LIST OF TOPICS ANALYSED

 

CHAPTER I  ---  CHURCH, BIBLE AND TRADITION

1. The Beginning, Being and Becoming of the Ecclesia

2. 'A mystery hidden for all ages'

3. An oasis in life's wilderness

4. Different Angles of study

5. 'Summum Bonum'

6. Sources of Ecclesiology

7. Origin of the term 'The Bible'

8. No Bibliolatry - The warning of the Church

9. The Bible is human, yet holy

10. Old Testament 'Types' indicative of New Testament Ecclesia

11. Sunagogue and Ecclesia

12. Constitutive Elements of the Ecclesia or Church

13. Sunagogue and the Ecclesia become determined

14. A synopsis of the New Testament - Ecclesial orientation

15. 'The Tradition'

16. Views of St. Basil of Caesarea

17. Past, Present and Future

18. 'Scripture' and 'the Tradition'

19. Quiet flows the Ecclesia

 

 

CHAPTER II --- THE TRINITARIAN DIMENSIONS OF THE CHURCH

1. 'Icon of the Trinity'

2. Operation of Perichoresis

3. Type, Reality and Fulfilment

4. 'Shepherd of Hermas' - The grand vision

5. 'Torah, Nabim and Ketubim' - Prophesise the Ecclesia

6. Heavenly Manna and the Earthly Ecclesia

7. St. Peter, the primus inter-pares

8. Cenacle or 'Upper room' experience

9. The 'Kindly Light' that leads

10. Like a word and its meaning

11. 'Mysterion' and 'Oikonomia' - St. Paul

12. Paradoxes too illustrate the mystery of the Ecclesia

13. Dawn of Creation and the Morn of Parousia

14. The OT anticipates Christ, the NT articulates Him

15. An assurance and an acquittance

16. 'Koinonia' and the Cross

17. Liturgy, the 'Locus of Faith'

18. Evolution of Liturgy

19. 'Lex Orandi Lex Credendi'

20. Christian existence is corporate - Not a bouquet of believers

 

 

Chapter III --- THE ESSENTIAL MARKS OF THE CHURCH

1. 'One is in all and all is in one'

2. Creed Formation - Early period

3. Council at Nicaea - 'Iota conflict'

4. Post-Nicaea period

5. 'I believe'

6. 'Oneness' - The first 'notae'

7. 'The Seamless robe'- symbol of unity

8. Oneness is not an 'alone' concept

9. The Divine and the devilish

10. 'Holiness' - The second 'notae' 'Mother Eve' and 'Mother Ecclesia'

11. 'Bridegroom and the Bride'

12. 'We get rid of our sins'

13. Ransom for Holiness

14. The task before the 'sinful'

15. Christ's 'dowry' -Sheet-anchor of holiness

16. 'Catholic' - The third 'notae' - 'Name and Surname'

17. 'Katholiki' is fullness

18. All inclusiveness

19. Neither a sociological nor a historical concept

20. 'Catholic' means Orthodox

21. Martin Luther's view

22. The vision and the ideal

23. 'Apostolic' - The fourth 'notae' - Distinguish the real from the unreal

24. Did Christ establish the visible Ecclesia on the 'Apostolic College'?

25. The props to the positive answer

26. Early Christians and the Heathens

27. Agape and the Guild feast

28. Jesus' own method - Esoteric

29. 'Shelihah' - root of the term Apostle

30. Apostles 'fish mankind'

31. The Nucleus of the Church

32. Testimony from the 'Acts of the Apostles'

33. Doctrine of Apostolicity and Apostolic Succession

34. Apostolic continuity and Link

35. Apostolic Succession-The mode

36. Calvin too, for Apostolicity

37. 'Imitation of Christ'

 

 

Chapter IV --- SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL

1. "If thou wilt be saved......" Martin Luther

2. The Divine Link of Sacraments -Contention of Calvin

3. The Alpha and the Omega of Christ's ministry

4. "The highest cannot be spoken..."

5. Word turned to flesh

6. Life is not an essay on logic

7. Evolution of the terms 'Mysterion' and 'Sacramentum'

8. Old wine in new bottles

9. Sacramental Theology - Its beginnings - Augustine, Isidore and Theodore

10. The Sacraments represent and re-present Christ

11. Channels of Grace

12. 'Ex opere operato'

13. Sacraments are what Sacraments do

14. Constitutive elements of the Sacraments

 

 

Chapter V --- THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS

1. Baptism - 'A dominical Sacrament'

2. Theology of Baptism - 'Putting on Christ'

3. Sacrament of Chrism or Confirmation - Power to fight Temptation

4. Shift of emphasis in Chrismation

5. Evolution of Chrismation

6. Sacrament of Confession or Reconciliation-Core of Christian Charity

7. "Dominically Instituted"

8. Evolution of the Sacrament of Confession

9. Sacrament of Priesthood - Manifestation of the 'notae', Apostolicity

10. Evolution of 'Holy Orders'

11. A ministry of Word and Sacrament - Ontological Dimension

12. Neither light, nor meal but the 'apostolical office'

13. The Sacrament of Eucharist - 'Prior to the New Testament'

14. 'Sacrament of Sacraments'

15. Different names - Eucharist as Thanksgiving

16. Eucharist as 'Holy Communion'

17. Eucahrist as Sacrifice

18. Structure of the Eucharist

19. Theories on Eucharist

20. Symbolic theory

21. Conversion theory

22. Transubstantiation theory

23. Sacrament of 'Corpus Christi'

24. Sacrament of Matrimony-"They are no longer two"

25. Marriage confers medicinal grace

26. Evolution of the concept of Marriage

27. Mutual consent and 'plighted troth' in Marriage

28. Family, the Domestic Ecclesia

29. Sacrament of anointing the Sick - Jesus went about healing

30. The Church is fulfilling the mission of the Master

31. 'Anointing', 'Extreme Unction' and 'Care of the Sick'

32. Greater appreciation by Protestants

33. Physical disability, no impediment

34. From the cradle to the grave and beyond