In his farewell lecture on die occasion of his forthcoming retirement, the Berlin theologian Christof Gestrich raised the question: Is the Protestant church the result of the elimination and correction of human deformations of the church (as die Reformers themselves believed); or is it the historical appearance of a new, theologically deeper church form. In the hermeneutic debate which die Roman Catholic and Orthodox understanding of the church and the teachings of earlier Protestant theologians at Berlin University (F. D. E. Schleiermacher, I. A. Dorner, J. Kaftan and D. Bonhoeffer) Gestrich views the Protestant church as a new historical form of Catholicism. The Catholicism of the church arose from its relationship to Christ, whose incarnation serves die church and is not replaced or continued by it. The Protestant church rests upon this se and is itself catholic. In future ecumenical debate it is not only the question of holy orders that needs to be addressed, but also - and more fundamentally - the relationship between church and Christ between die priesthood of Christ and the priesthood of the church members. A central point to be dealt with in this must be the question of the ecclesiological significance of the incarnation. Worldwide, evangelical denominations require a Christological self-contemplation as preparation for a new phase of ecumenical debate: an inner communication of how they anticipate and receive die "ecclesiastical service for unity" from Jesus Christ (and not from the Papacy). Concurrent to F. Chr. Baur, Gestrich does not see fundamental confessional differences in the comprehension of the visible and invisible church. Gestrich considers comprehensive ecumenical agreement on the theological co-ordination of "Christ and church" to be by all means possible.

Enthalten in:
Theologische Literaturzeitung; 2007/9 Monatsschrift für das gesamte Gebiet der Theologie und Religionswissenschaft (2007)

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Serie / Reihe: Theologische Literaturzeitung

Personen: Gestrich, Christof

Schlagwörter: Evangelische Kirche Systematische Theologie Kirchenverständnis