Unity of the Church in the New Testament and Today

In the mid-twentieth century there were high hopes for the Ecumenical Movement and the unity of the church. In more recent days, however, each church appears to once again be emphasizing the profile of its own tradition. The movement continues to be celebrated, but there is little cooperation. The authors of this book propose an answer: take a fresh look at the New Testament itself.

Lukas Vischer, Ulrich Luz, and Christian Link argue that even a brief look at the New Testament reveals that God in Christ desires to create a community united in love. In fact, this unity is a permanent and never-ending task of the church.

Unity of the Church in the New Testament and Today offers reflections about what one can learn from the New Testament and what this means in the life of the church today. It surveys how the Christian movement struggled for unity in the first century. Finally it contains a systematic-theological reflection on that struggle and thereby draws conclusions for today’s church.

Lukas Vischer (1926–2008) was a Swiss Reformedtheologian noted for his ecumenical efforts in both theWorld Council of Churches and the World Alliance ofReformed Churches. He was professor emeritus of ecumenicaltheology at Evangelical Reformed Theological Faculty ofBerne, Switzerland.

 

Ulrich Luz (1938–2019) was a New Testament scholar from Switzerland. He was also the author of The Theology of Matthew, Matthew in History, and the three-volume commentary on Matthew in the Hermeneia series.

Christian Link is professor of systematic theology at RuhrUniversity in Bochum, Germany.