A Brutal Unity - by Ephraim Radner (Paperback)

About the Book

Conflict, tension, and the paradox of Christian oneness

Book Synopsis

To describe the Church as "united" is a factual misnomer--even at its conception centuries ago. Ephraim Radner provides a robust rethinking of the doctrine of the church in light of Christianity's often violent and at times morally suspect history. He holds in tension the strange and transcendent oneness of God with the necessarily temporal and political function of the Church, and, in so doing, shows how the goals and failures of the liberal democratic state provide revelatory experiences that greatly enhance one's understanding of the nature of Christian unity.

Review Quotes

A Brutal Unity is a book of the workday: of academic analysis, digging into archives, deconstructing a whole history of ecclesial claims, and constructing guidelines for new ones. But it is labor offered for the sake of the end time and anticipating its coming. It is a book that demonstrates how academic writing can be infused with the spirit (of Scripture, of prayer, of the One who gives himself) and yet be no less academic.

--Peter Ochs, University of Virginia "Pro Ecclesia"

... A Brutal Unity is a significant book, one that should serve as a touchstone for ecclesiology and theological politics in this century.

--Anthony G. Siegrist, Prairie Bible College "Evangelical Quarterly"

... well worth the intellectual investment.

--Dustin Resch, Briercrest College and Seminary "Anglican Theological Review"

...a provocative and insightful book, especially for its claims about the ways in which the procedures of contemporary liberalism have found their way into church life and decision making.

--A. W. Klink, Duke University "CHOICE Advance"

...Radner's ecclesiological explorations bring intense biblical, historical, and theological insights to bear on brutally honest assessments of the actual church(es) we live in.

--Dr. Joseph D. Small "Pro Ecclesia"

[ A Brutal Unity] draws the reader with whiplash speed through an astonishing quantity of texts as it tries to tease out answers and chart out futures for the fractured body of Christ.

--Sarah Hinlicky Wilson, Institute for Ecumenical Research "Pro Ecclesia"

Arresting, spiritually profound, ethically searching, vastly learned, and infused with passion.

--Paul Avis, Exeter University "Ecclesiology"

Radner's arguments are tightly wound and profoundly elegant. He argues with the skill of a classical rhetorician and the aesthetic power of early Anglican polemicists, which he seeks to emulate.

--Antony Easton, Concordia University "Journal of Religion and Culture"

This is a profoundly beautiful book. It is painful, yet, it does not leave one without hope.

--Johnny Walker "Freedom in Orthodoxy"

About the Author

Ephraim Radner is Professor of Historical Theology at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. He is the author or editor of seven books, including The Fate of Communion: The Agony of Anglicanism and the Future of a Global Church and Hope Among the Fragments: The Broken Church and Its Engagement of Scripture. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.