One Faith (Paperback)

Jesus Christ promised a unity for his church. Are there now clear evidences of that within evangelicalism? Or are evangelicals fragmenting into ever smaller divisions? Renowned theologians J. I. Packer and Thomas C. Oden make the case that there is a significant theological consensus holding the evangelical church together. With copious citations from statements produced since 1950 that are widely representative of international evangelical faith, Packer and Oden let these witnesses speak for themselves. Packer and Oden survey several key documents of evangelicalism, particularly the Lausanne Covenant (1974), the Manila Manifesto (1989), The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration (1999) and The Amsterdam Declaration (2000). Charting sixteen different theological themes, they also include references to numerous documents produced by evangelical theological seminaries and societies, mission agencies, parachurch organizations and assorted special convocations. More than informational, One Faith arises out of the hope that it may not only edify the evangelical church but also provide a potential foundation for a new ecumenism that gives glory to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the good news of his gospel.

J. I. Packer is regarded as one of the most influential evangelicals in North America. He is Board of Governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, and his writings include books such as Knowing God, A Quest for Godliness, Growing in Christ (Crossway) and Rediscovering Holiness. He has preached and lectured widely in Great Britain and North America and served as general editor of the English Standard Version of the Bible published in 2001, and theological editor of the Study Bible version. In 2014, Packer was named Author of the Year by the Association of Logos Bookstores. He is a frequent contributor to and an executive editor of Christianity Today and has written numerous articles published in journals such as Churchman, SouthWestern Journal, Reformation Revival Journal and Touchstone. He received a BA, MA and PhD from Oxford University.
Thomas C. Oden (1931–2016), was the general editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the Ancient Christian Doctrine series as well as the author of Classic Christianity, a revision of his three-volume systematic theology. He was the director of the Center for Early African Christianity at Eastern University in Pennsylvania and he served as the Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology at The Theological School of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Oden was active in the Confessing Movement in America, particularly within the United Methodist Church and was president of The Institute for Classical Christian Studies. He suggested that Christians need to rely upon the wisdom of the historical Church, particularly the early Church, rather than on modern scholarship and theology and said his mission was "to begin to prepare the postmodern Christian community for its third millennium by returning again to the careful study and respectful following of the central tradition of classical Christianity."