The hermeneutics of sacrament in the theology of Edward Schillebeeckx : a theological inquiry of the church as sacrament

Abstract

This polemical study aims at exploring the sacramental theology of the late Roman Catholic theologian, Edward Schillebeeckx (1914-2009) and to use it as a ‘foil’ against which to propose an alternative, if not renewed, ecclesiology more amenable to Protestant Evangelicals. This study accomplishes this aim within the framework of a systematic theological method with an approach that is inclusive of theological inquiry as well as sociological theory and praxis. Engaging Schillebeeckx with some significant conversation partners, both Roman Catholic and Protestants, draws out his hermeneutical inconsistencies. Two observations emerge from this informed dialogue: Firstly, it establishes Schillebeeckx’s sacramental theology as upholding the systemic awareness of his Roman Catholic tradition. Secondly, insofar as the Protestant tradition is concerned, it establishes that in spite of the diverse sacramental views within Reformation thought and Protestant Evangelicalism in particular, the doctrine of grace is upheld as triumphant over the doctrine of the church. With a more directed focus on the diverse views concerning the Lord’s Supper, this dissertation hones in on the trajectories of Zwingli (“symbolic memorialism”), Bullinger (“symbolic parallelism”) and Calvin (“symbolic instrumentalism”). Emerging from this exploration, a Zwingli-Bullinger confluence is proposed