A Call to Christian Formation
- Theology
- Publisher: Baker Academic (Baker Publishing Group)
- Published: 2021
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Publisher's Description
Southwestern Journal of Theology 2021 Book Award (Honorable Mention, Applied Theology/Ethics)This book shows that theology is both integrally related to formation in Jesus Christ and shapes our understanding of the world. Christian formation is incomplete and impossible without theological formation, because Christ transforms our hearts and minds, attuning them to the reality of God. As the authors explore the deep connections between theology and the life of the Christian, they emphasize Christian formation as a defining feature of the church, arguing that theology must be integrally connected to the church's traditions and practices.
Endorsements (6)
“This wonderful book offers a clarion call to make the knowledge of God the most important thing in our lives, the thing we long for, delight in, pursue, and prioritize above all else—and use to interpret and apply everything else in our lives as well. It offers a call, in other words, to recover the significance of theology once again in an age when most Christians pay lip service to God without knowing much about him. May real, genuine growth in our knowledge of the Lord renew our minds, shape our thoughts, and fuel our lives.”
“This presentation of the foundational role of orthodox, biblical theology in daily life and work will be of great encouragement to students and pastors, as well as lay persons who are serious about building their lives on the unshakeable foundation laid down by the Word of God in Jesus Christ. I admire the authors’ forthright affirmation of the concrete, life-giving nature of theological study, graciously expounded here for the well-being of the church and for the daily lives of serious disciples of Jesus. He is honored here as the Savior and Lord of the mind as well as the bodily life and destiny of all who seek him.”
“For evangelicals and Protestants wanting to know what theology is and hungering for mystery and liturgy and sacrament in the historical church, this is a beautifully written guide to going further up and further in.”
“Being called to formation means nothing less than being called to Christ. That’s the basic premise of A Call to Christian Formation. From start to finish, this book invites us to share in the mind of Christ. Bold and unapologetic, Clark and Johnson ward off all wanderlust—away from God in Christ, away from the church and her liturgy, away from mystery and paradox. Grounded in Scripture and conversant with ecumenical thought, this book powerfully reminds us that the Christ-reality is the only place where true communion is found.”
“If the church is to succeed in forming people who look like Jesus, it will need a theology that is up to the task. In this wonderful introduction, Clark and Johnson show us that theology is not the dusty domain of academic specialists but real, saving, and transforming knowledge of the living God given by Christ to his church for a purpose: the edification and maturity of God’s people into the image of Christ.”
“Clark and Johnson helpfully remind us that theology matters not because we need to fill our heads with abstract philosophical ideas but because it is our way of responding to the reality of the triune God, who has called us to enter into his life and purposes. Let this volume take you back to the heart of the formative nature of true theology—fostering our worship of God and letting his reality reshape us in his goodness and truth.”
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