Abstract:
In the ecumenical symbols of catholic Christianity the church is described
as one, holy, catholic and apostolic. These notions correlate
with the manner in which the one and only God interacts with humankind,
as reported in Scripture. Holiness does not presuppose that the
church consists of people who assume themselves to be in a timeless and
spaceless heavenly kingdom, but that it consists of human beings, in a
right relationship with God, who existentially live the values of God's
kingdom. Catholicity presupposes the diversity of the church with regard
to humankind, time, locality and culture. The catholic church, however,
finds its identity not in plurality, but in its unity which transcends all
diversity. This unity is the work of God's Spirit, encompassing the multiple
witnesses of the proclaimers of the Jesus-event by empowering people
in various ways at different times and places and letting them confess
multifariously that Jesus Christ is Lord.
