Description
Book SynopsisIn this introduction to ecclesiology, respected scholars Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger offer a solidly evangelical yet ecumenical survey of the church in mission and doctrine. Combining biblical, historical, and cultural analysis, this comprehensive text explores the church as a Trinitarian, eschatological, worshiping, sacramental, serving, ordered, cultural, and missional community. It also offers practical application, addressing contemporary church life issues such as women in ministry, evangelism, social action, consumerism in church growth trends, ecumenism, and the church in postmodern culture. The book will appeal to all who are interested in church doctrine, particularly undergraduates and seminarians.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. The Church as a Trinitarian Community: The
Being-Driven Church
2. The Trinitarian Church Confronts American Individualism
3. The Church as an Eschatological Community
4. Eschatology, the Church, and Ecology
5. The Church as a Worshipping Community
6. The Worshipping Church Engages Culture
7. The Church as a Sacramental Community
8. Sacraments and the Search for the Holy Grail
9. The Church as a Serving Community
10. Church Discipline--The Lost Element of Service
11. The Church as an Ordered Community
12. The Role of Women in the Ordered Community
13. The Church as a Cultural Community: Christ, Culture, and the Sermon on the Mount Community
14. Getting Past the Ghettoizing of the Gospel in Today's Culture
15. The Church as a Missional Community: The Being-
Driven Church
16. From Building Programs to Building God's Missional Kingdom
A Postmodern Postscript
Recommended Readings
Appendix: Types of Ecclesiology
