Apostolic and Prophetic: Ecclesiological Perspectives

Apostolic and Prophetic promotes a vision of the church as apostolic, ecumenical, and radical. It explores the meaning of each of these ecclesial marks and their intrinsic connections. The volume thus draws a wide span between the apostolic past (tradition) and a radical perspective on the present and future ecumenical church. The book considers the concept of apostolicity emerging in patristic theology, and it examines this concept as it has been developed in some select Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Anglican ecumenical documents. Unresolved ecumenical questions concerning ecumenical method and church ministry are frankly discussed, including critical observations on ecumenical praxis. The modern notion of churches as denominations is examined in detail, especially in the Lutheran context. The author also offers a critical assessment of an important ecumenical event, the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The notion of a radical church--aware of its roots and prophetically committed to faith in the kingdom of God seeking freedom and justice--is explored through an extensive analysis and discussion of the work of Dorothee Solle and Terry Eagleton, two seminal thinkers of our time.

Gesa Thiessen lectures in systematic theology at Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy, and Mater Dei Institute, Dublin, and is an Honorary Fellow of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Wales, Lampeter. She has published several books including, among others, Ecumenical Ecclesiology (2009), Theological Aesthetics: A Reader (2004), and Theology and Modern Irish Art (1999).