Volume Two: the Internal Structure of the Church
Delving into the mystery of the Church, this work explores divine grace and charity as intrinsic forces shaping its interior, defined by Christ as head, Mary as exemplar, and the Holy Spirit as vital essence. It examines the relationship between the Church's four causes and its apostolic marks of unity, catholicity, sanctity, and mission.
The monumental work of renowned twentieth-century Swiss ecclesiologist Charles Journet, The Church of the Word Incarnate, is among the most comprehensive and spiritually profound studies of the mystery of the Church. Presented here for the first time in English translation is Journet's complete five-volume ""essay in speculative theology,"" in which he undertakes a Thomistic presentation of the Church in light of her four causes – efficient, material, formal, and final – corresponding to her four marks of apostolicity, catholicity, unity, and sanctity. In this second volume, Journet commences his examination of divine grace and charity as the Church's inherent formal cause, setting the stage for a consideration of the unity and catholicity of the Church in volume three. Foregrounded and developed here is his account of the Church's interior structure relative to Christ as her head, the Blessed Virgin Mary as her exemplar, and the Holy Spirit as her ""Uncreated Soul."" This theological grounding of ecclesiology in connection to the Incarnation, Mary, and the sending of the Spirit concludes with Journet's reflection on the various central definitions of the Church.