Dulles has added a chapter that he calls ‘The Church: Community of Disciples’. Implicitly, he

appears to view this model as a kind of unifying thread running through the five previous

models, and one that tends to bring them closer together.

This image and model is solidly grounded in scripture, in the action of Jesus in his public life of

gathering around him a big group of followers, both men and women. (Dulles, 199ff) Among

those who followed in his footsteps were his chosen inner circle of close companions and co-

workers, known as ‘the Twelve’. A new image has been born, one that emphasizes personal

experience of Jesus Christ alive.

i. STRENGTHS

The discipleship model gives a real boost to evangelisation and service, the emphases of

the fourth and fifth models.

Dulles stresses further that the discipleship model motivates the members of the church

to imitate Jesus in their personal lives. (Dulles, 214)

He also suggests that the same qualities which make the church the sacrament of Christ

also make it the community of disciples. Jesus Christ is really present in the community of

disciples as in a sacrament.

But community of disciples is a somewhat better designation than sacrament, since the

latter is somewhat impersonal and because it also suggests that the church is without defect.

Moreover, the idea of community of disciples has more support in Scripture than the

church as sacrament. (Dulles, 215)

ii. WEAKNESSES

Like the other models, the community of disciples does have some weaknesses, ones

which Dulles identifies, but at least partly refutes. (Dulles, 215ff) But it also has this strength

that it calls attention to the radical break with worldly values that is required for fidelity to Jesus,

and it does not conceal or play down the cost of following him, and of giving him first place in

one’s life - above family, friends, property and personal ambition. (Dulles, 215-216) If this

seems like ‘mission impossible’, the advice Dulles gives is particularly appropriate ‘Discipleship

always depends upon a call or vocation from Christ, a demanding call that brings with it the

grace needed for its own acceptance.’ (Dulles, 217)

Dulles continues: I repeat…that the community of disciples is only one perspective on

the church. Other images and models, such as servant, sacrament, mystical body, and institution,

are needed to remind us that the church is an organic and juridically organized community

established by the Lord and animated by his Spirit. Through reflection on these models, we can

continually enrich our understanding of discipleship itself. (Dulles, 226)

CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

At the outset of this study, the researcher has a hypothesis in mind that there must be

model or models that would best fit or apply into the present circumstances that the Church faces

in her struggle to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the mystery of God relevant and

significant. This idea of which model is relevant is conditioned by the circumstances that

characterize and express the contemporary period like the surge of computer technology and

cybernetics wherein people are drawn to the idea of making the whole world into a village, into a

community. This new culture attracts more and more people to socialize even in an unreal way,

in a virtual mode of interpersonal relationship.

But after evaluating and seeing all the models presented by Avery Dulles, the author still

asks the question regarding the model or models which is/are the most relevant in this

contemporary period. John Fuellenbach also asks the same question:

What image do we have of the church as the true bearer and carrier of Jesus’ own

vision? Do we have an image of the church which can inspire people and provide

them with an ideal with which they can identify and to which they can commit

themselves with enthusiasm and lasting zeal?’ (John Fuellenbach, Church:

Community for the Kingdom(Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books, 2002), 250-251)

But no answers to those questions will be adequate if we take into account the insistence of

Dulles that no one model by itself is sufficient for an adequate understanding of the complex

mystery of the church in all its dimensions. He has said: ‘In order to do justice to the various

aspects of the church, as a complex reality, we must work simultaneously with different models.

By a kind of mental juggling act, we have to keep several models in the air at once.’ (Dulles, 10)

The different models must complement one another, and compensate for the deficiencies of

each. (Dulles, 206) We cannot just select or choose one model’s salient and important features at

the expense of other models’ salient and important features. This is for the main reason that

the models that have come into the fore…reflect the salient

features of the Church of Christ as it exists at any time or place.

Hence, by its very constitution, the Church is a communion of

grace (Model 2) structured as a human society (Model 1). While

sanctifying its own members, it offers praise and worship to God

(Model 3). It is permanently charged with the responsibility of

spreading the good news of the Gospel (Model 4) and of healing

and consolidating the human community (Model 5). (Dulles, 204)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Benedict XVI.Light of the World: the Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times,translated

byMichael Millerand AdrianWalker.California: Ignatius Press, 2010.

Gibbs, E. and Coffey,I., Church Next Quantum Changes in Christian Ministry. England: Inter-

Varsity Press, 2001.

Dulles, Avery. Models of the Church.New York: Doubleday, 1987.

Fuellenbach,John. Church: Community for the Kingdom.Maryknoll NY: Orbis Books,

2002