This book was forbidden by the Nazi government, as it outlines a defense against the charges brought forth against Catholicism. It is a piece of Catholic reform theology that articulated a new understanding of what it means to be church. The reprinted edition features an introduction by Ulrich L. Lehner.

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There is today a dramatic reexamination of structure, authority, dogma -- indeed, every aspect of the life of the Church is held up to scrutiny. Welcoming this as a sign of vitality, Avery Dulles has carefully studied the writings of contemporary Protestant and Catholic ecclesiologists and sifted out six major approaches, or "models," through which the Church's character can be understood: as Institution, Mystical Communion, Sacrament, Herald, Servant, and, in a recent addition to the book, as Community of Disciples. A balanced theology, he concludes, must incorporate the major affirmations of each. "The method of models or types," observes Cardinal Dulles, "can have great value in helping people to get beyond the limitations of their own particular outlook and to enter into fruitful conversation with others... Such conversation is obviously essential if ecumenism is to get beyond its present impasses." This new edition includes a new Appendix and Preface by the author.

Recent theological discussions between Catholics and Evangelicals have generated a renewed appreciation for God's ongoing use of Scripture for self-mediation to the Church. Noting the significant influence of Henri de Lubac (one of the drafters of Dei Verbum and proponent of a renewal of the Patristic and Medieval emphasis on a spiritual sense of Scripture), and Kevin Vanhoozer (the leading Evangelical proponent of a theological interpretation of Scripture), Kevin Storer seeks to draw Evangelical and Catholic theologians into dialogue about God's ongoing use of Scripture in the economy of redemption. Storer suggests that a number of traditional tensions between Catholics and Evangelicals, such as the literal or spiritual sense of Scripture, a sacramental or a covenantal model of God's self-mediation, and an emphasis on the authority of Scripture or the authority of the Church, can be eased by shifting greater focus upon God's ongoing use of creaturely realities for the building of the Church in union with Christ. This project seeks to enable Evangelicals to appropriate the insights of de Lubac's Catholic Ressourcement project, while also encouraging Catholic theologians to appreciate Vanhoozer's Evangelical emphasis on God's use of the literal sense of Scripture to build the Church.