Beyond the Visible Church

Florian Klug, STD/STL, is a researcher and lecturer at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany.

"Besides offering a timely reflection on a perennial theme—namely, the church's hidden operation in history since Abel—Beyond the Visible Church brings together elements seldom found in a single book. It manages to be historically wide-ranging, hermeneutically sophisticated, and constructive in its proposals. The result is a valuable reminder that the true church, despite its sociological elements, remains a mystery that is not—and never has been—easily circumscribed." Rev. Aaron Pidel, SJ, Assistant Professor of Theology, Marquette University

• ContentsForeword: A Tradition-Based Response to the Religious Ideologies of Exclusion    viiPreface    xiIntroduction: Methodological Approach    xiiiChapter 1The Patristic Applications of the Abel Motif 1Augustine’s Struggle for the Conceptual Breadth of Catholicism (354–430)    1Gregory the Great and the Meaning of Eschatological Signs (540–604)    105Chapter 2The Abel Motif in Medieval Theology    133Bonaventure and the Transparency of the Divine Signs (1221–1274)    133James of Viterbo and the Rise of the Nation-States in Europe (1255–1307)    171Chapter 3Appearances of the Abel Motif in the Modern Age    193Jan Hus and the Vertigo of the Church’s Authority (1372–1415)    193Martin Luther’s Struggles with Righteousness (1483–1546)    226Francisco Suárez and the Discovery of the New World (1548–1617)    256 Chapter 4The Abel Motif in Contemporary Theology    275The Universal Scope of the Church at the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965)    275James Alison, Imitation, and the Pattern of Exclusion    342Abel and the Church as a Non-Excluding Community    348Chapter 5Conclusion and Constructive Development of the Abel Motif    357Summary of the Findings    357The Development of the Abel Motif in Constructive Theology    376Bibliography    393Index of Names    421Index of Subjects    423