The Church and the Churches
Toward an Ecumenical Ecclesiology

This book tackles the history of important ecclesiological issues across the denominational board.

G. R. Evans (Author)

9780521462860, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 29 September 1994

348 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.6 cm, 0.651 kg

"I strongly recommend this book as nearly indispensable for anyone doing ecumenical studies in general or ecclesiology in particular....the book amply displays the historical acumen of its author and her remarkable control of so much of the ecumenical literature....This book is a significant contribution to the task of first identifying and then confronting that untidiness and provisionality." Richard P. McBrien, The Journal of Religion

Individual churches today have a lively ecumenical consciousness, but they often express anxieties about what will become of them in a future united Church. Questions are being asked about the goal of such unity. In this book, G. R. Evans asks what we mean by 'a church', and how different Christian bodies have understood the way 'a church' is related to 'the Church'. She surveys the nature of unity and what the fullness of the communion being reached for might consist of; the place of diversity of faith and order in a united Church, or ways in which there can go on being many churches in one Church and how they might be related to it; and questions about the common structures one Church would need, and the way in which it could come to think and act as a single 'body' of Christ. The book concludes with a discussion of the concept of 'communion', which now looks very hopeful ecumenically as a guide to the way forward.

Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Local and universal
2. Ecclesial identity
3. Diversity
4. Restoring to order
5. Decision-making
6. Communion
Conclusion
Selected bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Ecumenism [HRCJ]