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Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church
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About Sojourners And Strangers: The Doctrine Of The Church
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Sojourners and StrangersThe Doctrine of the ChurchBy Gregg R. AllisonGood News PublishersCopyright © 2012 Gregg R. AllisonAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-58134-661-9ContentsSeries Introduction, Preface, Abbreviations, PART ONE: FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES, CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIOLOGY, CHAPTER 2: THE CHURCH OF THE NEW COVENANT, PART TWO:THE BIBLICAL VISION — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER 3: CHARACTERISTICS REGARDING THE ORIGIN AND ORIENTATION OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER 4: CHARACTERISTICS REGARDING THE GATHERING AND SENDING OF THE CHURCH, PART THREE: THE VISION ACTUALIZED — THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER 5: THE PURITY AND UNITY OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER 6: CHURCH DISCIPLINE, PART FOUR: THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER 6: CHURCH DISCIPLINE, CHAPTER 7 THE OFFICE OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER 8: TYPES OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT, CHAPTER 9: A MODEL OF CHURCH GOVERNANCE, PART FIVE: THE ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER 10: BAPTISM, CHAPTER 11: THE LORD'S SUPPER, PART SIX: THE MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER 12: MINISTRIES OF THE CHURCH, PART SEVEN: CONCLUSION, CHAPTER 13: SOJOURNERS AND STRANGERS, SERIES INTRODUCTION, CHAPTER 1INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIOLOGYECCLESIAL BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCETo begin with the obvious, if you are reading this book, you are probably involved in a church, so you have already experienced the reality of the doctrine that I am treating. The same is true of most other doctrines: we experience the reality of the doctrine of God as we relate personally to him as Father, the doctrine of humanity as bearers of the divine image, the doctrine of sin as those fallen from what we should be, the doctrine of salvation as those rescued from our depravity and corruption, and the like.These experiences shape our theology of God, humanity, sin, salvation, and other doctrines.Because this may sound reasonable to some but disconcerting to others, let me clarify what I mean by it. As a systematic theologian and contributor to this Foundations of Evangelical Theology series, I firmly maintain that the source — the sole source — and the starting point of our theology is Scripture, the Word of God. So when I affirm that our experience shapes our theology, I am not advocating that experience should contribute to the content of our doctrinal formulation or be the jumping off point for it, because Scripture holds those honored positions. But our experience does influence our theology. And this is perhaps nowhere more evident than in the doctrine of the church: our weekly engagement in our church's worship service, our observation of how our church baptizes people, our participation in our church's celebration of the Lord's Supper, our engagement in our church's missional endeavors to make the gospel known, our involvement in our church's compassionate concern for the poor and marginalized, and much more influences our ecclesiology.If our ecclesial background, our church experience, shapes our theology, then it has influenced my formulation of the doctrine of the church that you are about to read. Accordingly, I want you to know the broad contours of my ecclesial background. I was raised in a "liberal" church in which a good Sunday would find my minister reading from the latest Time magazine, while a bad Sunday would feature an interpretation of his dreams. Congregational and denominational money was funneled to support such radical movements as the Black Panthers and Students for a Democratic Society. Yet, it was in that church, through a parachurch movement of that very denomination, that I was genuinely confronted with the gospel of Jesus Christ and experienced the saving work of God in my life. And I was not alone in this; scores of people in that church had similar experiences and made professions of faith in Christ. When we turned to our pastor for guidance in how to continue and grow in this newfound Christian life, he dismissively assured us that our recent expe
