It is important to note from the outset of our argument for a “communal existentialism” that the very foundation of this argument rests with our Triune God. Not even God exists solely individually. Even God, apart from all creation, remains eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Hence, everything that follows, including the creation of God (and especially that creation which is “formed in his image”) has need to be in communion as well. Not only do fish have need to associate with other fish, but also all creation bears the need to be sewn unto the Almighty hem of God. Creation out of communion with the creator is a creation in crisis.
Furthermore, a theological foundation has been laid since the earliest days of the Church that argues for our “communal existential search” as well. In fact the following belief nearly completely lays out a guide as to the formula of a communal existentialism. It is to be found in the dogma of
the communion of saints. The formula, first stated in the Apostle’s Creed, is as essential to Christian theology as is the “holy catholic Church” mentioned immediately after it. Yet, it seldom receives its due recognition.The belief in a communion of saints (that all believers both dead and alive are united spiritually by Jesus Christ) finds a comfortable home in scripture from the start. The most textbook scripture often referenced in regard to the communion of saints is 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, which states,
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it”.
Other scriptures commonly references in regard to the doctrine are Romans 8:32, 1 Corinthians 6:17, and 1 John 1:3.* Yet the arguments for such a belief is not only manifest in scripture as well but are especially to be found from the Tradition of the Church. St. Irenaeus spoke of Christ as reassembling “in himself all the nations who have been scattered since Adam, all languages, all races, and Adam too.”
As can be seen, the point that the doctrine of the communion of saints most clearly addresses is the importance of Christian unity in Jesus Christ himself. Yet this is not a unity that only leads us to live generously to one another. It is, in fact, a true and genuine unity. We are one in him, as Jesus prayed us to be someday in John 17. Just as what the Son does affects the Father and the Spirit, so to what we do affects our brothers and sisters and the greater communion of the saints. As Pope Pius XII stated, “there is no good or just work done by one of the members that does not, through the communion of saints, also influence the salvation of all.*” It was the same Pope who wrote further on the topic of Credo sanctorum communionem as follows:
“I believe in the communion of saints, that is, membership of the Church of Christ, one, holy and catholic, that city where all are equally free men; one faith which makes all its members closely and sublimely one; one holy table that above the mountains and beyond the seas that unites all the members of the Church of Christ; one Holy Spirit whose temple is built by all through the power of sanctifying grace…”
In the end the doctrinal groundwork for a communal search for the meaning of our existence in the face of death and alienation has already been laid in the beautiful concepts conveyed by the communion of saints. Nonetheless, there is still need to recapture this powerful doctrine. It has suffered long at the hands of Western individualistic existentialism. Yet, again, by seeking to retool how we think of existentialism and our search for meaning and truth itself, we may be able to reclaim the once mighty doctrine in all its glory, and thus truly be enrapt in the experience of being one body, as he intended. At its most basic level, communal existentialism is about returning the preaching, teaching, worship, and search for knowledge within the Church to the same basic communal framework the earliest Christians knew and practiced. It is about seeking the meaning of our existence as one in Christ. It is one body, one search.
* All Scriptures are from the KJV
*The Communion of Saints. Emilien Lamirande, O.M.I.
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