The Composition of the People of God

THE THOMIST A SPECULATIVE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY EDITORS: THE DoMINICAN FATHERS oF THE PROVINCE OF ST. JosEPH Publishers: The Thomist Press, Washington, D. C. 20017 VoL. XXXIII JULY, 1969 No.3 THE COMPOSITION OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD T HE PEOPLE of God is a salvific reality which originates from the divine plan for the salvation of men. It incarnates this plan in history and tends to the fulfilment of all the forms of historical change by the final return to God, when men, " regenerated in Christ through the Holy Spirit and beholding together the glory of God will be able to say 'Our Father.'" 1 Accordingly, the constitution of the People of God passes through three great stages. The first embraces the whole period of its preparation, which lasted until the coming of Jesus. The second stage extends from the coming of Christ until the end of time; and, finally, the third is established above all time, because men saved through God's grace will have achieved in God himself that fullness of perfection which is possible for them. In each of these stages the People of God manifests special characteristics which it is necessary to consider in order to determine its configuration or physiognomy. As these great 1 Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity (Ad gentes divinitus), n. 7 fin. 405 406 ARMANDO BANDERA stages are differing manifestations of one sole plan of salvation, no one of them can be correctly understood except in relation to the last and definitive stage; this one alone fully incarnates God's plan. Even during its life here on earth the People of God " is marked with a genuine though imperfect holiness:' 2 that is, imperfect as compared with the definitive holiness of the life to come. Presupposing the essential ordination of each stage to the next and of all of them to the last and definitive stage, it is possible, however, to examine specifically the characteristics of one of these stages in order to determine what the composition or constitution of the People of God is at a given moment, without losing sight of the fact that its full constitution will be achieved at the end of time.8 The Present Stage of the People of God For evident reasons which need no explanation, everything that relates to the composition or constitution of the People of God during the present stage holds special interest for us, since this stage is situated between the preparation and the ultimate consummation. This situation makes clear to us that the People of God among whom we live should display characteristics of the transitoriness linking it with the earlier phase, as well as anticipations of the permanence which lead it to the threshold of full union with Christ in the glory of the Father. The present stage of the People of God can be defined as that of fullness in the faith,4 of historical fullness, of sacra2 Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen gentium), n. 48. 3 This typically eschatological view of the Church or People of God was habitual among the great masters of theology, as can be seen in St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theol., III, q. 8, a. 3. Full incorporation into the Church or People of God or Body of Christ is achieved in glory, where the essence of the Chur~h will be fully manifested. When the eschatological view was lost, there arose the error of regarding this way of speaking among the great masters to be inexact, if not dangerous. The renewed ecclesiology which we have today rectifies the preceding· deviation and is situated along the line of those masters whose doctrine fits in with the great riches afforded especially through Vatican II. • Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), nos. 4 and 8. THE COMPOSITION OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD 407 mental fullness.5 All these formulas, and others like them which could be proposed, express one and the same fundamental idea. A stage of faith can be had only in this life; yet, by speaking of a full faith, any new public revelation in this world is excluded, so that the stage which follows...