The Mission of the Church by Edward Schillebeeckx, O.P. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS The Mission of the Church. By Edward Schillebeeckx, O.P. New York: The Seabury Press, 1973. Pp. Q53. $9.75. In this fourth volume of Theological Soundings Schillebeeckx develops a theme which he has previously presented in his Christ, the Sacrament of Enco1mter with God and his article in Concilium (vol. 1), "The Church and Mankind," the sacramental nature of the Church with particular reference to the various functions within the Church and their mutually interrelated services to the world. Because the sacramental nature of the Church clearly defines the missionary thrust of the Church, there is a definite inward direction of the Church which calls forth a constant renewal and re-formation as the Church proceeds in time. This renewal and re-formation is necessary if the Gospel is to be able to offer answers to the questions which modern Christian man puts to it. This is the basic message of the :first two chapters of the work. In Chapter Three Schillebeeckx lays out the basis from which this inward and outward direction flow. The Church is the historical manifestation and completion of God' plan of salvation. It is the visible embodiment of the salvation which is already at work within the world through the Paschal Mystery of Christ. Thus, the saving grace which is present outside the Church, where men personally respond to God's saving will, is visibly present in the community called Church. Moreover, this implies that the Church is the sacrament of the world, inasmuch as the Church is called by God to reveal the world to itself-what it is and what it is to become. With Chapter Four Schillebeeckx begins his understanding of the outward direction of the Church. Using the sacramental nature of the Church which is at the basis of the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World, he analyzes the relationship that the Church must have with the world in light of the coming of age of modern man with all his hopes and desires. This then sets the stage for Chapter Five which is concerned with the vital place of the layman in the Church. Because of his unique position as a member of the Church and his Christian relationship with the secular world, the layman shares in the total mission of the Church as sacrament of the world. Consequently, because of the rather limited theology of the layman, it becomes one of the imperative tasks of the theologian to define clearly the layman's function within this sacramental sign. 370 BOOK REVIEWS 371 The remaining chapters of the volume, which are concerned with the other ecclesial functions of religious and the hierarchy, are attempts to come to a better understanding of how these can manifest specifically their manner of being Christian in the world, whether it be as eschatological signs of the Reign of God or as signs of the true meaning of Christian authority. Hence, the whole People of God in light of its specific functions becomes the sacrament of God's saving presence in the world. Through its mission it becomes the revelation of the mystery of the life of the world in its fullest dimension. One of the principal drawbacks of this present volume is that the English translation has been six years in coming. But in addition to this, the book is merely a compilation of lectures and articles which were delivered or appeared between the years 1963-68. Before publication the author should have taken care to reorganize and clarify some of his material. The two chapters on the layman could have been reduced to one; as they now stand, they are repetitious. Some of the author's attempts to show the development in thought in the various preliminary drafts of the documents of Vatican II are obtuse and verbose, particularly in reference to the role of the layman and the Pastoral Consitution on the Church in the Modern World. In the chapter on religious life, which is an excellent treatment of its sign value, one is left with the question as to what is the relationship that should exist between the layman and the religious? His treatment of...