Towards Baptist Catholicity

by Harmon, Steven R.; Avis, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781597528320
• ISBN10: 1597528323
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-08-01
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Pub

Summary

'Towards Baptist Catholicity: Essays on Tradition and the Baptist Vision' contends that the reconstruction of the Baptist vision in the wake of modernity's dissolution requires a retrieval of the ancient ecumenical tradition that forms Christian identity through liturgical rehearsal and ecclesial practice. Themes explored include catholic identity as an emerging trend in Baptist theology, tradition as a theological category in Baptist perspective, the relationship between Baptist confessions of faith and the patristic tradition, the importance of Trinitarian catholicity for Baptist faith and practice, catholicity in biblical interpretation, Karl Barth as a paradigm for a Baptist and evangelical retrieval of the patristic theological tradition, worship as a principal bearer of tradition, and the role of Baptist higher education in shaping the Christian vision. This book submits that the proposed movement towards catholicity is neither a betrayal of cherished Baptist principles nor the introduction of alien elements into the Baptist tradition. Rather, the envisioned retrieval of catholicity in the liturgy, theology, and catechesis of Baptist churches is rooted in a recovery of the surprisingly catholic ecclesial outlook of the earliest Baptists, an outlook that has become obscured by more recent modern reinterpretations of the Baptist vision and that provides Baptist precedent of a more intentional movement towards Baptist catholicity today.

Author Biography

Steven R. Harmon is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Campbell University Divinity School

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xvii
Preface	p. xix
Abbreviations	p. xxiii
'Catholic Baptists' and the New Horizon of Tradition in Baptist Theology	p. 1
Baptist Theology and the Horizon of Tradition	p. 3
The New Horizon of Tradition and the Emergence of 'Catholic Baptist' Theologians	p. 6
Tradition as Source of Authority	p. 7
Place for Creeds in Liturgy and Catechesis	p. 8
Liturgy as Context for Formation by Tradition	p. 10
Community as Locus of Authority	p. 11
Sacramental Theology	p. 13
Constructive Retrieval of Tradition	p. 15
Thick Ecumenism	p. 16
Towards Baptist Catholicity: Seeking a Place for Tradition in the Baptist Vision	p. 17
Baptist Understandings of Theological Authority: A North American Perspective	p. 23
The Baptist Ecclesial Location of the Perspective	p. 25
Ultimate Authority: The Triune God	p. 27
Derivative Authority: The Supremacy of the Scriptures	p. 28
Divergent Understandings of Biblical Authority	p. 29
Other Sources of Authority?	p. 32
Baptists, Tradition, and Creeds	p. 34
Towards a Baptist Rethinking of Authority	p. 36
The Authority of the Community (of All the Saints): Towards a Postmodern Baptist Hermeneutic of Tradition	p. 39
The Hermeneutics of Suspicion and Baptist Suspicion of Tradition	p. 40
Reevaluating the A-Traditional Baptist 'Tradition'	p. 43
Paradigms for Postmodern Retrieval of Tradition: Some Non-Baptist Dialogue Partners	p. 46
Thomas Oden: Postmodern Paleo-Orthodoxy	p. 47
Karl Barth: Beginning with the Community of Faith	p. 49
La Nouvelle Theologie: Renewal through Ressourcement	p. 51
Alasdair MacIntyre: Tradition, Community, and Rationality	p. 53
Paul Ricoeur: Tradition in the Second Naivite	p. 55
John Milbank, Catherine Pickstock, and Company: Radical Orthodoxy	p. 56
Leonardo Boff and Catherine Mowry LaCugna: Traditional Resources for Liberation	p. 58
Geoffrey Wainwright: The Liturgical Locus of Tradition	p. 59
George Lindbeck and the 'New Yale Theology': Tradition as Communal Narrative	p. 61
A Postmodern Baptist Hermeneutic of Tradition	p. 63
The Normative Function of Tradition: The Authority of the Community (of All the Saints)	p. 63
The Vehicle of Tradition: The Story of the Community	p. 65
The Critical Function of Tradition: The Argument of the Community	p. 66
Baptist Confessions of Faith and the Patristic Tradition	p. 71
Vestiges of the Patristic Tradition in Baptist Confessions	p. 72
First Historical Thesis	p. 72
Second Historical Thesis	p. 77
Third Historical Thesis	p. 80
Constructive Proposals for Interaction with the Patristic Tradition in Future Baptist Confessions	p. 81
First Constructive Proposal	p. 81
Second Constructive Proposal	p. 83
Third Constructive Proposal	p. 86
From Triadic Narrative to Narrating the Triune God: Towards a Baptist Appreciation of Trinitarian Catholicity	p. 89
The Economic Legacy of the Triadic Narrative: Ignatius of Antioch	p. 91
The Trinity in the New Testament Traditions	p. 92
The Trinity in the Ignatian Correspondence	p. 95
Narrating the Triune God: Ecclesial Shaping of the Story	p. 100
Explaining the Narrative to Outsiders: The Greek Apologists	p. 101
Problematic Versions of the Narrative: Monarchianism and Its Opponents	p. 102
Contesting the Plot: The Arian Controversy	p. 104
Refining Liturgical Narration: The Pneumatomachian Controversy	p. 106
Character Development: The Clarification of Trinitarian Relations	p. 108
Hebrews in Patristic Perspective: Benefits of Catholicity for Baptist Biblical Interpretation	p. 111
Patristic Homilies and Commentaries on Hebrews	p. 115
The Place of Hebrews in the Development of Patristic Theology	p. 117
Alexandrian Christology	p. 118
Antiochene Christology	p. 118
Hebrews 2.10-18 and the Suffering of Christ	p. 118
Patristic Resources for Teaching and Preaching Hebrews Today	p. 121
Hebrews 6.1-8 and Apostasy	p. 122
Patristic Exegesis and Baptist Proclamation of Hebrews	p. 127
Hearing the Voice of the Community: Karl Barth's Conversation with the Fathers as a Paradigm for Baptist and Evangelical Ressourcement	p. 129
Biographical Evidence of Barth's Interest in the Fathers	p. 132
The Shape of Patristic Retrieval in the Church Dogmatics	p. 137
Patristic Conversation Partners	p. 137
Augustine of Hippo	p. 138
Eastern Conversation Partners	p. 139
Communal Expressions of Patristic Theology	p. 140
Doctrinal Loci of the Conversation	p. 141
Agenda of the Conversation	p. 141
Barthian Possibilities for Baptist and Evangelical Retrieval of Patristic Theology	p. 142
Returning Ad Fontes	p. 142
Collaborating in the Conversation	p. 144
Discerning the Voice of the Community	p. 144
Baptist Systematic Theology and Patristic Retrieval	p. 146
Listening Eastwards and Westwards	p. 147
Catholicity Beyond Trinitarian and Christological Orthodoxy	p. 148
Listening Critically	p. 149
Praying and Believing: Retrieving the Patristic Interdependence of Worship and Theology	p. 151
The Interdependence of Worship and Theology in Patristic Practice: A Narrative Interpretation	p. 153
Rehearsal of the Divine Story in Typical Baptist Worship	p. 157
Theologically Formative Patterns and Practices from Patristic Worship: Resources for Retrieval	p. 159
Calendar	p. 159
Lectionary	p. 161
Word and Table	p. 162
Creed	p. 163
Prayer	p. 165
Confession and Pardon	p. 168
Passing of the Peace	p. 169
Lives of the Saints	p. 170
Hymns	p. 171
Implementing Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi in Baptist Congregations	p. 172
Contesting Our Story: Catholicity and Communal Conflict in Baptist Higher Education	p. 179
Sources of Communal Conflict over Faith-and-Learning Proposals	p. 181
Theological Controversies	p. 181
Political Polarization	p. 181
Mutual Suspicion	p. 183
Embracing Conflict as Contested Catholicity	p. 183
The Contested Character of the Christian Tradition	p. 184
The Narrative Shape of the Christian Tradition	p. 185
The Liturgical Locus of the Christian Tradition	p. 187
The Importance of Intra-Faculty Theological Education	p. 189
'What Keeps You from Becoming a Catholic?' A Personal Epilogue	p. 193
Precedents for 'Conversion'	p. 194
Why Not Rome, Constantinople, or Canterbury?	p. 198
Negligible Reservations	p. 198
Ecclesial and Ecumenical Responsibility	p. 201
A More Precise Definition of 'Catholicity'	p. 202
Precedents for Catholic Renewal within Protestant Denominations	p. 205
The Oxford Movement	p. 206
The Mercersburg Theology	p. 207
The Berneuchener Movement	p. 209
An Invitation to a Conversation	p. 211
Appendixes
Re-Envisioning Baptist Identity: A Manifesto for Baptist Communities in North America	p. 215
Confessing the Faith	p. 225
Bibliography	p. 231
Ancient Texts	p. 231
Modern Literature	p. 233
Index of Scripture References	p. 255
Index of Names	p. 257
Index of Subjects	p. 265
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