Research Guide for RPM 512 Ecclesiology: The Mystery of the Church:  prepared for Students of The Blessed Edmund Rice School for Pastoral Ministry (May 2002)

BOOKS

General call number areas to browse for books are BX1746 - BX1752, the BX 1800's, and BV600-BV601.8

All books on your subject will NOT be in these areas.  To locate additional materials, use the library catalog available online at http://bulib.barry.edu.

Some subject headings, which relate to various topics covered in your course, are:

Catholic Church [with its various "subdivisions" like Doctrines; Government; Infallibility; Teaching office]
Church [with its various "subdivisions"]
Popes - Primacy
Communion of Saints
Tradition (theology)
Episcopacy
Christian Union
Jesus Christ - Mystical body Ecumenical Movement


REFERENCE BOOKS

These materials are located in the Reference area.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries provide useful summaries and often include bibliographies.

Ecclesia; A Theological Encyclopedia of the Church (Ref BX 841 .O36 1996).  A few of the course topics discussed in this encyclopedia are : Authority; Charism; Church, the term ekklesia; Communion of Saints; Ecclesiology; Ecumenism (several articles); Infallibility; Magisterium; Models [of the church]; New Testament ecclesiologies.  All articles contain bibliographies, often lengthy ones. Sacramentum Mundi; An Encyclopedia of Theology (Ref BR 95 .S25).  This is a multivolume work of which Karl Rahner was one of the editors. Some useful articles are: Charisms; Church; Communion of Saints; Ecumenism; Infallibility; Magisterium; Ecclesiastical authority.  The New Dictionary of Theology (Ref BR 95 .N38 1993) also carries articles on many pertinent subjects.  This source is more current than the Sacramentum Mundi but is only one volume.

When you are seeking the scriptural teaching of a topic, remember that Bible-related reference tools may be useful.  One scholarly, multivolume source, located in the Reference area (Ref BS 440 .I63) is The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, which contains articles on subjects like Authority; Church, idea of; Church, life and organization; and Spiritual gifts.

Compilations of primary documents from major church organizations and officials are the 6 volume work, Pastoral Letters [and Statements] of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, which includes documents from 1792-1997 (Ref BX 874 .A2 C37 1983) and Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils (Ref BX 825 .A1990), which covers the councils from Nicaea through Vatican II. See also Origins below.

Dulles, Avery Robert.  The Theology of the Church; A Bibliography. (Ref Z 7776.7 .D84 1999). Dulles, a noted theologian, here lists books and articles on various aspects of ecclesiology.  Some of the topics included are: Charisms in the Church; Church as Communion; Episcopacy and Collegiality; History of Ecclesiology; The Nature of the Church; and The Teaching Office.


PERIODICALS

A few journals in the library that frequently carry articles pertinent to this course are:

Horizons; Journal of the College Theology Society
Origins
Theological Studies
Theology Digest

For indexing of periodical articles, see the [Barry Remote Access link]

If you are unaware of Origins, this weekly contains the text of major church documents that originate from the Vatican, the National Council of Catholic Bishops, speeches of major church figures, court cases that affect church-state relations, etc. Each year has a subject/author index.

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