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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wesleyan Primer,
By
This review is from: Outward Sign and Inward Grace (Paperback)
This book is the best primer on Wesleyan sacramental theology that I've read. Dr. Staples presents Infant Baptism, The Lord's Supper, written Liturgical Prayers, etc. in compelling arguments based upon Biblical and Church historical research. Definately written on a post-graduate vocabulary level.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sacraments and Wesleyans,
This review is from: Outward Sign and Inward Grace (Paperback)
The sacraments, Rob Staples argues, in Outward Sign and Inward Grace (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, c. 1991), need to be re-emphasized in Wesleyan/holiness churches today. Revivalistic Americans have tended to stress sermons and evangelistic appeals rather than sacraments and shepherding. Such churches, including Staples' own Church of the Nazarene, inevitably struggle to integrate "heartfelt" personal ex¬perience with oft-distrusted "formal" churchly liturgies. We need, Staples says, to restore the healthy balance found in John Wesley himself: a "High Churchman" with a "warmed heart" (p. 24).
Following St Augustine, who defined sacra¬ments as "visible words," Staples insists that "'Incarnation' is the strongest argument for 'sacr¬ament.' Jesus Christ is the supreme 'Visible Word'" (53). Inasmuch as we are thoroughly physical creatures, insofar as we think imaginatively as well as logically, because there is mystery as well as clarity to Reality, we need a thoroughly sacra¬mental dimen¬sion to our theology. "Underlying all sacramental theology is the fundamental insight that God may accomplish spiritual ends through material means" (62). Thus the sacraments, by keeping us in touch with created things, have been considered "means of grace" by most orthodox Christian theologians. After a brief glance at Roman Catholi¬cism's seven sacraments, Staples joins classical Protestants in specifying two--Baptism and Eucharist--as clearly biblical. Christian baptism, he says "always carries the meaning of initiation into Christian faith and life" (122). When the rite is grasped, in all its fullness, as "bearing the mark of Christ," "dying the death of Christ," "living the life of Christ," and "receiving the Spirit of Christ," baptism should be treasured as the definitive act whereby one becomes a Christian. Addressing the issue of infant baptism, Sta¬ples joins Wesley and argues against those take the Anabaptist position and restrict baptism to adults. While not suggesting a theory of baptismal regener¬ation, he still holds that infant baptism redemptively incorporates the child into the Body of Christ. Though the alternative of "infant dedication" is widely preferred in Wesleyan/holiness churches, Staples pleads for a return to Wesley's insistence on the sacrament of infant baptism. Whereas baptism is the "sacrament of initiation," the Eucharist is the "sacrament of sanctification." John Wesley said "The Lord's Supper was ordained by God to be a means of conveying to men either pre¬venting, justifying, or sanctifying grace, according to their several necessities." As part of the salvation process, whereby men and women become Christ-like, the Eucharist provides needed sustenance. Staples discusses various views of the sacrament, giving the reader a valuable perspective as to how various theologians have interpreted it. He then seeks to support Wesley's notion of the "real presence" of Christ in the Eucharist. Thus, just as the Word is weekly preached, the Lord's Supper should be regularly (if not weekly) celebrated. Outward Sign and Inward Grace is a tho¬rough study, brimming with insights derived from Staples' lifetime of studying and teaching historical theology. He builds a strong case for rightly relying on the Sacraments, making it clear how Wesleyan is his approach. The book reads well and makes sense.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Sacramental Theology,
By John M. Hanna (Springfield, OR) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Outward Sign and Inward Grace (Paperback)
Dr. Staples was a theology professor of mine while I was at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City in the 1990's. He is an exceptional theologian and I was always fully engaged sitting in his classes. I went back and thoroughly read this book in preparation for a couple of sermons I was preparing on baptism and the Lord's Supper. It's amazing how he brings together major theological themes in informing a Wesleyan sacramental theology. For Christians who are not concerned about the environment and dismiss ecology as irrelevant to our faith, this book should inform you. Rich in Biblical exposition and theology, and at times very preachable, every chapter is riviting.
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