"Scripture in the Life of the Baptist Churches: Openings for a Differentiated Catholic-Baptist Consensus on Sacred Scripture"

My article "Scripture in the Life of the Baptist Churches: Openings for a Differentiated Catholic-Baptist Consensus on Sacred Scripture" is published in the current issue of the journal Pro Ecclesia (vol. 18, no. 2 [Spring 2009], pp. 187-215). The article is a revision of a paper I presented during one of the sessions of a five-year series of bilateral ecumenical conversations currently underway between the Commission on Doctrine and Interchurch Cooperation of the Baptist World Alliance and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity of the Roman Catholic Church.

Here's a summary of how the article proceeds, taken from the introductory section: "After offering a thick description of the role of Scripture in the first-order liturgy and catechesis of Baptist churches and summarizing the place of Scripture in the second-order efforts of Baptist communities to articulate confessions of faith, I will identify eight potential loci of a differentiated Catholic-Baptist consensus on Sacred Scripture" (p. 190).

In a future post I'll explain what a "differentiated consensus" is.

This publication is special to me for a couple of reasons. It's the first article I've published in my very favorite theological journal. Sponsored by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, Pro Ecclesia and the scholarship it publishes exemplify well how theology may be done in, with, and for the church. It's also a revision of a paper I was in the midst of preparing for presentation when our son Timothy arrived into our family, so much of it was written while he was strapped to my chest in a carrying sling and I was alternating between tracking down references in the documents from Vatican II and furiously typing away at the manuscript. Those are special memories.