Including empirical perspectives in theology does not only raise methodological considerations, but also fundamental issues related to the understanding of theology, its object and its content. What is the object of theology, and is this object within the world of experience? This type of question becomes most acute when it comes to ecclesiology, that is, the theological understanding of the church. A basic question is the understanding of the relation between the church as an object of faith and as experienced reality. What is the relation between the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic
...more
