To achieve the goal of speaking meaningfully today, Kasper reasons, the Church must engage in two related tasks: the first is internal to the Christian community (ad intra), while the second regards the Church’s external ministry to the world (ad extra). The Church’s internal task is to understand Jesus Christ and itself more deeply. Kasper argues that the Church encounters problems in proclamation because it does not understand its own beliefs clearly enough (ad intra) to express them convincingly (ad extra). To show the significance of its message in the 21st century, the Church must look inward to better comprehend its own tradition and commitments. On this point Kasper writes:

The present crisis facing Christianity in the West does not touch merely on some peripheral concerns; ... We are dealing here primarily with a crisis of relevance. We hear daily that dogmatic teachings and, even more, the moral rules of the Church no longer reach a large segment of believers. They appear to offer answers to questions which are no longer being asked. Nonetheless, the crisis of relevance represents merely the superficial side of the problem. It has long since led to a much deeper identity crisis within the churches. The question is no longer how the Church will be able to reach the modern, secularized world; rather, the question is what constitutes Christianity as such. What can Christianity, must Christianity, say to the modern world? Does it have something of its own to say, something unmistakable? (“Nature, Grace and Culture: On the Meaning of Secularization,” Catholicism and Secularization in America: Essays on Nature, Grace and Culture, p. 32)

Therefore, to succeed in its mission, the Christian community must continue to look introspectively, to deepen its appreciation of the mystery which constitutes its own identity. In order to know how to address the modern world effectively it must have a clearer understanding of what it is trying to convey.

The second task the Church must face if it hopes to communicate its message convincingly is the nature of its ministry to the world

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Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • * Religion News & Commentary • Ecumenical Relations • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Pope Benedict XVI • * Theology • Ecclesiology

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