In recent decades, the use of metaphor in ecclesiology has been broadly critiqued on the ground that metaphors are too abstract and idealized to advance our understanding of the concrete church in history; consequently, ecclesiology has embraced an “empirical turn,” incorporating fields like ethnography and social sciences. In this article, the author argues for a positive function of metaphor in ecclesiology drawing from the work of Janet Martin Soskice. Metaphors link various associative networks of meaning and in doing so open up new imaginative horizons. This theory allows ecclesial metaphors to be examined for their adequacy in light of other empirical or nontheological fields of knowledge. In turn, this invites the theologian to explore other associative networks of meaning such that a metaphor leads to new insights into the nature and mission of the church. The metaphor of the church as the body of Christ serves as a test case.

近几十年来，隐喻在教会学中的使用受到了广泛的批评，理由是隐喻过于抽象和理想化，无法促进我们对历史上具体教会的理解；因此，教会学接受了“经验转向”，包括民族志和社会科学等领域。在这篇文章中，作者从珍妮特·马丁·索斯基的著作中论证了隐喻在教会学中的积极作用。隐喻将各种意义的联想网络联系起来，从而开辟了新的想象视野。该理论允许根据其他经验或非神学知识领域来检查教会隐喻的充分性。反过来，这邀请神学家探索其他关联的意义网络，这样一个隐喻就会导致对教会的性质和使命的新见解。将教会比喻为基督的身体是一个测试案例。