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

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.