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Occasional
Papers
The Office of Theology and Worship is pleased to periodically offer essays
concerning reformed theology and worship.
Occasional Papers are available for $3.00 each, and can be ordered online from
Presbyterian Distribution Services by clicking the "Order" button next
to each listing.
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By Lukas Vischer
It is an odd time to talk about the church’s unity. Vague affirmations
of “invisible, spiritual unity” are confronted by all-too-apparent
disunity among and within the churches. The excess of denominations in North
America — and their contentment with independent existence — is now
exacerbated by division within denominations.
In the midst of twenty-first century division, it may
seem odd to turn attention to a sixteenth century call for unity. John Calvin is our forbear in the
Reformed tradition, but his time was so different from our own that his words
may seem out of place. Calvin could not have imagined (and would have been horrified
by) modern denominationalism. However, his forceful proclamation that the unity
of the church is a Christian imperative may be able to shake us out of easy acquiescence
to “the way things are.” Calvin’s witness may turn our
attention away from sociological reality toward the gospel’s claims on
our life together.
Lukas Vischer’s Pia Conspiratio: Calvin on the Unity of Christ’s
Church, gathers together some of Calvin’s statements about unity, and provides
an interpretive framework for understanding Calvin, the Reformed tradition, and
our own situation. The Office of Theology and Worship believes that Pia Conspiratio
is a significant contribution to the church’s current struggles over the
nature of the church and the character of ecclesial unity. We are pleased to
make Lukas Vischer’s work available to a wider audience within the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.).
By Jane Dempsey Douglass and Margit Ernst-Habib
PDS #70420-06-007
Price: $3.00
Calvin’s legacy is mixed. He is admired for the clarity of his thought
but maligned for his doctrine of predestination. He is respected for his
creative reform of the church but distrusted as the “dictator of Geneva.” He
is esteemed for his faithful and imaginative interpretation of Scripture but
criticized for his harsh censure of opponents. And, of course, there is
always the Servetus affair.
Recent biographies have moderated the severe judgments
leveled against Calvin, and a revival of interest in his theology has renewed
appreciation for his continuing significance. The Office of Theology and Worship is please to make available
two new assessments of Calvin’s relevance to the contemporary church. The
vitality of the Reformed tradition is evident in essays by Jane Dempsey Douglass
and Margit Ernst-Habib. |
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by Edward Farley
PDS #70420-04-004 |
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The Office of Theology and Worship is pleased
to present the opening essay in Practicing Gospel, Theology in the Life of
the Congregation, as Theology and Worship Occasional Paper No. 17. The essay
stands by itself as a valuable contribution to the self-understanding of the church
and its ministers. Pastors and seminarians will benefit from its analysis
and its suggestive description of "a theology of ministry and ministry as
theology." The essay also serves as an introduction to the whole collection,
and may inspire some to read further, exploring such issues as "Preaching
the Bible and Preaching the Gospel," and "The Tragic Dilemma of Church
Education." The Office of Theology and Worship is grateful to Westminster
John Knox Press for permission to publish the present essay, and hopes that readers
will find their way to all the essays in Practicing Gospel. |
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by George Hunsinger
PDS #70-420-01-004
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George Hunsinger asserts that the polarity
of "progressive politics and traditional faith" is not true to the gospel
and not true to the church's own tradition. More directly, Hunsinger demonstrates
that the Presbyterian Church's new "Study Catechism" embodies theology
and social witness together in fidelity to the gospel.
Social Witness in Generous Orthodoxy — Theology and Worship Occasional
Paper No. 14 — is a significant contribution to the church's ongoing discussion
of its faith and mission. It is also a demonstration of the capacity of the church's
new catechisms to shape the conversation and to form the church and its members
in Christian discipleship that is deeply rooted in the gospel and that bears fruit
in active engagements for justice and peace in the world. |
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by Joseph A. Sittler and Richard R. Osmer
PDS #70-420-00-013
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The Shape of Pastoral Ministry reprints
two significant essays that are no longer readily available. "The Maceration
of the Minister" by the late Lutheran theologian Joseph Sittler, is an incisive,
sympathetic analysis of the plight of ministers. "The Teaching Authority
of the Minister in the Reformed Tradition: A Contemporary Proposal" by Richard
R. Osmer, the Thomas W. Synnott Professor of Christian Education at Princeton
Theological Seminary, presents a creative understanding of the office we Presbyterians
used to call "teaching elder."
The Office of Theology and Worship believes that The Shape of Pastoral Ministry
is a useful resource for pastors, sessions, and presbyteries. We hope that it
will be used by groups of ministers and elders as a means to order discussion
of the perils and possibilities of ministry. |
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by Barbara Pitkin
PDS 70-420-00-008
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Are Children Human? brings together historical
theological, and pastoral issues in order to help the church explore the quality
of its relationship with its children. Are Children Human? may seem
to have an obvious answer, but the way we answer will affect the ways we shape
church life. "Let the little children come to me," said Jesus, "do
not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of God belongs"
(Mark 10:14). Who are these children? Barbara Pitkin helps to answer the question
with grace and faithfulness. |
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by Yohan Hyun and Frank Macchia
PDS 70-420-99-008
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Presbyterian and Pentecostal both begin with
the letter P, but many believe that is where the similarity ends. Spirit's
Gifts — God's Reign provides a glimpse of international ecumenical dialogue
between Pentecostal-Reformed Christians. Two preparatory papers for the Seoul
meeting of the Pentecostal-Reformed Dialogue laid the groundwork for a week of
intense theological discussion. The Office of Theology and Worship publishes them
for the Church in the hope that they may provide a foundation for conversation
within Presbyterian congregations and presbyteries, and between local groups of
Presbyterians and Pentecostals. |
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by Stanley R. Hall
PDS 70-420-98-009
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Are there essential elements of worship in the
Reformed tradition? If so, they are not likely to be found in abstract propositions,
but they may be discerned through careful attention to the presence of God in
the practice of worshiping communities. |
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by Milan Opocensky
PDS 70-420-97-200
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This Occasional Paper contains the text of Dr.
Milan Opocensky's address to the 23rd General Council of World Alliance of Reformed
Church. |
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by John A. Radano
PDS 70-420-96-200
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Booklet. Theology and Worship Occasional Paper
No. 8. Monsignor John A. Radano, head of the Western Section of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity, offers a review of the Roman Catholic ecumenical
commitment, a survey of Catholic contacts with Reformed churches; and a prospectus
of ecumenical possibilities. |
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by Lewis S. Mudge
PDS 70-420-95-200
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In six brief sections, the author reviews the
recent past, analyzes the current ecumenical malaise and develops the possibility
of a new ecumenical vision. |
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by Cynthia M. Campbell and J. Fredrick Holper
DMS 70-420-94-200
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Keynote addresses delivered by Dr. Cynthia Campbell,
president of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, Ill., and Dr. J. Frederick
Holper of Union Theological Seminary, Va., at the Festivals of Worship to introduce
the Book of Common Worship (1993). The authors underscore the communal nature
of Christian faith, which necessitates "common worship." |
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by Douglas John Hall
DMS 271-93-201
$2.00 |
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In two addresses, the author proposes that the
church's intentional disengagement from the dominant North American culture is
the necessary precondition for meaningful engagement. |
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by William C. Placher
DMS 271-92-201 |
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What happened in American theology during the
quarter century between "The Confession of 1967" and "A Brief Statement
of Faith?" The author examines the dynamics of theologies of liberation,
the intellectual disestablishment and mainline Protestantism, and developments
in other disciplines, as well as the disastrous split between theology and the
church. |
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by Walter Brueggeman
DMS 271-89-200 |
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The first in a series of occasional papers, this
was originally presented by Walter Bruggemann at the dedication of the Presbyterian
Center in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 28, 1988. |
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