Darren T. Duerksen and William A. Dyrness. Seeking Church: Emerging Witnesses to the Kingdom. IVP Academic, 2019. See here to purchase the book.
In this book, Darren T. Duerksen and William A. Dyrness examine different manifestations of Christianity, including the early church, the churches of the Protestant Reformation, and Christianity in Hindu, Asian, Native American, and Islamic cultures. These manifestations flow from their own culture, even as God appropriates elements of those cultures as part of God’s revelation. The churches do not exist for their own sake, however, but rather they testify to the inbreaking Kingdom of God, as they embrace and practice God’s love and concern for creation.
The parts on international manifestations of Christianity overlap with what I have read in other books, such as Dyrness’s Insider Jesus and Richard Twiss’s work, which this book cites and engages. Some of my concerns about Insider Jesus are not really addressed in Seeking Church (not that I think that they should address me specifically, but rather that my concerns are the sorts of questions other Christians might ask). Duerksen and Dyrness chronicle how Christianity in non-Western cultures reflects those cultures, but are the versions of Christianity particularly orthodox? Does Muslim Christianity, for instance, reject the divinity of Christ? In reading this book, I was thinking that Duerksen and Dyrness were making their point about the church testifying to the Kingdom of God as a way to be inclusive: to say that Christians in non-Western cultures, even when they fail to be completely orthodox, can still do good to creation and thereby testify to the Kingdom of God. How much that is me filling in the gaps, however, is a legitimate question.
The book is informative yet fails to flesh out some issues. Much of its theological analysis is abstract rather than concrete, although the analysis does at least appear to tie together loose ends. It could have illustrated more fully how Christians testify to the Kingdom of God, rather than just saying that it does; still, the concept is profound.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My review is honest.
In this book, Darren T. Duerksen and William A. Dyrness examine different manifestations of Christianity, including the early church, the churches of the Protestant Reformation, and Christianity in Hindu, Asian, Native American, and Islamic cultures. These manifestations flow from their own culture, even as God appropriates elements of those cultures as part of God’s revelation. The churches do not exist for their own sake, however, but rather they testify to the inbreaking Kingdom of God, as they embrace and practice God’s love and concern for creation.
The parts on international manifestations of Christianity overlap with what I have read in other books, such as Dyrness’s Insider Jesus and Richard Twiss’s work, which this book cites and engages. Some of my concerns about Insider Jesus are not really addressed in Seeking Church (not that I think that they should address me specifically, but rather that my concerns are the sorts of questions other Christians might ask). Duerksen and Dyrness chronicle how Christianity in non-Western cultures reflects those cultures, but are the versions of Christianity particularly orthodox? Does Muslim Christianity, for instance, reject the divinity of Christ? In reading this book, I was thinking that Duerksen and Dyrness were making their point about the church testifying to the Kingdom of God as a way to be inclusive: to say that Christians in non-Western cultures, even when they fail to be completely orthodox, can still do good to creation and thereby testify to the Kingdom of God. How much that is me filling in the gaps, however, is a legitimate question.
The book is informative yet fails to flesh out some issues. Much of its theological analysis is abstract rather than concrete, although the analysis does at least appear to tie together loose ends. It could have illustrated more fully how Christians testify to the Kingdom of God, rather than just saying that it does; still, the concept is profound.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. My review is honest.