Customer Reviews

The Church: Sacraments. Worship, Ministry, Mission (Christian Foundations)

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This is the sixth volume of the projected seven volume series by Prof. Donald Bloesch in his "Christian Foundations" series. Prof. Bloesch is something of a neo-evangelical or "post-fundamentalist" theologian in the Reformed tradition.

Although this series is billed as a "systematic theology," it is a somewhat unusual series of works. While Prof. Bloesch cites Scripture, his general approach is to pick a topic, state what others have said, and then set forth his own opinion. Generally his views fall within the ecumenical "vital center," but with a bias toward Reformed theology. His mentors are thinkers such as Barth, Torrance, and Forsythe. Unfortunately, he doesn't interact with more conservative Reformed thinkers.

This study of ecclesiology is fairly comprehensive, and includes sections and the sacraments, ministry, ecumenicalism and other key topics. There is an excellent chapter on worship, which defends traditional worship against more modern approaches. On the other hand, Prof. Bloesch supports the ordination of women and has moderately higher-critical views of Scripture. (Prof. Bloesch concedes in the introduction that he has been called a liberal by some conservatives.)

If you want to learn about "Christian foundations" a better place to start would be with Tom Oden's three volume systematic theology and some of the introductory works of Alister McGrath. From a Roman Catholic point of view, Ott's Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are good as well.

Another challenging addition to Bloesch's growing work on the theology of Word and Spirit is his recent volume on the Church. The volume addresses many of the traditional areas of ecclesiology including the meaning, scope, authority, and composition of the church. But Bloesch is also exercised about current issues facing the church and critiques areas such as open theism, the concerns of feminists, and the dearth of theology in the modern church. His critique of contemporary worship is surprising and insightful. As with previous volumes Bloesch's ability to incorporate material from a wide range of sources and traditions makes the book an interesting and challenging read.
The volume leans more on historical theology and less on biblical and exegetical theology. At times the author appears to overstate his case (women could, on occasion, inherit property) to make his point. Throughout the work, Bloesch is clear on the importance of the gospel message and the claims of Christ but looks for ways to stretch the boundaries between very diverse groups in the Christian tradition. His assessment of 19th and 20th century movements and trends provides helpful background for the calls he issues to the present generation church. While I do not identify with many positions of the author I heartily recommend this book for those seeking information on the many and diverse issues facing the church today.