Christian Community in History Volume 2: Comparative Ecclesiology

"Ecclesiology from below," as it operates in this work, is directed to history; it moves through the actual church of history to ecclesiology or to an understanding of the church both as it is and as it should be. In the first volume that passage was fairly explicit because comprehensive ecclesiologies in our sense did not exist. In this volume ecclesiology itself becomes much more directly the subject matter of the book, but without losing sight of concrete history and the degree to which these ecclesiologies are historically conditioned. Put somewhat differently, the main goal of this "comparative ecclesiology" is not simply to lay down one after another different ecclesiologies that emerged over the last five hundred years, although that describes the book with empirical accuracy. Its larger intent is to show the richness, vitality, and creativity of the whole church as it moves through history, adjusting to new times, places, and cultures.

Roger Haight, SJ, has a PhD from the University of Chicago (1973) and a STL from the Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago (1981). He has taught for over 30 years in Jesuit schools of theology in Chicago, Toronto, the Philippines, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has been a visiting professor in France, India, Peru, and Kenya. He is a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America (1994/95). Jesus Symbol of God won 1st place in the Catholic Press Association's 2000 Book Award for theology. Dynamics of Theology won 2nd place in CPA's 1991 Book Award for Theology. His most recent work is Christian Community in History in 2 volumes. He currently teaches at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.