Denomination: Assessing an Ecclesiological Category now available in e-book format (a steal of a deal!)

Denomination: Assessing an Ecclesiological Category, ed. Paul M. Collins and Barry Ensign-George (Ecclesiological Investigations, vol. 11; T & T Clark International, 2011), a book to which I contributed the chapter written from a Baptist perspective ("The Ecumenical Dimensions of Baptist Denominational Identity") is now available in e-book format. The Amazon Kindle edition of the book is listed for $14.82--as opposed to $110.00 for the hardcover edition! The book description, table of contents, and reviews from the book's page on the Continnum / T & T Clark International web site appear below.

Description

The term "denomination" is now widely used to describe a Christian community or church. But what is a ‘denomination’? In this highly creative collection of essays representatives of all major Christian traditions give an answer to this question. What does the term mean in their own tradition? And does that tradition understand itself to be a ‘denomination’? If so, what is that understanding of ‘denomination’; and if not, how does the tradition understand itself vis à vis those churches which do and those churches which do not understand themselves as ‘denominations’? In dialogue with the argument and ideas set forth in Barry Ensign-George’s essay each essay offers a response from the perspective of a particular church (tradition). Each essay also considers questions concerning the current landscape of ecumenical dialogue; ecumenical method and the goals of the ecumenical movement; also questions of Christian identity and belonging.

Table of Contents

Introduction Paul M. Collins

'Denomination as Ecclesiological Category: Sketching an Assessment' Barry Ensign-George (Reformed/Presbyterian)

Anglican 'Denomination: An Anglican Appraisal' Paul Avis

Baptist: 'The Ecumenical Dimensions of Baptist Denominational Identity' Steven R. Harmon

Lutheran: 'The Lutheran Church: Church, Confession, Congregation, Denomination' Gesa Thiessen

Methodist: 'United Methodism: Its Identity as Denomination' Russell Richey

Orthodox: 'The Orthodox Church on Denomination' Elena Vishnevskaya

Pentecostal: 'The Denomination in Classical and Global Pentecostal Ecclesiology: A Historical and Theological Contribution' Wolfgang Vondey

Quaker: 'Denomination beyond the North Atlantic Ecclesial World' Ann Riggs

Reformed/Presbyterian: 'Presbyterianism and Denomination' Amy Plantinga Pauw

'Is there a future for denominationalism? Reflections from the perspective of Roman Catholic ecclesiology and from the perspective of the future of the ecumenical movement' Peter de Mey

'Afterword: A Global Perspective' Kirsteen Kim

Editors

Revd Dr Paul M. Collins, formerly Reader in Theology at the University of Chichester, is Parish Priest on Holy Island, Northumberland, England.

Barry Ensign-George is a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which he serves as Associate for Theology in the denomination’s Office of Theology & Worship. His reaserch is focused on ecclesiology, particularly on formulating a theological assessment of denomination as an ecclesiological category.

Reviews

‘With the collapse of classical ecumenism and the emergence of new divisions in the church, the time is ripe for a fresh theological look at the contentious issue of denominationalism. This volume tackles the thorny issues cleanly and forthrightly. Both those who are repelled by the whole idea of denominationalism and those who want to retrieve and fix it will find this splendid volume invaluable in thinking through their positions.’ - William J. Abraham, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, USA.

‘What is a denomination? Does it differ from a convention, fellowship, synod, or church? Is it primarily a sociological or a theological term? Denominational consciousness stands for particularity relative to the whole church. The premier ecclesiologists who discuss the nature, function, and relevance this term in an ecumenical age display the diversity of their denominational points of view. As denominations wane in the West and never quite take hold in cultures that do not share the history that generated them, will the gifts that each preserves for the whole church be lost? These analysts throw distinctive light on these issues and by so doing relativize the narrowness of denominational consciousness and help expand the vision of the larger church in which the denominations participate. This topic and these superb treatments of it provide a unique entrée into the ecumenical vision that people from all the denominations will appreciate. As a whole the book represents a quiet, conversational but brilliant essay in comparative ecclesiology that no course in ecumenism can neglect.’ - Roger Haight, S. J., Scholar in Residence, Union Theological Seminary, USA.

Theologians urge Baptists to seek "visible unity"

L-R: Steven Harmon, Neville Callam, Curtis Freeman

The Religious Herald, a news journal founded as a newspaper serving Baptists in Virginia that in recent years has expanded its mission to providing "news, analysis and resources for Baptist in the mid-Atlantic," has posted a story on the workshop "Baptist Dialogue with Other Christians: So What?" that I led along with Curtis Freeman (Duke University Divinity School) and Neville Callam (General Secretary, Baptist World Alliance) at the annual General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina held at Trinity Baptist Church in Raleigh March 23-24. An excerpt from the opening of the article appears below:

Theologians urge Baptists to seek 'visible unity'
By Robert Dilday, Managing Editor
Tuesday, March 27, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C.—While spiritual unity among Christians is important, discovering tangible ways to express that unity are essential, say two theologians long involved in Baptist dialogues with other faith traditions.

Spiritual unity is “a place to begin,” said Steve Harmon, adjunct professor of Christian theology at the Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity in Boiling Springs, N.C. “[Christians] share one Spirit, an allegiance to one Lord. But we’re trying to find a way to live into a more visible form of unity. Cooperation is one form of visible unity. We want to find as many ways as possible to cooperate together.”

Harmon and Curtis Freeman, research professor of theology and director of the Baptist House of Studies at the Duke University Divinity School in Durham, N.C., led a workshop on Baptist dialogues with other Christians during the March 23-24 general assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina [http://www.cbfnc.org/]. It was one of about 75 breakout sessions on topics ranging from biblical studies and social justice to technology and church resources. (continue reading story on the Religious Herald site)

Update: Associated Baptist Press has posted a story incorporating reporting on the workshop session into a larger story on the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina General Assembly.

Baptist Dialogue with Other Christians: So What?

Several followers of Ecclesial Theology have asked if I might provide access to material from the workshop "Baptist Dialogue with Other Christians: So What?" that I presented along with Curtis Freeman (and in which Neville Callam, General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, was able to participate as a panelist) at the annual General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina last weekend in Raleigh. Here is a hyperlink to the handout for the workshop in PDF; the handout in turn includes hyperlinks to some of the ecumenical texts referenced therein.

Ecumenism at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of NC General Assembly

The theme of the upcoming General Assembly of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina, March 23-24 at Trinity Baptist Church in Raleigh, is "The Heart of Jesus: That They All May Be One (John 17:21)." In light of this ecumenical theme it's fitting that Neville Callam, General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, will preach in both worship services of the assembly and will lead a workshop on the ministry of the Baptist World Alliance. Ecclesial Theology has previously called attention to some of Callam's writings on ecumenism in Baptist perspective (see under Related Posts below).

At the assembly I will join Curtis Freeman, Director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke University Divinity School, in leading the workshop session "Baptist Dialogue with Other Christians: So What?" (scheduled for 9:00 A.M. on Saturday). The assembly program book describes our workshop in this fashion: "Learn from veterans of ecumenical dialogues between the BWA and other Christian communions about the results of these conversations and their implications for local churches." I look forward to seeing some area followers of Ecclesial Theology at the General Assembly and in the workshop session.

Related posts:

Neville Callam on "Baptists and Church Unity"

Baptist World Alliance General Secretary on "God's Gift of Unity"

Remembering the Reformation rightly

Scott Bullard on McClendon and the "new Baptist sacramentalists"

Catching up on calling attention to a journal article of interest to readers of Ecclesial Theology: Scott W. Bullard, Chair of the Humanities Division and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Judson College in Marion, Alabama and subject of a previous blog post on his doctoral dissertation "A Re-membering Sign: The Eucharist and Ecclesial Unity in Baptist Ecclesiologies" (Baylor University, 2009), has published "James William McClendon Jr., the New Baptist Sacramentalists, and the Unitive Function of the Eucharist" in Perspectives in Religious Studies 38, no. 3 (Fall 2011): 267-88. The abstract of the article follows:

This article seeks to call attention to the tenth anniversary of the death of Baptist theologian James Wm. McClendon, Jr., and to underline the prominence and influence of this theologian by revealing his impact upon a group of contemporary Baptist scholars referred to herein as the "new Baptist Sacramentalists." The article ultimately argues that McClendon's theology is not a "sacramental" one, but that it does push Baptists to reach beyond a "purely symbolic" understanding of the Lord's Supper, or eucharist. A few contemporary Baptists would later employ some of McClendon's claims as the building blocks of their own, sacramental, theologies.

For what it's worth, Bullard's article begins and ends with references to my book Towards Baptist Catholicity: Essays on Tradition and the Baptist Vision (Studies in Baptist History and Thought, vol. 27; Milton Keynes, U.K.: Paternoster, 2006 / Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2006), with which Bullard interacts throughout the article and which he characterizes as a "widely read and controversial text" (p. 268). There's evidence to suggest that Bullard is right to characterize the book as "controversial"; I'm hoping the "widely read" description proves accurate as well.

E. Glenn Hinson on Baptists, creeds, and Christian unity

E. Glenn Hinson

As a Baptist theologian who did much of my early research and writing in patristic studies, I've long had a sense of indebtedness to E. Glenn Hinson, who taught church history at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for over three decades, retired from the faculty of the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, and currently serves as a visiting professor at the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. I was then one of only a few Baptists who had chosen to specialize in patristics (their number is growing), but I was conscious that Dr. Hinson had blazed that trail well ahead of me in our ecclesial circles. (In honor of that indebtedness I edited a Festschrift issue of the Baptist theological journal Review and Expositor on the theme Patristic Retrieval and Baptist Renewal: In Honor of E. Glenn Hinson [Fall 2004].) That consciousness only continued when my work in the ancient catholic tradition to which Baptists and all other Christians are heirs led me increasingly to devote my attention to ecumenical theology.

While doing research for my chapter on the Baptist tradition in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies, I discovered to my delight Dr. Hinson's article "Creeds and Christian Unity: A Southern Baptist Perspective" in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies (vol. 23, no. 1 [Winter 1986], pp. 25-36). Once again, I realized that Dr. Hinson had already made many of the same recommendations I've been making more recently to my fellow Baptists. Below is the précis from this article published at the height of the controversy that roiled the Southern Baptist Convention from the late 1970s through the 1990s:

Historically, Southern Baptists have maintained a firm commitment to the principle of "Scriptures alone" espoused by the Protestant Reformation. The current controversy within the Southern Baptist Convention and the evolution of the denomination toward the "catholic" phase of its history, however, are forcing a reassessment of this position. A fundamentalist faction within the Convention is pressing for a narrowly defined set of "fundamentals" centered on "inerrancy" of the Scriptures. This article argues instead in favor of a reaffirmation of traditionally and universally acknowledged symbols such as that framed at Constantinople in 381, often called "the Nicene Creed," on the grounds that this accords more closely with the traditional Baptist perspective. [emphasis added]

A few additional excerpts from the article follow:

Where it is wrong [i.e., use of the Baptist Faith and Message as a creedal test of fellowship or employment in a denominational agency], if one undertakes more careful historical scrutiny, is in what it points to as essentials and in the use to which Southern Baptists would put them. Better to refer to the great historic creeds such as that adopted at Constantinople in 381, as early Baptists occasionally did, than to posit new fundamentals, recognizing at the same time that no statement can express fully the mystery of God's self-disclosure in history and, therefore, that Christians must trust the Spirit to guide them to true faith and obedience (p. 26).

The view espoused in this article would be very close to the "one-source theory" of Vatican II. It is God's self-disclosure, God's Word, which is authoritative, that is, determinative for faith and practice....Inasmuch as the self-disclosure of God reached its definitive form in Jesus of Nazareth, the writings collected in the New Testament canon hold a superior place in the life of the church, for they contain the testimony of those who were eyewitnesses and participants by faith in the greatest of God's mighty acts on behalf of humankind....Confessions of faith or creeds of whatever kind, therefore, may bear the same testimony, but they must repeatedly revive the memory of the apostolic witness from the Scriptures (pp. 26-27).

Given the normative position of Scriptures, their unique position, the question arises again: Why not Scriptures alone? Why a creed or creeds? The most compelling answer to that question would focus chiefly on the guidance needed in interpretation. As the "Second London Confession" (1677) admitted, "All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all;..." (p. 27).

Over against those who would reject all creeds, therefore, it seems right to acknowledge the legitimate role of confessions of faith or creeds alongside Scripture (p. 29).

...Southern Baptists would do well to adjust their forebears' radical individualism and voluntarism by recognizing that the Spirit can also work through the corporate as well as through the individual will....With reference to the question of creeds or confessions of faith, this would mean that Southern Baptists could acknowledge formal statements and symbols but always with care that they not be used in such a way as to preclude the Spirit's working through the individual will to effect obedience, which has always been at the center of Baptist concern. Here it would be far better to acknowledge and use early ecumenical confessions like the Nicene Creed than those proposed by individuals who are ill-qualified to understand and interpret theology. No one who studies the Nicene Creed can fail to notice how this great confession differs from recent fundamentalist statements as an expression of Christian faith and, at the same time, how much better it accords with historic Baptist perceptions of faith than do the latter (pp. 32-33).

This story is critical for the faith pilgrimage of the People of God. Recited over and over, it molds and shapes their perceptions. The creeds are, as it were, the covenant story in nucleo. Delivered in instruction and baptism or through worship, they make sure the faithful have at least grasped the essence of the covenant relationship....The main purpose of the early creeds or their precursors was not orthodoxy but covenant faithfulness (pp. 34-35).

To all of the above I can only say--and indeed have already said--"yes."

Ecumenism after Vatican II

This week in the Ecumenical Theology course I'm teaching at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, we continued our survey of the historical development of the modern ecumenical movement by discussing the ecumenical revolution wrought by the commitment of the Catholic Church to participation in the ecumenical movement as expressed in the decisions and documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Our discussion was rooted in a close reading of two key Catholic ecumenical texts: the Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio ("The Repair of Unity") issued in 1965 and John Paul II's 1995 papal encyclical on ecumenism Ut Unum Sint ("That They May Be One"). These documents are must reading for an accurate understanding of Catholic perspectives on non-Catholic Christian communions, Catholic perspectives on the ecumenical movement, and more recent Catholic attempts to clarify these matters for the Catholic faithful.

Our attention to the "repair of unity" and the correction of false stereotypes of other Christians and their churches could be considered as a form of penitential discipline for Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, a connection underscored by a block schedule in which half the class precedes the weekly Eucharistic service and half the class follows chapel--which this week featured the imposition of ashes, prefaced by a litany of confession that included this prayer: "For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us, / Accept our repentance, O Lord, for your mercy is great." Amen.

Why some Christians are anti-ecumenical

In this week's class session of the Ecumenical Theology course I'm teaching at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, we prefaced our examination of the biblical basis, theological framework, and historical development of ecumenism by discussing the reasons some Christians are stridently anti-ecumenical. Among the factors we identified were the influence of dispensational premillennial eschatology, anti-Catholicism, fear that ecumenical alliances will water down doctrinal distinctives or involve compromise with theological liberalism, fear that the journey toward visible unity will require us to give up some of the things that are most dear to us about our denominational traditions, and ecclesial memories of persecution by other Christian communions. (In connection with the influence of dispensational premillennial eschatology, I once joked to my wife while preparing to travel to participate in an ecumenical dialogue that I was off to prepare the way for the coming of the Antichrist.) This morning I came across something that exemplifies many of the factors we discussed: the online tract "Ecumenical Baptists?" linked from the web site We Are Baptist Because... (associated with Morning Star Baptist Church, an Independent Baptist congregation in West Chester, Ohio).

"Congregational hermeneutics" and the Christian scholar

Paul Fiddes

Late last month I made a presentation on the program of a conference on Christian Life and Witness: From the Academy to the Church sponsored by the Center for Christian Discernment and Academic Leadership at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky (January 23-24, 2012). As member of a three-person panel that addressed the theme "Academic Witness to the Church," I spoke on "Academic Witness Within the Church: 'Excluding No Light from Any Source.'" In the course of that presentation I suggested that the “gathering church” ecclesiology of my own Baptist tradition has a helpful way of making ecclesiological sense of how the academy has a place in the church’s contestation of the Christian tradition--in particular, the contribution that the Christian scholar has to make as a voice that the community of the church ought to hear and weigh and not silence in the community's effort to discern the mind of Christ and bring its life together under the rule of Christ.

As part of the proceedings of the conference, Paul Fiddes, Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Oxford and former Principal of Regent's Park College there (the portrait above left hangs in Helwys Hall, the dining hall of Regent's Park College), delivered a Georgetown College Founders' Day Address titled "A Citizen of Athens and Jerusalem: The Place of the Christian Scholar in the Life of the Church." In a subsection on "The Congregation as a Place for Interpretation" in his address, Professor Fiddes articulated a similar Baptist ecclesiological rationale for the contribution of Christian academics of all disciplines to the church's efforts to discern the mind of Christ. The following excerpt is from the prepared text of Professor Fiddes' address:

In Baptist thinking the church meeting searches for the purpose of Christ; Christ alone rules in the congregation, and the task of the local church gathered in covenant community together is to find his mind for their life and mission. Finding the mind of Christ relies on a corporate interpretation of scripture, or exegesis by the community of the church. Baptists prize the individual reading of scripture, and look for the leading of God’s spirit to understand it, but it would be wrong to say that private interpretation of scripture or ‘private judgement’ is the primary mode of reading scripture in the Baptist tradition. The interpretation of individuals is always subject to ‘congregational hermeneutics’, to the mind of the whole community, gathered in the presence of Christ....Here is one place for the Christian scholar. Professional theologians from the academy will have helped the pastor in his or her initial formation to gain this vision. And such scholars, and scholars in other disciplines of the academy too, have an ongoing contribution to make to the ‘congregational hermeneutics’ of the church.

Ecumenical Theology at LTSS

Christ Chapel, LTSS

In addition to my teaching responsibilities in the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry programs at Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity this semester, I'm teaching a course in Ecumenical Theology at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina. Besides the standard courses in systematic theology that are staples of the curricula of most seminaries and divinity schools in North America, the seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America require all M.Div. students to complete a course in ecumenical theology. While Baptist institutions of theological education do not typically have a comparable requirement, I did teach an earlier version of this course as an advanced theology elective at Campbell University Divinity School when I served as a member of the faculty there under the title Theology and the Quest for Christian Unity. I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach a new (and, I trust, improved) version of the course to a class that includes eighteen Lutherans, three Episcopalians, three Baptists, and two Methodists. Since several people beyond the class have expressed interest in having a copy of the course syllabus, I've posted a PDF of the syllabus on Scribd.com.