On Being the Church

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

Paul S. Fiddes

“What a timely and significant book! When those historical commitments and convictions that issued in Baptist life and witness are in jeopardy of being forgotten or marginalized, here is a series of essays that reasserts them with enthusiasm, clarity, and theological credibility. The outcome is a book that should be read not merely by Baptists but by representatives of every stream of Christian witness open to receive a prophetic witness to the nature of the church.”

John E. Colwell

“W. T. Whitley once observed that the most distinctive feature of the Baptists is their doctrine of the church. Yet surprisingly little has been written to display the substance of his observation. This book is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature that demonstrates Whitley's thesis and so challenges the popular perception that Baptist identity is rooted in modern notions of individualism and independence. The authors provide a rich account of Baptist faith and practice as life together in communion with the triune God. They challenge us to rise above the familiar paths of denominationalism and ask us to imagine what it might mean to live out a theology of baptism, eucharist, and ministry within the one church, holy, catholic, and apostolic.”

Curtis W. Freeman is Research Professor of Theology and Director of the Baptist House of Studies