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Christianity & Civilization #4
The Reconstruction of the Church
Book by James B. ed. Jordan
- GenresTheologyEcclesiology
337 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1985
About the author
James B. Jordan
60 books150 followersJames B. Jordan is a Calvinist theologian and author. He is director of Biblical Horizons ministries, a think tank in Niceville, Florida that publishes books, essays and other media dealing with Bible commentary, Biblical Theology, and liturgy.
Jordan was born in Athens, Georgia, and he attended the University of Georgia, where he received a B.A. in comparative literature and participated in Campus Crusade for Christ. He served as a military historian in the United States Air Force and attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi but ultimately earned an M.A. and Th.M. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a master's thesis on slavery in the Bible. In 1993, he received a D.Litt. from the Central School of Religion for his dissertation on the dietary laws of Moses. From 1980 to 1990 Jordan was an associate pastor of a Presbyterian church in Tyler, Texas.
Jordan was born in Athens, Georgia, and he attended the University of Georgia, where he received a B.A. in comparative literature and participated in Campus Crusade for Christ. He served as a military historian in the United States Air Force and attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi but ultimately earned an M.A. and Th.M. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a master's thesis on slavery in the Bible. In 1993, he received a D.Litt. from the Central School of Religion for his dissertation on the dietary laws of Moses. From 1980 to 1990 Jordan was an associate pastor of a Presbyterian church in Tyler, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 29, 2013
Over all I give this book three stars, even though some of the individual essays deserve more. My favorites were "The Church: An Overview" and "Church Music in Chaos," both by James B. Jordan, and "Revivalism and American Protestantism" by Peter J. Leithart. Some of the other essays involved questionable interpretations (like Gary North's "The Marriage Supper of the Lamb"). David Chilton's "Conversations with Nathan" was an enjoyable read on worship (though I disagree with him on paedocommunion). You can read the book in PDF for free at: http://www.garynorth.com/freebooks/do...
"The Bible is not quietistic in its view of worship, and in its days of greatest strength, the Church has not been either….Too often, however, a self-centered attitude is found in the man in the pew. He comes to Church to get something, rather than to give of himself to God. With that attitude, he always goes away unsatisfied. This is because man's highest privilege and greatest joy is found in the praise of God, but praising God means throwing yourself out of yourself. It means throwing yourself wholeheartedly into the activity of worship. It entails effort, and we live in an age pervaded by the false notion that worship should be effortless." (p. 17-18, from "The Church: An Overview")
"...the concept of geography or place is still tied to the covenant. The mission of the Church is earthward oriented, and finds its identity in a particular geographical context. This poses an interesting challenge for the Protestant Church. Since the Reformation, Protestant Churches have organized in terms of ideology, as opposed to geography. Initially, this was not the plan, but as Protestantism continued to fragment along theological lines, and became more Platonic, an earthward orientation was abandoned. Eventually, whole eschatologies were conveniently engineered which excused the Church from ever attempting to gain dominion of geographic space." (p. 101, from "The Church in an Age of Democracy")
"The Bible is not quietistic in its view of worship, and in its days of greatest strength, the Church has not been either….Too often, however, a self-centered attitude is found in the man in the pew. He comes to Church to get something, rather than to give of himself to God. With that attitude, he always goes away unsatisfied. This is because man's highest privilege and greatest joy is found in the praise of God, but praising God means throwing yourself out of yourself. It means throwing yourself wholeheartedly into the activity of worship. It entails effort, and we live in an age pervaded by the false notion that worship should be effortless." (p. 17-18, from "The Church: An Overview")
"...the concept of geography or place is still tied to the covenant. The mission of the Church is earthward oriented, and finds its identity in a particular geographical context. This poses an interesting challenge for the Protestant Church. Since the Reformation, Protestant Churches have organized in terms of ideology, as opposed to geography. Initially, this was not the plan, but as Protestantism continued to fragment along theological lines, and became more Platonic, an earthward orientation was abandoned. Eventually, whole eschatologies were conveniently engineered which excused the Church from ever attempting to gain dominion of geographic space." (p. 101, from "The Church in an Age of Democracy")
March 1, 2013
This is an excellent collection of essays on restoring the church to its true place in a nation. The authors cover a wide range of issues including communion, music, preaching, liturgy, architecture, church government, membership, revival, church discipline, clothing, charity, and culture.
The book was written in the mid 1980s by a collection of reconstructionists, and was consequently largely ignored. To their credit, the book stands as a testament to the failure of the church to heed the warnings given by men such as these as to the direction the church was taking and what its consequence would be.
The writers all warn the church against the revivalistic pietism that had become dominant in the American church, arguing that it would lead to the marginalization and obsolescence of the church, and they've been proven prophetic. They had diagnosed the church's disease, given it a course of treatment to follow, but were ignored, and now we find the church, in 2013, in a nursing home on life support.
This isn't to say the church is without hope, because God reigns and will restore the American church once we've abandoned our way and embraced his way. This book would serve as a good starting point to start afresh. Highly recommended.
The book was written in the mid 1980s by a collection of reconstructionists, and was consequently largely ignored. To their credit, the book stands as a testament to the failure of the church to heed the warnings given by men such as these as to the direction the church was taking and what its consequence would be.
The writers all warn the church against the revivalistic pietism that had become dominant in the American church, arguing that it would lead to the marginalization and obsolescence of the church, and they've been proven prophetic. They had diagnosed the church's disease, given it a course of treatment to follow, but were ignored, and now we find the church, in 2013, in a nursing home on life support.
This isn't to say the church is without hope, because God reigns and will restore the American church once we've abandoned our way and embraced his way. This book would serve as a good starting point to start afresh. Highly recommended.
July 7, 2020
Great stuff
March 25, 2017
Thought provoking and I enjoyed it at the time. But I don't recall any particulars here in 2017, except I think it helped push me down the non-profitable counter-productive slope of the so-called Federal Vision.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews