The Threefold Body in Eschatological Perspective

Abstract

In this article, I draw from Henri de Lubac’s ecclesiology to delineate the relations between the three forms of Christ’s body (historical, ecclesial, and sacramental). Using the heuristic frameworks of scholastic sacramental theology and of spiritual exegesis, I demonstrate that language concerning the ecclesial body is significantly more complex than with the historical or sacramental bodies. The ecclesial body is at once entirely provisional—the sacrament of Christ—and the fulfillment itself—the totus Christus. This leads me to pose the question: what aspects of the Church endure through eternity and which pass away? I argue that it is the faithful who abide, while the visible institutional structures of the Church will be no more. I clarify how the institutional aspects of the Church relate to the congregatio fidelium and suggest that academic ecclesiology concern itself with the lives of the faithful rather than simply with faith and order.