Description
Each student will write 5-7 page critical book reviews of the Vickers and Tennant texts. Instructions are as follows: Critical summaries should be no less than 5 and no more than 7 pages (typed, double-spaced). No cover pages. Simply put your first and last name at the top and the title of the volume you will be summarizing. The next line should be the beginning of your critical summary. Critical summaries should provide a narrative overview of the whole of the book. Provide summaries of each chapter rather than focusing your summary on one or two chapters of the book. Do not use lengthy quotations from the book. No other sources should be consulted or referenced. In a concluding paragraph or two, indicate what, if anything, you found most helpful in the reading
Please use both text provided :
Jason E. Vickers, Minding the Good Ground: A Theology for Church Renewal
(Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2011). ISBN: 978-1602583603.
Timothy Tennant, Theology in the Context of World Christianity (Zondervan,
2007). ISBN: 978-0310275114.
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Outline
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
Surname 1
Name
Course
Professor
Date
Critical book review
Jason E. Vickers, Minding the Good Ground: A Theology for Church Renewal
The current trends in the church have changed and this has caused fear and anxiety about the
future. The pastors and church leaders have become victims of tension and anxiety as they do not
have a clear future of the churches which they lead. The ‘present age anxiety', according to
Vickers calls for worry about the existence of the church in many days to come in the church of
North America. The big idea in the book states "Amid our growing anxiety about the church, we
ought to be doing ecclesiology on our knees." (p.21). all through the life of the church there is
exists a healthy tension between the prophecy and church structure. There is a difference
between the fresh and the prophetic ministry's challenging words and traditional patterns that
define order and church structure. At this age of anxiety, the church has challenges facing its
existence and whether to use the prophetic movements thus leading the church towards new
frontiers or to rely on the traditional structures that will lead to the church remaining grounded.
Based on Vickers' argument, the main problem affecting churches is the lack of understanding
and deficient seeking of the Holy Spirit. The life of a church depends on how well the followers
understand the best ways to seek the Holy Spirit and grow their faith. The present-day church
does not have an understanding of how to do this and ensure that there is a smooth flow in the
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church. Vickers presents a theological ‘framework for thinking about renewal' and explains the
role of the Holy Spirit in making the operation a success. Vickers framework has three chapters
including;
•
The nature of the church
•
The mission of the church
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The Sacramental life of the church
The book provides a critical i...