The Community Called Church

A Theology for Artisans of a New Humanity #1

by Juan Luis Segundo

English, Spanish (translation)

Genres: Theology

172 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Juan Luis Segundo completed his theological studies at Louvain and received his Doctorate of Letters from the Sorbonne. He was chaplain to various groups in his native Uruguay. He taught theology at the Universities of Harvard, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Birmingham, and Sao Paulo.

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MAJOR WORK FROM ONE OF THE KEY ARCHITECTS OF LIBERATION THEOLOGY

Juan Luis Segundo, S.J. (1925-1996) was a Jesuit priest and theologian who was one of the most important figures in the Liberation theology movement. He wrote many other books, such as 'Liberation of Theology,' 'Theology and the Church: A Response to Cardinal Ratzinger' and 'A Warning to the Whole Church,' etc.

He observes that in history, Christianity had become a religion of the masses, "whereby a growing number of 'Christians' were incorporated into the Church without ever being evangelized." Christianity thus had to "control" such masses, but "was incapable of doing this without losing the authentic elements of its message." (Pg. 47)

He suggests that the Christian possesses a light "which the nonbeliever lacks. For this reason we can truly talk about a Christian understanding of life..." (Pg. 35) This creates the necessity of the Church: "In the midst of the human race there must be people who know the mystery of love, who will meet and dialogue with those who are moving toward the gospel and confronting the questions raised by love." (Pg. 60) Later, he suggests that "Christian morality is essentially a morality of dialogue." (Pg. 111)

He poses the questions, "Do we restrict ourselves for the most part to saving the faith of 'simple souls'... Or do we leave room for other activities that may be a preparation for the gospel, such as that of people who do not profess religion but do commit themselves sincerely to the transformation of society? Which of these two situations do we regard as being closer to a mature Christian faith?" (Pg. 67) He suggests that both on the individual and the communal level, "relations between the Church and political authority should be framed in terms of SERVICE rather than in terms of jurisdiction." (Pg. 97)

In light of the collapse of European communism, liberation theology is considered seriously "out of fashion." But particularly in these days of economic turmoil, we can perhaps again appreciate some of its genuine insights.

[M Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

One can scarcely overestimate the importance of Vatican II, not just for the changes it brought to Catholicism but for the way those changes rippled through the Church in general. Juan Luis Segundo's classic "The Community Called Church" shows the impact of those changes in what would become known as Liberation Theology in the Catholic church of Latin America. Freed by the work of the Ecumenical Council to reimagine the nature of the ecclesia, this giant in late-20th century theology sketches a renewed picture of what Church can mean in the world. Although there is a reliance on sacramentalism that does not fit in the free church theology of my own tradition, nearly every other point that Segundo makes would come to be embraced by Protestant as well as Catholic thinkers.

Two factors keep me from rating this book more highly. First, as important as it was when originally published in 1968, the intervening half-century has rendered what was groundbreaking to commonplace. Many writers have built on the work of this Jesuit father and done so with greater clarity and impact. Second, clarity and drive are sometimes missing in this volume in what may be translation issues.

Overall, however, "The Community Called Church" deserves its place in the list of classics of Liberation Theology and of Ecclesiology. I'm glad I read it and, if you are interested in either of those topics, I highly recommend it.