How is God sovereign with respect to creation? Does creation affect God? Does God suffer or change because of creation? If so, how is this related to Christology? Why have these questions been so controversial in evangelical theology, even costing some people their jobs? This book is a collection of lectures given to the Forum for Evangelical Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Six theologians answer the questions above from a variety of perspectives. They draw on resources including the church fathers, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Jurgen Moltmann, process theology, and open theism. In the process of answering the question, does God suffer? each theologian also illustrates how responding to this subject requires an examination of other crucial evangelical issues, such as how we read Scripture and what it means to proclaim that God is love. Although the writers answer these questions in a variety of ways, the hope is that engaging in this conversation together can help evangelicals and all Christians to speak more faithfully of our sovereign God.

As Christians, we are called to seek the unity of the one body of Christ. But when it comes to the sacraments, the church has often been-and remains-divided. What are we to do? Can we still gather together at the same table? Based on the lectures from the 2017 Wheaton Theology Conference, this volume brings together the reflections of Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox theologians, who jointly consider what it means to proclaim the unity of the body of Christ in light of the sacraments. Without avoiding or downplaying the genuine theological and sacramental differences that exist between Christian traditions, what emerges is a thoughtful consideration of what it means to live with the difficult, elusive command to be one as the Father and the Son are one.

In this volume noted Evangelical historians and theologians examine the charge of the supposed "ahistorical nature of Evangelicalism" and provide a critical, historical examination of the relationship between the Protestant evangelical heritage and the early church. In doing so, the contributors show the long and deeply historical rootedness of the Protestant Reformation and its Evangelical descendants, as well as underscoring some inherent difficulties such as the Mercersburg and Oxford movements. In the second part of the volume, the discussion moves forward, as evangelicals rediscover the early church-its writings, liturgy, catechesis, and worship-following the "temporary amnesia" of the earlier part of the twentieth century. Most essays are accompanied by a substantial response prompting discussion or offering challenges and alternative readings of the issue at hand, thus allowing the reader to enter a conversation already in progress and engage the topic more fully. This bidirectional look-understanding the historical background on the one hand and looking forward to the future with concrete suggestions on the other-forms a more full-orbed argument for readers who want to understand the rich and deep relationship between Evangelicalism and the early church. "This unusually interesting volume combines bracing historical engagement with rare theological wisdom. Its chapters carefully explore why, how, under what conditions, and how much contemporary evangelicals should try to appropriate guidance from the first Christian centuries. A particularly helpful feature is the paired chapters that promote the best kind of respectful give and take on contested or difficult questions. The book is a gem of edifying insight." -Mark Noll Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame "Here is a collection of essays that invites the reader to wrestle along with the authors over the query why evangelicals have not embraced more fully the early church as part of their theological and ecclesiastical legacy. It is certainly a question of importance. The appropriation of the early church by essentially free-church segments of contemporary Christianity remains at the experimental stage however much momentum it has gained over the last twenty years. Of varying degrees valuable insights are offered in this book with which pastoral and academic leadership needs to grapple for the future of evangelicalism." -D. H. Williams Professor of Patristics and Historical Theology, Baylor University George Kalantzis is Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College and the director of The Wheaton Center for Early Christian Studies. He specializes in fourth- and fifth-century Antiochene theology and hermeneutics, and has written extensively on Theodore of Mopsuestia, Cyril, and the Nestorian controversy. His most recent books include Theodore of Mopsuestia: Commentary on John (2004), the co-edited The Sovereignty of God Debate (2009), Studies on Patristic Texts and Archaeology (2009), and Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective (2010). Andrew Tooley is the Project Director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College. He holds degrees from the University of Nebraska and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is currently completing a PhD in history from the University of Stirling, Scotland. His research focuses on the religious history of the United States and Great Britain in the nineteenth century.

Synopsis: Through the available patristic writings Caesar and the Lamb focuses on the attitudes of the earliest Christians on war and military service. Kalantzis not only provides the reader with many new translations of pre-Constantinian texts, he also tells the story of the struggle of the earliest Church, the communities of Christ at the margins of power and society, to bear witness to the nations that enveloped them as they transformed the dominant narratives of citizenship, loyalty, freedom, power, and control. Although Kalantzis examines writings on war and military service in the first three centuries of the Christian Church in an organized manner, the ways earliest Christians thought of themselves and the state are not presented here through the lens of antiquarian curiosity. With theological sensitivity and historical acumen this companion leads the reader into the world in which Christianity arose and asks questions of the past that help us understand the early character of the Christian faith with the hope that such an enterprise will also help us evaluate its expression in our own time. Endorsement: "Kalantzis's skills as a historian shine in this remarkable, illuminating history. But his narration is much more than a fine historical survey; it is also a profound engagement with the theological and ethical reasons on why this history matters. Historians, theologians, ethicists, and anyone interested in discovering the witness of the early church are in his debt for such careful work. Any future discussion on the early church's response to war, and the Constantinian shift that occurred, must now pass through Caesar and the Lamb, or be ignored as incomplete." --D. Stephen Long, Professor of Systematic Theology, Marquette University "Caesar and the Lamb is a wonderful collection of pertinent voices from the early church on war and military service that will be of interest to laity, students, and scholars. But it is also much more than this. Kalantzis brings new insight to these texts with his brilliant introduction, placing the conversation in its proper context of identities, worldviews, and ways of life. The result is a collection with surprising and refreshing relevance today." --Daniel M. Bell, Jr., Professor of Theology and Ethics, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary "Caesar and the Lamb offers a valuable deepening of our understanding, not only of early Christian teachings and practices related to violence, but also the social-cultural-religious practices of the Roman Empire and the Roman military. This book contains both a helpful collection of the primary Christian texts and a substantial interpretive discussion. A significant addition to a growing Christian library of resources on this critical issue." --David P. Gushee, Professor of Christian Ethics, Mercer University Author Biography: George Kalantzis is Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College where he also directs The Wheaton Center for Early Christian Studies. He specializes in fourth- and fifth-century historical theology, and has written extensively on Theodore of Mopsuestia, Cyril, and the Nestorian controversy. His has recently co-edited The Sovereignty of God Debate (Cascade 2009), Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective (2010), and Evangelicals and the Early Church: Recovery, Reform, Renewal (Cascade 2011).

Description: How is God sovereign with respect to creation? Does creation affect God? Does God suffer or change because of creation? If so, how is this related to Christology? Why have these questions been so controversial in evangelical theology, even costing some people their jobs? This book is a collection of lectures given to the Forum for Evangelical Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Six theologians answer the questions above from a variety of perspectives. They draw on resources including the church fathers, Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, Jurgen Moltmann, process theology, and open theism. In the process of answering the question, does God suffer? each theologian also illustrates how responding to this subject requires an examination of other crucial evangelical issues, such as how we read Scripture and what it means to proclaim that God is love. Although the writers answer these questions in a variety of ways, the hope is that engaging in this conversation together can help evangelicals and all Christians to speak more faithfully of our sovereign God. Endorsements: ""Dante may have located the debate between divine sovereignty and human freedom in one of the circles of hell, but reading these sprightly and well-argued essays was, by contrast, a real pleasure. In an age where divine suffering is considered the 'new orthodoxy, ' it is most refreshing to hear what six theologians have to say about divine sovereignty. The main theistic positions--classical, open, process--all have able representatives as their champions, and the inclusion of responses allows the authors to do more than talk past one another. This book lives up to its title."" --Kevin J. Vanhoozer Research Professor of Systematic Theology Trinity Evangelical Divinity School About the Contributor(s): D. Stephen Long is Professor of Systematic Theology at Marquette University. His most recent publications include Theology and Culture (Cascade, 2007), Calculated Futures, John Wesley's Moral Theology: The Quest for God and Goodness, and Speaking of God: Theology, Language and Truth (forthcoming). George Kalantzis is Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College. His work has appeared in a number of theological and ecclesial journals, including Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses, Augustinianum, Studia Patristica, and St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly. His recent books include Theodore of Mopsuestia: Commentary on the Gospel of John (Early Christian Studies 7) and the forthcoming coedited volume, If These Stones Could Speak: Texts and Contexts.

The history of the church's relationship with governing authorities unfolds from its beginnings at the intersection of apprehension and acceptance, collaboration and separation. This volume is dedicated to helping students chart this complex narrative through early Christian writings from the first six centuries of the Common Era. Church and Empire is part of Ad Fontes: Early Christian Sources, a series designed to present ancient Christian texts essential to an understanding of Christian theology, ecclesiology, and practice. The books in the series will make the wealth of early Christian thought available to new generations of students of theology and provide a valuable resource for the' church. The volumes will provide a representative sampling of theological contributions from both East and West. The series provides volumes that are relevant for a variety of courses: from introduction to theology to classes on doctrine and the development of Christian thought.The goal of each volume is to be representative enough to denote for a non-specialist audience the multivalent character of early Christian thought, allowing readers to see how and why early Christian doctrine and practice developed the way it did.

Wealth and Poverty in Early Christianity is part of Ad Fontes: Early Christian Sources, a series designed to present ancient Christian texts essential to an understanding of Christian theology, ecclesiology, and practice. This volume is designed to introduce the reader to the broad range of texts that reflect early Christian thoughts and practices on the topic of wealth and poverty.Developed in light of recent Patristic scholarship, the volumes will provide a representative sampling of theological contributions from both East and West. The series aims to provide volumes that are relevant for a variety of courses: from introduction to theology to classes on doctrine and the development of Christian thought. The goal of each volume is not to be exhaustive, but rather representative enough to denote for a non-specialist audience the multivalent character of early Christian thought, allowing readers to see how and why early Christian doctrine and practice developed the way it did.