The Church According to the New Testament: What the Wisdom and Witness of Early Christianity Teach Us Today

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By: Daniel Harrington
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EDITORIAL REVIEW

In the last days of the twentieth century, leading New Testament scholar and popular preacher Daniel Harrington, S.J., asked himself two powerful questions: What might the church of the first century have to say to the church of the twenty-first century? And how might a brief synthesis of what the New Testament says and does not say about the church help bring greater vitality within and unity among the churches? The result of Father Harrington's research and thinking is this timely and important book.

The Church According to the New Testament: What the Wisdom and Witness of Early Christianity Teach Us Today is a study in biblical and ecumenical theology. Writing as a New Testament specialist addressing a general audience of Christians or those interested in Christianity, Father Harrington does not promote or defend distinctively Catholic positions. Rather, he helps Christians and their friends better appreciate and understand what the writings that they all regard as privileged and foundational teach about the church. Approaching the twenty-seven books of the New Testament with a concern for their historical settings in the first century A.D. and with sensitivity toward the literary conventions by which they communicate their messages, Harrington focuses on their theological content and what they teach about the church. Each of the twelve chapters here treats various aspects of the general topic, concludes by noting the positive contributions raised by the New Testament texts and the problems that they may pose for modern Christians, and asks three questions for "reflection and discussion."

"The New Testament is paradoxically the source of both Christian unity and Christian diversity," explains Father Harrington. "There is something for everybody in it, and yet it is unified by its focus on Jesus of Nazareth and on how the movement begun by him was carried on in the first century." As a result, The Church According to the New Testament is ideal for colleges, universities, seminaries, Bible study groups, and individual reading.

Overview of Contents:

The Jesus movement; what early Christians believed about Jesus; how early Christianity worshipped; Paul's teachings about the church; the church and the people of God; Paul's teachings about the church and his legacy in theology, narrative, and practice; the churches behind the synoptic gospels; the Johannine communities; the Church in the world; modern issues of ministry and belief today.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Publisher: Sheed & Ward
Pub. Date: 1st December 2001
Catalog: Book
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 188
Ean: 9781580511117
Isbn: 1580511112

ABOUT THIS BOOK

USER REVIEWS

Didactical and refreshing
~ Written on Apr 6, 2003. 15 out of 17 users found this review helpful.

Beyond the title which is centred on what is currently viewed as the original Church, the question is « Did Jesus found the Church? »
The best way to reach the answer is to read the book. This will give the reader the opportunity to discover that the interest of the book does not lie so much in the answer itself, as in all the things that one will discover on the way, while progressing towards the answer.
One of them is a method for reading the various books of the New Testament by starting to put them in context. In other words, by making a quick overview of who wrote the text, when, for what kind of people, in what social and historical context and for what particular purpose. All things that are essential to anybody who wants to extract the genuine substance of the message.
There is nothing more deceiving than to isolate a few lines from an unknown context and to apply them literally 2000 years later in a different world. This process can also be dangerous if it is used to support a particular ideology.
Another interesting thing regarding a better understanding of the Scriptures is the idea of "hermeneutical spiral" superseding that of "hermeneutical circle." It still runs from Jesus to the texts, the Christian experience and back to Jesus, but it adds a third dimension to the dynamic. It enables us not to go around forever in circles, but to rise each time a little closer to the ultimate truth.
Last but not least, the reader will discover all along the book a variety of interesting insights on basic notions such as wisdom, resurrection, disciple, apostle, baptism, the Lord's Supper and the essence of the Gospel itself. One gets the impression that the author has blown off some centuries of accumulated dust over these definitions, and given them a fresh meaning more consistent with their original purpose and more closely related to our overall life.

Realistic and Helpful
~ Written on Mar 19, 2003. 6 out of 7 users found this review helpful.

Wisely avoiding the temptation to depict the earliest Church as idyllic, Professor Harrington explores the texts of the New Testament (and a few non-canonical texts from the apostolic fathers) to extrapolate what we might learn about, and from, Jesus' first followers. The result is a book that is both profound and practical. Exposing the similarities between the first and the twenty-first century milieus in which the Church must minister, Father Harrington demonstrates the wisdom of looking to the early Church for operational religious models in the modern world.

Articulate, insightful, informed and informative reading.
~ Written on Mar 22, 2002. 14 out of 17 users found this review helpful.

The Church According To The New Testament: What The Wisdom And Witness Of Early Christianity Teach Us Today by the learned biblical scholar Daniel Harrington (Professor of New Testament, Weston Jesuit School of Theology) draws upon biblical and ecumenical theology to help the reader better appreciate and understand what the foundational Christian texts teach about the Church. The focus is on what the theological content of the individual books comprising the New Testament can tell us about being a community of faith in the contemporary world. Questions for reflection and discussion are provided to assist the reader in learning to apply the wisdom of the new Testament and the witness of early Christians to the issues and concerns of modern life. The Church According To The New Testament is articulate, insightful, informed and informative reading.

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