Routledge Companion to the Christian Church

Gerard Mannion is Director of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Ecclesiology at Liverpool Hope University where he is also Professor of Ecclesiology and Ethics and Co-director of the Applied Ethics Initiative. His numerous publications include Schopenhauer, Religion and Morality (2003), Readings in Church Authority: Gifts and Challenges for Contemporary Catholicism (co-editor) (2003), and Ecclesiology and Postmodernity – Questions for the Church in Our Times (2007).Lewis S. Mudge was Robert Leighton Stuart Professor of Theology, Emeritus, at San Francisco Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, USA. He authored One Church: Catholic and Reformed (1963), The Crumbling Walls (1970), The Sense of  a People (1992),  The Church as Moral Community (1998),  Rethinking the Beloved Community (2001), and The Gift of Responsibility (2008).

'I am glad to commend the 'Routledge Companion to the Christian Church'. It is good that students will get a deeper knowledge of the meaning of ecclesiology and of its crucial importance for mutual understanding and ecumenical dialogue.' - Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster'it is a valuable compendium of information and should be an important part of a good reference collection.' - Choice'Good companions add value to any journey. They help us to spot landmarks on the way, explain a few things, and indicate possible ways ahead. Those who journey with the Christian Church through time and space benefit from just such good companions, and Gerard Mannion and Lewis Mudge are to be congratu­lated on their oversight of this significant project in ecclesial studies.' - Church Times

• Introduction: Ecclesiology – The Nature, Story and Study of the Church Part 1: Historical Ecclesiology 1. In Search of the Early ‘Church’: The New Testament and the Development of Christian Communities 2. The Church in the Early Christian Centuries - Ecclesiological Consolidation 3. The Church in Medieval Theology 4. Ecclesiology and the Religious Controversy of the Sixteenth Century 5. The Church in the Tridentine and Early Modern Eras 6. The Church in Modern Theology 7. Postmodern Ecclesiologies Part 2: Ecclesiological ‘Traditions’ 8. Ecclesiology in the Orthodox Tradition 9. Lutheran Ecclesiology