Blessed Are Those Who Do Not Know the Future of the Church: A Plea for Negative Ecclesiology

What will the future of the church look like? What type of mission should the church commit herself to? Rather than elaborating one more answer to these important questions, I have pleaded for negative ecclesiology and ‘the grace of self-doubt’. This is not to replace the answers that are given, but to safeguard sufficient openness in these answers. By abstaining from certitude, the church may more easily hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches beyond our own, human and therefore narrow minded understandings. My brief discussions on the Trinity, Ignatian spiritual direction and synodality were meant to illustrate that ‘wise ignorance’ and openness to surprises are present in some other dimensions of the Christian faith and theology and may, therefore, be safely adopted in reflections on the future of the church.