Community Formation in the Early Church and in the Church Today
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ISBN: 9780801046964
Type: Paperback
"A valuable resource for those intrigued by either the historical development of church order or the theological underpinnings of church order today (or better yet, both!). . . . The volume is a welcome one."--Themelios
Twelve essays by a multidisciplinary panel of distinguished scholars present a coherent, panoramic picture of the formation of the Christian community. Richard Ascough, Alan Segal, and Peter Richardson explore Greco-Roman and Jewish organizational models. Craig Evans, Richard Longenecker, Scott Bartchy, and Howard Marshall present evidence of early community formation from the Gospels, the major Pauline letters, Acts, and the Pastoral Epistles. Alan Hayes and Frances Young explore post-New Testament Latin and Greek Christianity. John Webster, David Hester, and Miroslav Volf assess modern episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational polities in light of their biblical and theological roots. What has sometimes been called "church order" turns out to be rather the formation of a community, oriented to ministries in which all the people participate.
Endorsements
"This wide-ranging collection of essays on the church takes account of historical and sociological as well as theological factors. . . . Christians have always insisted that the church is God's new creation, the product of Christ's redemptive work, yet it is undeniably a human institution as well, a 'voluntary association' of individuals and households, whether in the ancient world or our own. These definitions compete with each other but do not exclude each other in these varied essays. A most worthwhile collection!"--J. Ramsey Michaels, professor of religious studies emeritus, Missouri State University
