Authority in the Church: An Ecumenical Reflection on Hermeneutic Boundaries and Their Implications for Inter-Church Relations
Stock No: WW834243
Authority in the Church: An Ecumenical Reflection on Hermeneutic Boundaries and Their Implications for Inter-Church Relations  -     By: R. Keelan Downton, Howard John Loewen

Authority in the Church: An Ecumenical Reflection on Hermeneutic Boundaries and Their Implications for Inter-Church Relations

University Press of America / 2006 / Paperback

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Stock No: WW834243

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Title: Authority in the Church: An Ecumenical Reflection on Hermeneutic Boundaries and Their Implications for Inter-Church Relations
By: R. Keelan Downton, Howard John Loewen
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 233
Vendor: University Press of America
Publication Date: 2006
Dimensions: 9.00 X 6.04 X 0.74 (inches)
Weight: 13 ounces
ISBN: 0761834249
ISBN-13: 9780761834243
Stock No: WW834243

Publisher's Description

This work examines the nature of authority in the Christian Church through analysis of major reform movements of the 16th Century and major ecumenical documents of the 20th Century. Authority in the Church begins with a probing historical analysis of authority as expressed in five competing ecclesial models of the 16th Century: Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Anabaptists, Thomas Cranmer, and the Council of Trent. It follows this analysis with a theological evaluation of authority in the church as expressed in the ecumenical conversations between the Catholic and Protestant traditions in the 20th Century. This approach employs a hermeneutic method in which the historical analysis proceeds from the vantage point of 20th Century ecumenical conversations and issues raised in the sixteenth century debates inform the theological analysis. Out of this interaction, Downton proposes a three-fold model of authority comprised of textual, existential, and ministerial aspects as a common framework for engaging the issue of authority productively in ecumenical context.

Author Bio

R. Keelan Downton is the Faith and Order Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Council of Churches of Christ USA. He received his Ph.D. in Church History from Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Editorial Reviews

Central to the task of the Church is a common witness to the Gospel. In our divided state, that witness can only be realized when we resolve how we might, together, proclaim that Word of God and adjudicate our differences. This volume is an invaluable contribution to the understanding of the traditions of authority that witness to the Christian Tradition and the reconciling initiatives of the churches as they move toward full communion in authority. It will be a contribution to all of our churches… -- Brother Jeff Gros, FSC, Professor of Church History, Memphis Theological Seminary

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