Stanley J. Grenz's communitarian ecclesiology

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of Stanley J. Grenz's communitarian ecclesiology. Grenz sees the postmodern situation as a helpful perspective, which challenges contractual ecclesiology that is oriented to the individual. Grenz sees community as a foundation for one's personal identity formation. In Grenz's mind, personal identity is never a private reality, but has a communal element, for it is shaped by the community in which the person is a participant. Community, therefore, is integral to epistemology, to our identity formation, and to the sustaining of character, virtue, and values. Community forms the content of the Kingdom of God and is the more central motif in the Bible. Grenz concludes that Kingdom is a "sphere of existence" in which humanity is called to live. The church then "is a foretaste of the eschatological reality" that God will bring to existence one day and thus is "a sign of the kingdom". The church is the fundamental vehicle for mirroring divine image. Participation in the Christian community includes reforming one's personal narrative in accordance with the story of Jesus as well as accepting the story of this Christian community as one's own. ,"serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:RU;mso-bidi-language: AR-SA'>the Department of Cultural Studies

Keywords

• Стенлі Дж.Ґренц
• еклезіологія спільноти
• еклезіологія
• спільнота
• Церква