Bonaventure and the Sin of the Church

Abstract

[The author describes how the medieval tradition answered the question of whether one can legitimately speak of collective ecclesial sin. Using principally Bonaventure as a focal point, he examines how the notion of ecclesial sin functioned simultaneously as reform rhetoric and an ecclesial apologetic of humility. Finally, he applies Bonaventure's analysis of ecclesial sin to the present crisis regarding sexual abuse of minors to show how this idea can function even today to exhort believers to maintain unity as they struggle for reform.]

Analytic Ecclesiology: The Social Ontology of the Church

“…In Bonhoeffer's words, "The community of saints as the community of penitent sinners is held together by the unity of the body of Christ"(1930/1998, 212).15 SeeAnderson (2002) for a more detailed discussion of the Catholic theology of the Church's sin. See also Jeremy Bergen's (2011) discussion of ecclesial repentance.16 Because of this emphasis on disunity as a result of human sin, Fee notes that we must be careful not to force our own human "brand of 'spiritual unity' on the church as simply another human machination.…”