In a culture dominated by the individualistic values of political and social liberalism, Gary Badcock says that we seldom hear of the church as the ?creature of the Word of God.? The church has been e
In a culture dominated by the individualistic values of political and social liberalism, Gary Badcock says that we seldom hear of the church as the ?creature of the Word of God.? The church has been entrusted to us by God and belongs to the structure of the Christian faith itself. Ecclesiology is first of all theology because it is primarily about the presence of God, Badcock maintains, and is thus biblical and creedal (?one, holy, catholic, and apostolic?) ? something that ?we believe? ? which is what undergirds its empirical, sociological, and even pastoral function. Rather than a hollow shell where humans dream moral dreams and do good deeds, the church is the ?house where God lives.?
John Webster
King's College, Aberdeen, Scotland
"Written with clarity and filled with theological and spiritual perception, this account of the theology of the church is a work of high order, most of all because of the consistency with which it talks of the church by talking about God."
David Fergusson
University of Edinburgh
"In identifying the church as a site of divine action, Gary Badcock offers a rich and nuanced discussion of ecclesiology. While remaining firmly theological in his approach, he remains alert to recent concerns surrounding the church as a social institution and to other disciplinary approaches. This is a lively, accessible, and important contribution to the subject."
Stanley Hauerwas
Duke Divinity School
"Why do we as Christians confess we believe in the catholic church when we can see it? You normally do not believe in what you can see. It is, however, the great virtue of Badcock's book to help us understand why we rightly believe in the holy catholic church. For it turns out we can only believe in what God creates. Badcock's book is destined not only to renew the field of ecclesiology but also to help us see better what the reform of the church should look like."
View Review quote
