Apostolicity: The Ecumenical Question in World Christian Perspective

by John G. Flett

Overview

What constitutes the unity of the church over time and across cultures? Can our account of the church's apostolic faith embrace the cultural diversity of world Christianity?

The ecumenical movement that began in the twentieth century posed the problem of the church's apostolicity in profound new ways. In the attempt to find unity in the midst of the Protestant-Catholic schism, participants in this movement defined the church as a distinct culture—complete with its own structures, rituals, architecture and music. Apostolicity became a matter of cultivating the church's own (Western) culture. At the same time it became disconnected from mission, and more importantly, from the diverse reality of world Christianity.

In this pioneering study, John Flett assesses the state of the conversation about the apostolic nature of the church. He contends that the pursuit of ecumenical unity has come at the expense of dealing responsibly with crosscultural difference. By looking out to the church beyond the West and back to the New Testament, Flett presents a bold account of an apostolicity that embraces plurality.

Missiological Engagements charts interdisciplinary and innovative trajectories in the history, theology, and practice of Christian mission, featuring contributions by leading thinkers from both the Euro-American West and the majority world whose missiological scholarship bridges church, academy, and society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830899739
Publisher:	IVP Academic
Publication date:	06/23/2016
Series:	Missiological Engagements
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	392
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

John G. Flett (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) lectures in intercultural theology and mission studies at Pilgrim Theological College, part of the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia. Originally from New Zealand, Flett has taught in the United States, South Korea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Germany. He is the author of The Witness of God: The Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth and the Nature of Christian Community and is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

John G. Flett (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) lectures in intercultural theology and mission studies at Pilgrim Theological College, part of the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia. Originally from New Zealand, Flett has taught in the United States, South Korea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Germany. He is the author of The Witness of God: The Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth and the Nature of Christian Community and is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
1. The Problem of Apostolicity
2. Apostolicity Under the Horizon of Schism
3. Culture as the Nature of Apostolic Continuity
4. Apostolicity and Colonization: A Relationship?
5. Subordinating Apostolicity to the Apostolate
6. Historical Continuity in the Perspective of World Christianity
7. Jesus Christ, the One Ground of the Apostle
8. Apostolicity: The Livingness of the Living Word
Bibliography
Author Index
Subject Index
Scripture Index

What People are Saying About This

Bruce L. McCormack

"The missiological movement in the nineteenth century was a powerful force in the creation of the ecumenical movement in the twentieth. Today, it would seem that missiological theology gives promise of reorienting an ecumenical movement that is threatening to retreat into a form of splendid isolation, making itself unwittingly supportive of the attitudes of colonization that missiologists (through a lengthy period of self-criticism) have largely left behind them. At the heart of this book lies a searing indictment of those 'communion ecclesiologies' that, through their identification of the being of the church with practices internal to them, foster an understanding of mission in terms of the cultivation of precisely those practices in other contexts, without regard for the fact that the church itself is being treated in the process as a culture whose task then becomes the subsumption of other cultures into itself. This is a book that is bound to make some folks angry. Hopefully, it will awaken many others to the need for more culturally-sensitive accounts of Christian mission."

Brian Stanley

"This is a highly original work in the theology of Christian mission that deserves the serious attention of missiologists, theologians and New Testament scholars. Flett has issued a weighty challenge to all attempts—from whatever ecclesiastical stable—to ground the apostolic being of the church in ecclesiological form or some static essence. The church is apostolic only to the extent that its testimony to Jesus Christ is severally received and embodied by diverse peoples and cultures. The diversity of world Christianity today is thus not a problem for the apostolicity of the church, but rather integral to its very being as the body of Christ, the one sent into the world to redeem it."

Wilbert R. Shenk

"Apostolicity is associated with the very foundation of the church, yet its meaning has been distorted by faulty interpretation. Rather than preserving the binary definition—cultivation of the faith, communication of the faith—for most of the past two millennia the priority has been firmly placed on cultivation, making communication subsidiary. This has had profoundly negative consequences for both church and mission. In this pioneering study Dr. John Flett shows with multiple examples—historical, theological and cultural—how pervasive and influential this traditional view has been. Today's pluriform and polycentric global Christianity will continue to move with a limp so long as a true apostolicity is not appropriated. This work boldly and constructively points the way forward."

Henning Wrogemann

"In many respects, this work by John Flett is an outstanding contribution to international ecumenism and to the discussion on current issues in mission theology. The topic of apostolicity touches on the question of continuity, and it also touches on the question of crossing boundaries in the service of mission. As Swedish bishop and mission studies scholar Bengt Sundkler was wont to say, 'Transplantation means mutation.' John Flett outlines the different positions of various denominational traditions (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, etc.) and he relates perspectives from the southern hemisphere to those from the northern hemisphere. In so doing, the book builds bridges and contributes toward mutual understanding. Flett's approach is as integrative as it is innovative and will certainly stimulate the ongoing discussion. This is a remarkable effort that deserves the highest praise."

Kirsteen Kim

"Following John Flett's incisive critique of the missio Dei paradigm in The Witness of God, Apostolicity—a further interrogation of post-war ecumenical theology—does not disappoint. In this challenging book Flett tackles the theological significance of the diversity recognized in the study of world Christianity. This leads him to question an ecumenical understanding of apostolicity as based on historical origins and the continuity of church cultures. He does so on the grounds that it leads merely to church replication and not mission, which, following Christ in the Spirit, is anything but smooth and predictable. The book encourages serious engagement at the interface of church history, mission realities and Christian doctrine."

John R. Franke

"The nature of apostolicity has been a vexing question in ecumenical discourse with significant consequences for our understanding of the church and its unity. In this volume John Flett challenges many of the common assumptions of this conversation in order to construct a more fully christological notion of apostolicity that resists colonizing conceptions of mission and embraces the diversity and plurality of Christian witness in the world without sacrificing the unity of the church. This is a significant contribution to ecumenical and missiological literature that is sure to provoke much conversation."

Editorial Reviews

"Ecumenical discussions assume that the apostolic faith is transmitted through ecclesial practices and institutional structure. John Flett shows how this assumption leads, quite logically, to colonization as a mode of Christian mission. Alternatively, he argues that the experience of world Christianity should be taken as a point of departure. Diverse expressions of Christianity already share the apostolic faith; they do not need to be linked to some Western tradition to justify their apostolic continuity. This book's implications for ecclesiology and mission are huge."

Ben Myers

"The nature of apostolicity has been a vexing question in ecumenical discourse with significant consequences for our understanding of the church and its unity. In this volume John Flett challenges many of the common assumptions of this conversation in order to construct a more fully christological notion of apostolicity that resists colonizing conceptions of mission and embraces the diversity and plurality of Christian witness in the world without sacrificing the unity of the church. This is a significant contribution to ecumenical and missiological literature that is sure to provoke much conversation."

John R. Franke

"John Flett's Apostolicity: The Ecumenical Question in World Christian Perspective gives voice to the challenge of that course for me: how Western Christianity still struggles with the legitimacy of non-Western churches. . . . By allowing apostolicity to be reconceived as a process to be undergone rather than a historical-cultural substance to be replicated, Flett convincingly argues for a postcolonial way forward for ecclesiology."

Myles Werntz

"Ecumenical discussions assume that the apostolic faith is transmitted through ecclesial practices and institutional structures. John Flett shows how this assumption leads, quite logically, to colonization as a mode of Christian mission. Alternatively, he argues that the experience of world Christianity should be taken as a point of departure. Diverse expressions of Christianity already share the apostolic faith; they do not need to be linked to some Western tradition to justify their apostolic continuity. This book's implications for ecclesiology and mission are huge."

The Christian Century

"The missiological movement in the nineteenth century was a powerful force in the creation of the ecumenical movement in the twentieth. Today, it would seem that missiological theology gives promise of reorienting an ecumenical movement that is threatening to retreat into a form of splendid isolation, making itself unwittingly supportive of the attitudes of colonization that missiologists (through a lengthy period of self-criticism) have largely left behind them. At the heart of this book lies a searing indictment of those 'communion ecclesiologies' that, through their identification of the being of the church with practices internal to them, foster an understanding of mission in terms of the cultivation of precisely those practices in other contexts, without regard for the fact that the church itself is being treated in the process as a culture whose task then becomes the subsumption of other cultures into itself. This is a book that is bound to make some folks angry. Hopefully, it will awaken many others to the need for more culturally-sensitive accounts of Christian mission."

Bruce L. McCormack

"Apostolicity is associated with the very foundation of the church, yet its meaning has been distorted by faulty interpretation. Rather than preserving the binary definition—cultivation of the faith, communication of the faith—for most of the past two millennia the priority has been firmly placed on cultivation, making communication subsidiary. This has had profoundly negative consequences for both church and mission. In this pioneering study Dr. John Flett shows with multiple examples—historical, theological and cultural—how pervasive and influential this traditional view has been. Today's pluriform and polycentric global Christianity will continue to move with a limp so long as a true apostolicity is not appropriated. This work boldly and constructively points the way forward."

Wilbert R. Shenk

"In many respects, this work by John Flett is an outstanding contribution to international ecumenism and to the discussion on current issues in mission theology. The topic of apostolicity touches on the question of continuity, and it also touches on the question of crossing boundaries in the service of mission. As Swedish bishop and mission studies scholar Bengt Sundkler was wont to say, 'Transplantation means mutation.' John Flett outlines the different positions of various denominational traditions (Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, etc.) and he relates perspectives from the southern hemisphere to those from the northern hemisphere. In so doing, the book builds bridges and contributes toward mutual understanding. Flett's approach is as integrative as it is innovative and will certainly stimulate the ongoing discussion. This is a remarkable effort that deserves the highest praise."

Henning Wrogemann

"This is a highly original work in the theology of Christian mission that deserves the serious attention of missiologists, theologians and New Testament scholars. Flett has issued a weighty challenge to all attempts—from whatever ecclesiastical stable—to ground the apostolic being of the church in ecclesiological form or some static essence. The church is apostolic only to the extent that its testimony to Jesus Christ is severally received and embodied by diverse peoples and cultures. The diversity of world Christianity today is thus not a problem for the apostolicity of the church, but rather integral to its very being as the body of Christ, the one sent into the world to redeem it."

Brian Stanley

"Following John Flett's incisive critique of the missio Dei paradigm in The Witness of God, Apostolicity—a further interrogation of post-war ecumenical theology—does not disappoint. In this challenging book Flett tackles the theological significance of the diversity recognized in the study of world Christianity. This leads him to question an ecumenical understanding of apostolicity as based on historical origins and the continuity of church cultures. He does so on the grounds that it leads merely to church replication and not mission, which, following Christ in the Spirit, is anything but smooth and predictable. The book encourages serious engagement at the interface of church history, mission realities and Christian doctrine."

Kirsteen Kim

"Ecumenical discussions assume that the apostolic faith is transmitted through ecclesial practices and institutional structures. John Flett shows how this assumption leads, quite logically, to colonization as a mode of Christian mission. Alternatively, he argues that the experience of world Christianity should be taken as a point of departure. Diverse expressions of Christianity already share the apostolic faith; they do not need to be linked to some Western tradition to justify their apostolic continuity. This book's implications for ecclesiology and mission are huge."

--The Christian Century, May 10, 2017

"Following John Flett's incisive critique of the missio Dei paradigm in The Witness of God, Apostolicity--a further interrogation of post-war ecumenical theology--does not disappoint. In this challenging book Flett tackles the theological significance of the diversity recognized in the study of world Christianity. This leads him to question an ecumenical understanding of apostolicity as based on historical origins and the continuity of church cultures. He does so on the grounds that it leads merely to church replication and not mission, which, following Christ in the Spirit, is anything but smooth and predictable. The book encourages serious engagement at the interface of church history, mission realities and Christian doctrine."

--Kirsteen Kim, professor of theology and world Christianity, Leeds Trinity University, editor of Mission Studies

"John Flett's Apostolicity: The Ecumenical Question in World Christian Perspective gives voice to the challenge of that course for me: how Western Christianity still struggles with the legitimacy of non-Western churches. . . . By allowing apostolicity to be reconceived as a process to be undergone rather than a historical-cultural substance to be replicated, Flett convincingly argues for a postcolonial way forward for ecclesiology."

--Myles Werntz, Books Culture, July 7, 2016

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