ABSTRACT
Over the last century, the role of the church in Western society has steadily diminished. In a time when regular church life is not exactly vibrant and flourishing, these theologians view church life as being essential to faith and theological thinking. Not only because it offers a better way to understand the relationship between the individual and social, but also because it offers an important and encouraging perspective on the current situation of a minority church in a post-Christian society. It might be asked how an attempt to understand the current turn to the church would benefit from a historical comparison. To be sure, the present turn is not exceptionally unique or singular in thinking about matters of church and community. At the time, Roman Catholic theologians felt that post-Tridentine ecclesiology was inadequate to answer the questions of the day. In order to study both the contemporary and the earlier turn, it is necessary to select a sample of works.
