Howard Snyder, George Hunsberger, Roger Olson, and others examine the state of the evangelical church and offer fresh reflections on ecclesiology today.
The field of ecclesiology is rapidly expanding as new material, theories, methods, and approaches are being explored. This raises important and challenging questions concerning ecclesiology as an academic discipline. This book takes the reader into the trenches of ecclesiological research where the actual work of reading, writing, interpreting, and analyzing is being done. The authors reflect on fundamental questions concerning theory and method in ecclesiology in relation to concrete and actual research projects. Ecclesiology is dealt with as a systematic, empirical, historical, and liturgical discipline. Essays explore theology in South Africa as shaped by apartheid, liturgical theology, the diaconate in an ecumenical context, Free Church preachership, suburban ecclesial identity, medieval church practices, liturgical texts, church floor plans, and ecclesiology as a gendered discipline. Ecclesiology in the Trenches is a book for anyone who is interested and involved in ecclesiological research. It is also an example of a reflective approach to academic work. The book can be read as an overall argument for ecclesiology as a theological discipline with great potential for studying the church as a theologically defined empirical phenomenon.
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.
What is a church? This can be a difficult question to answer and Christians have offered a variety of perspectives. Gregg Allison thus explores and synthesizes all that Scripture affirms about the new covenant people of God, capturing a full picture of the biblical church. He covers the topics of the church's identity and characteristics; its growth through purity, unity, and discipline; its offices and leadership structures; its ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper; and its ministries. Here is a rich approach to ecclesiology consisting of sustained doctrinal reflection and wise, practical application. Part of the Foundations of Evangelical Theology series.
Of the worlds major religions, only Christianity holds to a doctrine of original sin. Ideas are powerful, and they shape who we are and who we become. The fact that many Christians believe there is something in human nature that is, and will always be, contrary to God, is not just a problem but a tragedy. So why do the doctrines assumptions of human nature so infiltrate our pulpits, sermons, and theological bookshelves? How is it so misconstrued in times of grief, pastoral care, and personal shame? How did we fall so far from Gods original blessing in the garden to this pervasive belief in humanitys innate inability to do good? In this book, Danielle Shroyer takes readers through an overview of the historical development of the doctrine, pointing out important missteps and overcalculations, and providing alternative ways to approach often-used Scriptures. Throughout, she brings the primary claims of original sin to their untenable (and unbiblical) conclusions. In Original Blessing, she shows not only how we got this doctrine wrong, but how we can put sin back in its rightful place: in a broader context of redemption and the blessing of humanitys creation in the image of God.
What is Lutheran ecclesiology? The Lutheran view of the church has been fraught with difficulties since the Reformation. Church as Fullness in All Things reengages the topic from a confessional Lutheran perspective. Lutheran theologians and clergy who are bound to the Holy Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions explore the possibilities and pitfalls of the Lutheran tradition’s view of the church in the face of contemporary challenges. The contributors also take up questions about and challenges to thinking and living as the church in their tradition, while looking to other Christian voices for aid in what is finally a common Christian endeavor. The volume addresses three related types of questions faced in living and thinking as the church, with each standing as a field of tension marked by disharmonized—though perhaps not inherently opposite—poles: the individual and the communal, the personal and the institutional, and the particular and the universal. Asking whether de facto prioritizations of given poles or unexamined assumptions about their legitimacy impinge the church Lutherans seek, the volume closes with Anglican, Reformed, and Roman Catholic contributors stating what their ecclesiological traditions could learn from Lutheranism and vice-versa.
This comprehensive introduction helps students, pastors, and mission committees understand contemporary Christian mission historically, biblically, and theologically. Scott Sunquist, a respected scholar and teacher of world Christianity, recovers missiological thinking from the early church for the twenty-first century. He traces the mission of the church throughout history in order to address the global church and offers a constructive theology and practice for missionary work today. Sunquist views spirituality as the foundation for all mission involvement, for mission practice springs from spiritual formation. He highlights the Holy Spirit in the work of mission and emphasizes its trinitarian nature. Sunquist explores mission from a primarily theological--rather than sociological--perspective, showing that the whole of Christian theology depends on and feeds into mission. Throughout the book, he presents Christian mission as our participation in the suffering and glory of Jesus Christ for the redemption of the nations.
"Many of Barth's theological themes, such as revelation and election, have received numerous scholarly examinations, whilst Barth's doctrine of the church has been largely ignored. Yet, Barth entitled his massive systematic theological opus the Church Dogmatics, and the church was a central element of his thought from first to last. This book seeks to fill a lacuna in studies of Barth's theology, presenting the first comprehensive examination of Karl Barth's doctrine of the church in over three decades. Kimlyn J. Bender examines Barth's ecclesiological thought, from his early theological treatises to his massive unfinished dogmatics, in light of his interaction with both Roman Catholicism and Protestant Liberalism. A special emphasis is placed upon Barth's mature ecclesiology in the Church Dogmatics."