De kerk als contrastgemeenschap

Should the church be saved? Many members of the shrinking church believe it should. They tend to shield themselves from society and switch into action mode, hoping to portray the church, in contrast to the wider society, as a place where meaning can be found. This dissertation seeks a different path by offering a fundamental reflection on the church and its calling, and by searching for a way of speaking that both reveals the church’s inherent strength and fosters dialogue with the secular world.Drawing on the thinking of American theologian Stanley Hauerwas, this work engages in dialogue with various theological disciplines and with several voices from society, including Hans Boutellier, Bas Heijne, Ad Verbrugge, and Willem Jan Otten. From this emerges a way of thinking that is beneficial for the church in our time.The strength of the church lies in its self-denial: through its practices (worship, prayer, preaching, confession, Eucharist, diaconate, missionary presence, etc.), it is oriented toward God, who continually addresses and shapes it. The church functions as a contrast community within society. Society benefits from a church that is different from itself—and vice versa. It is precisely in this contrast-filled encounter that the church and society come to understand themselves better and are called to mutual responsibility. The church seeks to take up this responsibility by being a tangible, physical space where people can practice being addressed, listening, conversion, dialogue, reconciliation, peacemaking, and being a blessing to others.

Dissertation: https://hdl.handle.net/11370/94ef0132-c63d-4b6f-a0e3-1b02e7942890