tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post3307375976525453535..comments2024-03-18T20:24:18.935-05:00Comments on Alexander Pruss's Blog: The Church of Christ "subsists in the catholic Church"Alexander R Prusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-34904194468393377552007-11-29T04:06:00.000-06:002007-11-29T04:06:00.000-06:00Maybe the Church describes itself figuratively whe...Maybe the Church describes itself figuratively when it describes itself a person. The Bible teaches that Church, i.e., the One Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Roman Church, is both Christ's bride and his Mystical Body. To say that the Catholic Church is Christ's bride is to say that it is, at least figuratively, female, since each bride female. To say that the Catholic Church is Christ's Mystical Body is to say, at least figuratively, that it is a male body, since Our Lord is male. But I know of no male human being who has a fully female body, and no orthodox Catholic would tell you, literally or figuratively, that the Catholic Church is hermaphroditic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-56066695156921694172007-11-22T15:10:00.000-06:002007-11-22T15:10:00.000-06:00pgr,Henri de Lubac's Splendor of the Church, the c...pgr,<BR/><BR/>Henri de Lubac's Splendor of the Church, the chapter on Mystical Body of Christ is good. <BR/><BR/>Jacques Maritain's On the Church of Christ<BR/><BR/>John Paul the Great also speaks of the Church as a collective subject but I don't remember which encyclical exactly. <BR/><BR/>Finally, there is Hans Urs von Balthasar's work on this. Explorations in Theology vol. 2 has a chapter called "Who is the Church?" Balthasar is well known for speaking of the Church as a theological person. <BR/><BR/>It's pretty obvious to me that we can speak of the Church as a person since we speak of her soul and body, the Spirit being the soul of the Church (Leo XII, Augustine, etc) and the Church as the body of Christ. And since Mary is the prototype of the Church and Mary is a person...etc.Aphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04226017144967122488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-83990360990994472692007-11-22T07:23:00.000-06:002007-11-22T07:23:00.000-06:00Apolonio, how is the "Church of Christ a person"?B...Apolonio, how is the "Church of Christ a person"?<BR/><BR/>Because she is the Bride of Christ? <BR/>Because the Church is Christ Himself? <BR/><BR/>I can definitely see some signs of personification are part of our best descriptions of the Church, but I feel the statement that "The Church of Christ is a Person" is perhaps excessive or unfounded.<BR/><BR/>I would like to hear where you base this statement, so I can think about this (interesting) line of thought.<BR/><BR/>Thanks!<BR/><BR/>PgrAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-71124068313437995132007-11-21T20:16:00.000-06:002007-11-21T20:16:00.000-06:00That is interesting. It would be worthwhile devel...That is interesting. It would be worthwhile developing the analogy in greater detail. The person subsists in the essence as well as in the existence. What, then, does the Catholic Church correspond to? The essence? The existence?Alexander R Prusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05989277655934827117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3891434218564545511.post-18669234713689435742007-11-21T13:30:00.000-06:002007-11-21T13:30:00.000-06:00I like your proposal! I think it fits nicely with ...I like your proposal! I think it fits nicely with the scholastic understanding of subsistence. Jacques Maritain noted that subsistence is the ontological foundation of personality. The Church of Christ is a Person. There may be a presence of this person in other churches or ecclesial communities, but those churches and ecclesial communities do not act in the person of the Church.Aphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04226017144967122488noreply@blogger.com