Re-Imagining Life Together in America A New Gospel of Community

by Nerney, Catherine; Taussig, Hal

• ISBN13: 9781580511148
• ISBN10: 1580511147
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-01
• Publisher: Sheed & Ward

Summary

Well written and highly accessible, this book interweaves a thorough review of developments in Christian community from the first century to the present with powerful new discoveries in scriptural, theological, and historical research that has uncovered deep communal strands in the foundational literature and notions of Christianity. The result is a profound call for the renewal of Christian community and churches as crucial models and inspirations for the new search for wholeness in America.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	xiii
Part One: A Gospel of Community in Early Christianity
Introduction to Part One	3	(4)
The Emergence of Christian Community in the Hellenistic Mediterranean	7	(16)
Five Early Christian Communities	23	(12)
Communion: Meanings of Community take on Universal Significance	35	(26)
Part Two: The Community of God: Twentieth Century Theological and Philosophical Contributions
Introduction to Part Two	59	(2)
A Church Called Back to Its Roots	61	(16)
An Eastern Orthodox Contribution to Understanding Communion: The Work of John Zizioulas	77	(8)
Social Philosophers as Conversation Partners about Community	85	(28)
Communion and Liberation: The Contribution of Liberation and Feminist Theologians to Understanding Communion	113	(24)
Part Three: The Contemporary North American Social Situation as Crisis of Community
Introduction to Part Three	135	(2)
The American Disaster	137	(14)
The Crisis of Community in the Christian Churches of America	151	(16)
Part Four: A Gospel of Community for the Twenty-First Century
Introduction to Part Four	165	(2)
The Emergence of Christian Community in Contemporary America	167	(18)
Encountering Diverse ``Forms'' of Contemporary Christian Communities	185	(38)
Building Community: Exploring a Metaphor	223	(14)
Notes	237	(20)
Works Consulted	257	(8)
Index	265