Ten Theology Books to Watch For – June 2021

T. F. Torrance as Missional Theologian: The Ascended Christ and the Ministry of the Church 

Joseph Sherrard

IVP Academic

Christ has ascended. Yet his work continues. Much has been made of a “missional” view of the church in recent theological literature, but largely overlooked in this discussion has been the contribution that T. F. Torrance, the late Church of Scotland minister and theologian, can make to this discussion. Addressing this lacuna, theologian and pastor Joseph Sherrard considers how Torrance’s theology can inform the church’s understanding of its ministry and mission―in particular, his appeal to the church’s participation in the ascended Christ’s threefold office as king, prophet, and priest. Through the ministry of the church, Christ is still at work.

“Anyone who wants to think intentionally and theologically about the present and future work of the church will find this work to be an asset. Sherrard brings Torrance, the missional church movement, and Jesus’ threefold office as prophet, priest, and king into dynamic conversation, all with an eye toward effective ministry in a post-Christian world.”

— Esau McCaulley

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Christian Martyrdom and Christian Violence: On Suffering and Wielding the Sword

Matthew Lundberg

Oxford University Press

What is the place-if any-for violence in the Christian life? At the core of Christian faith is an experience of suffering violence as the price for faithfulness, of being victimized by the world’s violence, from Jesus himself to martyrs who have died while following him. At the same time,
Christian history had also held the opinion that there are situations when the follower of Jesus may be justified in inflicting violence on others, especially in the context of war. Do these two facets of Christian ethics and experience present a contradiction?

Christian Martyrdom and Christian Violence: On Suffering and Wielding the Sword explores the tension between Christianity’s historic reverence for martyrdom (suffering violence for faith) and Christianity’s historical support of a just war ethic (involving the inflicting of violence). While the book
considers the possibility that the two are unreconcilable, it also argues that they are ultimately compatible; but their compatibility requires a more humanized portrait of the Christian martyr as well as a stricter approach to the justified use of violence.

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