This important document proposes new clarifications and pastoral steps that will serve the pilgrimage toward full unity. It provides the biblical, historical, and theological foundations for a common Catholic-Lutheran understanding of the church. The text carefully links the biblical doctrine of justification to the development of the church in the New Testament as a community of salvation whose structures and ministries serve the church's mission to the human family. A detailed exposition is given to the development of the ministries and structures in the church: councils, dioceses, parishes, bishops, presbyters, and the Petrine ministry. Book jacket.
In 1937, prior to the 1948 inauguration of the World Council of Churches, Karl Barth challenged the churches to engage in 'real strict sober genuine theology' in order that the unity of the church might be visibly realized. At that time The Salvation Army didn't aspire to become formally known as a church, even though it was a founding member of the WCC. Today it is globally known as a social welfare organization, concerned especially to serve the needs of those who find themselves at the margins of society. Less well known is that seventy years after Barth's challenge it has made its peace with the view that it is a church denomination. Accepting Barth's challenge to the churches, and in dialogue with his own ecumenical ecclesiology, the concept of the church as an Army is interrogated, in service to The Salvation Army's developing understanding of its identity, and to the visible unity of God's church.
This book innovatively explores the notion of koinonia for understanding the nature and function of the Church. Since the Scriptures assert that the Church is the Church of God, God's communal mode of existence is looked at namely, God who is a communion of three hypostases relating to one another in an interpenetrating koinonia of infinite love as a way of understanding the very being of the church as communion. Such a notion of koinonia, far from having anything to do with socio-political understandings, suggests that it is a foundational gift bestowed from above to the world as the solution par excellence to the impasse of isolationism. More often than not, however, such an ecclesiology of communion has not taken seriously the historical reality of the Church living within the fallen world along with its ceaseless temptations, divisions and even sins in history. In this way, it becomes apparent that a dialectic needs to be acknowledged in the notion of communion as both foundational gift from God, and yet one still to be fully realised. Accordingly, this work shows that the Church is not only as the gift of God's miraculous presence here on earth. The Church is also constantly striving to exist epicletically until such time as it will fully experience the final consummation in Gods eschatological kingdom. An examination of this double dimensionality of the Church is undertaken in order to assess if this is in line with the Scriptural witness of the ekklesia. Having established the gift-goal dialectic in the notion of koinonia in the New Testament Church, the study then traces the trajectory of this dynamic approach to koinonia in the Churchs worship and authoritative structures. This promises to cast both a deeper light on, and a more realistic solution to ecclesiological problems within the life of the Church today, allowing for the Churchs constant renewal.
This book seeks to answer most of the critical questions about the real meaning of CHURCH as recorded in the Bible. The book has also outlined divine revelation testimonies by some people.If we really want to please Jehovah God, however, we must forsake what we want and practice what He wants.To many people, "Church" includes hundreds of different denominations or religions that disagree with one another in name, organization, doctrine, worship, and plan of salvation. Such a situation clearly constitutes division, not unity. Yet all the denominations claim to be Church of Jesus Christ.In this book I have explained what the Bible says about the meaning of the word CHURCH, characteristics of Christian and Non-Christian Churches, church membership, the purpose of the church, Church Governance or management and Administration, Church Conflict and resolution etc.http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00G75DN7Ehttp://www.sbpra.com/yefulkaywww.facebook.com/yefulkayhttps://twitter.com/mkacquah
Questions surrounding the understanding of "communion" are a significant feature of much contemporary ecclesiology, but their prominence calls attention to wider questions regarding ecclesiological method. Brian Flanagan addresses the questions of how to characterize a systematic ecclesiology and the possibility of a systematic communion ecclesiology through an investigation of the concept of communion in the work of Jean-Marie Tillard, OP. Tillard's theology is noted as the most prominent Roman Catholic communion ecclesiology. Flanagan argues that Tillard contributes to systematic ecclesiology by defining the concept of communion in relation to Christology, soteriology, and theological anthropology, thereby framing an answer to the contemporary question of ecclesial unity and diversity. The book also assesses the danger of idealism in Tillard's thought, and suggests that further engagement with social scientific study of the church will help strengthen, nuance, and critique Tillard's idea of communion.
Has God abandoned Israel? Has the Church “replaced” Israel? What does the Bible say? As we watch the world events, it is clear that Israel is following her prophetic scenario, and a new chapter is about to be written—and there may be a big surprise on our near horizon!
Entering the body of Christ and the church, as a "babe in Christ," I recognized immediately that what I had imagined and believed the church to be I was not experiencing. Instead, quite the contrary, as I never experienced the unconditional love of God the Bible spoke about and that I had come to expect. Coming straight from prison, saved, set free, redeemed, delivered, and sober, I desired to put on my superwoman cape, fly around, and save the whole world, testifying to them how Jesus had changed my life and delivered me from a fifteen-year life on the streets, with addictions to drugs and alcohol and a death sentence. I was gung ho and ready to go, super excited about my salvation, and compelled to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world. However, I had no idea that I was in for a very rude awakening not being introduced to the true church that Jesus Christ Himself built without walls or distinctions. On the contrary, I became indoctrinated by its very evil and wicked counterfeit counterpart, meaning, religious organizations that men built with its traditions and ceremonies of men designed to destroy the spirit and send souls directly where I was heading--to hell from the pews. And if that was not enough, they hated my guts! I witnessed persons having been in the church thirty and forty years but looked nothing like Jesus, and nothing had changed in their lives. They were still as mean as a junkyard bulldog, jealous, gossiping, and ready to do evil. I knew that these were not churches built by God and that I could never fit in. Therefore, I spent over twenty-three years searching to understand what the full truth of salvation is, the finished works of the cross, who I am, and the purpose of it all.
The Meaning of the Church presents the Catholic Church as a living reality, the "Body of Christ, mystically living on," bearing "the fullness of salvation." Eloquent, enlightening, and exceptionally relevant, this book is an invaluable opportunity to meditate upon the true origin, nature, and destiny of the Church of Jesus Christ.
