Ethiopia
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Ecclesiological minimalist tendencies
'What is the church?' I got asked this today at the Thinking Mission Forum. And, you know what? I don't know. My answer was, that the Church is 'the people gathered around Jesus Christ, responding to his call in a contextually appropriate way.' It would make any course on Ecclesiology that I may teach rather short. But, am I right? I always say my Ecclesiology is minimalist, but, is it reductionist?
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2 comments:
Hi Paul
Well you wanted a comment on your blog. Here is a thought. Far from saying that you are reductionist, I could suggest a reduction in your definition. Does the church have to be responding in a 'contextually appropriate way' in order to be church?
(Or to put it another way, if people were responding in a way that one deemed contextually inappropriate [raising the question of course of who gets to decide whether something is appropriate/inappropriate :)] would they cease to be church? Could one add another 'anathema' to the end of the (original) Nicene creed?)
William.
This is true Will. Most churches would be denied the epithet, Church if it had to be contextually appropriate.
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