Dulles Proposed Five Models of the Church

Dulles proposed five models of the Church in his former book "models of the Church.' The first model sees the Church as "a divinely established society with definite articles of belief and binding law" (254). As a single, organized, visible order, salvation can be found in only one place -- the Church, inside it and not external to it, and to Roman Catholics inside one place and one place only and that is the RC church.

The second model postulates that the church is the communal site for an atmosphere of love and grace that is wrought through the Holy Spirit and is evidenced both between the community members themselves (between fellow and fellow) and also between worshipper and God.

According to the third model, the Church embodies within itself the Grace and spirit of Christ. In that sense, it serves -- or is -- a sacrament, a visible sacred symbol that, as tangible representative of Christ, makes itself felt, via the holy Spirit, within the soul of each worshipper.

The fourth axiom posits the church as mediator between Christ and the world. In other words, it serves to introduce the word of God to the world. It is a representation and manifestation of Christ and, as such, serves to enlighten people of his presence and bring them closer to serving God.

The fifth and final precept posits the church to expound and disseminate Christ's virtues and attributes to the world. Christ personifies peace and justice. To that effect, the Church, too, should seek to disseminate peace and justice outside its walls and it does so by seeking to facilitate the aims of all organizations -- religious or not - who seek to promote those aims. It does not stand apart but rather co-exists with the vagaries and the just and significant crusades of this world.

These five different precepts, according to Dulles, parallel five conceptual models of ministry and both concepts of ministry (or priesthood) and the five models of the Church need to be differently conceived and conceptualized as one overarching and distinct model of the Church for effective priesthood to be formulated and shaped.

The Five Ministerial Models

There is the ministerial model that sees the minister as servant of the Church in other words as representative or cleric of Christ.

The communitarian model of the church sees the minister as pastor, namely as loving, respectful officiator of concerns within his community. The onus is placed on the aspect of love towards the community.

The sacramental model perceives the minister as absorbed within the mysteries of Christ and, in fact, serving as his mediator in this regards, particularly when the priest performs his mysteries.

The herald model sees the minister as one who proclaims the glories and significance of the church primarily by preaching. Preaching serves as the vehicle where the faith of the believers will be sharpened in God's words and where the minister will be able to reach out and affect the non-believer.

Finally, the fifth ministerial model of the Church is the servant model where the Christian minister will be able to interact and work with secular associations to work towards similar and congruent ends, namely to augment a sense of justice and uprightness in the world.

The Council of Trent model of priesthood perceived the ministry as 'sacrament' where the priest stands as mediator between God and His people, solitary, clothed in special robes to represent his exalted station and performing particular sacrifices (today, this may be the Eucharist) in order to forge a transition between the Lord on high and His people below. .

Vatican II, however, distinguished between three forms of priesthood and integrated them as one: (a) the high priestly office of Christ; (b) the common priesthood of the faithful; (c) the ministerial priesthood of the ordained. In this way, they expanded the mission of the priest to mission of the world and made him voice and representative of the people both within and without the Church. By doing so, it transitioned the priest from being a figure up and above and external to the people to one who was one with them and served a common God.

Inspiring though this is, ambiguities within this position have led to the confusion of the postconcilliar period. Most particularly, the priestly functions of absolution, prayer, preaching, and communion seem at odds with the more secular activities associated with layman activism. Could the minister be, simultaneously, apart in his exalted mission whilst one with the people in the mundane tasks of the world?

Various theologians have attempts to forge cohesion between the three distinct fields promulgated as manifestation of priesthood by Vatican II, but Dulles feels that persistence of conflict and "the troubled history of the theology of priestly ministry" (11) since Vatican II denotes futility of attempts.

It is to this end, that Dulles sketches his synthetic or unitary model of priesthood which he calls the "representational model." The priest is, or should be, the representative of Christ in all His glory. This is a huge responsibility and entails great loftiness of character on the minister's part. However, it also accomplishes possibility of integrity between the various priestly functions by inferring that whatever the layman does, the priest, too, can achieve on a plane of greater ecclesial density. When performed by the layman, they are seen within a secular lens; when performed by the priest, these very same duties assume an aura of Christians and ecclesial overtones. This 'representational' model is similar to, but exceeds, the sacramental model in that it forms an ontology of priesthood, i.e. An overarching idea of the minister as mediator of God and exemplary of Christ as he is supposed to be.

Dulles's definition of priesthood makes sense to me since the priest, as minister of God and personification of Christ, is supposed to represent these values. The priest is called upon to be set apart from the people in order to administer to God. God's greatest desire is that the world be made a better place in accordance with His majesty, goodness, and will. The priest, through acts such as preaching and performing the mysteries, can guide laymen in the minutia of how to make the world a better place, but since the priest is also called to be an example he is obligated too (as Vatican II indicated) to be in the ranks and file of the people helping them along. This need not mean, however, that he performs these tasks in a secular manner. Even whilst performing in this capacity, the priest exemplifies the Oneness and exaltation of Christ. And by doing so, the priest merges all three aspects of his position -- exaltation; common priesthood; and ministerial priesthood - into one integrated whole.