The Church (Contours of Christian Theology)

In the past decade, it seems that I have been a part of churches that hit most of the stereotypes within Baptist circles. I worked as a youth intern in a fairly standard contemporary church. Went from that to being the college intern for a year in a church that probably looked about the same as it did in 1950. After that I headed up the college group for a couple of years at a place that did the whole seeker-sensitive/attractional thing, and now my wife and I have landed at an Acts29 plant. From that range of experience, I can tell you that there is a broad spectrum of ideas on what the church should look like. To be honest, for a long period of time I didn't know if there was an answer to that question. This confusion is one of the reasons the at reading Edmund Clowney's The Church was a great experience for me.This book will by no means address every question one may have about how a church should be set up, but it was never meant to. Instead, it broadly looks at what the Bible says as regarding the church to create a sound case for what should be true of every church, regardless of the specifics of polity, music style, or other specific issues. Instead, Clowney paints with broad strokes, looking at how the church is created thought the work of God before looking at the traditional attributes (one, holy, apostolic, and catholic/universal) and marks (preaching of the gospel and proper administration of the sacraments) of the church. Following this he turns to more practical issues, considering the church's relation to the world and some specific topics such as the sacraments and women in ministry.The book is an academic work, so it reads a little on the dry side, but the material in it is of tremendous value, especially in a time when it seems people consider their preferences and pragmatism to be as important as Scripture. Clowney's work points everything back to the Bible as the starting point for the discussion.Especially helpful to me was the discussion over the three aspects of the church's mission (worship to God, encouragement to believers, and evangelism to the world). In my experience, it seems one or more of these aspects is emphasized to the detrainment of the others, such as the popular statement that "the church is the only institution that exists for the sake of those outside itself." Clowney's work here helps correct these erroneous conclusions that are ultimately unhelpful.That is not to say that everything in this work is equally helpful. There are a few points on which I disagreed with the author, most notably during his discussion of infant baptism. For the most part, however, the book is broad enough that it does not take sides on the issues that have traditionally divided Protestant denominations. If you are looking for a work that is a strong introduction to Ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church) and don't mind reading something akin to a textbook, then The Church is worth your consideration.

The author taught at Westminster Theological Seminary which should tell you something. The book explains in detail the doctrine of the church. What are the elders, what are the gifts, function, purpose, mission and existence of the church.

Clowney is always good, and he did not disappoint in this book. This book will revitalize your love for the Church.

Well written with suburb content. Should be helpful to all who want to be a part of a God-honoring, Gospel proclaiming body of believers.

If you're considering the Kindle version of this book, please reconsider. To put it bluntly, it's the most rushed, undercooked eBook I've seen from a major publisher, perhaps ever. This book has a Table of Contents that doesn't function. Not only that, but even the way the TOC is laid out, the chapters are pushed together and the formatting is all wrong. It's not hyperlinked. You can't click on a chapter and go to it. You must read through the whole book, flip from page to page until you find the chapter you want, or utilize the search function to find the chapter you're looking for. When you click the "chapter" button on your kindle, what comes up is just a blank page with the option to choose "beginning." I am 100% sure IVP can do better than this. Be ye warned, Kindle users!The book is fantastic, though. After returning my Kindle copy for a refund I purchased this book on Logos and it's spectacular.

the book is in good conditionthanks

It arrived early and as described in the description :)

Great!