The Disorder of (the Doctrine of) the Church

The Disorder of (the Doctrine of) the Church

Andres S. TANG

This paper begins with the otherness of the church which requires reflection on the disorder of the church. Employing John Webster's theological criticism of the deistical understanding of the nature of the Holy Scripture, the author gives a theological analysis of the deistical phenomenal happening in the understanding and practice of the church. With the help of Colin Gunton's theological discussion of the church, two kinds of disorder of the church are identified. One is normal deistical understanding of the nature of the church while the other is abnormal. The former treats the relationship of the triune God and the church as insufficiently close, in which the triune God merely acts as a remote initiator of the church. The latter brings the triune God too close to the church to the extent that God the Spirit is wholly immanent in the church here and now, and nothing remains for the not-yet future of the Kingdom of God. Three cases are discussed theologically to illustrate the deistical disorder of (the church?) the church.