Matthew 18, 15-20 and the Foundations of Canon Law

Authors

  • J. C. Conde Cid Vicario giudiziale aggiunto Tribunale francofono di prima istanza (Belgio).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.19272/202008602004

Keywords:

Canon Law, Roots of the Canon Law, Law and Gospel , Mt 18, 15-20

Abstract

 

Abstract: The way in which the first Christian communities dealt with the phenomenon of the Canon Law can help us answering some questions. Is the Law essential to the Church? Does it belong to its Ministry? Or does it overlap the substance of the ecclesial community? We approached the text of Mt 18, 15-20 according to this point of view. We discovered the unlawful prejudices present in the current exegesis, together with a restrictive and misguided vision of the Law given by some commentaries. Our study points out that the first communities considered the Law as an intrinsic reality of the relationships within the community, that of being «brothers». This text reveals a vision of the Law according to which the Gospel is much more concerned with getting a brother back than in a certain «purity» of the community.

 

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Published

2020-12-15

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 2 (2020)

Section

Doctrinal Issues

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