Die menslikheid van en die verskeidenheid in die kerk

Abstract

The human character of the church and diversity within the church. In the ecumenical symbols of catholic Christianity the church is described as one, holy, catholic and apostolic. These notions correlate with the manner in which the one and only God interacts with humankind, as reported in Scripture. Holiness does not presuppose that the church consists of people who assume themselves to be in a timeless and spaceless heavenly kingdom, but that it consists of human beings, in a right relationship with God, who existentially live the values of God's kingdom. Catholicity presupposes the diversity of the church with regard to humankind, time, locality and culture. The catholic church, however, finds its identity not in plurality, but in its unity which transcends all diversity. This unity is the work of God's Spirit, encompassing the multiple witnesses of the prociaimers of the Jesus-event by empowering people in various ways at different times and places and letting them confess multifariously that Jesus Christ is Lord.