Call to Christian Formation

C. Clark John

Description

This book shows that theology is both integrally related to formation in Jesus Christ and shapes our understanding of the world. Christian formation is incomplete and impossible without theological formation, because Christ transforms our hearts and minds, attuning them to the reality of God. As the authors explore the deep connections between theology and the life of the Christian, they emphasize Christian formation as a defining feature of the church, arguing that theology must be integrally connected to the church's traditions and practices.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian theology

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 20 juillet 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493430680
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Cover
Endorsements
“For evangelicals and Protestants wanting to know what theology is and hungering for mystery and liturgy and sacrament in the historical church, this is a beautifully written guide to going further up and further in.”
— Gerald R. McDermott , Beeson Divinity School, Samford University (retired); author of Everyday Glory
“Clark and Johnson helpfully remind us that theology matters not because we need to fill our heads with abstract philosophical ideas but because it is our way of responding to the reality of the triune God, who has called us to enter into his life and purposes. Let this volume take you back to the heart of the formative nature of true theology—fostering our worship of God and letting his reality reshape us in his goodness and truth.”
— Kelly M. Kapic , Covenant College
“If the church is to succeed in forming people who look like Jesus, it will need a theology that is up to the task. In this wonderful introduction, Clark and Johnson show us that theology is not the dusty domain of academic specialists but real, saving, and transforming knowledge of the living God given by Christ to his church for a purpose: the edification and maturity of God’s people into the image of Christ.”
— Joel Scandrett , Trinity School for Ministry; editor of To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism
“This presentation of the foundational role of orthodox, biblical theology in daily life and work will be of great encouragement to students and pastors, as well as lay persons who are serious about building their lives on the unshakeable foundation laid down by the Word of God in Jesus Christ. I admire the authors’ forthright affirmation of the concrete, life-giving nature of theological study, graciously expounded here for the well-being of the church and for the daily lives of serious disciples of Jesus. He is honored here as the Savior and Lord of the mind as well as the bodily life and destiny of all who seek him.”
— Fleming Rutledge , author of The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ
“This wonderful book offers a clarion call to make the knowledge of God the most important thing in our lives, the thing we long for, delight in, pursue, and prioritize above all else—and use to interpret and apply everything else in our lives as well. It offers a call, in other words, to recover the significance of theology once again in an age when most Christians pay lip service to God without knowing much about him. May real, genuine growth in our knowledge of the Lord renew our minds, shape our thoughts, and fuel our lives.”
— Douglas A. Sweeney , Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
“Being called to formation means nothing less than being called to Christ. That’s the basic premise of A Call to Christian Formation . From start to finish, this book invites us to share in the mind of Christ. Bold and unapologetic, Clark and Johnson ward off all wanderlust—away from God in Christ, away from the church and her liturgy, away from mystery and paradox. Grounded in Scripture and conversant with ecumenical thought, this book powerfully reminds us that the Christ-reality is the only place where true communion is found.”
— Hans Boersma , Nashotah House Theological Seminary
Half Title Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2021 by John C. Clark and Marcus Peter Johnson
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2021
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.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-3068-0
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016
Dedication
For Victor Shepherd, our blessed Doktorvater , to whom we are eternally grateful.
For our students, our fellow pilgrims, who make teaching theology a joy.
For the church, the holy body and bride of Jesus, may this token of our love be of service to you.
Contents
Cover i
Endorsements ii
Half Title Page iii
Title Page v
Copyright Page vi
Dedication vii
Acknowledgments xi
Abbreviations xiii
Introduction: Theology: Formed by Christ the Lord 1
1. Jesus Christ: The Lord and Logos of Christian Theology 21
2. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: The Triune Shape of Christian Theology 49
3. The Body of Christ: The Ecclesial Context of Christian Theology 77
4. Holy and Profane Worship: The Liturgical Cadence of Christian Theology 107
5. The Postulate of Paradox: The Mysterious Nature of Christian Theology 135
6. Living Forward, Understanding Backward: The Eschatological Tension of Christian Theology 163
Conclusion: Six Theses on the Character of Christian Theology 191
Scripture Index 197
Subject Index 201
Back Cover 209
Acknowledgments
Winston Churchill once said, “Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with, it is a toy and an amusement; then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster, and fling him out to the public.” 1 Just about everyone who has brought a book to completion can relate at some level to Churchill’s playful description of what at points is a painful process, and we are certainly no exception. Except rather than flinging a dead thing into the world, we hope to be releasing something that is quite alive—a living, lively, joy-filled offering to the God who is life himself.
Of course, writing a book is no solitary adventure. There is much support along the way, so much gratitude is in order. Many thanks to the entire team at Baker Academic for the skill and kindness exuded at every step and stage of the journey. In particular, thanks to Bob Hosack for championing this project from the start, and for being patient and encouraging to the end; to James Korsmo, for being a superb editor with a servant’s heart; and to Kara Day, Paula Gibson, Sarah Gombis, and Michael Nix-Walkup, for being exceedingly competent and unremittingly pleasant. What is more, how rich we are to have friends the likes of ours. We wish we could name you all here, because we are indeed thankful to and for you. But Bill and Linda MacKillop, Rich and Ann Nikchevich, John and Krista Scheidt, and Matt Woodley—you took especial care to prayerfully walk with us on this adventure; we are now and forever grateful. Praise and thanks be to God for you, one and all. Lastly but mostly, we give thanks to our wives and children. To our beloved brides, Kate Clark and Stacie Johnson, this book would never have been started, not to mention finished, if not for your immense love and support—gentle and strong, faithful and true; thank you. And to our children—William and Gwyneth Clark, and Peter, Abel, and Samuel Johnson—your dads are well aware that our writing is not without cost to you, so please know that we are both grateful and proud. Dear ones, we pray that you make haste in your youth to do the grandest, wisest, most authentically human thing you ever could do: answer the call of Christ to be formed in Christ, the call of which this book speaks.



1 . Winston S. Churchill, speech at the National Book Exhibition Awards Ceremony, Grosvenor House, London, November 2, 1949, quoted in Martin Gilbert, Never Despair: 1945–1965 , vol. 8 of Winston S. Churchill (Boson: Houghton Mifflin, 1988). I (John) am indebted for this quote to my trusty teaching assistants, Ben and Ireland Mast.
Abbreviations ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson. 10 vols. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994 BC The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church . Edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert. Translated by Charles Arand et al. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000 CC Creeds of the Churches: A Reader in Christian Doctrine from the Bible to the Present . 3rd ed. Edited by John H. Leith. Louisville: John Knox, 1982 Inst. John Calvin. Institutes of the Christian Religion. 2 vols. Edited by John T. McNeill. Translated by Ford Lewis Battles. Library of Christian Classics. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960 LW Martin Luther. Luther’s Works . American Edition. 55 vols. Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Helmut Lehmann. St. Louis: Concordia; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1955–86 NPNF 1 The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers . Series 1. Edited by Philip Schaff. 14 vols. 1886–89. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994 NPNF 2 The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers . Series 2. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. 14 vols. Reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1994
Introduction
Theology: Formed by Christ the Lord
Christian theology exists in many forms, in many places, and for many types of people. It is practiced both in the halls of academia and in the pews of the church. Theology thrives as a scholarly discipline, and it also flourishes in the songs and prayers of Sunday worship. It can be both sophisticated and simple, every bit as home in the scholar’s study as in Sunday school. Thomas Aquinas’s erudite tome Summa Theologiae is a work of theology, but so is Martin Luther’s Small Catechism, published for Christian parents to train their children. The reason theology can exist in so many forms and places, and across a spectrum of diverse understanding, is that theology is dedicated, above all else, to knowledge of God. J. I. Packer gives the very best justification for the study of theology: “What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the ‘eternal life’ t