Mark Husbands and Daniel J. Treier, Editors, The Community Of The Word: Toward An Evangelical Ecclesiology. IVP Academic, 2005.
Referenced in: Ecclesiologies
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Theology of Mission and Ministry.
Summary: While not as systematic as Ferguson’s The Church of Christ, this is an excellent collection of essays on the main issues pertaining to biblical and contextualized ecclesiology among evangelicals.
The first part of the book addresses how ecclesiology has factored into evangelical discussions historically. This may be of less value for practitioners than Parts Two – Five.
Part Two, Locating the Church Dogmatically, addresses the doctrine of the church in its relation to classical theology, or “to describe the relation between the gospel and the church.” (75) The authors tie the nature of the church to the character of God and the trinity. They enter the classic discussion of the church “visible” and “invisible,” or a visible manifestation of the spiritual realities of the church, “the character of its acts as attestations of God.” (96) This is followed by an excellent essay by Darrell Guder, “The Church as Missional Community,” which is a good distillation of his more expansive work, Missional Church.
Part Three, The Church As Moral Community, looks at the moral identity of the church. William J. Abraham’s article on inclusivism arises out of his own experience with the United Methodists in an attempt “to conduct an audit of our (i.e. Methodist) commitment to inclusivism. What does it mean? How did it arise? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Can we move beyond into a better future?” (132) He offers several well-crafted proposals for rethinking and regulating the practice of inclusivism. Whether one agrees with his conclusion or not, it is one of the best descriptions of the problems associated with inclusivism and political correctness.
The remaining sections, Part Four, The Church as Sacramental Community, and Part Five, Locating the Church Culturally, make interesting contributions to the discussion as well. The sections highlighted above, however, are especially helpful for practicing ministers.
Since each major section of this site has a biblical/theological component, see the other theologies categorized under missional, evangelism, social action, pastoral, practical, etc. These are also compiled under one heading, Theology of Mission and Ministry.
From the Publisher
Do North American evangelicals have a clear and strong doctrine of the church? Can we generate one? In this volume, editors Mark Husbands and Daniel J. Treier bring together thirteen scholars and teachers to explore the history of evangelical ecclesiology and the continuing discussion regarding the nature of the church, the question of sacraments, the relation of church to society, and the church’s moral character and missional witness. Contributors include William J. Abraham, Gary D. Badcock, Craig A. Carter, Ellen T. Charry, William A. Dyrness, Darrell L. Guder, D. G. Hart, Willie James Jennings, Dennis L. Okholm, James K. A. Smith, Allen Verhey, John Webster and Jonathan R. Wilson.
About the Authors
Mark Husbands (Ph.D., University of St. Michael’s College) is Leonard and Marjorie Maas Associate Professor of Reformed Theology at Hope College. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, USA, and at Tyndale College and Seminary and Sheridan College in Toronto. While a Masters student at Wycliffe College at the Toronto School of Theology, he was senior editor of Prolegomena, an academic journal in theology. Professor Husband’s academic work demonstrates a serious engagement with the work of Barth, Calvin, Luther and Jungel and extends to a consideration of reconciliation, theological anthropology and political theology. He is the author of the monograph Barth’s Ethics of Prayer and Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals. He and Daniel J. Treier are editors of Justification: What’s at Stake in the Recent Debates recently published by IVP. He is also editor of Theology and the End of Modernity: Essays in Conversation with Reginald Stackhouse and with Philip G. Ziegler co-edited Essays Catholic and Critical. Husbands is also the editor of The Community of the Word.
Daniel J. Treier (M.Div. and Th.M., Grand Rapids Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is associate professor of theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He has also taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is associate editor of the Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible (Baker Academic, 2005), and he has written articles published in Trinity Journal, Books & Culture, Christian Education Journal and Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. In addition, since 2003 he has served as co-coordinator of the annual Wheaton Theology Conference.
***For additional information on this resource, including reviews, click the bookstore links. Check the reference at page top or the links below for resource guides on related topics.***
Related Areas
See Other Resources on Theology of Mission and Ministry:
See Other Resources on Church Leadership and Renewal:
- Church Leadership and Renewal, Index
- Church Leadership, Theological Foundations, Ecclesiology
- Church Leadership, Philosophical Foundations – e.g. Church Growth, Missional, Emergent, and Other Missionally Responsive Trajectories
- Church Leadership, Practical Foundations – Church Dynamics and Research
- Church Leadership, Practical Foundations – Congregational Culture, Church Identity
- Church Leadership, Practical Foundations – Size Dynamics, Size Transitions
- Church Leadership, Practical Foundations – Research and Case Studies on Effective Churches
- Church Leadership, Special Situations – Small Church Development
- Church Leadership, Strategies for Renewal
See Resources on Over 100 Areas of Ministry Leadership: