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I have some questions regarding the beginnings of the Church. In one of my classes, the instructor has been talking about what he calls the “blueprint model.” He insists the belief that “Jesus intentionally and explicitly founded the Church and provided a blueprint for its future” is incorrect. The source of this idea is an article called “Ecclesiology from Below: Genesis of the Church,” by Roger Haight. Antagonists of the “blueprint model” argue the Church’s development was not guided by the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit didn’t provide a blueprint for the Church’s future.
Does this go along with Scripture and Church teaching? Does Scripture or any of the other early writings of the Fathers back this belief up? Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope that you will be able to answer my question.
God Bless,
Eric Wolf
Dear Mr. Wolf,
Peace to you in our Lord Jesus Christ! I hope that this response will adequately address your question.
Though there are problems with a strict “blueprint” model of the Church, the notion that Christ did not intend to establish a Church and that the Holy Spirit is not involved in her growth, development, and future has no basis. The Catechism provides a great deal of teaching about the Church in nos. 748-975, from which can be drawn some key points:
The Church's origin is in the “Holy Trinity's plan” (no. 758) and was “foreshadowed from the world's beginning” (no. 760) and was “prepared for in the Old Covenant” (no. 761). Further, Jesus fully and self-consciously intended to establish a Church as was in the heart of God from the beginning (nos. 763-66). Jesus also “endowed his community [the Church] with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. Before all else there is the choice of the Twelve with Peter as their head [cf. Mk. 3:14-15]” (no. 765). In other words, that which is essential to the structure of the Church was given by Jesus. There is no doubt that the Church moves through time and history, subject to various socio-historical conditions and theological developments. But what is beautiful about the mystery of the Church is that God in His sovereignty is guiding the Church throughout. One must distinguish between what is essential to the Church and changeable elements that can come and go throughout history. Pope John Paul II illustrated this understanding in his encyclical letter on ecumenism, Ut Unum Sint, when he stated he would seek to “find a way of exercising the primacy which, while in no way renouncing what is essential to its mission, is nonetheless open to a new situation” (no. 95). The Pope acknowledged that there are certain non-negotiable aspects of the papacy, which was instituted by Christ Himself. However, these non-changeable aspects remain through historical circumstances. The same is true for the structure of the Church at large. Lastly, Christ did not simply found the Church, but He continues to guide and uphold her throughout time (Catechism, nos. 794, 797). The Church is the “universal sacrament of salvation” (no. 849) sent into the world to fulfill God's plan, which unfolds in her throughout history (nos. 849-56). All men are called to the Church (no. 836) and God has made her necessary for the salvation of the world. To assert that Christ did not intend the Church and that she is nothing but a phenomenon of historical development is to misunderstand the nature of the Gospel itself and to deny a number of fundamental articles of faith.
What does Scripture teach? First, though God knows and loves each person individually, He has never carried out His relationship to humanity as a loose gathering of autonomous individuals. He has always had a People, whom He relates to by means of a binding covenant. In the New Covenant, the People of God takes the form of the Church. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said to Peter that He would build His Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Perhaps someone might argue that the ecclesia of which Jesus spoke is one thing, but the Catholic Church, in all its structure and historical growth is another. One thing is certain—Jesus clearly intended to establish something He called His “Church.” If it is not the Catholic Church, what is it? Is it something purely invisible? How would we discern it? Did Jesus fail and whatever it was that He intended in Matthew disappeared and the Catholic Church popped up instead? The notion that Jesus failed is, of course, absurd. And besides the historical evidence for the Catholic Church, any other answer to the question, “If not the Catholic Church, what?” is going to be one form or another of an “invisibility” theory.
Your instructor is not wrong to criticize a strict “blueprint” model. Such a model, while rightly acknowledging the divine origin and institution of the Church, may not fully appreciate all the aspects of the Church's earthly pilgrimage on Her way to perfection in glory (Catechism, no. 769).
The Church is at once both in history and transcending history (no. 770). There are aspects of the transcendent that the Church cannot lose, such as Her fundamental structure founded on and in succession to the twelve apostles with Peter at the head.
Likewise, a strict “ecclesiology from below” model, i.e., to the point that the divine institution of the Church is ignored, is subject to criticism. While the blueprint model may not fully appreciate the temporal and historical aspects of the Church, a strict “ecclesiology from below” model may not fully appreciate the Church's divine institution in the heart of the Holy Trinity from the beginning. It is also an implicit denial of the sovereign hand of God in the affairs of men on earth. If Jesus did not intend to found a Church, if the Church is an accident of history and wholly rooted in man, then what exactly did Jesus intend and what has He been doing for the past 2000 years? How, one must wonder, on the strict “ecclesiology from below” model, would anyone know or recognize what Jesus intends or is doing?
As Catholics, we can rest with faith in the sovereignty of God who planned the Church from the beginning, sustains Her throughout Her earthly pilgrimage, and will ultimately bring Her to glory, likewise according to His plan. The truth of the matter is that the Church is at once divine and human. Both aspects should be incorporated into any “model” for explaining the Church. Further, reducing the Church the any one “model” will inevitably lead to error.
I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions or would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-MY-FAITH (693-2484). May God bless your day.
United in the Faith,
David E. Utsler
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)
