Distinguishing the Church: Explorations in Word Sacrament and Discipline

As the Protestant Reformers did so twenty-first-century Christians also recognize the need to distinguish between the true and false church. Thus they find themselves looking closely at the modern church to determine whether it is a true and faithful church. Todays Christians know that proper criteria are necessary to discern the true church. The most common criteria wrote John Calvin are that the Word of God is rightly preached and heard and that the sacraments are administered according to Christs institution. Moreover Martin Luther said that suffering is a telltale sign of Gods people while Anabaptist and Reformed Christians included discipline among the distinguishing marks of the church. These standards take on particular poignancy today: The global church continues to live under severe persecution and the American church characterized by a lack of discipline has been wounded by its own sins of chasing sex and power. In this collection of essays first given at annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society the authors take time to reflect on the Reformational marks of the church in order to help reform Christs bride. With contributions from: Edward W. Klink III Duane Litfin J. Stephen Yuille J. V. Fesko Keith D. Stanglin Greg Cochran Jeremy M. Kimble Guy Waters Justin L. McLendon The central reason for this book is simply the lack of anything like it. I have dozens of books on ecclesiology on my shelves but none that give thoughtful reflection on the Reformation marks of the church. I especially appreciate the inclusion of the mark of discipline and the often-overlooked mark of suffering. --John Hammett Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Greg Peters is Associate Professor of Medieval and Spiritual Theology in the Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University. His books include The Monkhood of All Believers (2018); Marking the Church coedited with Matt Jenson (Pickwick Publications 2016); and Reforming the Monastery (Cascade Books 2014). Matt Jenson is Associate Professor of Theology in the Torrey Honors Institute of Biola University. He is coeditor with Greg Peters of Marking the Church (Pickwick Publications 2016) coauthor of The Church (2010) and author of The Gravity of Sin (2007).