Peter Schmiechen
Список книг автора Peter SchmiechenWords Unspoken
This is a chance to explore the meaning of Christian faith for those in and outside of churches: adults who left the church in their youth, the many religious refugees pushed out by churches, as well as those in churches looking for serious reflection.
With short chapters written in conversational style, it refuses to dumb down the presentation or offer false promises. There are no tricks, no bait and switch. It simply gives an account of the good news for our time.
Christian faith is risky business. It requires that we consider the way the good news is subverted by religion itself and American culture. Most important, it means examining our own resistance to the message of Jesus. In the end, it involves a willingness to participate in a future marked by the unfolding glory of God.
Gift and Promise
What would happen if the liturgy for the Lord's Supper started with the images in the New Testament rather than the divisions of our past? It would be like going through an open door into a new world. There we would find a new Passover celebration, a new covenant, and remembrance and proclamation of Jesus' death and resurrection–all in the context of the kingdom of God. It would be an evangelical Lord's Supper. This is a high-risk operation, given the reliance by many on transactional sacrifice and the tendency to reduce the Supper to a sacrament of penance for individuals. Ideas rejected by Luther and Calvin now reappear even among Protestants. The goal cannot be reached by subtracting a few things and adding references to eschatology and joy. The good news is that many churches have already taken steps to reform their liturgies. To support that process, here is a clear and consistent evangelical perspective, based on the theology and biblical considerations that have formed our faith and practice.
Defining the Church for Our Time
The church is broken and we cannot fix it. Faith in God is disconnected from churches. Mainline churches are deeply divided, and their budgets and congregations have diminished, with no agreement for recovery. So what shall we do? It is time to stop talking about the problems and to consider a new vision of the church for our time.
This book is a celebration of the church as the community of new life in Christ. It assumes Christ intended to create a community on earth embodying grace and holiness. It begins with a new and inclusive definition of the church as a community enduring in time. It affirms the great variety of churches, all as valid expressions of the new life, and explains how and why churches are formed in different ways. The goal is for churches to celebrate the saving power of Christ and to see the glory of God revealed in the world in our time.