The Misunderstanding of the Church

Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-0-227-18066-2
Verlag: James Clarke & Co.

Buch, Englisch, 125 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 138 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 169 g

Reihe: The Emil Brunner Library

Emil Brunner’s investigation into the nature of Church and ‘churches’ using New Testament research.

‘What is the Church?’ Emil Brunner asks in his searching preface. Within Protestantism, the relationship between the Church as a living community of faith and the institutions conventionally called “churches” has long remained unclear. By contrast, the Roman Catholic tradition faces a different tension: how is the living Ecclesia of the New Testament to be understood in relation to the papal Church?

In The Misunderstanding of the Church, Brunner confronts this ambiguity head-on. Drawing on the insights of New Testament scholarship, he examines the deep disharmony between the vibrant, Spirit-filled fellowship of early Christianity and the institutional forms that now bear its name. With characteristic clarity and urgency, he asks a further pressing question: what has gone wrong with the churches?

Brunner’s exploration reveals a problem that is at once theological and historical, conceptual and practical. The very title of the book reflects this complexity: is the Church guilty of misunderstanding, the victim of it, or even its product? The ambiguity, Brunner suggests, lies not in the wording but in the nature of the issue itself.

A significant contribution to ecumenical debate, this work embodies Brunner’s enduring concern to uncover why a true resolution of the problem of the Church has remained so elusive—and what might yet be required to rediscover its authentic form.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Brunner, Emil

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Praktische Theologie Liturgik, Christliche Anbetung, Sakramente, Rituale, Feiertage
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Gebet & liturgisches Material
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Systematische Theologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Praktische Theologie Christliches Leben & Praxis
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Gottesdienst, Riten und Zeremonien
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Chapter 1. The Super natural Christian Community and
the Problem of the Church
Chapter 2. The Historical Origin of the “Ecclesia”
Chapter 3. The Apostles and the Fellowship
Chapter 4. The Christian Fellowship and Tradition
Chapter 5. The Christian Fellowship and the Holy Spirit
Chapter 6. The Christian Community in its Messianic Eschatological Character
Chapter 7. Divine Service, the Life of the “Ecclesia”
Chapter 8. The Starting Point of Ecclesiastical Development
Chapter 9. The Christian Fellowship and the Rise of the Church
Chapter 10. The Christ-Community and the Churches of History
Chapter 11. The Task before the Churches – to Serve The Growth of the “Ecclesia”
Chapter 12. The Summing- Up; Outlook for the Future

Notes

Über Autor(innen)

Brunner, Emil
EMIL BRUNNER (1889-1966) was one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century, and helped pave the course of modern Protestant theology.
He was Professor of Systematic and Practical Theology at the University of Zürich and lectured around the world. His extensive writings published by James Clarke & Co. include The Letter to the Romans and Dogmatics.