CHAPTER 15
The Church, by her very nature, is constituted and instituted to engage the world in dialogue; to have constant interface with every sphere of human endeavours. The incarnation of Christ, the Son of God made man, is a paradigm for interpreting and explaining the very nature and significance of this encounter. Christ himself gave the Church a mandate to go into the world and make disciples of all nations in Matthew 28:19-20. The Lord also said in John 18:36 that his kingdom is not of this world. In both instances of the bible, here cited, Jesus declares and confirms his universal power and authority over all of God's creation as the Messiah while at the same time distancing himself from the way mundane power and authority are understood and exercised. One point is abundantly clear, however. Jesus intended and willed that as fruit of the new creation, all those who would come to believe in God through him would be constituted into a new community through baptism. These would constitute a new people, a new...
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