Engaging Ecclesiology - Paperback

by A. T. B. McGowan (Editor)

The Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference (EDC) takes place every second year. The Rutherford Centre for Reformed Theology, which runs the conference, has a present interest in studying the doctrine of the church (ecclesiology). After two years of pandemic, when most churches began to take new forms or develop new ways of meeting, many questions are being asked: What is the church, and what is it for? Is it a core element of Christianity, or is it an optional extra? Does the doctrine of the church flow out of our understanding of God and the gospel, or is it to be viewed socially and pragmatically? Are the historic marks of the church still relevant to today's discussions? This volume contains the papers given at the 2021 EDC. Here we have eight significant theologians exploring the nature and function of the church in ways that are challenging and thought-provoking. Continuing the study of ecclesiology, the 2023 EDC will address the subject of the Holy Spirit and the church, and in 2025 the subject will be creeds, confessions, and the church.

Author Biography

A. T. B. McGowan is director of the Rutherford Centre for Reformed Theology and professor of theology in the University of the Highlands and Islands. He served as principal of Highland Theological College for fifteen years and has also served in various parishes of the Church of Scotland. Professor McGowan is vice chairman of the World Reformed Fellowship and serves as chairman of its theological commission. He is also president of the Scottish Evangelical Theology Society.