What Is Jesus Doing? - by Edwin Chr Van Driel (Paperback)

About the Book

How do we understand Jesus' present activity in a challenging, post-Christian context? Leading thinkers in pastoral theology, homiletics, liturgical theology, and missiology consider how to recognize the divine presence and join in what God is already doing in all areas of church ministry. With deep theological reflection, personal stories, and practical suggestions, this is a compelling interdisciplinary conversation.

Book Synopsis

Jesus is present here and now, Christians have always affirmed. But how are we to understand his present activity in a challenging, post-Christian context? In what ways is he at work in our congregational worship, pastoral care, preaching--and even our board meetings?

At a time when many feel uncertain about the future of the church, What Is Jesus Doing? brings together leading thinkers in pastoral theology, homiletics, liturgical theology, and missiology in a compelling resource for pastors and theologians. Emphasizing the reality of Jesus both as the resurrected, ascended Christ and as present and active today, the contributors consider how to recognize the divine presence and join in what God is already doing in all areas of church ministry.

Contributors include:

• David Fergusson
• Dwight J. Zscheile
• Scott J. Hagley
• Craig Barnes
• Roger Owens
• Anthony B. Robinson
• Will Willimon
• Andrew Root
• John D. Witvliet
• Nicholas Wolterstorff
• Angela Dienhart Hancock
• Trygve D. Johnson

With deep theological reflection, personal stories, and practical suggestions, this interdisciplinary conversation invites leaders to remember that the church is first of all God's project, not ours--and that this truth should fill us with hope.

Review Quotes

"In a world of rapid and disorienting change, a 'bias-for-action' is often a necessary trait of leaders and ministers. But without deep formation in the activity and character of God, these actions can become, as Thomas Merton once described, 'the contagion of our own obsessions.' In this thoughtful and accessible collection of essays, Van Driel and colleagues remind us that God's being and action is first, foremost, and primary, and then leads us to discernment and activity that enables us to develop a bias for 'wise action' that honors and embodies God as our first, foremost, and primary task. This is a timely book that will stimulate both good conversation and more reflective action."

About the Author

Edwin Chr. van Driel occupies the Directors' Bicentennial Chair in Theology at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and is the author of Incarnation Anyway: Arguments for Supralapsarian Christology.