the Misunderstanding of Church

Brunner sees St Paul's Epistle to the Romans as 'the chapter of destiny of the Christian Church'. Here, in Luther's words, is the 'purest gospel' upon which the very existence of the Christian faith depends and from which it draws its life. Concentrated, decisive and instructive, nothing within the New Testament is more closely argued both theological and personal. Out of his years of scholarly wisdom Brunner meditates on the great Question: What is wrong with the Churches? Brunner finds an answer in the contrast between the virile Spirit-filled fellowship of the New Testament and the institutions which are now called 'churches'. He writes in his preface: 'The title of the book, The Misunderstanding of the Church, is equivocal. Is it a question of a misunderstanding of which the Church is guilty, or of a misunderstanding of which it is the victim? Or is it that the Church itself, as such, is perhaps the product of a misunderstanding? The author is not responsible for this ambiguity; it is intrinsic in the theme itself.'

'What is the Church?' questions Emil Brunner in his preface. Within Protestantism, it has never been clear how the Church, in the sense of spiritual life and faith, is related to the institutions conventionally called churches. In contrast, Brunner believes, The Roman Catholic Church has a subtly different problem: it has no response to the question of how the phenomenon visible in the New Testament as the Ecclesia is to be related to the papal Church. In The Misunderstanding of the Church, Brunner finds an answer to the ambiguous and nebulous nature of Church and 'churches', interrogating its disharmony by using the conclusions of New Testament research to contextualise the problem of the Church when confronted. With its contribution to the ecumenical discussion, The Misunderstanding of the Church reflects Brunner's desire to uncover why a real solution of the Church has not been found.