John A. Vissers – författare

An analysis of the theology of an influential Canadian Presbyterian theologian and his role in bringing neo-orthodox ideas into the North American mainstream.Walter W. Bryden was Principal of Knox College, Toronto, after the Second World War, and one of the leading Presbyterian theologians of the period from the 1920s to the 1950s.In The Neo-Orthodox Theology of W.W. Bryden, John Vissers makes an important contribution by analysing Bryden’s thought, placing it in the context of contemporary European and American theology. Vissers emphasises in particular Bryden’s role in introducing and popularising the ideas of Karl Barth in North America prior to the translation of Barth’s Commentary on Romans into English, and his Neo-Orthodox theology owed much to Barthian ideas. In his most important work, The Christian’s Knowledge of God, Bryden challenged the modernist emphasis on the rational, arguing for a Christocentric doctrine of Revelation.Vissers brings a wealth of scholarship and research to his subject, revealing Bryden’s pivotal role in the development of neo-orthodoxy within the Protestant tradition in North America, a role that previous studies have often failed to explore.

Friendship has the capacity to elevate our lives and make us better people. It plays an important role in our moral development, spiritual growth, and personal flourishing. This is true of friendship between humans, and it is also true of friendship with God in Christ. What did friendship with Christ mean for Christians in ages past, and what can it mean for us today?In Friendship with Christ, John Vissers offers a robust biblical, historical, and theological study of friendship with God in Christ. Rooted in the "friendship teaching" of John 15, this book draws on the threefold office of Christ as prophet, priest, and king to develop a theology of divine friendship against the backdrop of the biblical record and historical tradition. Friendship with Christ, Vissers argues, is a theological truth and experience that continues to provide consolation and hope in a secular age and a suffering world.With a foreword by Hans Boersma, this book shows that friendship with Christ has been central to the experience of the providential love of God throughout the church's history and that it still matters today. Friendship with Christ will appeal to professors and students of theology, Christology, and spiritual formation, as well as to pastors and church leaders.

Calvin@500 is an exercise in appreciative criticism and appropriation of the Reformer''s work for church and society. The collection serves as an introduction to the life and thought of this sixteenth-century Reformer in his context. The book also traces Calvin''s continuing legacy for political, economic, theological, spiritual, and inter-religious practices of our own time. The essays reflect the depth and breadth of Calvin scholarship from the sixteenth century to the present. They also reflect Calvin''s own wide-ranging ministry: the authors are pastors, teachers, social justice workers, and theologians. Calvin@500 arose from two Canadian conferences on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Calvin''s birth.

A biographical study on the Theology of W. W. Bryden.

Friendship has the capacity to elevate our lives and make us better people. It plays an important role in our moral development, spiritual growth, and personal flourishing. This is true of friendship between humans, and it is also true of friendship with God in Christ. What did friendship with Christ mean for Christians in ages past, and what can it mean for us today?In Friendship with Christ, John Vissers offers a robust biblical, historical, and theological study of friendship with God in Christ. Rooted in the "friendship teaching" of John 15, this book draws on the threefold office of Christ as prophet, priest, and king to develop a theology of divine friendship against the backdrop of the biblical record and historical tradition. Friendship with Christ, Vissers argues, is a theological truth and experience that continues to provide consolation and hope in a secular age and a suffering world.With a foreword by Hans Boersma, this book shows that friendship with Christ has been central to the experience of the providential love of God throughout the church's history and that it still matters today. Friendship with Christ will appeal to professors and students of theology, Christology, and spiritual formation, as well as to pastors and church leaders.