The Surprising God

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 , 11 , 12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 .  Photograph by Steven Pavlov used with permission granted via Wikimedia Commons Having answered the question, What does it mean to be human? , Anderson next addresses a corollary question: Where is the church? His answer is grounded in a biblical ecclesiology that defines the church as the Body of Christ in the world. With that in mind, he goes on to note that the church, in order to truly be the Body of Christ, must be with Jesus, where he is---not tucked away in the protective cocoon of the sanctuary, but redemptively present in the community. Anderson comments: The humanity of God in the person of Jesus Christ seeks incarnation in the soul of the city before taking up residence in the sanctuary of religion. The "soul of the city" has

This post continues a series in  The Shape of Practical Theology  by Trinitarian theologian Ray S. Anderson. For other posts in the series, click on a number:  1 ,  2 ,  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 , 8 ,  10 ,   11 ,   12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 . Lost and Found by Greg Olsen, used with permission Each subculture has an implicit understanding of what it means to be human. While it's vital in Christian ministry and ethics to be aware of and sensitive to these subjective cultural understandings, our primary focus must be the objective reality of what it means to be human, revealed by God to us in the humanity of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ. Anderson comments: The core assertion of a Christian theology [and anthropology] is that the controlling social paradigm by which humanity is defined sets squarely within the objective relations that exist between God and humans, through the humanity of Jesus Christ as divine Son of God. This actuality of real humanity lies at the core