Democracy in the Christian Church : an historical, theological and political case / Luca Badini Confalonieri.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Half title; Series page; Title page; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Chapter 1 Introduction; 1.1 The Problem of Church Democratization; 1.2 Argument and Findings of This Work; Chapter 2 Ecclesiology and Political Philosophy: Historical Survey; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 The First Millennium; 2.3 From the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century; 2.3.1 The Problem of Authority in the Church; 2.4 From the Reformation to Vatican II; 2.5 The Relationship between Ecclesiology and Political Philosophy in the Justifi cation of Monarchy; 2.6 Conclusion.

Chapter 3 Divinely Willed Structures?3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Is the External Form of Any Ecclesial Structure Permanent, Immutable and Necessary?; 3.3 Ius Divinum : From an Explicit Scriptural Institution toa Post-apostolic, Spirit-led Development; 3.4 Ius Divinum : From Being Predicated of the External Institutional Embodiment of Church Structures to Being Predicated of Their Function of?p?s??p?; 3.5 Is the Function of?p?s??p? Necessary for theExistence of the Church?; 3.6 Conclusion; Chapter 4 Theological Reductionism andthe Mystification of the Church; 4.1 Introduction.

4.2 The Post-Vatican II Revival of the Symbiosis between Ecclesiology and Political Philosophy4.3 The Theological Basis of that Symbiosis in the Principle that' Gratia non destruit sed supponit et perfi cit natura; 4.4 The Historical Rejection of the Continuity between Nature and Grace in the Case of the Church; 4.5 Post-Vatican II Mystifi cation of the Church; 4.6 Examples of Mystifi cation of the Church; 4.7 Elements of the Continuity between the Christian and the Human Polity; 4.8 Conclusion; Chapter 5 Central Insights and Categories of Democratic Political Philosophy; 5.1 Introduction.

5.2 Belief, Common Meaning and Community5.2.1 The Intentional Structure at the Origin of Belief; 5.2.2 Community, Cooperation and Powe; 5.3 Delegation and Authority; 5.4 Subsidiarity; 5.5 Authority and Offi ce; 5.6 Expert Authority and the Risk of Guardianship; 5.7 Historical Development Away from the Traditional Understanding of Authority as Necessarily Unique, Supreme and Omnicompetent; 5.8 The Criticism to the Classical Conception of Authority as One, Indivisible, Supreme and Omnicompetent; 5.9 The Relationship between Specialized Authorities in Society and the Political Authority.

5.10 Unanimity and Majority5.11 The Danger of the Dictatorship of the Majority, or How to Safeguard the Minority's Freedom of Conscience?; 5.12 Majority and Relativism; 5.13 Legitimation and Legitimacy of Authority; 5.14 Conclusion; Chapter 6 A Democratic Ecclesiology; 6.1 Introduction; 6.2 Human Consent and Divine Institution: The Nature of Ecclesial Authority; 6.3 The Selection of Church Offi cials; 6.4 Centralization of Competences in the Roman Catholic Church; 6.5 The Relationship between?p?s??p? and Specialized Ministries/ Authorities in the Christian Community.

Are church structures divinely-willed, and consequently both permanent and irreversible? Can Christians modify the polity of their church like they do with that of civil society? What would be the role of the office of oversight in a Christian church democratically organized? What would its relationship with specialized authorities within the community be?Building on a remarkable number of specialist studies in exegesis, church history, political philosophy, canon law, and ecclesiology, this book convincingly fulfils three goals. First, it encourages Christians to determine the political outlo.

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