The Fellowship of the Secret: The key to understanding the context of the Church within divine providence

ISBN-13: 9781523710201 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 400 str.

MR Richard L. Barker

Opis

The title of the book is derived from a relatively obscure passage of St Paul (Eph3:8-11). That forms the focal point for what is effectively a reconstituted biblical schema. Radical as that is, effectively turning Augustinian and Reformed theology on its head, the author is convinced it "works," by creating an unprecedented level of scriptural coherence: the teaching of Christ in the gospels is able to be reconciled with the writers of the epistles who in turn accord with each other. As for the disparity between Old Testament prophecy and the outworking of the gospel/church age, that has also been resolved (or rather explained), not by hyper-allegorising or spiritualising as at present but by grasping what Paul actually meant by "the fellowship pertaining to the secret (plan) hidden in God through the ages." When that statement has been understood, it will be seen to tie in with the statements Paul makes in Romans chapter 11 concerning "salvation" being brought to the Gentiles "as a result of Jewish failure" (vv11,12 15). Israel and the Church can then be perceived in their true context - as redeemed communities within a vastly broader plan of loving goodness that God has in store for "all people of good will" as defined within the book (chapter three). That plan, being the realisation of the Kingdom of God currently inaugurated within the Church, is fulfilled when in the apostle Paul's language "the sons of God are revealed" and all redeemable creation is "delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans8:21-23). The book is the direct result of an experience the author describes as an "encounter with the Holy Spirit" and contains a prophetic message to the churches concerning the path to unity.