Unity of the Church

Eduardus A.J.G. Van der Borght, Ph.D. (2000) in Theology., Leiden University, is Desmond Tutu Professor and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at VU University Amsterdam. He has published on theology of ministry, ecclesiology and public theology.

• The Unity of the Church and the Reformed Tradition - An Introduction ... 1Eduardus Van der BorghtPART ONEFRAMING UNITY OF THE CHURCH AS A THEOLOGICAL PROBLEM1. Communion - Responding to God’s Gift ... 19Lukas Vischer2. Church Unity, Territorialism, and State Formation in the Era of Confessionalisation ... 33Wim Janse3. Parallel Coexistence of Churches. The Church in Transylvania: Its Unity and Disunity - A Contextualized Example ... 43Juhász Tamás4. “Is Christ Divided?” - An Analysis of the Theological Justification of a Church Schism ... 51J.H. (Amie) van Wyk5. Calvinus Oecumenicus - Calvin’s Vision of the Unity and Catholicity of the Church ... 69I. John HesselinkPART TWOTHE TOOLS FOR THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH—A THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS6. One Church and the Pure Preaching of the Word - Theses and Observations on the Theme ... 97Alasdair Heron7. A Biblical Theological Hermeneutics, the Pure Preaching of the Word of God, and the Unity of the Church ... 105Seung-Goo Lee8. The Medium and the Message - Sola Scriptura and (Dis)unity in the Reformed Tradition ... 111Dora Bernhardt9. The Unity of the Church and the Pure Administration of the Sacraments ... 123Lyle D. Bierma10. Confessions as Instruments of (Dis)unity? ... 137Dirkie Smit11. Forms of Unity or of Disunity – The Confessions in the Recent History of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands ... 157Henk van den Belt12. Gospel Discipline and Church (Dis)unity in the Reformed Tradition ... 169Alan P.F. SellPART THREEECUMENICAL EXPLORATIONS ON THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH13. The Healing of Memories—Finding One Another Again in Christ ... 189Jeffrey Gros14. An Asymptotic Dialogue? A Response to Jeffrey Gros ... 211Leo J. Koffeman15. Ecumenical Theology and the Unity of the Church - A Reformed Understanding of Ecumenical Engagement and the Unity of the Church ... 223Setri Nyomi16. ‘No Popery’: A Blessing or a Curse? Ministry as an Instrument of Unity within the Reformed Tradition ... 231Eduardus Van der Borght17. Office as an Instrument of Unity ... 243Allan JanssenPART FOURTHE THEOLOGICAL BASIS FOR THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH18. One God and One Church – Considerations on the Unity of the Church from the Perspective of Biblical Theology ... 249Abraham van de Beek19. One Savior, One Church - Reconciliation as Justification and “New Creation” ... 267Philippe Theron20. The Reality of the Unified Church ... 283Annette Mosher21. The Church as an Echo of the Triune God ... 293Christiaan Mostert22. Is the Triune God a Model for the One Church?—Reply to Christiaan Mostert ... 307Paul Wells23. Trinitarian Ecclesiology and the Search for Unity—A Reformed Reading of Miroslav Volf ... 313Gijsbert van den Brink24. The Church as Sacrament ... 327Martien E. BrinkmanList of Contributors ... 345Index ... 349

"A welcome indication of the vibrancy of Reformed theology. [...] Those who have a care and concern for the Reformed witness to ecumenism will discover there an emerging agenda." David Cornick, Churches Together in England, and Robinson College, Cambridge. Ecclesiology 10 (2014).