Missional Ecclesiologies in Creative Tension: H. Richard Niebuhr and John Howard Yoder

ISBN-13: 9780820486222 / Angielski / Twarda / 2007 / 180 str.

Park, Joon-Sik

Opis

In this masterful study of the critical issues in missional ecclesiology, Joon-Sik Park reflects on two prominent twentieth-century theologians H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962) and John Howard Yoder (1927-1997) and integrates the insights of their respective traditions. Although ecclesiology was a major concern to both Niebuhr and Yoder, their views on the nature and calling of the church were distinct. Whereas Niebuhr (a theologian in the Evangelical and Reformed tradition) was concerned with defining the church in relation to a universal community, Yoder (standing within the Mennonite tradition) was interested in representing the church as an alternative community. Although Niebuhr was reluctant to distinguish the church sharply from the world, Yoder stressed the distinctiveness of the church from the world and considered the Christian faith a decisive difference between believing and unbelieving communities. Seeking to construct an integral missional ecclesiology, Joon-Sik Park carefully engages Niebuhr and Yoder and proposes a critical synthesis of their strengths. He holds in creative tension the contradistinctive ecclesiologies of Niebuhr and Yoder by means of Lesslie Newbigin s logic of election, providing a way to overcome an impasse between the two theologians."

Recenzje

"Joon-Sik Park compares the understanding of the nature and mission of the church in the thought of H. Richard Niebuhr and John Howard Yoder and proposes a critical synthesis of their strengths that can be helpful to churches in Korea and the United States. His guiding questions from the struggle for democracy are fascinating, his comparison of Niebuhr and Yoder is accurate, and his conclusions pointing to a synthesis of these two quite different theological ethicists are highly pertinent for U.S. and Korean churches." (Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary)
"Park is a master of nuance and contrast as he teases out what we must learn from H. Richard Niebuhr and John Howard Yoder, and how we must continue to hold their visions in tension and work our way forward! This is a critical contribution to the field of missional ecclesiology, a must read for everyone serious about the public face of the Christian faith in the twenty-first century." (Dr. George R. Hunsberger, Professor of Congregational Mission and Dean of Journey, Western Theological Seminary)

O autorze

The Author: Joon-Sik Park is the E. Stanley Jones Associate Professor of World Evangelism at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. A native of South Korea, he previously served as pastor of multicultural United Methodist congregations in Ohio and Kentucky. His publications have appeared in International Bulletin of Missionary Research, International Review of Mission, and Missiology.