[2015] Totus Christus Applied: Missional Ecclesiology

The Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us; to that flesh is joined the church, and there is made Total Christ, head and body. - St. Augustine, On the Epistle of John 1.2. This course seeks to construct a missional ecclesiology in conversation in reformed catholicity htogether with its practical relevance to contemporary issues and ministry. The various topics are studied as an investigation in ascension Christology applied, or Augustine’s Totus Christus thesis through the reformed trajectory and qualifications. More than a source of missions, the temple-church is considered as a locus of mission, or Christ vis-à-vis history, in in our search for a missional ecclesiology and polity. How would it transform our understanding of the nature and spirituality of church polity that, in the words of John Calvin about the church, No extent of space interferes with the boundless energy of the Spirit which transfuses life into us from the flesh of Christ? - John Calvin, Corpus Reformatorum