Biblical ecclesiology

theology

intermediate

STL_W01;

STL_W02;

STL_W03;

STL_W04;

STL_W06;

It does not concerned.

The main aim of the lecture is to familiarize the student with a deeper understanding of biblical texts related to the reality of the Church. The subject of the joint analysis are texts considered essential in shaping the teaching about the Church and texts that show how the Church should function, also in crisis situations. The discourse aims to discover common biblical bases for defining and understanding the Church in ecumenical dialogue.

I. Introductory issues - 3 hours

General and specific terminology. Definition and characterization. Hermeneutics of the exegesis of texts concerning the Church. Contextualization and its impact on the "reading" of the Church in the Bible. The problem of beginning and continuation - semantic correspondence of OT and NT terms and reinterpretation.

II. OT theological texts and ideas relating to the Church - 7 hours + discussion

Election and mission, the people of God, the Covenant, metaphorical definitions of the people of God, and the function of prophetism.

III. NT ecclesiological texts – 16 hours + discussions

Definitions, images, characteristics, patterns and distortions.

Metaphorical definitions of the Church. Ecclesiology in the Synoptic Gospels. The Church in the Gospel of John. Pauline Ecclesiology. Church in the Catholic Letters. The image of the Church in the Apocalypse of John.

Bender K.J. & Long D.S., T&T Clark Handbook of Ecclesiology, T&T Clark 2020.

Basden P. & Dockery D.S., eds., The People of God: Essays on the Believers’ Church, Nashvill, TN: Broadman Press, 1991.

Carson, D.A., ed., Biblical Interpretation and the Church: The Problem of Contextualization, London: Paternoster Press, 1984; Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1985.

Clarke A.D., A Pauline Theology of Church Leadership, Bloomsbury 2012.

Clarke A.D., Serve the Community of the Church: Christians as Leaders and Ministers, Eerdmans 2000.

Collins R., The many Faces of the Church: A Study in New Testament Ecclesiology, Crossroad: New York 2003.

Congar I., Un People Messianique, Du Cerf 1975.

Ferguson E., The Church of Christ. A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today, Eerdmans: Grand Rapids 1996.

Flynn G., Ives Congar’s vision of the Church in a World of Unbelief, Burlington Vt: Ashgate 2004.

Gacka B., Ecclesiology, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo UKSW 2008.

c, Melbourne: Collins Dove 1989.

Johnson E.E., Ecclesiology in the New Testament, Abingdon Press: Nashville 2020.

Kärkkäinen Veli-Matti, An Introduction to Ecclesiology. Ecumenical, Historical & Global Perspectives, IVP Academic: Downers Grove 2002.

Minear P. S., Images of the Church in the New Testament, Westminster: Philadelphia 1960.

The graduate of the class

1. Understand how biblical patterns of the community of God evolved.

2. Explain the purpose and function of the Church in the light of the biblical text.

3. Understand the place of the Church in the history of salvation.

5. Evaluate church practices in the light of New Testament teaching about the Church.

6. Evaluate and explain contemporary problems and dangers for the Church in the light of the biblical text.

7. Understand and explain the cause of the differences between Christians in understanding the Church despite taking the exact biblical text as a basis.

To complete the course, the student is required to:

- Participate in classes and actively participate in discussions

- Prepare a written essay of 12,000 characters with spaces (about 6-7 pages) and its oral presentation during classes. The essay is the basis for animating a joint discussion with the other class participants. Essay topics and presentation dates will be announced at the beginning of the semester.

- Passing an oral final exam covering the material discussed in class and knowledge of the indicated literature.