Toward a Discerning Church: Ecclesial Self-Transcendence in the Framework of Lonergan’s Cognitional Structure

Abstract

This article argues that Bernard Lonergan’s cognitional theory can function as a framework for understanding the Church as grounded in tradition yet engaged in self-transcendence. Using a correlation method, this study relates three fundamental questions of the theory to the Church’s ongoing response to God’s revelation in the evolving context. First, the question, “What am I doing when I am knowing?” suggests ecclesial discernment through the continual process of experiencing, understanding, and judging toward “a virtually conditioned.” Second, “Why is doing that knowing?” reveals that the Church is a community of the faithful innately endowed with the unrestricted human desire for the Divine. This capacity enables them to seek God’s will in their current situation. Finally, the answer to “What do I know when I do it?” is a reality that is not limited to sensory perception. As human cognition grasps intelligible truth in the act of knowing, the Church also strives for it through historical inquiry. In conclusion, Lonergan’s idea offers a theological understanding of the Church’s continuous renewal (ecclesia semper reformanda), a concrete expression as a pilgrim community in the world.