In his Foreword to this text Massimo Faggioli writes that Florian Klug demonstrates in terms of ecclesiology that “orthodoxy is spacious and heresy is narrow” (ix).  The increasing secularization of the West, and the simultaneous decline in church membership in some circles fosters a narrow vision of exclusion, creating a church of the “truly faithful.” If one cannot re-create a culture dominated by the Christian Church, and particularly the Roman Catholic Church, then one should at least foster a small church of the faithful grounded in the Apologetics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This religious perspective parallels various political movements of exclusion.

History, however, proves to be a wise teacher. Klug, in tracing the history of the ecclesia ab Abel helps the reader to see that a wider vision of church and church membership hardly comes as something brand new with Vatican II and subsequent theological developments. Knowing that he cannot cover in detail the motif of the “church from Abel,” the author draws on select significant theologians from four periods of time: the Patristic period; the Medieval church; the Modern age; and Contemporary theology. Klug’s concluding chapter provides an excellent summary of his work and also proposes a development of the theme in Constructive theology.

Augustine’s theology of grace, Klug argues, stands against an elitist, rigorous Christianity. God accompanies human beings and “Abel is the first human being in history who, through grace and faith, returns from this separation (Adam’s sin) and can re-enter into communion with God” (p. 56). Complemented by the thought of Tertullian, Cyprian, and Gregory the Great, the reader learns that grace presents itself in the complexity and ambiguity of the world. Salvation has a history such that the church will not be finished until the eschaton.

Bonaventure takes the reader to the Medieval world. The author likewise incorporates with clarity the theological perspectives of James of Viterbo and Aquinas. Abel is identified as the first revealer of the Body of Christ. Given the salvific universality of God’s will, the Church will always exceed its visible appearance. The fathers and the medievalists hold a wide vision of the church whose members include those with both explicit and implicit faith. Works of love signal an indirect belonging. Thus, they balance the salvation of non-Christians with the theological claim of “no salvation outside the church.”

With the Reformation marking the Modern Age, Klug explores the work of Jan Hus and Francisco Suarez along with others. The cultural developments of the nation states and the reality of the “new world” called for wider perspectives on how the saving grace of God needs to be understood. Hus emphasizes good deeds as signs of belonging while Suarez writes of an implicit or unspoken faith reflected in justice and charity. Klug highlights that nothing ought to be placed in the way of faith from the divine side (p. 272). This wider vision grows narrow in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Opening the fourth chapter with brief words about Vatican II and the theology of Yves Congar, Klug notes the need to consider first Trent and Vatican I. Interestingly, Klug sees neither council as the source of a doctrinal statement on the nature of the church. This comes later with a narrow reading of Robert Bellarmine’s theology. Bellarmine’s three-fold definition of membership as confession of faith, participation in the sacraments, and obedience to the hierarchy of the pope fosters a highly institutionalized and limited vision of the church. While not given as doctrine, this does become the vision of the church for Vatican I. Theologians like Romano Guardini, Yves Congar, Johann Möhler, and Karl Rahner, along with lesser known thinkers, stand in sharp contrast to Sebastian Tromp who sees ecclesia ab Abel as a threat to the church. His thought leaves no room for development as the church is already a “perfect society.” Rejecting the draft document on the church prepared by Tromp for Vatican II, the wider visions of the suspected Modernists prevailed at the council. With authentic resourcement, the old became “new” once again; living tradition realized in the present.

Identifying the church as a “society of hope” (Lumen Gentium, 4) brings the work of James Alison into constructive engagement with current issues of exclusion. Alison employs the insights of René Girard’s anthropology of imitation. Rather than imitating the self-giving love of the Trinitarian God, human beings, trapped by sin, engage in scapegoating and violence. The church begins, according to Alison, with God’s solidarity with the victim Abel. The church as pilgrim can exercise solidarity with the whole of humanity as a history of God’s saving activity still unfolding. Trinitarian love reflects the plurality of divine love.

The length of the text, and the depth of Klug’s scholarship might appear overwhelming at first. However, one quickly finds that the clarity of the author’s writing, the logical development of his thesis, and the fresh quality of his insight make this book really engaging. The extensive notations assure the reader of the high quality of the scholarship.  The only piece missing, and it would possibly take another volume, would be an exploration of the motif in the Eastern Churches. Beyond the Visible Church should be read by seminarians and graduate students of theology. Hopefully they will be inspired to embrace a more spacious ecclesiology and also promote a more inclusive political vision.