Folia Theologica 1. (1990)
Péter Erdő: The Theological foundations of Canon Law according to the works of John Henry Newman
122 P. ERDŐ meaning that influenced the crystallization of the structures of discipline. These were, in fact, notwithstanding the radical novelty of the Church, and her rejection of the traditional rules of the old Israel (with the exception of the Decalogue and a few other moral norms)38, still penetrated by the mentality and the juridical technique of the ancient East and especially of the Jewish people. This fact is clearly attested to by the pseudo-Apostolic writings. As the result of further development, Greco-Roman juridical categories were largely assumed into the Christian community. Observing the changes both of a technical nature and of outlook in the history of Canon Law, both the substance of the disciplinary element of the Church, and the possibilities of its development or transformation, become clearer. This point, so important for our modern reflection, is explained by Newman while shedding light on the historical context - namely that the Church is not a matter of opinions, but an external fact, which makes its entry into the history of the world, from which it cannot be separated. The Church physically fills a space in the world, and justly claims a place in history as an organized corporation, and to truly live in history.39 Thus the conversion of various peoples to the faith, and the change of external circumstances, required the application of the revealed Word, and, in this sense, a development both doctrinal and disciplinary. In the course of this development the Church was presented on the one hand as an institution of the world, and on the other hand as a system of salvation.40 It may be said that, whether from a historical reflection or from a dogmatic analysis of the notion of sacramental unity of the Church, Newman arrives at the same conclusion: that the Church must be, and is in fact, a divine institution that is historically concrete; a combination of phenomena, demands, privileges, and actions - a political society.41 After this look at the doctrinal presuppositions of Canon Law it is 38. Cf. ERDŐ, P., Quid significat "lex" in iure canonico antiquitatis (saecula III-VIÍ), in Periodica de re morali, canonica, liturgica 76(1987) 390-393; ID., Bevezetés a Kánoni jogba, Budapest 1989, 26-28. 39. Cf. BECKER, W., Newman und die Kirche, in Newman-S indien I, Nürnberg 1948, 245. 40. Dev 63. 41. Cf. Diffll, 207.
