The Divine-Human Communion

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He has had the courage to do something very serious: to propose a synthesis of the current understanding of the Church in the light of both reason and faith. It is thus not at all surprising that Napiórkowski’s study has already been translated into German and has been published by the prestigious Peter Lang Verlag in Frankfurt am Main (A. Napiórkowski, Gott-menschliche Gemeinschaft. Katholische integrale Ekklesiologie, Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2011). Now we have even an English version of his book: “The Divine-Human Communion. An Outline of Catholic Integral Ecclesiology”, translated by Jerzy Warakomski (Frankfurt a. M.-Bern—Bruxelles-New York-Oxford-Warszawa-Wien 2015, pages 423).

The understanding of the Church in the history of Christianity was - and still is - a subject of numerous misunderstandings, either among the believers themselves or those who observe it from the outside.

The book of Prof. Andrzej Napiórkowski is a well-structured methodological fundamental-dogmatic study, which aims at presenting a comprehensive overview of the Church in the light of reason and faith. Presenting the post-conciliar approach of the integral ecclesiology, the Professor from Kraków puts a stronger emphasis on biblical origins and nature of the Church (situating its beginning even as a pre-existence in the concept of God the Father) and on the split between the synagogue and the young community of followers of Jesus Christ.

The author of “The Divine-Human Communion. An Outline of Catholic Integral Ecclesiology” expands the hallmarks of the Church from the usual four to five (Marianity). He also presents a growing communio in practice and in ecclesial self-awareness. It is worth noting that the book contains a fairly extensive reconstruction of the historical-dogmatic development of the thought about the Church.