The Conversation Matters

by Knight, Henry H., III

• ISBN13: 9780687074358
• ISBN10: 0687074355
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-09-01
• Publisher: Abingdon Pr

Summary

We live in a pivotal time for Christianity in North America, a fact that is no more evident than it is among United Methodists. Deep discord exists, not only over the "hot button" issues, but also over what is at stake in the debates that divide us, and hence how we might go about overcoming it.
In this book, Knight and Saliers issue a challenge to members. They insist that we recover the lost Wesleyan art of Christian conference, a way of carrying on theological debate that is at once true to the principles we hold, yet open to the possibility of changing our minds. Drawing on recent essays on civility in political discourse, they argue for "speaking the truth in love" in a way that makes respect and love for the other our paramount concern, and in which making an argument is not the same thing as having an argument.

Author Biography

Henry H. Knight III is Associated Professor of Evangelism at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. 9
Introduction	p. 11
What to Teach
Doctrine in Christian Scriptural Traditions	p. 21
The Role of Doctrine in the Theology of John Wesley	p. 33
The Recovery of Doctrine	p. 47
How to Teach
Civility: Speaking the Truth in Love	p. 63
Dialogue: Seeking the Truth in Christian Conversation	p. 75
Recovering the Art of Christian Conference	p. 85
Afterword	p. 99
Notes	p. 101
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