This web site is being established in conjunction with the publication of my recent book, A Grammar of Christian Faith: Systematic Explorations in Christian Life and Doctrine, 2 vols. Rowman and Littlefield, 2002. Its table of contents can be viewed in the menu at Book Contents.

The purpose of the web site is 1) to encourage folk to read the book; 2) to encourage folk to enter into conversation with me by conveying their Responses to the book; 3) to provide a place for posting some previous essays and for some longer Essays in the future; 4) to provide a forum in which I will post regular short commentaries on the grammar of the church’s contemporary witness, under the rubric of Postings; 5) to provide a place where folk might respond to my ongoing essays and postings.

In short, I am establishing this web site to encourage conversation concerning the proper and truthful grammar of the church’s witness to the triune God. I am hopeful the site will be upbuilding for folk earnest about the Christian life and challenging for folk simply curious about how Christian discourses and practices shape human belief, emotions, and actions.

I am guided in my book and in my ongoing theological work by this definition of the church: the church is that liberative and redemptive community of persons called into being by the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to witness in word and deed to the living triune God for the benefit of the world to the glory of God.

My theologizing pivots around the following definition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ:
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Good News
that the God of Israel, the Creator of all creatures,
has in freedom and love become incarnate
in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth
to enact and reveal God’s gracious reconciliation
of humanity to Godself, and
through the Holy Spirit calls and empowers human beings
to participate in God’s liberative and redemptive work by
acknowledging God’s gracious forgiveness in Jesus,
repenting of human sin,
receiving the gift of freedom, and
embracing authentic community by
loving the neighbor and the enemy,
caring for the whole creation, and
hoping for the final triumph of God’s grace
as the triune Ultimate Companion of all creatures.

Therefore, I construe Christian theology as confessional theology in the context of the church. I argue that Christian faith provides special ways of speaking and acting, in discourses and practices, that make sense of human life by giving it meaning, practicality, truth, and hope.

Learning how to speak Christian discourse in worship and life is crucial to learning how to be a Christian. Rather than supposing that Christian discourses and practices must be continually updated in order to be relevant to the world, I propose that we need to rediscover how Christian concepts, practices, and understanding are intended to form Christian life in all of its rich depths.

I am idebted to my son-in-law William Wagnon and my daughter Verity Jones for initially setting up this web site as a Christmas gift for me. Left to my own devices, I would never have ventured to learn how to establish and manage a web site. My thanks to William and Verity.

I invite visitors to this web site to peruse the whole site and to enter into conversation with me. See Contact for the various ways in which you might communicate with me. Some communications might be posted on the site under Responses.

To purchase the book, go to: Rowman & Littlefield Publisher

or: Amazon.com

I have just published a new book, September 2005, entitled On Being the Church of Jesus Christ in Tumultuous Times as a Cascade Book by Wipf and Stock Publishers. It contains some essays and sermons and prayers include on this web site. It can be purchased directly from the publisher at a 20% discount: Wipf and Stock Publishers