1.
The People of God in World-Occurrence (History)
Just
as there is no Church without Christians, so we must now emphasize there are no
Christians apart from the Church. And, just as we become Christians when Christ
calls us, so Christ’s call is also what binds us together as Church.
We
shall begin our reflections on the existence of the Church in the world by
considering theologically the history of the world in which it exists and into
which it is sent. To begin with, although world history as such differs from
salvation history (which includes the Church), Jesus Christ governs both as
King. So even though world history differs in its darkness from salvation
history, it is not secular history because God has not abandoned it to its own
destruction.