The Bond of Peace: Exploring generous orthodoxy

Churches vary a great deal - but can we see past all their differences to what underlies them?

'Generous orthodoxy' is a phrase that describes a Christianity both broad and deep, rooted in the historic creeds and embracing different expressions of Christian faith. The Bond of Peace is a ground-breaking, creative and practical exploration of what generous orthodoxy really means, and how expressing it might bring about a sense of unity in the church that is badly needed in our fractured and polarised world.

Drawing together leading theologians from the UK and the USA - including David Ford, Katherine Sonderegger, Willie Jennings, Tom Greggs, JKA Smith and Jane Williams - The Bond of Peace offers reflections on how generous orthodoxy can be expressed through everything from worship and preaching to biblical theology, the arts and more.

Based around a series of lectures held at St Mellitus College, and sponsored by the McDonald Agape Foundation, this timely book is essential reading for anyone interested in how the Christian Church can bridge the gap between denominations to negotiate the challenges of our 21st century world in a united manner. It will leave you, not only with a deeper understanding of generous orthodoxy, but the practical confidence to celebrate and embrace the differences in Christian denominations so we can all live together more joyfully - through the transforming and renewing work of the Holy Spirit.

Nathan is editor of Fresh from the Word and has servedas a minister in the United Reformed Church in Lowestoft, UK, and a university chaplain in Manchester. He has visited monasteries in Ghana, Israel, Egypt, India, China and Japan and is now busy raising two daughtersand eight chickens with his wife Clare in London. He is an enthusiasticstudent of Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible, a very amateur actor, and he isfascinated by what the Bible can mean today.

The Rt Revd Dr Graham Tomlin is Bishop of Kensington and President of St Mellitus College. He served as Chaplain of Jesus College Oxford and Vice Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, where he taught within the Theology Faculty of the University on Historical Theology. He was the first Dean of St Mellitus College and is the author of many books and articles, including The Power of the Cross: Theology and the Death of Christ in Paul Luther and Pascal, Looking through the Cross (the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lent Book for 2014), The Widening Circle – Priesthood as God’s Way of Blessing the World and Luther’s Gospel: Reimagining the World