The book has many fine features..... Dr. Balke has done thorough research on his subject and presented its results in an excellent combination of chronological review and systematic analysis. The principal significance of this book, however, is that it vindicates and in a sense rehabilitates John Calvin over against the Anabaptists, and does so without perpetuating the unfair criticism of the Anabaptists which was prevalent for a long time. The treatment is fair, balanced, and firm, and of genuine historical value. John H. Kromminga, President, Calvin Theological Seminary
The book has many fine features..... Dr. Balke has done thorough research on his subject and presented its results in an excellent combination of chronological review and systematic analysis. The principal significance of this book, however, is that it vindicates and in a sense rehabilitates John Calvin over against the Anabaptists, and does so without perpetuating the unfair criticism of the Anabaptists which was prevalent for a long time. The treatment is fair, balanced, and firm, and of genuine historical value. John H. Kromminga, President, Calvin Theological Seminary
What is the real meaning of the church for Christian life? If we confess Christian faith, the church is one of the twelve articles, which implies that the church is rather important. In the creeds of the early church catholicity is confessed as characteristic for the church. This means that the church cannot exist without catholicity. What does this qualification mean? In this study the author listens to the understanding of the concept of catholicity in the theology of Ignatius, Cyprian, Cyril, Augustine and Vincent. In the second part of the book some representatives of the reformed tradition are analyzed, namely John Calvin, James Ussher, John Owen, Herman Bavinck and Gerrit Berkouwer. This analysis leads to a comparison between the early church and the reformed tradition. Listening to theologians from the early church and the reformed tradition, Van Vlastuin presents an up-to-date concept of the catholicity of the church which clarifies among others that the visibility of the church belongs to the essence of Christ's body, that practicing the catholicity of the church is necessary against denominationalism and party formation, that loss of catholicity leads to spiritual and theological impoverishment, that the understanding of catholicity implies also orthodoxy with consequences for the interpretation of 'semper reformanda' and that the consciousness of catholicity is related to the citizenship of two worlds.
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Fifth VLDB Workshop on Secure Data Management, SDM 2008, held in Auckland, New Zealand, on August 24, 2008, in conjunction with VLDB 2008. The 11 full papers were selected for publication in the book from 32 submissions. In addition, 3 position papers and a keynote paper are included. The papers are organized in topical sections on database security, trust management, privacy protection, and security and privacy in healthcare.
Personal renewal or sanctification belongs to the heart of the Christian life and is becoming more important in our present-day culture. Listening to Scripture and in conversation with a variety of theologians from the protestant tradition, the author presents an up-to-date concept for a theology of personal renewal.In this concept the spiritual union with Christ (unio mystica cum Christo) is taken as the starting point in order to consider the way in which renewal obtains form in relation to God, our neighbour, ourselves and the world. To place this concept into a historical perspective, van Vlastuin begins his study with an investigation of Luther and Calvin's theology concerning the relationship between the union with Christ and personal renewal. The concept is developed within the current theological debate, with particular reference to the eschatological character of the Christian life.An important issue concerns the measure of renewal, especially in relation to the sinful heart of the believer. In this context the author also deals with the question of sanctification as a position or a process, and the relation between the two.In addition the relationship between the Holy Spirit and the human soul in the process of renewal is discussed. Another important issue concerns the abiding significance of the law and the way in which it functions in the Christian life. The exploration of several theological positions leads to a modern concept by which to understand law.The study concludes with an investigation of the relationship between the eschatological Christian life in this present life and the complete revelation of the eschaton.
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