John Calvin's Ecclesiology

Eduardus Van der Borght holds the Desmond Tutu Chair and is also Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology at VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Gerard Mannion is Director of the Centre for Catholic Thought and Culture and Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego, USA.

This is an excellent book, offering a varied and original range of perspectives on the historical and contemporary interpretation of Calvin's ecclesiology. The book gives an exemplary introduction to some of the ways in which Calvin's ecclesiological ideas have been and might be appropriated and applied. The volume suggests that Calvin offers a theologically profound, Catholic, pastorally concerned and ecumenical ecclesiology. As a reformer, Calvin was concerned with the renewal of the face of the church as a whole, not with the founding of a new tradition. In this sense, his work is part of the inheritance of the all denominations; it is a rich resource for thinking about the Christian life, church-state relationships, ecumenical dialogue, church order, worship and many other of the issues that have been perennial challenges to the churches. It is to be hoped that this book will help Christians of all traditions to an appreciation of Calvin as a fellow pilgrim and a perceptive teacher who has much to say that is of continuing relevance.

• Contents: Paul Avis: Foreword 1. Gerard Mannion: Calvin and the Church - Trajectories for Ecumenical Engagement Today - Volume Introduction 2. Roger Haight S. J: John Calvin and Ignatius Loyola on an Ecclesial Spirituality of Social Engagement 3. Dennis W. Jowers: In What Sense Does Calvin Affirm, 'Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus'? 4. Sandra Arenas: The 'Vestigia Ecclesiae' in the Thought of Calvin and its 20th century Reception 5. Rose Beal: John Calvin and the Three Offices of Christ: A Bridge for Protestant and Catholic Ecclesiology? 6. Amy Plantinga Pauw: Practical Ecclesiology in John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards 7. Joshua Ralston: For Calvin Preaching Makes the Church: Recovering a Missing Ecclesial Mark 8. Alan Sell: Rectifying Calvin's Ecclesiology: the Doctrinal and Ecumenical Importance of Separatist-Congregational catholicity 9. John Halsey Wood: Making Calvin Modern: Abraham Kuyper's Vision for the Dutch Reformed Church 10. Stanley Maclean: Regnum Christi: Thomas Torrance's appropriation of Calvin's Ecclesiology 11. Rodney L. Petersen: The Spirit, the Church and the Decade to Overcome Violence: Trajectories in Reformed and Orthodox Theology 12. Eduardus Van der Borght: Calvin's Ecclesiology Revisited: Seven Trends in the Research of Calvin's Ecclesiology Index