A Reader in Ecclesiology

When last year I taught ecclesiology to graduate students--all of whom were positively enraptured by reading  Orthodoxy and the Roman Papacy: Ut Unum Sint and the Prospects of East-West Unity, an experience you will surely not want to miss--I made use of several books, including of course John Zizioulas' justly famous Being As Communion. Along with that, I used parts of the very useful collection amassed by Routledge: The Routledge Companion to the Christian Church. But this latter anthology may have found a worthy competitor in a book set to be released next month: Bryan P. Stone, ed., A Reader in Ecclesiology (Ashgate, 2012), 271pp.).

About this book the publisher tells us:

This Reader presents a diverse and ecumenical cross-section of ecclesiological statements from across the twenty centuries of the church's existence. It builds on the foundations of early Christian writings, illustrates significant medieval, reformation, and modern developments, and provides a representative look at the robust attention to ecclesiology that characterizes the contemporary period. This collection of readings offers an impressive overview of the multiple ways Christians have understood the church to be both the 'body of Christ' and, at the same time, an imperfect, social and historical institution, constantly subject to change, and reflective of the cultures in which it is found.

This comprehensive survey of historical ecclesiologies is helpful in pointing readers to the remarkable number of images and metaphors that Christians have relied upon in describing the church and to the various tensions that have characterized reflection on the church as both united and diverse, community and institution, visible and invisible, triumphant and militant, global and local, one and many. Students, clergy and all interested in Christianity and the church will find this collection an invaluable resource.

Contents: Introduction; Part 1 The Early Church: The New Testament; Clement of Rome (d.101); Ignatius of Antioch (c.35–110); The Didache (c.110); 'Father, we thank you' (based on the Didache, c.110); Epistle to Diognetus (c. 150–225); Justin Martyr (c. 110–165); Shepherd of Hermas (c.140); Irenaeus of Lyons (c.140–202); Clement of Alexandria (c.150–215); Tertullian of Carthage (c.160–220); Hippolytus (c.170–236); Didascalia Apostolorum (c.200–250); Cyprian of Carthage (c.200–58); Origen of Alexandria (c.185–254); Cyril of Jerusalem (c.315–386); The Apostolic Constitutions (c.375); Petilian of Citra (born c.365); Augustine of Hippo (354–430); Pope Gelasius (d.496). Part 2 The Middle Ages and Reformation: Urbs beata Jerusalem (8th century); Gregory VII (c.1020–1085); Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153); Isaac of Stella (c.1100–1169); Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179); Innocent III (1160–1216); Fourth Lateran Council (1215); Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274); Unam Sanctam (1302); Marsilius of Padua (1324); William of Ockham (1285–1347); John Wyclif (1328–1384); Jan Hus (1369–1415); Council of Constance (1414–1418); Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464); Execrabilis (1460); Martin Luther (1483–1546); The Schleitheim Confession (1527); The Augsberg Confession (1530); Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531); John Calvin (1509–1564); Heinrich Bullinger (1504–1575); Menno Simons (1496–1561); John Knox (1510–1572); Robert Bellarmine (1542–1621); Richard Hooker (1554–1600); The second Helvetic Confession (1566). Part 3 The Modern Period: John Smyth (c.1570–1612); The Westminster Confession of Faith (1643); John Owen (1616–1683); Charles Wesley (1707–1788); John Fawcett (1740–1817); John Wesley (1703–1791); John Newton (1725–1807); Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834); F.D. Maurice (1805–1872); 'The Church's one foundation' (1866). Part 4 The 20th Century: Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918); Kanzo Uchimura (1861–1930); Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923); Karl Barth (1886–1968); The Barmen Theological Declaration (1934); Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945); William Temple (1881–1944); Henri de Lubac (1896–1991); 'Here, O Lord, your servants gather' (1958); Lesslie Newbigin (1909–1998); Vatican Council II (1962–65); Basil Christopher Butler (1902–1986); Martin Luther King Jr (1929–1968); M.M. Thomas (1916–1996); John Howard Yoder (1927–1997); World Council of Churches (1967); Hans Küng (1928–); Alexander Schmemann (1921–1983); Juan Luis Segundo(1925–1996); James Cone (1938–); Gustavo Gutíerrez (1928–); Jürgen Moltmann (1926–); Oscar Romero (1917–1980); Leonardo Boff (1938–); Stanley Hauerwas (1940–); John Zizioulas (1931–); Rosemary Radford Ruether (1936–); George A. Lindbeck (1923–); Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza (1938–); Bénézet Bujo (1940–); Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928–); Letty M. Russell (1929–2007); Delores S. Williams (1934–); Miroslav Volf (1941–); Elizabeth A. Johnson (1941–); Amos Young (1965–); For further reading; Index.