Beyond 400

Exploring Baptist Futures

David J. Cohen, Michael Parsons, Cohen, Parsons

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781608993376
  9781498255721
• eBook ISBN:
  9781630879655
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Baptists worldwide recently celebrated 400 years of history and witness. This volume is a collection of papers presented at the "Beyond 400" conference held in Perth, Western Australia, as part of these celebrations. Contributors have written from a broad range of perspectives reflecting biblically and theologically on the thinking and practice of Baptists in the past and present. These reflections form a basis for exploring how Baptists can function more effectively in our contemporary world situation and imagine themselves in the future. Chapters range from providing historical perspectives to biblical and theological reflections on issues that have been critical to Baptist belief and ministry. They examine the core values that, historically, have distinguished Baptists within the broader context of the church and explore how these values might both underpin and play out in Baptist churches today. Contributions reflect a firm belief among both the presenters and attendees at the "Beyond 400" conference that Baptists not only have a future but also offer a necessary voice to our world. This voice is firmly based on the issues that first precipitated the Baptist movement some 400 years ago, and the continuing relevance of these issues as they are reimagined for our contemporary situation.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword by Brian Winslade
• Foreword by Jonathan Edwards
• Preface
• Contributors
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1: Baptist Christians: Repentant and Unrepentant
• Chapter 2: Humane Religion:Evangelical Faith, Baptist Identity, and Liberal Secularism
• Chapter 3: The Sound of Silence? Baptist Thought in Obama’s World
• Chapter 4: Meeting for Minutes? Baptist Congregational Life in the Age of Twitter
• Chapter 5: Beyond Identity Crises? The Future of Baptist Theology
• Chapter 6: Is a Denomination a Church?
• Chapter 7: Emerging-Missional Ecclesiology and the Future of Denominational Leadership and Affiliation
• Chapter 8: The Little Church That Could
• Chapter 9: Cyprian and The Pilgrim’s Progress
• Chapter 10: Leadership Style and Church Culture
• Chapter 11: Baptists in Mission to and with the Poor: What Do We Need to Learn?
• Chapter 12: Baptist Witness to New Testament Baptism beyond 2009
• Chapter 13: An Immodest Proposal for the Practice of the Lord’s Table
• Chapter 14: Church as (Covenant) Community—Then and Now
• Chapter 15: Worship and the Unity of Baptists Today
• Chapter 16: The Emerging Portrait: A Response
• Appendix A: Explicit Baptismal Vocabulary in the New Testament
• Appendix B: The Nine Instances of Christian Baptism Reported in Acts
• Bibliography