Participation in the Triune God and Communion Ecclesiology

Abstract

Overcoming the harmful side of dualism is one of the key contemporary challenges. Theologically, this has meant a holistic turn in trinitarian theology. The article aims to bring relevant features of the patristic understanding—especially St Augustine’s—into dialogue with the contributions of Luther and Bonhoeffer to trinitarian ontology. The thesis of this article is that Augustine’s theological heritage can promote an ecumenical understanding of participatory trinitarian thinking which combines both Western and Eastern approaches. I suggest that it can provide valuable insights for the current theological discussion. The approach of the Augustinian tradition, which focuses on the concept of relation and develops its connection with substance, and the approach of the Greek Fathers and their theology of the primacy of the person of the Father are brought into dialogue. It is suggested that in Luther’s and Bonhoeffer’s further development of Augustinian theology, the understanding of the Trinitarian communion as a dialectic between person and community in love can in a constructive way overcome both ecclesial individualism and rigid collectivism and form a horizon for a holistic ecumenical theology for today.

Keywords

• trinitarian ontology
• communion ecclesiology
• Ecumenism