Download or read book Reforming the Catholic Tradition The Whole Word for the Whole Church written by and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-12 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cardinal Newman once stated that to be deep in church history is to cease to be Protestant. These essays argue that, on the contrary, to be Protestant is simply to be a principled catholic. In one sense, the Protestant tradition just is the catholic tradition shorn of excess and reduced to truly "universal" doctrine and principle. We embrace God's calling to maturity by learning to be active participants in the universal church as it grows into fuller understanding of God's revelation. Openness to reform is not silly submission to the ethos of each age, but is rather the insistence that all of our understanding must submit (in the classic formula of Luther) to the bar of the Scripture and plain reason, which stands above and judges the church in each era. The whole Word stands in judgment over our fractured communities and fragmented understanding.However, it is the whole church which participates in this motion toward maturity, and which must commit to growing together rather than growing apart. This includes both a deference to our learned forefathers and a willingness to be confronted with new insight into God's revelation. Taken together, this collection of essays constitute an invitation into this great project, which has its end in the glory of the Lord Jesus, and the freedom of His chosen saints.

Download or read book What is Reformed Theology written by R. C. Sproul and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What Do the Five Points of Calvinism Really Mean? Many have heard of Reformed theology, but may not be certain what it is. Some references to it have been positive, some negative. It appears to be important, and they'd like to know more about it. But they want a full, understandable explanation, not a simplistic one. What Is Reformed Theology? is an accessible introduction to beliefs that have been immensely influential in the evangelical church. In this insightful book, R. C. Sproul walks readers through the foundations of the Reformed doctrine and explains how the Reformed belief is centered on God, based on God's Word, and committed to faith in Jesus Christ. Sproul explains the five points of Reformed theology and makes plain the reality of God's amazing grace.

Download or read book True and False Reform in the Church written by Yves Congar and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2010-12-01 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archbishop Angelo Roncali (later Pope John XXIII) read True and False Reform during his years as papal nuncio in France and asked, A reform of the church 'is such a thing really possible?" A decade later as pope, he opened the Second Vatican Council by describing its goals in terms that reflected Congar's description of authentic reform: reform that penetrates to the heart of doctrine as a message of salvation for the whole of humanity, that retrieves the meaning of prophecy in a living church, and that is deeply rooted in history rather than superficially related to the apostolic tradition. Pope John called the council not to reform heresy or to denounce errors but to update the church's capacity to explain itself to the world and to revitalize ecclesial life in all its unique local manifestations. Congar's masterpiece fills in the blanks of what we have been missing in our reception of the council and its call to "true reform." Yves Congar, OP, a French Dominican who died in 1995, was the most important ecclesiologist in modern times. His writings and his active participation in Vatican II had an immense influence upon the council documents. With a few other contemporaries, Congar pioneered a new style of theological research and writing that linked the great tradition of Scripture and the Fathers to contemporary pastoral questions with lucidity and passion. His key concerns were the unity of the church, lay apostolic life, and a revival of the church's theology of the Holy Spirit. He was named a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in recognition of his profound contributions to the Second Vatican Council. Paul Philibert, OP, has taught pastoral theology in the United States and abroad. He is a Dominican friar of the Southern Province. His translation of a collection of Congar's essays on the liturgy has recently been published by Liturgical Press under the title At the Heart of Christian Worship. His book The Priesthood of the Faithful: Key to a living Church (Liturgical Press, 2005) reflects the ecclesiology of Yves Congar and his Vision of the apostolic life of the faithful."

Download or read book Roman but Not Catholic written by Jerry L. Walls and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a clearly written, informative, and fair critique of Roman Catholicism in defense of the catholic faith. Two leading evangelical thinkers in church history and philosophy summarize the major points of contention between Protestants and Catholics, honestly acknowledging real differences while conveying mutual respect and charity. The authors address key historical, theological, and philosophical issues as they consider what remains at stake five hundred years after the Reformation. They also present a hopeful way forward for future ecumenical relations, showing how Protestants and Catholics can participate in a common witness to the world.

Download or read book Was the Reformation a Mistake written by Matthew Levering and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2017-09-26 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Was the Reformation a mistake? In its actual historical context, it hardly seems fair to call the Reformation a "mistake." In 1517, the Church was in need of a spiritual and theological reform. The issues raised by Renaissance humanism - and by the profound corruption of the Church's leaders, the Avignon papacy, and the Great Schism in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries - lingered unresolved. What were key theological problems that led to the Reformation? Theologian Matthew Levering helps readers see these questions from a Catholic perspective. Surveying nine key themes - Scripture, Mary, Eucharist, Monasticism, Justification and Merit, Saints Priesthood, and Scripture - he examines the positions of Martin Luther and makes a case that the Catholic position is biblically defensible once one allows for the variety of biblically warranted modes of interpreting Scripture. At the same time, Levering makes clear that he cannot "prove" the Catholic case. The book concludes with a spirited response by "mere Protestant" theologian Kevin J. Vanhoozer. X

Download or read book Evangelical Catholicism written by George Weigel and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2014-04-22 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Catholic Church is on the threshold of a bold new era in its two-thousand year history. As the curtain comes down on the Church defined by the 16th-century Counter-Reformation, the curtain is rising on the Evangelical Catholicism of the third millennium: a way of being Catholic that comes from over a century of Catholic reform; a mission-centered renewal honed by the Second Vatican Council and given compelling expression by Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. The Gospel-centered Evangelical Catholicism of the future will send all the people of the Church into mission territory every day -- a territory increasingly defined in the West by spiritual boredom and aggressive secularism. Confronting both these cultural challenges and the shadows cast by recent Catholic history, Evangelical Catholicism unapologetically proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the truth of the world. It also molds disciples who witness to faith, hope, and love by the quality of their lives and the nobility of their aspirations. Thus the Catholicism of the 21st century and beyond will be a culture-forming counterculture, offering all men and women of good will a deeply humane alternative to the soul-stifling self-absorption of postmodernity. Drawing on thirty years of experience throughout the Catholic world, from its humblest parishes to its highest levels of authority, George Weigel proposes a deepening of faith-based and mission-driven Catholic reform that touches every facet of Catholic life -- from the episcopate and the papacy to the priesthood and the consecrated life; from the renewal of the lay vocation in the world to the redefinition of the Church's engagement with public life; from the liturgy to the Church's intellectual life. Lay Catholics and clergy alike should welcome the challenge of this unique moment in the Church's history, Weigel urges. Mediocrity is not an option, and all Catholics, no matter what their station in life, are called to live the evangelical vocation into which they were baptized: without compromise, but with the joy, courage, and confidence that comes from living this side of the Resurrection.

Download or read book Enduring Divine Absence written by Joseph Minich and published by . This book was released on 2018-06-12 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today, millions of people in the modern West identify as atheists. And even for believers, the intellectual and spiritual temptations to deny the existence of God seem greater than ever. Too often we respond to this pressure by seeking more and more rational proofs of God's existence, but what if a lack of reason to believe is not our main problem? In this volume, Joseph Minich argues that our real challenge is existential and imaginative-a felt absence of God that is more visceral in our modern world than for most generations past, and the sense that if God cannot be sensed, He cannot be there. Why are we so haunted and disoriented today by this sense of God's absence? And how can we learn to sustain and strengthen our faith in the face of it? In these pages, Minich charts a way back to a renewal of our hearts and imaginations that can enable us to embrace the challenge of finding and being found by the hidden God.

Download or read book Confessions and Catechisms of the Reformation written by Mark A. Noll and published by Regent College Pub. This book was released on 2004 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Both by his choice of confessions and by his judicious and scholarly introductions, Mark Noll has made [the major Reformation confessions and catechisms] available in a form that is sure to deepen and enlighten doctrinal discussion and confessional awareness and that will therefore contribute to solidly evangelical and hence soundly ecumenical theology. I am delighted to see this book appear." - Jaroslav Pelikan, Yale University "It is a delight to welcome Mark Noll's well-chosen, well-edited selection of key sixteenth-century statements of faith - Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Anabaptist, Roman Catholic. To have this significant material brought together in one book is a boon, for the enrichment that comes of studying it as a whole is very great. For anyone who would take the measure of the Reformation conflict, this collection is a 'must.'" - J.I. Packer, Regent College "Mark Noll has ably introduced these still living confessions to a modern audience more prone to forgetfulness than any since the sixteenth century. This collection will be useful not only for classes in historical and systematic theology, but also to pastors and lay readers who wish better to understand their Protestant heritage." - Thomas C. Oden, Drew University

Download or read book The Character of Virtue written by Stanley Hauerwas and published by Canterbury Press. This book was released on 2018-05-30 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stanley Hauerwas is one of today's greatest theologians, but like many of us, he is also a godparent. In this very special collection he invites us to share in fifteen letters to sent to his godson, Laurence Wells. Each letter, sent on the anniversary of Laurence’s baptism every year, distills years of self-reflection and religious thinking into heartfelt notes packed with wit, warmth and verve. The letters explore what makes a happy, fulfilled life: kindness, courage, humility, joy, friendship, simplicity, humour, generosity and faith. An introduction by Samuel Wells—Laurence’s father—tells the story behind these letters and offers insight into being a godparent.

Download or read book Engaging with Thomas Aquinas written by Leonardo De Chirico and published by Inter-Varsity Press. This book was released on 2024-05-16 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The influence of Thomas Aquinas on Western theology is beyond dispute, yet his is a contested legacy. In current evangelical studies, there is an emerging infatuation with Thomas, especially as far as his theological metaphysics is concerned. On the occasion of the eighth centenary of Thomas Aquinas, Engaging with Thomas Aquinas is a thoughtful introduction aimed at presenting the main contours of the doctor's complex legacy and critically evaluating it, especially in areas where the "Roman Catholic" Thomas eclipses the "classical" theology which is attracting renewed attention in evangelical circles. Engaging with Thomas Aquinas contributes a thoughtful analysis from an evangelical viewpoint, offering answers to complex questions such as: - Is the thought of Thomas and Thomism(s) the same? - What strengths and dangers does the legacy of Thomas Aquinas present to evangelical thought? - How can Rome's chief doctor be, at the same time, a reference point for evangelical theology? In this book, De Chirico offers an evangelical a framework to think through this contested thinker's legacy, as well as an invitation to the inquiring reader to consider an alternative.

Download or read book As Often As You Eat This Bread written by Gregory David Soderberg and published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. This book was released on 2022-11-14 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why can't Christians agree about communion? Why is it that in some churches all worship services culminate in a holy meal whereas other churches celebrate this "holy supper" only once in a while? Theologian Gregory Soderberg has researched this question, excavating patterns of communion frequency within one of the bigger Christian families: the Reformed tradition. Despite being the sacrament of unity, the eucharist has often been a cause of strife in Christian churches. In his study, Gregory David Soderberg is the first to focus in depth on communion frequency in the Reformed tradition. He concludes that, although the 16th century Reformers desired more frequent communion, this was balanced by their desire to create mature Christian communities. So, preachers and church leaders stressed the priority of moral conduct and the importance of understanding what the eucharist meant for Protestants. The study analyses sources from the very beginnings of this tradition in 16th century Zürich and Geneva, and it follows its trajectories through England and Scotland all the way down to 19th century USA. Ultimately, it is hoped that understanding the polemics of the past will help churches today to celebrate the sacrament of unity more meaningfully.

Download or read book Shifting Patterns of Reformed Tradition written by Emidio Campi and published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The thirteen essays in this volume were all originally presented at international conferences or in public lectures.They address three main areas of inquiry, all of which, in one way or another, are of key importance in early modern historical discourse and theological thinking: (1) the theological diversity and debates within the Reformed tradition in the sixteenth century and beyond; (2) Peter Martyr Vermigli's noteworthy contribution to Reformed ecclesiology and biblical exegesis; and (3) the later development and enrichment of Reformed thought on both sides of the Atlantic. They show that the Reformed tradition was neither monolithic, nor monochrome, nor immutable, but evolved in different, if interrelated, patterns and directions.

Download or read book Reclaiming the Reformation written by Magnus Persson and published by New Reformation Publications. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What treasures of the reformation can pastors, Christians and the church make use of today when trying to navigate burnout and scandal? What should a person look for in a church? Magnus Persson examines his own journey from popular preacher where church was a party, to the Lutheran faith and a pastor in the Church of Sweden where he relishes the liturgy nourished by historic roots using Luther's book "On Council's and the Church" to answer this question and explain his journey. Originally titled Christ's Church, On the Marks of the Church Magnus shows the influence of Bo Giertz but also draws on many different influences from within and without the Lutheran tradition to explain how everything the church does needs to be focused on Christ crucified for you. Church is about communicating the forgiveness of sins Christ won for you on the cross to you. The church does this through the word, the liturgy, and the sacraments. Through these means the soul is nourished and matured to handle the distress and tribulation with which the world harries the church and her people. Here true rest is found for the souls of pastors battered by the pressure to be the next biggest church in town before they burnout and check out with scandal.

Download or read book Reformed Catholicity written by Michael Allen and published by Baker Academic. This book was released on 2015-01-13 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can Christians and churches be both catholic and Reformed? In this volume, two accomplished young theologians argue that to be Reformed means to go deeper into true catholicity rather than away from it. Their manifesto for a catholic and Reformed approach to dogmatics seeks theological renewal through retrieval of the rich resources of the historic Christian tradition. The book provides a survey of recent approaches toward theological retrieval and offers a renewed exploration of the doctrine of sola scriptura. It includes a substantive afterword by J. Todd Billings.

Download or read book The Shape of Sola Scriptura written by Keith A. Mathison and published by Canon Press & Book Service. This book was released on 2001 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In what shape do we find the doctrine of sola Scriptura today? Many modern Evangelicals see it as a license to ignore history and the creeds in favor of a more splintered approach to the Christian living. In the past two decades, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox apologists have strongly tried to undermine sola Scriptura as unbiblical, unhistorical, and impractical. But these groups rest their cases on a recent, false take on sola Scriptura. The ancient, medieval, and classical Protestant view of sola Scriptura actually has a quite different shape than most opponents and defenders maintain. Therein lies the goal of this book-an intriguing defense of the ancient (and classical Protestant) doctrine of sola Scriptura against the claims of Rome, the East, and modern Evangelicalism. "The issue of sola Scriptura is not an abstract problem relevant only to the sixteenth-century Reformation, but one that poses increasingly more serious consequences for contemporary Christianity. This work by Keith Mathison is the finest and most comprehensive treatment of the matter I've seen. I highly recommend it to all who embrace the authority of sacred Scripture." -R.C. Sproul, Ligonier Ministries

Download or read book Martin Luther s 95 Theses written by Martin Luther and published by . This book was released on 2015-01-24 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An unabridged, unaltered edition of the Disputation on the Power & Efficacy of Indulgences Commonly Known as The 95 Theses

Download or read book The Catholic Tradition Second Edition written by Timothy G. McCarthy and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2012-04-16 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This expanded edition of a Loyola Press best seller traces profound changes in Catholicism's institutional, intellectual, and devotional life in this century. Organized by theme--authority, mission, social justice, sexual morality, and others--the book explains Church thinking prior to Vatican II, Church thinking now, and the how and why of Council changes. It shows the Church struggling to find the best way to maintain and hand on the Catholic tradition even as it engages in intrafaith and interreligious dialogue. A new chapter on women in the Church, their contributions and issues, completes the update.