PRELIMINARIES

THEO 300 - Ecclesiology and Sacramentology

Sir Christopher D. Alaba

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ABBREVIATIONS & TERMINOLOGIES

1 1 Cor 4 Eph.
First Corinthians Ephesians

2 1 Pt 5 Par..
Paragraph
First Peter

3 Jn. 6 Can.
Canon
John "measuring rod or rule."

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ABBREVIATIONS & TERMINOLOGIES

7 CBCP 10 BEC
Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Basic Ecclesial Community
in the Philippines (1945)

8 CCC 11 Vatican II
2nd Vatican Council (Oct. 11,1962-
Catechism of the Catholic
Church (1992) Dec. 8, 1965 =Nearly 3 years)

9 CFC
Catechism for Filipino
12 PCP II
2nd Plenary Council of the Phil.
Catholics (1997) (Jan. 20 to Feb 17, 1991=28 days)

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PUBLISHED BOOKS

CCC CFC VATICAN II PCP II

P ublished 1992 P ublished 1997 1962 – 1965 1991 (28 da y s)

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ABBREVIATIONS & TERMINOLOGIES

13 Ekklesia 16 GS (Gaudium et Spes)

Pastoral Constitution on the
Greek term for the word “Church”
Church in the Modern World

14 A.D. (Anno Domini) 17 LG (Lumen Gentium)

Dogmatic Constitution on the
in the year of the Lord
Church

15 AG (Ad Gentes) 18 UR (Unitatis Redintegratio)

Decree on Church’s Missionary Church Decree on Ecumenism
Activity

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ABBREVIATIONS & TERMINOLOGIES

19 Aggiornamento (Italian) 22 Simul Justus et Peccatur

Renewal, updating, change, The Church as simultaneously
growth, reform redeemed and sinful.

20 Mysterion 23 Qahal Yahweh

God’s loving plan of salvation Organized worshipping
for all the people. assembly of Yahweh.

21 Ecclesia Semper Reformanda 24 Ingens Multituldo

Church always needing renewal, Large Numbers (of People)
reform, conversion.

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ABBREVIATIONS & TERMINOLOGIES

19 Magisterium 22 Christotokos
The official teaching office of the Bearer or mother of the Christ
Church. (Savior).

20 Homoousios 23 Theotokos
The Son as same substance (uosia) The title of Virgin Mary as the
or consubstantial with the Father “Mother of God”.

21 Anathema 24 Pelagianism (Pelagius)

Those who distort or intend to ruin Everything depends on human
the Church with erroneous beliefs. effort alone.

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ABBREVIATIONS & TERMINOLOGIES

19 Ecumenism 22 Parousia
Restoring unity of the Christian Glorious second coming of Christ
Churches through respectful dialog. to judge the living and the dead.

20 Inter-religious Dialog
Dialog between the Catholic Church and
23 Eschaton, Eschatology
Meaning ultimate destiny, for the
non-Christian religions, seeking common
grounds of unity and holiness. Christians it is in Christ.

21 Inculturation 24 Kingdom of God

Adaptation of the ways of Church Its coming is central to the teaching
teachings to a different culture. and healing ministry of Christ.

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 • HUMAN & DIVINE ELEMENT
OF THE CHURCH (Rich history of
the Church and on-going journey in faith)

• Human History of the

Church (Apostolic Age to Period of
Enlightenment to Vatican II)

• CATHOLIC PROFESSION
OF FAITH (Reformation to
Counter-Reformation)

• GENERAL FLOW
• MYSTERIES ON THE
of Discussion DOCTRINE OF
• At the End of this course students ESCHATOLOGY (End times and
the role of the Church in its fulfillment)
shall be able to explain the following.
PRELIMINARIES: BIBLICAL FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH

A Covenant between Yahweh & Abraham

B Covenant Violation & its Consequences

Biblical Foundation of the Church

C The Great Messianic Expectation

Did Jesus intend to Establish a Church?

D
Foundation of the

For Christians the foundation of the Church can be traced

as early as the Old Testament time, and vindicated by the
person of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. 1
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 Humble beginning of Israel
1 as a people.

2 Israel’s Religious Experiences

Fulfillment of God’s
INTRODUCTION 3 promise of in Jesus
Imperatives
Discussion if Jesus really
Brief Survey of the Old Testament 4 intended to found a Church
A
 Etymologically, is derived from the Hebrew
COVENANT word b e r i t , which refers to agreement, or
legal contract between kins.

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 COVENANT
When Applied between God and Abraham

BASIC RELATIONSHIP SACRED IRREVOCABLE PACT

Understood as more than a legal contract or agreement.

 COVENANT
CONDITIONS

01
Yahweh shall give Abraham
the Land of Canaan

02
Promise of Countless
Descendants

03 Assurance of Yahweh’s
Protection

04 They shall worship and keep

Yahweh as their only God
 COVENANT But the Promises
RENEWED & were Put to Test
Laws Given
COVENANT RENEWED & LAWS GIVEN

In the b o o k o f E x o d u s , the new Pharaoh

turned the Israelites into slaves and treated
them with cruelty and oppression.

Yet Yahweh heard the cry of his people, and

remained true to his word. He raised up a
l i b e r a t o r in the person of Moses. To f r e e
h i s p e o p l e and l e a d them to a land he
promised Abraham and his descendants.

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COVENANT RENEWED & LAWS GIVEN

Yahweh’s unanimous victory over Pharaoh

and his pantheon of God’s led pharaoh to
c o n c e d e h i s d e f e a t and helplessness
before the mighty powerful God of Moses.

The defeated Pharaoh eventually issued a

decree for the f r e e d o m o f t h e
H e b r e w s and their return to Canaan.

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COVENANT RENEWED & LAWS GIVEN

Chapter 20 of Exodus narrates the r e n e w a l

of the Covenant. Such covenant was unique
because the God of Abraham d i r e c t l y
e n t e r s i n t o a n a g r e e m e n t with Israel
as his chosen people.

In return, Israel pledged its worship and

loyalty to Yahweh alone. Yahweh then gave
them the 1 0 c o m m a n d m e n t s that
would govern and guide their way of life.

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COVENANT RENEWED & LAWS GIVEN

Israel has grown more defined int its

i d e n t i t y and more organized and
systematic in l i v i n g o u t i t s d u t i e s
towards God as indicated by its laws and
precepts.

Israel as God’s chosen people evolved into

an organized worshipping assembly of
Yahweh guided by its fundamental laws,
beliefs, and rituals. – Qahal Yahweh

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 Despite God’s goodness,
COVENANT
the Israelites succumbed
VIOLATION & to their own failures and
Consequences unfaithfulness.
 PAGAN WORSHIP
There were times when Israelites resorted to
pagan worship of the C a n a a n i t e g o d s –
El, Baal, Asherah, Anat, Astarte, in order to
ensure a good harvest, or the continuity of
the gift of childbirth, or the hope of divine
protection.

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 ABUSES OF KINGS

There were instances when Israel’s kings

ordered the execution of the prophets for
openly condemning their political alliances,
personal abuses, and religious compromises
with their pagan neighbors.
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There was the s e p a r a t i o n of the
Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel
(due to Solomon’s permission to the
worship of the pagan gods, imposition of
heavy taxes, forced labor).

VIOLATION AND DISOBEDIENCE paid

with Terrible Consequences
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The series of i n v a s i o n s by their powerful
pagan neighbors (the Assyrians and the
Babylonians).

VIOLATION AND DISOBEDIENCE paid

with Terrible Consequences
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The gradual decadence of Israel as a nation,
and ultimately their e x i l e to a foreign land,
known as the great B a b y l o n i a n E x i l e .

VIOLATION AND DISOBEDIENCE paid

with Terrible Consequences
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 When Israel was about to turn
THE GREAT their back on Yahweh and
MESSIANIC grieve in guilt for their
violation, Yahweh never gave
EXPECTATION up on them.
THE PROPHET’S MESSAGE

HOSEA 11:8-9a YAHWEH Reveled his

great Compassion and Love for Israel.

How could I give you up, O Ephraim, or deliver

you up, O Israel? How could I treat you like
Admah or make you like Zeboiim? My heart is
overwhelmed, my pity is stirred. I will not give
bent to my blazing anger, I will not destroy
Ephraim again, for I am God not man.

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GOD’S FORGIVENESS

God eradicated the punishment for

violating the conditions of the Covenant.

God recoiled in his compassion for love of

his covenant partner, Israel who had fallen
into sin.

On the other hand, Israel, reflecting in its own

history of sin and sacrilege toward the sacred
bond, started to pray and hope for the Divine
intervention.

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ISRAEL’S ONE GREAT HOPE

Israel hoped for the arrival of the D e l i v e r e r

who would restore unity and fidelity of Israel
to their God.

The S a v i o r who would redeem the fallen

race from sin.

The A n o i n t e d / C h o s e n O n e who would

restore the sacred covenant between
Yahweh and his people.

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 It is imperative to ground OUR
RELEVANCE DISCUSSION ON THE Church
OF THE with the formation and
experiences of Israel as the
COVENANT covenant partner of Yahweh.
The nature of the covenant remains an essential concept in
understanding the relationship between God and his people.

The idea of religious assembly, Qahal Yahweh is based on

God’s gratuitous initiative to reach out to his people.

Israel has freely responded on the basis of faith and loyalty

towards Yahweh aided by commandments, precepts and
traditions handed unto them.

RELEVANCE OF THE COVENANT

 The Life and Person
of Jesus
The ultimate realization and fulfillment of
the long awaited Messiah, the renewal of
God’s covenant unto us.

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 DID JESUS Few of the dominant
INTEND TO positions HELD by Catholic
theologians regarding the
ESTABLISH A said debate
CHURCH?
HANS KÜNG
In his book the C H U R C H , Hans Küng laid down his
arguments pertaining to the question on the foundation of
the Church:

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 HANS KÜNG’S ARGUMENTS

◆ In the pre-Easter Period, Jesus

◆ In the pre-Easter Period,
during his lifetime, Jesus A B
did not found a Church.
by his preaching and ministry,
laid the foundations for the
emergence of a post-
resurrection Church.

◆ The origins of the Church did

C D
◆ The Church existed from
not lie solely in the intention
the time of faith in the and message of Jesus, but in
resurrection. the whole history of Jesus life
and ministry: that is the entire
action of God in Jesus Christ..

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HANS KÜNG’S ARGUMENTS

Jesus never required his followers, and even his

apostles to form an exclusive community, or religious
community. According to Kung the gospels never
report any public announcement by Jesus of his
intention to found a Church or a new covenant.

Instead Jesus emphasized an obedient acceptance of

his message of salvation and the immediate and
radical submission of the individual to the will of God.

In the pre-Easter Period, during his lifetime,

Jesus did not found a Church.
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HANS KÜNG’S ARGUMENTS

Jesus, however, in his message of the imminent reign

of God confronted men and women to a fundamental
decision of belief or unbelief, obedience or
disobedience.

This inevitably became divisive in the sense that those

who chose to believe and obey him became decisively
distinguished from those who rejected it (Jesus’
message) as far as the coming of God is concerned.

In the pre-Easter Period, Jesus by his preaching and

ministry, laid the foundations for the emergence of a
post-resurrection Church.
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HANS KÜNG’S ARGUMENTS

Küng explains: The Church came into existence as

soon as men gathered together in faith in the
resurrection of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth.

The Church came into existence in the expectation of

the coming consummation of the reign of God and the
return of the risen Christ in glory,.

The Church existed from the time of

faith in the resurrection.
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HANS KÜNG’S ARGUMENTS

From Jesus birth to his death, from his resurrection

to the event of sending the Holy Spirit, God was
lovingly active in and through Jesus.

That those who believe communally in the risen

Jesus could claim to be the new eschatological
people of God.

The origins of the Church did not lie solely in the

intention and message of Jesus, but in the whole
history of Jesus life and ministry: that is the entire
action of God in Jesus Christ.
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ADELBERT DENAUX
Jesus making an explicit intention of founding a Church is
hardly supported by any direct and explicit scriptural
evidences.

But to understand the post-resurrection Church in relation

to the Pre-Easter Jesus and his message is an essential
way of fostering fidelity to the Church’s theological, social
and historical foundation.

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ADELBERT DENAUX
on the Institution of the Church

Jesus’ Passion, Post-Easter INTERIM Jesus’ Second

Pre- Easter
Death and Institutional (Period in Coming
Jesus
Resurrection Church between Time) (Parousia)

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The Pre—Easter Jesus was very clear in his intention of
gathering the whole people of Israel where religious
dissension and political chaos was an inseparable context.

He preached God’s universal, imminent Lordship and

urgently called everyone to prepare, to repent as the new
chosen people of God, Jews and Gentiles.

Jesus chose the Twelve as his immediate circle. When his

disciples group together as an assembly, an ekklesia, it can
be said to be the prefiguration of the institutional Church.

From Pre-Easter Jesus to

Post- Easter Institutional Church
 ADELBERT DENAUX
on the Institution of the Church

BUT there were oppositions

against Jesus.
The authorities of his time threatened him, even
conspired for his death on the cross. Aware of the
threat, the opposition against him, Jesus
integrates his approaching death into his
conception of Gods Lordship.
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 T EN SION ar o und th e ear ly
Ch ristian M o v ement
ADELBERT DENAUX The early Christian movement with their traditions,

on the Institution of
beliefs and celebrations centered on Jesus Christ
gradually came into being side by side with the

the Church existing religious groups and institutions of the

First Century Palestine.
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ADELBERT DENAUX
on the Institution of the Church

T h e El ement o f
CONTINUITY
Therefore, the foundation of the Church should not
essentially be viewed, and even judged in knowing
Jesus’ explicit intention but in finding the essential
element of continuity from the pre-Easter Jesus to the
Post Easter institutional Church, and the ongoing life of
the Church as pilgrims awaiting for his Second Coming.
JOSEPH RATZINGER
No less than the pope emeritus of the Catholic Church
P o p e B e n e d i c t X V I made the following points in
supporting Jesus’ intention of building a community of
faith, a church.

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JOSEPH RATZINGER
Institution of the Church

Jesus clearly made his intention known to restore a

1 divided people, the lost people of Israel. For Ratzinger,

“the entire mission of the Son-made-flesh has a
communitarian finality.
He truly came to unite a dispersed humanity. He truly
came to unite the People of God.
JOSEPH RATZINGER
Institution of the Church

Jesus called and gathered a community of men to be

2 his disciples. He deliberately chose and appointed the

12 Apostles. An action which reveals the prophetic-
symbolic action of the new initiative to re-establish the
holy people.
As the system of the 12 tribes had long since faded out,
it became a sign of the hope of Israel’s restoration.
JOSEPH RATZINGER
Institution of the Church

The Apostles, before Jesus ascended into heaven, was

3 entrusted with great mission of bringing the world into a

community of faith and worship. Jesus clearly indicated
that he will be with the apostles, who became our
historical link as a Church to the risen Christ, until the
end of time.
JOSEPH RATZINGER
Institution of the Church

APOSTOLIC SENDING OFF

Matthew 27:18-20
All the power in heaven and on earth has been given to

3 me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I
have commanded you. And behold I am with you always,
until the end of the age.
JOSEPH RATZINGER
Institution of the Church

PRIMACY AND ROLE OF PETER

among the Apostles as the Head of the Church.

Matthew 16:18-20
And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I

3 will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld

shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the
kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be
bound on heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven.
JOSEPH RATZINGER
Institution of the Church

The use of the

w o rd C HURCH

3
It is only in Matthew 16:18-20 that Jesus explicitly
mentioned the word CHURCH which is refered to in
Greek as Ekklesia and links this Ekklesia headed by Peter
with the Kingdom preached by Jesus.
JOSEPH RATZINGER
Institution of the Church

Pope Benedict XVI wrote:

We cannot have Jesus without the reality he created and

3 in which he communicates himself. Between the Son of

God-made-flesh and his Church, there is a profound,
unbreakable and mysterious continuity by which Christ is
present today in his people. He is always contemporary
with us, he is always contemporary with the Church.
 It is intriguing to know how scholars and authorities argue on
their positions regarding Jesus’ intention of establishing the
Church.

Depending on our bias and rational judgment, their arguments

CONCLUSION and points may appeal to us in various ways.

Catholics are convince of the continuity of the Church from the

intention and action of Jesus.

The same Holy Spirit, who leads us to such wisdom, calls us to

be united with our brothers and sisters amidst our differences,
through our attitude of respect and loving patience, especially to
those who oppose or challenge us in our belief and in our faith.

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PRELIMINARIES
THEO 300 - Ecclesiology and Sacramentology

Sir Christopher D. Alaba

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