Towards Baptist catholicity : essays on tradition and the Baptist vision / Steven R. Harmon ; foreword by Paul Avis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harmon, Steven R. (Steven Ray)

Contributor:

Avis, Paul.

Series:

Studies in Baptist history and thought ; v. 27.

Studies in Baptist history and thought ; v. 27

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Church--Catholicity.

Church.

Baptists--Doctrines.

Baptists.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 275 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Milton Keynes, UK ; Waynesboro, Ga. : Paternoster Press, 2006.

Summary:

Towards Baptist Catholicity: Essays on Tradition and the Baptist Vision contends that the reconstruction of the Baptist vision in the wake of modernity's dissolution requires a retrieval of the ancient ecumenical tradition that forms Christian identity through liturgical rehearsal and ecclesial practice. Themes explored include catholic identity as an emerging trend in Baptist theology, tradition as a theological category in Baptist perspective, the relationship between Baptist confessions of faith and the patristic tradition, the importance of Trinitarian catholicity for Baptist faith and practice, catholicity for Baptist faith and practice, catholicity in biblical interpretation, Karl Barth as a paradigm for a Baptist and evangelical retrieval of the patristic theological tradition, worship as a principal bearer of tradition, and the role of Baptist higher education in shaping the Christian vision. This book submits that the proposed movement towards catholicity is neither a betrayal of cherished Baptist principles nor the introduction of alien elements into the Baptist tradition. Rather, the envisioned retrieval of catholicity in the liturgy, theology, and catechesis of Baptist churches is rooted in a recovery of the surprisingly catholic ecclesial outlook of the earliest Baptists, an outlook that has become obscured by more recent modern reinterpretations of the Baptist vision and that provides Baptist precedent for a more intentional movement towards Baptist catholicity today.

Contents:

'Catholic Baptists' and the new horizon of tradition in Baptist theology

Baptist understandings of theological authority : a North American perspective

The authority of community (of all the saints) : towards a postmodern baptist hermeneutic of tradition

Baptist confessions of faith and the Patristiv tradition

From triadic narrative to narrating the triune God : towards a baptist appreciation of trinitarian catholicity

Hebrews in patristic perspective : benefits of catholicity for Baptist biblical interpretation

Hearing the voice of the community : Karl Barth's conversation with the fathers as a paradigm for Baptist and evangelical ressourcement

Praying and believing : retrieving the patristic interdependence of worship and theology

Contesting our story : catholicity and communal conflict in baptist higher education

'What keeps you from becoming a Catholic?' : a personal epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

1842273620

9781842273623

OCLC:

71436619