This article surveys recent developments in the area of ecclesiology, starting from the viewpoint of a methodological divide discernible in the field. The divide is between those who take an idealist approach, emphasising highly charged theological symbols for Church, and those who adopt a more realist approach, taking as starting point the historical data of the Church. The article critically surveys both tendencies, devoting somewhat more space to the second, and concluding with a critical review of two theologians (Edward Schillebeeckx and Roger Haight) who seek to integrate the social sciences into a theology of the Church.
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