A Shared Mercy: Karl Barth on Forgiveness and the Church By Jon Coutts
A Shared Mercy: Karl Barth on Forgiveness and the Church By Jon Coutts Paperback 0830849157 9780830849154 A Shared Mercy: Karl Barth on Forgiveness and the Church Christians regularly ask God to forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, but tend to focus on the first half and ignore the second. Something is missing if Christians think of mission only in terms of proclamation or social justice and discipleship only in terms of personal growth and renewal leaving the relational implications of the gospel almost to chance. It is vital both to spiritual life and mission to think of the church as both invitation and witness to a particularly merciful social dynamic in the world. As a work of constructive practical theology and a critical commentary on the ecclesiology of Karl Barths unfinishedChurch Dogmatics, A Shared Mercy explains the place and meaning of interpersonal forgiveness and embeds it within an account of Christs ongoing ministry of reconciliation. A theologian well practiced in church ministry, Jon Coutts aims to understand what it means to forgive and reconcile in the context of the Christ confessing community. In the process he appropriates an area of Barths theology that has yet to be fully explored for its practical ramifications and that promises to be of interest to both seasoned scholars and newcomers to Barth alike. The result is a re envisioning of the church in terms of a mercy that is crucially and definitively shared.
A Shared mercyverse
Thoughtful and thorough 0830849157 This is an excellent exploration of an often overlooked aspect of Karl Barth s theology More than that however Coutts attends the subject with not only theological acuity but also pastoral sensitivity There is not only a poignant critique of the majority of church s habits and practices of forgiveness deficient as they are but also a constructive paradigm by and through which churches that are sensitive to their mission of reconciliation can imbibe in their daily life to live out their place in God s mission to reconcile all things to himself in Jesus Christ I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a better understanding of forgiveness in both its parts and its fullness as the ethic of the church 0830849157 Forgiveness is such a tricky event since there are several consequential questions attached to it Does this mean I forget what he did and allow him access again I may have said the words of forgiveness to her but I can t bring myself to trust her Does this make me unforgiving After all he did to us if I forgive him now doesn t that mean he gets off scot free There are lots of despairs and disgraces swimming around forgiveness making it a hot and heartrending subject John Coutts tutor of theology and ethics at Trinity College in Bristol England and ordained in the Christian and Missionary Alliance approaches this needful topic in his new 244 page paperback A Shared Mercy Karl Barth on Forgiveness and the Church It is written to interact with Karl Barth in a scholarly but also pastoral manner A Shared Mercy works through six chapters moving through. A Shared mercyships The remainder of the review can be found here 0830849157
Christians regularly ask God to forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors but tend to focus on the first half and ignore the second Something is missing if Christians think of mission only in terms of proclamation or social justice and discipleship only in terms of personal growth and renewal leaving the relational implications of the gospel almost to chance It is vital both to spiritual life and mission to think of the church as both invitation and witness to a particularly merciful social dynamic in the world As a work of constructive practical theology and a critical commentary on the ecclesiology of Karl Barth s unfinishedChurch Dogmatics A Shared Mercy explains the place and meaning of interpersonal forgiveness and embeds it within an account of Christ s ongoing ministry of reconciliation A theologian well practiced in church ministry Jon Coutts aims to understand what it means to forgive and reconcile in the context of the Christ confessing community In the process he appropriates an area of Barth s theology that has yet to be fully explored for its practical ramifications and that promises to be of interest to both seasoned scholars and newcomers to Barth alike The result is a re envisioning of the church in terms of a mercy that is crucially and definitively shared A Shared Mercy Karl Barth on Forgiveness and the Church.