The Church (Contours of Christian Theology)
Overview
At a time in which the very word church sounds a tone of dull irrelevance, the doctrine of the church has suffered the studied neglect of many Christian leaders. The persistent demands to market, manage and grow the church and to meet the felt needs of churched and unchurched all threaten to quench theological reflection on the abiding nature and mission of the church. But few activities bear greater promise as a starting point for renewing and reshaping the Christian church than the work of theology.
In this book Edmund Clowney takes up that task, addressing along the way a variety of contemporary concerns: worship, mission, church and culture, church and state, church order and discipline, the ministry of women, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, tongues and prophecy, signs and wonders. He draws on decades of thinking and teaching about the church as well as from his committed leadership and ministry within the church. Biblical, historical, systematic and Reformed, The Church is a timely and provocative reflection on the life, order and purpose of the household of God.
- Series Preface
- Preface
- Abbreviations
- Chapter 1: The Colony of Heaven
- Chapter 2: The People of God
- Chapter 3: The Church of Christ
- Chapter 4: The Fellowship of the Spirit
- Chapter 5: The Gift of the Spirit
- Chapter 6: ‘I Believe … the Holy Catholic Church’
- Chapter 7: Holiness and Catholicity
- Chapter 8: The Marks of the Church
- Chapter 9: The Service of Worship
- Chapter 10: The Nurture of the Church
- Chapter 11: The Mission of the Church
- Chapter 12: The Church in the World’s Cultures
- Chapter 13: The Kingdom, the Church and the State
- Chapter 14: The Structure of Christ’s Church
- Chapter 15: The Ministry of Women in the Church
- Chapter 16: The Gifts of the Spirit in the Church
- Chapter 17: The Gift of Prophecy in the Church
- Chapter 18: The Sacraments
- Index of Biblical References
- Index of Subjects and Names
Top Highlights
“Three marks were defined in distinguishing a true church of Christ: true preaching of the Word; proper observance of the sacraments; and faithful exercise of church discipline.” (Page 101)
“The church is called to serve God in three ways: to serve him directly in worship; to serve the saints in nurture; and to serve the world in witness.” (Page 117)
“The church’s service has three goals: to serve God in worship; to serve one another in nurture; and to serve the world in mission.” (Page 65)
“To worship in that assembly is to gather in God’s ekklēsia. We assemble here on earth (Heb. 10:25) because we assemble there, where Jesus is.” (Page 31)
“Pentecost did not create the people of God, but renewed them.” (Page 53)
For several years evangelicals have lacked a satisfactory textbook on ecclesiology. Clowney, former president and emeritus professor of practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, has filled that gap with this fine survey volume. The Contours of Christian Theology series “introduces the perennial questions and their time-tested solutions while moving forward to explore contemporary issues and rework evangelical formulations of the faith” (back cover). Clowney fulfills these aims admirably. . . . The evangelical church will profit greatly from careful attention to the fruits of his labor.
Stephen R. Spencer, Review of The Church by Edmund P. Clowney, Bibliotheca Sacra 154 (1997): 489–90.
Clowney provides the reader with a thorough introduction to conservative ecclesiology. Although the Contours of Christian Theology series is written with all levels of theological students in mind, it will benefit those with little or no background on the subject the most. . . . Clowney has provided the beginning to intermediate student of ecclesiology a valuable work in the conservative tradition.
Craig D. Allert, Review of The Church, Contours of Christian Theology by E. P. Clowney, Themelios 23, no. 1 (1997): 97.
- Title: The Church
- Author: Edmund Clowney
- Series: Contours of Christian Theology
- Publisher: IVP
- Print Publication Date: 1995
- Logos Release Date: 2017
- Pages: 336
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Church; Church › Biblical teaching; Church › History of doctrines; Mission of the church
- ISBNs: 9780830815340, 0830815341
- Resource ID: LLS:CHURCHCLOWNEY
- Resource Type: Systematic Theology
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:44:29Z
Edmund P. Clowney (1917–2005) was a theologian, educator, and pastor. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he earned a Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton College in 1939, a Bachelor of Theology from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1942, a Master of Sacred Theology from Yale Divinity School in 1944, and a Doctor of Divinity from Wheaton College in 1966.
Clowney was ordained in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and served as pastor for churches in Connecticut, Illinois, and New Jersey from 1942 to 1946. He joined Westminster Theological Seminary as an assistant professor of practical theology in 1952. In 1966 he became the first president of that seminary, and remained so until 1984, when he became the theologian-in-residence of Trinity Presbyterian Church (part of the Presbyterian Church in America) in Charlottesville, Virginia. In 1990, he moved to Escondido, California where he was adjunct professor at Westminster Seminary California. For two years beginning in 2001 he served as associate pastor at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas after which Clowney returned to Trinity Presbyterian Church as part-time theologian-in-residence, a position he held until his death in 2005.