Apostolic Perspective of Systematic Theology delves into the major doctrines that formulate the Christian belief, explained from an Apostolic point of view. The book explores various facets of theology, including God and the Godhead, man and sin, angels and demons, covenants and dispensations, and last things. It compares through study of the Scriptures in both testaments to arrive at a reasoned argument for stances on various subjects as salvation, the nature of the Godhead, the deity of Christ, and the inerrancy of the Bible. The purpose of the book is to instill a love of study for the serious Bible student that compels the reader to apply sound hermeneutical principles in defense of the hope that lies within the believer. As there is no premium on ignorance of the principles that lie within the Word of God, the author compares each facet of doctrine while building a comprehensive system of theology that can stand against the face of higher criticism and doctrinal error, providing the reader with a reasonable explanation of what is most precious to all Christians ones own faith.

In this in-depth exploration, the authors embark on a journey to uncover the intriguing questions about the Trinity's emergence in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. As this study takes a close look at whether we can find signs of the Trinity and shared understandings in these early texts, shedding light on whether these writings reflect a "triadic way of talking about God." A crucial aspect of the investigation is to see if there is a common belief about the Trinity, offering insights into the theological ideas of that time. A central question arises: Did the early Apostolic Fathers have a sense of the Trinity? If so, how did they try to understand it? Immersed in the early Christian mindset, this book examines how each text talks God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in relation to each other. With scholars like Larry Hurtado and Richard Bauckham guiding the way, the study explores the connections and differences between the beliefs about God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the Apostolic Fathers corpus. This rich work connects the past with contemporary theological questions. Through careful research, Trinitarian Perspectives in the Apostolic Fathers reveals the interplay of history, faith, and divine understanding. This book is a helpful resource for theologians, historians, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of early Christian beliefs.

Unique among contemporary resources, the landmark Systematic Theology and its distinguished contributors present the major areas or loci of Roman Catholic theology in light of contemporary developments--especially the sea-change since Vatican II thought, the best new historical studies of traditional doctrines and scripture, and the diverse creative impulses that come from recent philosophy and hermeneutics, culture and praxis, and ecumenical contacts.

Apostolic, ecumenical and radical: these are the ecclesial characteristics highlighted by Gesa E. Thiessen while explaining her vision of the church. The author focuses on the meaning of each of these marks as well as on their intrinsic connections,an approach that leads her to delve deep into the history of the church, and to draw a wide span between the apostolic past and a radical perspective on the present and future ecumenical church. Apostolic and Prophetic studies the concept of apostolicity emerging in patristic theology and examines this concept as it has been developed in select Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Anglican ecumenical documents.

John Nevin’s vision of the church as “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic” grew out of his critique of the revivalism and sectarianism that prevailed throughout evangelical Christianity in the nineteenth century. He deepens his perception of catholicity as an expression of Christian wholeness, his response to the parochialism that ruled American religion and life. He grounds congregational life and mission in the Lordship of Jesus Christ, ordered by the whole Christian tradition, which comes into focus in the Apostles’ Creed. This edition carefully preserves the original texts while providing extensive introductions, annotations, and bibliography to both orient the reader and to facilitate further scholarship. The Mercersburg Theology Study Series presents for the first time attractive, readable, scholarly modern editions of the key writings of the nineteenth-century movement known as the Mercersburg Theology. An ambitious multi-year project, it aims to make an important contribution to the academic community and to the broader public, who can at last be properly introduced to this unique blend of American and European Reformed and Catholic theology.

With perceptive insight and vigor, Dr. Braaten addresses today's crisis in ministry in Protestant and Catholic communities. Numerous studies reveal widespread confusion about the nature and scope of the church's mission. There is a split consciousness in the church at all levels between evangelism and social action, and between lay and ordained forms of ministry. The Apostolic Imperative summons the church to embody the apostolic norms of primitive Christianity in its theology and practice. "A misinterpretation or neglect of the apostolic norms in the life of the church makes the church captive to narrow traditions or victim of fashionable trends," says Braaten. "The aim of this book is to ground our theological thinking in the essentials of apostolic faith, its witness to the cross and resurrection of Jesus, and its obedience to his command to convey his message to all the world." The theology of mission in this book is biblically based, evangelically motivated, ecumenically oriented, and practically posed to grapple with the issues of the immediate future.

A leading expert in the field of Christian missions encourages the church to recover the apostolic imagination that fueled the multiplication of disciples in the first century. J. D. Payne examines the contemporary practice of Western missions and advocates a more central place for Scripture in defining missionary language, identity, purpose, function, and strategy. He shows that an apostolic understanding of the church's disciple-making commission requires rethinking every aspect of missionary engagement. The book includes end-of-chapter discussion questions and action steps to help pastors and church leaders develop an apostolic imagination.

This book contributes to an extensive number of scholarly works produced in 2017 which commemorate the scientific revolution and paradigm shift that occurred in 1517. The year 2017 marks the 500th celebration of the Reformation actuated by Martin Luther when he published what later became known as the Ninety-Five Theses on indulgences. The Reformation was a religious, social, cultural and political event that reshaped the landscape of modern Europe and has had an influence on parts of the world far beyond. This includes the ‘far South’ such as South Africa where the legacy of the Reformers has moulded institutional and individual lives across boundaries of ethnicity and beliefs. Worldwide celebrations of this quincentenary anniversary provide scholars with an opportunity to reflect anew on the consequences and lasting import of the Reformation. This book provides one such a platform by discussing the scientific relevance of Reformed theology, specifically with regard to biblical, historical and systematic-theological themes. Comprising a collection of essays by scholars belonging to the Reformed tradition, it aims at examining the historical heritage of the Reformation, the current state of discourse in Reformed theology as well as the contemporary relevance of a Reformed approach to theology. It contains biblical, historical-theological and systematic-theological perspectives and addresses a variety of issues such as biblical interpretation, text-criticism, translation, constructive impulses emanating from classical Reformed thought, Christian freedom, anthropology and dialogue with non-Reformed traditions. Although the approaches followed are by no means exhaustive, they do provide the reader with some indication of approaches followed in Reformed discourse. Chapters 1–4 pertain to biblical interpretation. A variety of methods are discussed and employed, namely the grammatical-historical, text-immanent, socio-historical, redactional-historical, diachronic and synchronic approaches. These analyses confirm that biblical interpretation requires a multi-faceted approach to biblical texts. Chapters 5–9, conversely, discuss various historical and systematic-theological themes. Classical texts from the Reformation, specifically works by Calvin and Luther, are examined, and contemporary theological literature are analysed, compared and evaluated while innovative new ideas are proposed. This book is written in the reformed spirit of semper Reformanda. While it enters into dialogue with other traditions such as Pentecostal, Neo-Pentecostal, Roman Catholic and Lutheran theology, it also exhibits an attitude of self-reflection and self-correction. This contribution does not only affirm the Reformed heritage as a living tradition, but it also attempts to invigorate the tradition with innovating new ideas by drawing on classical and recent theological literature. The target audience is mainly Reformed theologians, but non- Reformed scholars, who are interested in engaging with the Reformed tradition, would find this book informative.

The massive changes of Christianity during the 20th century raise the perennial question about its identity in a new, radical form. The author addresses the question of identity and asks how globalisation, religious pluralism, and the polycentric nature of Christianity affect Christian self-identification and theological reflection. First, religious life and theological reflection among believers in Jesus from Muslim and Hindu background in South Asia is presented in two empirical studies. Secondly, the findings are analysed and interpreted within a broad theoretical framework, drawing on models for syncretistic processes from history of religions, cultural anthropology, and Christian theology. Finally, the study concludes with a systematic-theological perspective on the interreligious hermeneutics underlying the changes of Christianity and discusses how interreligious hermeneutics might inform missiology as well as Christian theologies of religions and how this might challenge our understanding of the church's nature and mission. In conclusion, it is argued that a global, polycentric Christianity can be interpreted as fellowship created by the Spirit and centred on Christ.

Lukan narrative takes its readers into God's story: how his salvation plan in Jesus began on the slopes of Judea and at the Sea of Galilee, ending on the hill of Calvary and the Mount of Olives, yet moving on and telling how the Spirit descended onto the Temple Mount empowering God's people, who then began to fulfill the given mandate in the presence of the Spirit. Yet, readers of Luke-Acts, throughout the centuries, have had a meandering journey as they have tried to understand the narrative's persuasion and Spirit-references. This book seeks to bring awareness to these challenges by some of the most respected Pentecostal biblical scholars and systematicians. Here their vigorous labor with the questions of hermeneutics and theology in relation to Lukan writings have come to fruition. These contributions have been collected as a Festschrift in honor and celebration of the career of Roger Stronstad, a Pentecostal biblical scholar whose contribution to Lukan studies have moved Pentecostal scholarship from shadows into daylight. The editor of this volume invites the readers of Lukan narrative to journey together on the road to Emmaus, as we continue to ponder the events in the past, the present, and the future.