The Community of the Word: Toward an Evangelical Ecclesiology

by Mark Husbands (Editor), Daniel J. Treier (Editor)

Overview

Do North American evangelicals have a clear and strong doctrine of the church? Can we generate one? In this volume, editors Mark Husbands and Daniel J. Treier bring together thirteen scholars and teachers to explore the history of evangelical ecclesiology and the continuing discussion regarding the nature of the church, the question of sacraments, the relation of church to society, and the church's moral character and missional witness. Contributors include William J. Abraham, Gary D. Badcock, Craig A. Carter, Ellen T. Charry, William A. Dyrness, Darrell L. Guder, D. G. Hart, Willie James Jennings, Dennis L. Okholm, James K. A. Smith, Allen Verhey, John Webster and Jonathan R. Wilson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830827978
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	03/18/2005
Series:	Wheaton Theology Conference Series
Edition description:	Special Edition
Pages:	291
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Mark Husbands and Daniel J. Treier teach in the biblical and theological studies department of Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.

Mark Husbands is Leonard and Marjorie Maas Associate Professor of Reformed Theology at Hope College. Daniel J. Treier is associate professor of theology and Roger Lundin is Blanchard Professor of English, both at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Mark Husbands and Daniel J. Treier

Part One: The Church in "Evangelical" Theologies: Looking Back
1. The Church in Evangelical Theologies, Past and Future - D. G. Hart
2. The Fundamental Dispensation of Evangelical Ecclesiology - Dennis L. Okholm
3. Practicing Church: Evangelical Ecclesiologies at the End of Modernity - Jonathan R. Wilson

Part Two: Locating the Church Dogmatically
4. The Church and the Perfection of God - John Webster
5. "The Visible Attests the Invisible" - John Webster
6. The Church as Missional Community - Darrell L. Guder

Part Three: The Church as Moral Community
7. Inclusivism, Idolatry and the Survival of the (Fittest) Faithful - William J. Abraham
8. "Able to Instruct One Another": The Church as a Community of Moral Discourse - Allen Verhey

Part Four: The Church as Sacramental Community?
9. Beyond Theocracy and Individualism: The Significance of John Howard Yoder's Ecclesiology for Evangelicalism - Craig A. Carter
10. The Church as "Sacrament" - Gary D. Babcock
11. Sacramental Ecclesiology - Ellen T. Charry

Part Five: Locating the Church Culturally
12. The Church as Social Theory: A Reformed Engagement with Radical Orthodoxy - James K. A. Smith
13. The Desire of the Church - Willie James Jennings
14. Spaces for an Evangelical Ecclesiology - William A. Dyrness

Conclusion: The Body of Christ, the Bread of Heaven - Ellen T. Charry

Contributors
Names Index
Subject Index
Scripture Index

Editorial Reviews

A concrete contextual contribution with a strongly pastoral concern. This is a useful introduction to the various ways in which the church is making a comeback into evangelical theology. The footnotes open up avenues for recommended reading.

Andy Draycott

This book should be a mandatory reading in undergraduate, seminary, and graduate courses on evangelical theory.

Religious Studies Review

It does raise many interesting issues on the nature and mission of the church today. For anyone involved in Christian ministry it will therefore prove helpful in identifying and confronting issues which threaten to distort or distract the church.

Iain Cameron

. . . The primary contribution of this volume may lie precisely in its framing the various important ecclesiological points of discussion that need to be addressed in evangelical theology.

Evangelical Review of Theology

This book should be a mandatory reading in undergraduate, seminary, and graduate courses on evangelical theory.

--Religious Studies Review, January 2007

. . . The primary contribution of this volume may lie precisely in its framing the various important ecclesiological points of discussion that need to be addressed in evangelical theology.

--Evangelical Review of Theology, July 2007

A concrete contextual contribution with a strongly pastoral concern. This is a useful introduction to the various ways in which the church is making a comeback into evangelical theology. The footnotes open up avenues for recommended reading.

--Andy Draycott, Themelios 32/2

It does raise many interesting issues on the nature and mission of the church today. For anyone involved in Christian ministry it will therefore prove helpful in identifying and confronting issues which threaten to distort or distract the church.

--Iain Cameron, UFM Scottish Secretary, Glasgow, Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 25:1, Spring 2007

From the Publisher