Assessing Baptist Reception of The Word of God in the Life of the Church

Ecclesiology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 322-341
Author(s):  
Derek C. Hatch

Five years have passed since the publication of the report from the second round of international ecumenical dialogues between the Baptist World Alliance and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. When this document—titled The Word of God in the Life of the Church—was released, readers recognised that it would demand ongoing reflection and engagement as part of its reception. This article describes how Baptists have received the report during this interval. To do so, the article will discuss printed journal articles, books, academic sessions, and ecclesial events where the report has appeared, been discussed, and critically engaged. The article also articulates several suggestions for cultivating further awareness and active engagement with the report by Baptists. It concludes with the hope that deeper Baptist reception of The Word of God in the Life of the Church will bolster mutual understanding between both communities.

1949 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. Whitehouse ◽  
J. B. Souček

Volume III of the Dogmatik is concerned with creation, and the first part dealt with the act of creation, elucidating from a specifically Christian point of view the relation of creation and covenant. In this second part, it is the creature which is studied. For a theology bound to the Word of God, the questions at issue concern the nature of man, and the enquiry is controlled by the fact of God having become man. The material which is handled in this vast volume is a selection from man's varied attempts to speak about himself. The aim is to illuminate and to correct the speech of the contemporary Christian Church on this subject, and to do so by proper theological method and criteria. The resultant doctrine may not be very different from what is said in section I (A) of the Lambeth Report Part II, but one cannot help asking whether the statements made there have been reached by the searching discipline of dogmatic theology, practised with the seriousness found in Barth's work. His declared purpose is to seek “comprehensive clarifications in theology, and about theology itself”, which will give the Church strength to offer “clarifications in the broad field of politics”, a strength which is not strikingly obvious in the Lambeth conclusions about “The Church and the Modern World” and “The Christian Way of Life”.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 268-277
Author(s):  
Michael John Zielinski

The liturgical space cannot avoid testifying to the miracle of a Presence, and can only do so by its own means: through the evidence of structural masses, the combination of materials, textures, colours; the harmonious shape of forms; the fluid movement of light that covers it and, at the same time, is dominated by it. This activates a silent communication that stirs the soul through the senses, and that, by touching our spirit, helps us to live the experience of God, thereby making us like all those who, in all ages and places, have turned their eyes to heaven, have elevated prayers and built temples. I firmly believe that this natural vocation of liturgical architecture preserves its value intact even in the altered setting of the contemporary city, and that the church space should still strive to answer that need of the sacred that dwells in each of us. This does not mean shaping more or less bold prospects, intended to suggest a vague mysticism or induce an indefinite emotional suggestion, but it implies a conscious and deliberate inquiry into those architectural themes that for centuries have been able to give the place of worship traits clearly referable to the Person of Christ, to the theology of revelation, to the history of salvation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 235-246
Author(s):  
Alexey L. Beglov

The article examines the contribution of the representatives of the Samarin family to the development of the Parish issue in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The issue of expanding the rights of the laity in the sphere of parish self-government was one of the most debated problems of Church life in that period. The public discussion was initiated by D.F. Samarin (1827-1901). He formulated the “social concept” of the parish and parish reform, based on Slavophile views on society and the Church. In the beginning of the twentieth century his eldest son F.D. Samarin who was a member of the Special Council on the development the Orthodox parish project in 1907, and as such developed the Slavophile concept of the parish. In 1915, A.D. Samarin, who took up the position of the Chief Procurator of the Most Holy Synod, tried to make his contribution to the cause of the parish reforms, but he failed to do so due to his resignation.


Author(s):  
Gordon S. Mikoski

This chapter maps the essential contours and points of dialogue or contention pertaining to the sacraments among Presbyterian denominations. First, the chapter examines the distinctively Presbyterian understanding of sacraments in general. The chapter then explores in detail the theological meaning and practices of the two Presbyterian sacraments: baptism and Holy Communion. For Presbyterians, baptism serves as the rite of Christian initiation. The chapter also explains why Presbyterians practice paedobaptism. While baptism is for Presbyterians the sacrament of initiation into the church, the sacrament of Holy Communion is at the core of the church’s corporate life and work. The chapter next examines several contemporary issues related to the sacraments for Presbyterians. In the spirit of “the Reformed church always being reformed according to the Word of God,” the chapter concludes by posing several provocative questions for Presbyterian denominations and the sacraments in the digital age.


2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 542-557
Author(s):  
Kenneth L. Waters
Keyword(s):  
The Face ◽  

In what ways are the Johannine Epistles a response to empire ideology and propaganda? These Epistles proclaim a more complete and correct cosmology, a greater Savior and soteriology, a better pedagogy, a truer doctrine, a sounder koinōnia, and a more nurturing paterfamilias; moreover, they do so while indicting schismatics, who, in the view of the elder, represent the face of the empire. Although the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ drive the elder’s witness and ministry, he must still shape his message to counter the encroachment of empire in the church and on the mission field.


1972 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
J. R. Jacob

In November 1842, La Roy Sunderland, Orange Scott and Jotham Horton, leading abolitionists and ministers, withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal Church. The first issue of the True Wesleyan, Scott's anti-slavery newspaper, published an announcement of their withdrawal and their reasons for deciding to do so. They could no longer serve a church that condoned slavery and that scarcely permitted delegates to its conferences to raise the issue there. The three dissenters saw what they regarded as the high-handed tactics of the bishops in preventing conferences from considering anti-slavery resolutions as resting upon ‘the assumptions of Rome’! This act of withdrawal and the formation of the wesleyan Methodist Church die following May came after a six years' struggle between the radical abolitionists within the Church and their more conservative brethren, principally the bishops, who had stifled discussion of the slavery issue in order to preserve the Church as a national entity. This Wesleyan schism is a token of the change that is the subject of this essay.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 388-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Velez ◽  
Séamus A. Power

Academia is often critiqued as an “ivory tower” where research, thinking, and teaching are isolated from the complexity and everyday experience of so many people. As instructors of political and other psychology courses, we strive to break down these barriers and engage with the dynamic and nuanced nature of phenomena as situated in lived social and political contexts. In this report, we unpack and detail how we strive to achieve this goal by expanding on Plous’ articulation of action teaching (2012). We first define our pedagogical focus on active engagement, critical thinking, and staying on the move between multiple perspectives. We then provide specific examples of how we enact our philosophy in activities and assessment. We end by articulating how this approach to teaching in social and political psychology can be understood as furthering not only our students’ intellectual growth as psychologists, but also their development as democratic citizens. In doing so, we argue that action teaching not only involves course activities directly engaging with social issues, but also provides students with a scaffold to actually do so in a way that is attentive to the complexity, pluralism, and dynamism of social and political issues.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-111
Author(s):  
Roedy Silitonga

The church is present on earth as an extension of the presence of the kingdom of God among humanity. The church is always present to respond to the conditions and situations of the times in a variety of challenges and temptations. But the church always sided with God's sovereignty and will govern and control everything, including the pandemics experienced by humans on this earth. The Church, currently dealing directly with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has worldwide, and its spread is so massive, and its impact is so wide in various sectors of life. The church was sent to bring the peace of Christ in truth and love. That is why the church responds to the appeal of the Government and health protocols from WHO by carrying out church services at home. Worship at home is not an attempt to establish a house church as a new institution. Worship at home is a form of faith that is responsible for the lives of fellow humans, and at the same time as an expression of love for others. Home worship is a service that is held based on the worship and liturgy of a church institution, where the congregation is part of its members. Principles and mechanisms of worship at home are regulated in such a way that using all available and available digital equipment and technology. The important and most important thing in conducting worship at home is that the congregation continues to truly worship the Triune God, sing praises to God, pray, and the peak and center is to listen to the word of God through preaching live (live streaming) or in recorded form or in printed form.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
K Katarina ◽  
I Putu Ayub Darmawan

This article discusses spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. The formulation of the problem is the relationship between spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. The author uses literature studies to collect information about spiritual formation and God's Word in reformation. Spirit for sola scriptura has produced a change in the life of the church at that moment. All teachings, church traditions, and practical actions which is conducted by church member must be tested under the Word of God. In the present context, church who facing various challenges related to moral life, teaching, and practical actions must return to the principles of word of God. To build a spiritual life, we must start from the Bible that is interpreted correctly, which then becomes a theological development, which then influences the concept of believer's thinking and practical actions. Artikel ini membahas tentang formasi rohani dan Firman Tuhan dalam reformasi. Rumusan masalah penelitian ini adalah bagaimana kaitan antara formasi rohani dan firman Tuhan dalam reformasi? Penulis menggunakan studi pustaka untuk menggali informasi tentang formasi rohani dan Firman Tuhan dalam reformasi. Semangat untuk sola scriptura menghasilkan perubahan dalam kehidupan gereja pada masa itu. Segala pengajaran, tradisi gereja, dan tindakan praktis yang dilakukan oleh setiap anggota gereja harus diuji di bawah Firman Tuhan. Dalam konteks masa kini, menghadapi berbagai tantangan gereja baik yang terkait dengan kehidupan moral maupun pengajaran dan tindakan praktis, gereja harus kembali pada prinsip Firman Tuhan. Untuk membangun kehidupan rohani maka harus dimulai dari Alkitab yang ditafsirkan secara benar yang kemudian menjadi sebuah bangunan teologi yang kemudian mempengaruhi konsep berpikir orang percaya dan tindakan praktis.


1910 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 131-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Alfred Faulkner

There are two facts to be borne in mind in regard to Luther's whole attitude to social and economic questions. The first is that ordinarily this was a territory to be confined to experts, in which ministers should not meddle. He believed that a special knowledge was necessary to deal with some of these matters, and that they had better be left to those to whom Providence had assigned them, whether the jurists, those clever in worldly knowledge, or the authorities. The other fact is that the Church after all has social duties, and that Church and clergy must fight flagrant abuses and try to bring in the Kingdom of God on earth. The Church must use the Word of God against sin and sinners, and so by spiritual ministries help the needs of the time. The authorities on their part shall proceed by strict justice against evil doers. But there is another fact here which it is necessary to mention to get Luther's whole attitude, viz., that the State's function is not simply to administer justice, but to secure the general weal. They shall do the very best they can for their subjects, says Luther. “The authorities shall serve their subjects and use their office not petulantly [nicht zu Mutwillen] but for the advancement of the common good, and especially for the poor.” The princes shall give laws which shall limit as far as possible social misery and national dangers. They should listen to the proposals of the Church to this end, and on the ground of wise counsels of churchmen, do away with old laws and make new ones.


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