Beyond Our Lights and Shadows: Charism and Institution in the Church

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"Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying of hands by the council of elders" (1Tim. 4:14). Members of the church today can comprehend Paul's sentiment to Timothy. While not all ordained, all baptized Christians have experienced the laying on of hands in baptism. They have been touched by that mysterious mix of charism, initiated into the Body of Christ through the Holy Spirit, as well as launched into life with Christ through the institution of the Church with all its concreteness, ambiguity, sinfulness and goodness. Through the lens of Christian theology, along with the sociology of Max Weber in his study of charism and institution in modern society, Judith A. Merkle analyzes the interaction and tautness between the concept of powerful grace through baptism and the institution in the life of the modern church. Weber asserts that freedom and creativity in modern society only become manifest within social relations. Since these highly valued modern experiences do not exist outside the institutional framework, they exist in tension with the constrictive and creative aspects of the institution. Judith A. Merkle offers the reader perspective on this contemporary experience in the church.

Reviews

This groundbreaking volume quickly gathers a splendid momentum. Beginning with the simple question What is charism, Judith Merkle proceeds to explore the place of charism within our search for meaning, the dynamics of human development, and ultimately the prospects for a healthy revival of the institutional church. Anyone who, with the author, yearns for a thorough renewal of Christian community, vocation, ministry and spirituality will absolutely race from chapter to chapter. If we hope to meet the challenges of modern individualism and foster true conversion and new expressions of charism today, this book may be the best available guide. I recommend it most highly. * Thomas Massaro, S.J., Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, USA *
Drawing on a wide range of insights from theology, philosophy and theoretical sociology, and informed by a deep historical consciousness, Beyond Our Lights and Shadows offers a comprehensive and integrated reflection on the meaning of charism in the light of the legacy of Vatican II and contemporary secularization and globalization. Judith Merkle very successfully develops an engaged and attractive theology of charism, which affirms shared humane values and shows how the Church can foster a distinctive, Spirit-filled array of gifts, each in its unique way inspiring the vocation to bear witness to the Kingdom. * Robert Gascoigne, Australian Catholic University, Australia *

Author Bio

Judith A. Merkle is Professor of Religious Studies at Niagara University, NY, USA. She has recently published Being Faithful: Christian Commitment in Modern Society (T&T Clark, 2010).