Ian Mobsby from Moot completed his MA a year or so ago, (get it here) in it he claimed that the model of church that Dulles identified that was most closely correlated with the emerging church was that of 'Church as Mystical Communion' On the whole i agree with him, but have just been rereading Models of Church and have come across Dulles' weakness of this particular model of church...i think that the weakness ring true of the emerging church. They are:
- The organizational and hierarchical aspect to church are seen as superfluous;
- This model has a tendency to exalt and divinize the Church beyond it’s due;
- It can fail to give Christians a clear sense of identity and mission;
- there is built into these ecclesiological networks a certain tension between the church as a network of friendly interpersonal relationships and the Church as a mystical communion of grace.
Do they ring any bells with you?
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