Covenant, Community, and the Spirit: A Trinitarian Theology of Church

Publisher: Baker Academic
ISBN: 9780801049743
Type: Paperback

This comprehensive textbook by a well-respected Reformed theologian brings together two perennial issues in Christian theology: the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and ecclesiology. It demonstrates the importance of the Holy Spirit in empowering the being and mission of the church and shows how the church's identity and calling are embedded in the larger covenantal purposes of the triune God. Accessibly written with pastors in training in mind, the book probes the classic rubrics of the church as the people of God, the body of Christ, and the temple of the Holy Spirit, igniting readers' ecclesiological imaginations and reclaiming a more biblical, theological, and pastoral vision of church.

Contents
Introduction
A Trinitarian, Spirit-Focused Approach
Outline of the Book
A Future with the Church
1. The Story Begins
Communion: Human Being Is Social Being
The Fallenness of Human Community
Salvation Will Be Social and Individual: Establishing Covenant, Setting the Pattern
2. The Spirit's Covenantal Role in the Work of the Trinity
The "Two Hands of the Father"
The Covenant of Grace
Three Biblical Images for the Church: Why These Three?
3. The Body of Christ
The Spirit and God's Reconciling, Healing Purposes
The Community's Formation: Members of the Body
Priesthood of All Believers: Responsibilities of Office
4. The People of God
The Spirit and God's Sovereign Eschatological Purposes
The Community's Mission: A Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood
Jesus and the "Kingdom of God"The First Adam and the Last Adam
Israel and the Church
5. The Temple of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit and God's Life-Giving, Life-Changing Presence
Fruit of the Spirit, Gifts of the Spirit
Pentecost as the New Sinai
The "Third Use of the Law"
"The Power of the Keys": Church Discipline
6. A Pilgrim Community of the New Heaven and the New Earth
The Communion We Long For and Travel Toward
The Church Is a Blessing and an Instrument of Blessing
Images of the Church That Form Us
A Perilous Pilgrimage
Indexes

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Endorsements

"Written with clarity and full of biblical and practical discernment, Covenant, Community, and the Spirit displays the riches that Christian teaching about the Trinity and the Holy Spirit brings to our experience and understanding of the church. This is generous Reformed theology at its best."

John Webster, professor of divinity, University of St. Andrews

"Uniting us to Christ through the faith-creating gospel, the Holy Spirit simultaneously unites us to Christ's body. Robert Sherman integrates topics that too often float apart, especially personal salvation, the work of the Spirit, and the nature and mission of the church. Deeply rooted in Scripture and the wisdom of Christian interpretation, this exploration is also wonderfully accessible. This is a welcome contribution to the ecumenical conversation, but it is more than that; it is a personally enriching and edifying meditation on what it means to belong to the people of the Triune God."

Michael Horton, J. G. Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California

"More than solely an ecclesiology, this book offers a richly accessible introduction to the whole of Christian doctrine. Reformed Christians will find here an eloquent and enjoyable presentation of their faith, in a mode that is at once classical and contemporary. For Christians of other traditions, this book manifests the gracious interaction and friendly argumentation that represents the best of ecumenically minded, nonpolemical theology. Read this book to learn what Reformed Christianity is, and read this book to learn what true ecumenism is."

Matthew Levering, Perry Family Foundation Professor of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

"A language of hope rarely occurs in talk of the church today. Crisis and cynicism too often mar conversation about the congregation. Robert Sherman's Covenant, Community, and the Spirit helps us recover an ecclesiology of hope by setting the church community in the context of the gospel of the Triune God and by retrieving not only the powerful imagery of Holy Scripture throughout but also the idioms of the Christian tradition, in both classical and Reformed variations. As Christ's body, God's people, and the Spirit's temple, we are reminded that the church has life-giving hope, and, as pilgrims on a journey, we see that the church is graced with a vital mission and a joyful calling."

Michael Allen, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando