Viola, The Untold Story

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Frank Viola, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: An Extraordinary Guide to Understanding the New Testament. Destiny Image Publishers, 2005.

Prequels:

Sequel: Viola and Sweet, The Jesus Manifesto

Referenced in: Missional Communties – Organic Church

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

The Untold Story is the fifth installment in Viola’s six-part “ReChurch Library.” Click the links above for summaries of the other volumes. The “From the Publisher” below is an excellent summary of the content. To classify it among church leadership resources, it is a non-technical missional ecclesiology (theology/doctrine of the church) from a missio Dei perspective.

The Untold Story is a missional guide to the New Testament. In Viola’s own words, it “tells the story of Jesus Christ expressing Himself through His body in chronological order from A.D. 30 to A.D. 70.” It follows a chronological, not canonical, order of the New Testament, to shape a narrative ecclesiology, narrative meaning “according to the way the story of the early church unfolds.” It is preceded and followed by a discussion of the preexistent Godhead (i.e. Trinity) of Father, Son, and Spirit who enjoy spiritual community among themselves, establish an eternal purpose to create a universe and a world to whom they can extend their community, fulfill that purpose in the church, and finally bring the church into complete union with Christ and thus consummate their plan of expanding their fellowship.

This is a very coherent and thorough discussion of the mission of God as expressed through the church. It makes sense of Scripture’s rich imagery regarding the church, especially that found in Ephesians and Colossians, and does so in a way that inspires the contemporary church to missional faithfulness. It is a good companion volume to another book by Viola, From Eternity to Here.

From the Publisher

A Masterpiece in Narrative Ecclesiology

Watch the New Testament come alive! Understand God’s Word like never before!

The New Testament is often hard to understand. A major reason is because it is not arranged in chronological order. Paul’s letters, for example, are arranged by size rather than chronologically. This makes the New Testament a bit like a Chinese puzzle! For this reason, one famous Bible scholar said that reading the New Testament letters is like hearing one end of a phone conversation. The book you hold in your hands reconstructs the other end so that you can understand virtually every word.

The Untold Story of the New Testament Church is a unique Bible handbook that weaves Acts and the Epistles together chronologically … creating one fluid story. This epic volume gives readers a first-hand account of the New Testament drama that is riveting and enlightening. It includes dates, maps, and background information about the people, the cities, and the events of the first-century church using a “you-are-there” approach.

Get up-close and personal with apostles Paul, Peter, James and John and learn of their personal struggles. Understand the circumstances behind each inspired letter they penned. Watch the chaotic swirl of first-century people and events fall into place before your very eyes. Discover what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” really was. Learn what happened to all the apostles after the book of Acts was finished. Be ushered into the living, breathing atmosphere of the first century and uncover the hidden riches found in God’s Word.

A scholar of the New Testament Church and a forerunner of modern Church renewal, Frank Viola casts his gaze back at the birth pangs of first century Christianity in The Untold Story of the New Testament Church. Using a ‘you-are-there’ approach, this epic volume gives readers a first-hand account of how the witness of Christ’s testimony impacted the world. In the era right after the Day of Pentecost, the power of Holy Spirit prompted a massive harvest of souls yet a great persecution surged against those preaching Good News to the lost. Now, get up-close with apostles Paul, Peter and John and learn of their personal struggles to fight for the faith amidst a backdrop of in-house strife and foreign tyranny.

The book includes the following:

The entire background, including the historical setting and sociological context, that lies behind each New Testament letter. You will learn what caused the New Testament authors to write their letters, when they wrote them, who they wrote them to, and what they were specifically addressing.
Dates and times of all of the major events that occurred in the New Testament, including when each letter was written and where it was written from.
Dates and times of the major historical events of secular history interwoven with the New Testament story.
Maps of all four of Paul’s church planting trips and his journey to Rome.
An explanation of all of the major cities where each church was planted, a sociological profile of what the people were like in each city and what they experienced in their daily lives.
A user-friendly guide to take you through each New Testament book after you have learned the entire historical setting for each one. This will help you to understand each New Testament letter in a brand new way.
Endnotes containing Scripture and historical details plus an extensive bibliography so that you can reconstruct the entire story for yourself.

About the Author

Frank Viola is one of the most influential figures connected to the “New Revolution” of simple church and emerging house churches today. He is the author of six highly acclaimed books on radical church restoration, including Rethinking the Wineskin, Who is Your Covering?, Pagan Christianity, So You Want to Start a House Church?, and The Untold Story of the New Testament Church. Frank lives in Gainesville, Florida.

***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.***

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