Becoming Whole and Holy

K. Brown Jeannine, M. Dahl Carla, Corbin Reuschling Wyndy

Description

How does Christian formation happen and what are its moral implications? This book brings into conversation three disciplines that are crucial for Christian formation--social science, biblical studies/hermeneutics, and ethics--to present a cohesive, dynamic vision of human wholeness and spiritual holiness. The authors weave together insights from their respective fields to address the relationship between personal and communal formation, moral development, and the interpretation of Scripture. Revealing the process as well as the fruits of interdisciplinary dialogue, this book offers a fresh approach to understanding human formation. The final chapter, a case study on immigration, demonstrates the authors' integrative method.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 février 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441214430
• Langue: English

Extrait

© 2011 by Jeannine K. Brown, Carla M. Dahl, and Wyndy Corbin Reuschling
Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
eISBN 978-1-4412-1443-0
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture marked Message is taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
“In rare but true interdisciplinary fashion, Brown, Dahl, and Reuschling probe the relationship of wholeness and holiness. Drawing on their respective specialties in biblical hermeneutics, the social sciences, and ethics, the authors convincingly demonstrate with freshness and clarity that wholeness and holiness are linked, and that the path to them is a joyful but precarious journey. Becoming Whole and Holy is personally convicting, but will be a rich resource for a wide variety of disciplines in academic settings. Above all, the church needs its prophetic message.”
Dennis P. Hollinger , president and Colman M. Mockler Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
“ Becoming Whole and Holy is a compelling integrative conversation about spiritual formation that weaves together themes from theology and the social sciences in a very helpful way. This remarkably broad and balanced book offers real wisdom about both the end of spiritual formation and the means of getting there.”
James C. Wilhoit , Scripture Press Professor of Christian Formation and Ministry, Wheaton College; author, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered
“This is not just a book about Christian formation. In a surprising way, it also traces the paths of becoming whole and holy as its authors model their own growth in their interactions with each other. The process of offering and receiving guidance, the sculpting of practical wisdom, and the integrative journey itself are laid bare for all to see and to follow. Here is a conversation worth joining!”
Joel B. Green , professor of New Testament interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary
“Becoming fully human before God and within the world cannot be a solitary pilgrimage. It should be a journey taken in community, a sharing among friends who together seek to know themselves and their Lord better and to minister more faithfully. In this book, a biblical scholar, a social scientist, and an ethicist sharpen each other’s appreciation of this need for constructive interdependence and integration. Pull up a chair and listen to this quality conversation.”
M. Daniel Carroll R. , distinguished professor of Old Testament, Denver Seminary; author, Christians at the Border: Immigration, the Church, and the Bible
“This book is essential reading for students, pastors, and scholars who care about the pursuit of an authentically Christian life. The authors demonstrate clearly that such an all-encompassing and complex topic as Christian formation can be illumined in fresh ways by charitable conversation between academic disciplines. Their shared passion for God, Scripture, and ministry, expressed through distinct yet complementary realms of academic expertise, shapes a rich, dialogical exploration of God’s chief purposes for human beings. The result is a splendid example of eminently practical theology that strengthens the church’s mission to make disciples.”
Jeffrey P. Greenman , associate dean, Biblical & Theological Studies; professor of Christian ethics; Wheaton College
“What an amazing model of interdisciplinary conversation these three scholars offer in a fresh and fertile approach to becoming whole and holy. A deep and authentic understanding emerges through their collaborative, relational, and integrative process. This multidisciplinary model, based on Trinitarian theology, demonstrates the richness of this particular kind of integration. I highly recommend this book to those who are serious about being formed in God’s image.”
Judith K. Balswick , senior professor of marriage and family, School of Psychology, Fuller Theological Seminary
“ Becoming Whole and Holy is important not just in its content but in the unique, collaborative way in which it was composed. Three scholars who are also friends have created a new way of working at the intersections of their disciplines to offer immensely rich reflections on the process of spiritual formation. Readers will benefit both from the cutting-edge insights into human wholeness and holiness and from watching the collaboration toward this goal unfold in the pages of the book. I highly recommend this work.”
David P. Gushee , distinguished university professor of Christian ethics, Mercer University
To Robert Rakestraw
mentor, colleague, encourager, friend, and most of all, exemplar of wholeness and holiness
C ONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Endorsements
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Introducing Ourselves

1. Location: Our Selves, Our Disciplines, Our Process
2. Being and Becoming: A Journey toward Love ( Carla )
3. Wholeness and Holiness: Selves in Community with God and Others ( Carla )
4. Reception and Integration of Offerings from Social Science: A Response ( Jeannine and Wyndy )
5. Being and Becoming: The Scriptural Story of Formation ( Jeannine )
6. Wholeness and Holiness: Toward Communal Fullness of Life (Jeannine)
7. Reception and Integration of Offerings from Hermeneutics: A Response ( Carla and Wyndy )
8. Being and Becoming: The Trinity and Our Formation ( Wyndy )
9. Wholeness and Holiness: Christian Moral Formation ( Wyndy )
10. Reception and Integration of Offerings from Ethics: A Response ( Carla and Jeannine )
11. Interface: An Integrative Conversation around Immigration

Epilogue: Our Experiences of Integration
Notes
Index
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
W here do we start? Our collaboration for this work has been supported and affirmed by many individuals and institutions. We are thankful that our collegial relationships and subsequent friendships were made possible by our affiliations with Bethel Theological Seminary. We are indebted to Provost Emeritus Leland Eliason, whose vision of integrative theological education both informed and energized our teaching and scholarship. Both Ashland Theological Seminary and Bethel are communities committed to an integrative approach to teaching and learning. We are grateful to be part of our respective institutions and appreciate the opportunities they afford for our own formation as teachers, scholars, activists, and colleagues.
This project was initially funded by a grant from the Bethel Seminary Alumni Council that made possible our initial face-to-face conversations in St. Paul. Jeannine took on the responsibility to secure funding (for which Carla and Wyndy say, “Thanks!”). We appreciate this early vote of confidence that helped us in the important formative stages of our project. The continuation of this work has been made possible through the Lilly Theological Research Grants program of the Association of Theological Schools, from which we are honored to have received a collaborative research grant for 2009–10.
We are appreciative of the many individuals who were interested in what we were doing, and why, and how our work was coming together in this collaborative project. We can’t name them all, but we must name some because of the more direct interaction they offered with the manuscript at various stages. Our colleague and friend Steve Sandage read the manuscript in its entirety and offered thoughtful, integrative ideas and suggestions that we incorporated at many points. Likewise, colleague and friend Peter Vogt offered insights to Jeannine on her interaction with Old Testament themes of being, becoming, wholeness, and holiness.
For the initial spark and some refining flames, we are grateful to the students in three Bethel Seminary courses: Gospels and Formation (winter 2006), Hermeneutics and Human Development (winter 2009), and Becoming Whole and Holy (2010). Ross Jahnke and Tim Johnson, students at Bethel Seminary, provided close grammatical and literary readings of every section of the manuscript, as good graduate assistants in hermeneutics are apt to do. Their skills, good natures, and interest in this topic were invaluable and special thanks must go to them. The “formation guys” of Bethel’s Center for Spiritual and Personal Formation postgraduate teaching fellows Brian Majerus, Joel Jueckstock, and Shane Long read with care, insight, and an amazing facility with short timelines. Kevin Himes, Tracy Kallio, Rob Sportsman, and Val Wysocki, all students from Ashland Seminary, read Wyndy’s chapters and, in a grand act of role reversal, prodded with helpful suggestions and questions.
Our editor Rodney Clapp, executive editor at Baker Academic and Brazos Press, expressed enthusiasm in our early conversations that did not waver as we wrote on. Both Rodney and Lisa Ann Cockrel, editor at Baker Academic and Brazos Press, challenged our thinking about th