[German Version]
I. Dogmatics – II. Ethics – III. Practical Theology
I. Dogmatics
1. The Catholic Understanding
The term “ecumene,” from the present passive participle of the Greek verb οἰκεῖν/oikeín, “to dwell,” originally denoted the inhabited earth. The use of the term in Scripture is ambiguous: the OT (apolitically) in the sense of “world,” the NT, in addition to that, of the “earth” as the “field” of the church's work (e.g. Matt 24:14), but also as humanity thr…