ABSTRACT
This chapter discovers whether there existed a core or barometer by which one could understand theological writings across the spectrum of denomination, age and geography. There are broad similarities in the work, such as the general consensus that Barth's break with the epistemological justification of theology as found in the nineteenth century is the proper way for theologians to proceed. Theology disciplines, is still a mediaeval-style apprenticeship or 'discipleship' and needs to acknowledge that public character without fear of losing legitimacy in the academic environment. The often-raised criticism that ecclesiastical consensus is a cul-de-sac for theology or a simple catechization is based on a mis-stress that somehow the sensus communis of the Church is akin to a public consensus of a society as found in sociopolitical forms. The sensus communis as an eschatological community, awaiting redemption, keeps the communio from becoming institutionalized or conflated with Churchly forms.
