This book is a disciplined introduction to ecclesiology. With respect to the community which "the Lord purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28), parts one and two focus on a critical-exegetical presentation of the New Testament's descriptions and themes, locating their treatment within two millennia of reflection, and appreciating the impact of those contexts on our understanding. From over ninety New Testament images, chapters four to ten identify and argue for three foundational concepts: ekklesia (assembly); soma Christou (the body of Christ); and koinonia hagion (the communion of the saints). Continuing the conversation with Scripture and its history of interpretation, Robert Doyle then applies the determinative biblical themes to present practice, centering it on the churches of the Evangelical and Reformed traditions. Part four illuminates ecclesiology from other foundational Christian doctrines: the triune God of holy love; Christology, our ascended human high priest and king; and the doctrine of revelation, the church as "the pillar and bulwark of the truth." The final part focuses on three possible points of transformation in ecclesial life and witness, both internally and outward to the world.
Robert Doyle has pastored churches in Australia and Scotland, and for four decades researched and taught systematic and historical theology at Moore Theological College, Sydney, Australia, and George Whitefield College, Cape Town, South Africa.
Part I: Locating the Doctrine 1. Five Cautions, and Hope 2. Inside two millennia of reflection 3. And more recent context, postmodernism Part II: Three Foundational New Testament Indicators 4. Ekklesia: "assembly" 5. Challenge of Communication: Protestant debates over original use, local contexts, hermeneutics 6. Earthly assemblies and the heavenly assembly 7. Soma Christou: "the body of Christ," the Christ of the New Creation. 8. How to understand the "ontological relationship" between Christ and his church? 9. The question of continuity between intermittent gatherings 10. Koinonia hagion: "the communion of the saints" 11. The communion of the saints is in the Spirit: the work of men and women, and the attributes of the church Part III. Implications for Present Practice 12. Christ's continued purposes for his church: double edification 13. Growth in Fellowship through Participation in Ministry 14. Wider theological foundations of ministry 15. Denominations, church law, and pastor pastorum 16. Sacramental behavior: how the bible has been used 17. Baptism and Lord's Supper in the New Testament Part IV: Illumination from Other Foundational Christian Doctrines 18. The triune God of holy love: his relation to the world and the sociality of the saints 19. Christology: our ascended human high priest and king 20. The Doctrine of Revelation: "the pillar and bulwark of the truth" Part V: In Review - Three Points of Transformation 21. Living in the Church
