This book re-examines Baptist theology and practice in the light of contemporary biblical, theological, ecumenical, and missiological perspectives. It is not a study in denominationalism, but rather attempts to revision historical insights from the believers' church tradition, seeking to re-appropriate forgotten emphasis, bringing them together in a revised ecclesiology.

Brian Haymes is former Principal of Northern and Bristol Baptist Colleges, President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, and Minister of Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, London. Ruth Gouldbourne is Minister of Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, London, and a former Tutor at Bristol Baptist College. Anthony R. Cross is a Fellow of the Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, Regent's Park College, Oxford.

Foreword	p. xiii
Preface	p. xvii
By Way of Introduction	p. 1
Where to Start? Identifying Some Presuppositions	p. 3
Beginning with God	p. 3
The Significance of the Church	p. 6
The Bible	p. 7
Ontology	p. 8
The God of the People	p. 11
God Calls a People	p. 12
Who is God?	p. 15
The People of God	p. 20
God's Own People	p. 20
The Church Local, Universal and Mystical	p. 29
The One Church of God	p. 35
Ways of Being the Church	p. 39
The Communion of Saints	p. 42
God's Church	p. 45
Authority	p. 46
The Authority of Jesus Christ	p. 47
Finding the Mind of Christ the Lord	p. 48
Listening and Learning Together	p. 50
But in Reality	p. 52
The Authority of the State	p. 54
Baptism: Becoming a Christian	p. 57
The Sacrament of Baptism	p. 63
Objections to a Sacramental Understanding of Baptism	p. 69
A Note on Calvin	p. 71
The Mission Context	p. 73
Baptism and the Church	p. 80
Baptism and Church Membership	p. 87
A Note on Calls for Baptismal Reform	p. 93
Discipleship	p. 101
Baptisi Identity and Discipleship	p. 105
Belonging	p. 105
Mutuality	p. 105
Communal	p. 106
Behaving	p. 106
Believing	p. 107
Being	p. 107
Baptist Identity and its Distinctives	p. 108
Resources	p. 108
Mutuality and Community: A Pattern of Discipline	p. 110
Aspects of Discipline: Confessing the Faith	p. 112
Aspects of Discipline: Living as a Disciple	p. 114
Patterns of Discipline: Account Ability	p. 116
Significance, Presence and Understanding	p. 118
Believing	p. 118
Behaving	p. 119
Being	p. 119
Discipleship as an On-going Path	p. 120
The Discernment of Gifts	p. 120
The Journeying Community	p. 121
The size of Community	p. 121
The Lord's Supper	p. 123
Story	p. 124
The Past: Anamnesis and Identity	p. 127
The Present: Anamnesis and Mission	p. 130
The Future: Anamnesis and Eschatology	p. 133
Koinonia	p. 134
Koinonia and Presence	p. 135
Koinonia and Dicipline	p. 136
Koinonia and Mission	p. 138
Koinonia and Ministry	p. 139
Koinonia and the Communion of Saints	p. 140
Action	p. 142
Embodiment and Creation	p. 143
Embodiment and the Embodied Lord	p. 144
Particualrity and Physicality	p. 146
God's Work	p. 148
Grace and Judgement	p. 148
Participation	p. 150
Grace as who God is, not what God does	p. 151
Conclusion	p. 151
Ministry	p. 152
The One Church, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic	p. 180
Workship, the Primary Task	p. 182
Spreading the Good News	p. 185
Three Illustrations	p. 187
What Responsibility does the Church have for the World?	p. 189
Evangelism	p. 192
Instition and Organization	p. 195
The Limits of Pragmatism	p. 195
The Heart of the Chruch	p. 195
Gathering and Association	p. 199
Movement and Organization	p. 202
We belong Together because we belong to Christ	p. 205
Implications	p. 209
Index	p. 215
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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