Rethinking Holiness: A Theological Introduction
Overview
Holiness is experiencing a renaissance both within and beyond the church today. Based on years of conversations with students, this approachable theological introduction to the Christian doctrine of holiness challenges the commonly held idea that holiness is primarily a moral category. The author explains that holiness is grounded not in ethics but in the basic nature of God; it is essentially and exclusively a divine property. Rethinking Holiness highlights the Bible's necessary and corrective role in defining holiness and shows how individual holiness is grounded in the community that is the church catholic.
Key Features
- Situations holiness as a theological rather than ethical concept
- Examines Scripture view of holiness for the Church
- Grounds the holiness of the individual in the holiness of the larger community of believers
Contents
- The Desire and Need for Holiness
- A Biblical Definition of Holiness
- A Theological Investigation of Holiness
- Holiness and the Nature and Purpose of Humanity
- Holiness and the Nature and Problem of Sin
- Holiness and the Nature and Goal of Salvation
- Holiness and the Nature and Goal of the Church
Top Highlights
“with my definition of holiness as the transcendence or absolute otherness that is basic to God’s being” (Page xiii)
“moral or legal category, we explore it as a divine, theological, or theocentric category” (Page xii)
“There is no escape from the fact that justification by faith means a changed life” (Page 120)
“The church is not just a people; it is the people of God. It is not merely a body; it is the body of Christ. It is not merely a temple; it is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” (Page 134)
“God’s work of making those things that are in relation with him suited for that new and special relation” (Page 121)
Praise for the Print Edition
Rethinking Holiness brings forward an important conversation that addresses how the Christian community can demonstrate the holiness of God in the present cultural context. Recovering the concept of holiness--not as insider jargon but as good news for the world for which Jesus died--Van De Walle supplies theological reflection that invites the reader to better articulate and proclaim the scriptural witness to the God made known in Jesus. I've been waiting for this conversation, and Rethinking Holiness brings it front and center.
—Joy J. Moore, associate professor of practical theology, Wesley Seminary, Indiana Wesleyan University
What an exhilarating experience to read Bernie's book and find the soul resonating and rejoicing! The power of holiness as a description of God's nature captivates the heart and compels us to participate. It's almost as if we are seeing holiness for the first time. Bernie carefully and thoughtfully strips away the layers of insulation that have kept holiness locked in a time warp of irrelevance and lays before us the glory of God's transcendence in life-changing clarity. He does all of this with the implicit nudge to participate in God's holiness so that we are transformed. Holiness has never been more compelling, life giving, and desirable.
—Kevin W. Mannoia, chaplain, Azusa Pacific University; former president, National Association of Evangelicals
Dr. Van De Walle has pulled off a small miracle: he has written a book of theology that's also a page-turner. He has a gift for rendering complex ideas in lively prose with lucid arguments--and presenting it all as nourishment for the soul. In Rethinking Holiness he employs this gift on a topic the church urgently needs to rediscover: holiness. I am going to recommend this book widely in the hope that it reintroduces to the church (and to the world) the staggering beauty of God's holiness and invites us again to delight in the good news that God shares God's own holiness with us in order to makes us holy as God is holy.
—Mark Buchanan, author of The Rest of God
Product Details
- Title: Rethinking Holiness: A Theological Introduction
- Author: Bernie A. Van De Walle
- Publisher: Baker Academic
- Publication Date: 2017
- Pages: 192
- Resource Type: Introduction
- Topic: Theology