Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Christian Theology - Ecclesiology

This volume will explore issues such as the nature, method and development of comparative ecclesiology; critical assessments as well as appreciations of Roger Haight's Christian Community in History. The Jesuit, Roger Haight, has written extensively in the fields of systematic theology, liberation theology, Christology and, of course, ecclesiology itself. He champions the need for the church to embrace a dialogical mission. This represents his most extensive work to date in ecclesiology and is a monumental volume study in comparative ecclesiology, volume 3 coming in 2008, building...

This co-authored volume is the outcome of an ecumenical speaking and listening that has involved a continuing conversation between four theologians over a period of more than two years. The scholars are active members of the mainline churches in the UK, Anglican, Methodist and Roman Catholic. They propose that the Church will live as it grows in self-understanding, in the light of the claim that her purpose is to focus attention on God, Creator, Redeemer, and Living Presence. In so doing they address key debates in the US and European contexts, as well as dealing with matters of pressing...

A collection of essays and assessments in which scholars from a variety of denominational, geographical and ecclesiological backgrounds attempt to discern the significance of the 2006 document Nature and Mission of the Church from the World Council of Churches. Thereby offering doctrinal, theological and hermeneutical perspectives and analysis on its formation and content. The essays also seek to discern the potential ecumenical ramifications of the document.

Contributions also address futures for ecumenical dialogue and the development of an ecumenical ecclesiology in general. This...

For all who wish to develop a eucharistic understanding of the Church and its application to issues of current debate.

The Westminster Handbook to Reformed Theology is a superb and uniquely designed reference tool for scholars, pastors, and students, featuring compact yet comprehensive entries on theological concepts, terms, and historical figures prominent in the Reformed tradition. Written by esteemed Reformed scholars, this book provides easy access to a wealth of information and summarizes the most significant aspects of Reformed theology.

The Westminster Handbook to Christian Theology series provides a set of resources for the study of historic and contemporary theological movements and...

Practicing Gospel is a collection of four new and eight previously published essays on the subjects of practical theology, homiletics and worship, Christian education, and pastoral care. Edward Farley offers a more faithful approach to the tasks of ministry for seminarians and pastors too often tempted to equate pastoral care with popular psychology, good preaching with snappy public speaking, or Christian education with flashy curriculum. By holding theology and practice in an inescapable partnership, Farley rightly re-focuses the church's life on its proper object and subject--a...

Here, Wallace Alston Jr. presents for us a newly revised and expanded version of his book, The Church. Alston summarizes the identity, nature, and ministry of the church from a Reformed perspective, and places this doctrine within its historical and contemporary context. A new introductory chapter on "The Church for Such a Time," an epilogue on "The Church That People Love," and updated Scripture passages from NRSV are a few of the new features of this new edition.

Throughout our history, Presbyterians have needed and wanted a companion to the Constitution. This volume is an attempt to provide that companion. It is a valuable tool whose use will bring a better understanding of the church's Constitution and how it works. As a companion, this book is intended to be an aid to education and understanding.

Look around at any gathering--whether it be a sporting event, a civic meeting, or a worship service--and you will likely see representatives of two groups of people. On one hand there will be someone who has caused grievous harm to another person by physical mistreatment, emotional abuse, sexual victimization, violence, or any number of other ways. On the other hand will be those who have been harmed by just these same evils.

While the two groups are inextricably linked, and while it is far too often the case that an individual can be both abused and abuser, nonetheless the two...

There is no end to cliches and easy assumptions about congregational health and vitality. It's much easier to start a new church than turn around an old one; nondenominational churches are growing, while denominational churches are dying; small-membership churches are concerned only with survival; suburban churches care only about endless programming and "spiritual entertainment"; downtown churches are doomed to decay.

Whatever kernel of truth such analyses might contain, they miss the actual point. Churches stagnate, decline, and die for a number of reasons, but principally...

David Lowes Watson wants to remove a major blockage in the church--the self-centered pursuit of spiritual amphetamines--by acknowledging the responsibilities of universal salvation and the demands placed upon faithful discipleship:

• How can Christians effectively hold the tension between the gospel and the seductions of the world?
• How can we be committed to the church in a way that guards against thoughtless or self-centered discipleship?
• How can we be committed to discipleship in a way that guards against theological procrastination?

David Lowes Watson...

On an otherwise ordinary Sunday morning in 1964, millions of Roman Catholics around the world experienced history. For the first time in centuries, they attended masses that were conducted mostly in their native tongues. This occasion marked only the first of many profound changes to emanate from the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Known popularly as Vatican II, it would soon give rise to the most far-reaching religious transformation since the Reformation.

In this groundbreaking work of cultural and historical sociology, Melissa Wilde offers a new explanation for this...