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1. Concept “Synergism” (from Gk. synergeō, “work together”) denotes all theological positions that teach a cooperation of human beings with divine grace, so that both their own action and divine grace are the cause of their justification (§2). In contrast to this view are theological systems that regard human beings as incapable of salvation because of their corruption through original sin (§3.2) and the bondage of their will. These systems assign justification solely to grace on the basis of divine predestination (monergism). In ethic…

[German Version] In Catholic theology the term “office” is reserved primarily for the office of the ordained, that is, the office of the bishop, the priest, and the deacon (Office VI, 3). In addition, there are traditional ecclesiastical duties, especially in the realms of administration and diakonia, that are performed voluntarily on a full or part-time basis, and that are understood in the broader sense of the word “office.” Officially they are called “services” or “ministries” as distinct from offices. Although biblica…

[German Version] ( sacerdos saecularis), the opposite of a religious priest, who is a member of a religious order, order being understood in the broad sense as a generic term for religious institutes (orders [Orders, Catholic] ¶ in the strict sense and congregations), secular institutes, and societies of apostolic life. A secular priest is therefore any priest who does not belong to one of these groups, regardless of whether he is incardinated into it (Incardination). Peter Neuner …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Church History – III. Survey of the Christian Confessions – IV. Systematic Theology I. Religious Studies For an overview of Christianity at the end of…

[German Version] I. Law 1. Catholicism. Within the total structure of the church, the teaching office is the court of final authority for preserving, transmitting and interpreting the faith. The teaching office stands unde…

[German Version] I. European Christian Churches – II. Churches Worldwide – III. Islam I. European Christian Churches 1. Catholic Church A division of the church into clergy and laity does not coincide with New Testament evidence. The designation “laity” derives from laikós, the adjective form of λαός/ laós, “people.” In the Septuagint (LXX), this term describes the people of Israel in contrast to the (pagan) nations. In all important passages in the NT, it describes the people of God consisting of believers and dis…

[German Version] I. Terminology Ecumenical discussion (Ecumenicalism), in particular, assumes that the t…

[German Version] I. History of Literature (Early Church) – II. Philosophy of Religion – III. Fundamental Theology – IV. Dogmatics – V. Ethics – VI. Ecumenism – VII. Dialogue and Mission I. History of Literature (E…

[German Version] In essence, any theology is ecumenical in that the Christian truth is addressed to all. Ecumenical theology in a narrower sense deals with the division of Christianity into exclusive confessions (denominations) and reflects possibilities for overcoming the various divisions with the objective of one fellowship among the Christian churches. Ecumenical theology developed out of the controversial theology that defended the claim to be the church of Jesus Christ against competing claims, refuting them (polemi…

[German Version] Contacts established during Vatican II led to the establishment of the 14-member Joint Lutheran/Roman Catholic Study Commission by the Secretariat for Christian Unity and the executive committee of the Lutheran World Federation. It met in five sessions: 1967 in Zürich, 1968 in Bastad (Sweden), 1969 in Nemi (Italy), 1970 in Cartigny (Geneva), and 1971 in San Anton (Malta). At the final session, a comprehensive final report was written, published in 1972 under the title …

[German Version] I. Church History – II. Church Law – III. Dogmatics I. Church History 1. Early Church Council (Lat. concilium, Gk σύνοδος [Lat. synodum]; the two terms were first differentiated in modern usage; see also synod) are meetings of bishops from various communities for binding clarification of disciplinary, organizational, or doctrinal questions, whose decisions, as inspired by the Holy Spirit, are not in principle revisable and claim validity for the whole church regardless of the numbers of participants. As initially the sole institu…

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[German Version] I. Concept – II. Rel…

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[German Version] I. Terminology Especially in ecumenical discussion (Ecumene), there is a widespread assumption that the expression apostolic succession denotes a primitive and clearly defined attribute of ecclesiastical office. However, the notion that the marks of the church (Notae ecclesiae) include an unbroken chain of office holders going back to the apostles and that each of these office holders was place…

[German Version] It was Cyprian of Carthage who first used the term collegium for the collective episcopate ( Ep. 68, c. 254/255). The expression recalls the college of the Twelve in the New Testament and establishes commun…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. Early Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. Church History – VI. Systematic Theology – VII. Practical Theology – VIII. Law – IX. Missiology…

[German Version] I. General – II. Latin America I. General Catholic Action is a general term denoting the corporate involvement of Catholic laity in the church and the world. In the context of 19th-century liberation movements, there emerged various Catholic associations, largely independent of the hierarchical str…

[German Version] (Dec 31, 1911, Mannheim – Nov 19, 1998, Munich), Catholic fundamental theologian and ecumenicist. He became professor of fundamental the-¶ ology at Tübingen in 1950, and professor of fundamental theology and ecumenics at Munich in 1958. Shaped by the Catholic Tübingen School and by his Newman research, Fries endeavored to ground the faith in the context of contemporary philosophical inquiry. His Fundamentaltheologie (1985; ET: Fundamental Theology, 1996) offers a summary of his life's work. Fries was publicly…