Should all Christians, especially evangelicals, hold on to the doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son? What is lost if we don't? Theologian Kevin Giles defends the historically orthodox and ecumenical doctrine of the eternal generation of the Son of God. He argues on biblical, historical and theological bases that, given its fundamental meaning, this formulation is indispensable, irreplaceable and faithful to Christian revelation. The book will be especially helpful in the current discussion of this doctrine. It will also be of interest to students, pastors and laypersons who want to delve into the Christian understanding of the identity of the Son of God and serious study of trinitarian theology.

Description: Questions related to the issue of gender remain insufficiently acknowledged and explored in contemporary theological literature. These issues form the basis of significant unresolved tensions among evangelicals, as evidenced in debates over the nature of the Trinity, Bible translation, church practice, choice of language, mission leadership, decision-making in homes, and parenting, to name but a few examples. The essays in this volume are not meant to provide a monolithic evangelical theology of gender, but rather to provide evangelical perspectives surrounding the topic of gender. To further this aim, each of the main essays is followed by a formal response with an attempt at a concise and lucid perspective on the essay and pointers to further areas for investigation. Some contributors are complementarian while others are egalitarian, although who is what is left to the discerning reader. Regardless of one's position on the issue, all will benefit from the contributors' commitment to the further exploration of gender issues from the perspective of a broadly conceive evangelicalism. Endorsements: "The book engenders a deep yearning to read further such dialogical volumes from Trinitarian scholars, Biblical scholars, and others. It overall avoids caricatures of much polemical confrontation seeking true dialogue between human persons both male and female. The prologue establishes a theological foundation for the discussion to continue between persons in relationship with each other as imaging something of who the Creator is. I hope the dialogue will continue in further volumes particularly in the context of New Zealand and Australia." --Mary Fisher Pastor, Sydney Chinese Alliance Church About the Contributor(s): Myk Habets is Director of the R.J. Thompson Centre for Theological Studies, Carey Baptist College, New Zealand. He is the author of Theosis in the Theology of Thomas Torrance (2009), and The Anointed Son (2010). Beulah Wood makes her base at South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies in Bangalore, India, and in Auckland, NZ. A lecturer in preaching, communication, and a biblical view of family and gender, she is also an editor, and author or co-author of over thirty books and booklets, including Families in the Plan of God: A Theology for South Asia (2010).

In this thorough and engaging study of the church in the New Testament, Kevin Giles concludes that the church is first and foremost a Christian community. No other category offers greater breadth and depth of insight into its nature. No other category offers such a challenge to Western individualism, nor such promise for the revitalization of the church in the postmodern world. What on Earth Is the Church? is an exploration in New Testament theology, a careful study of the ecclesial community from Jesus to Paul and on through to Revelation. Each category of New Testament writings is carefully assessed, with attention given to the early, middle and late Pauline letters, and to the theology of each Gospel. Giles finds in the New Testament a community in transition - never perfect, always provisional, and forever living in the tension between its present imperfection and its eschatological ideal. The New Testament does not promise an original community to be recaptured but a variety of perspectives on being the community of God in changing social environments.

Kevin Giles traces the historic understanding of subordination in relation to the doctrine of the Trinity and investigates the closely related question of whether women are created to be permanently subordinated to men. The concept has been vigorously debated in relation to the doctrine of the Trinity since the fourth century. Certain New Testament texts have made it part of discussions of right relations between men and women. In recent years these two matters have been dramatically brought together. Today the doctrine of the Trinity is being used to support opposing views of the right relationship between men and women in the church. At the center of the debate is the question of whether or not the orthodox view of the trinitarian relations teach the eternal subordination of the Son of God. The author masterfully traces the historic understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity from the patristic age to our own times to help resolve this important question. Giles goes on to provide an illuminating investigation of a closely related question--whether or not women, even in terms of function or role, were created to be permanently subordinated to men. By surveying the church's traditional interpretation of texts relating to the status of women and inquiring into the proper use of the doctrine of the Trinity, Giles lays out his position in this current debate.