Beyond Four Walls
Explorations in Being the Church
Edited by MICHAEL D. O’NEIL and PETER ELLIOTT
Beyond Four Walls
Explorations in Being the Church
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paperback isbn: 978-1-7252-7890-5
hardcover isbn: 978-1-7252-7891-2
ebook isbn: 978-1-7252-7892-9
Citations from the New American Standard Version (NASB) used with permission.
Citations from the New International Version (NIV) used with permission.
Citations from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) used with permission.
Manufactured in the U.S.A. 07/20/20
To Dr. Richard K. Moore
In grateful acknowledgement of your many years of service to the Baptist Theological College of Western Australia (Vose Seminary)
Contributors
Allan Chapple is Senior Lecturer in New Testament at Trinity Theological College, Perth, Western Australia. His doctorate in New Testament studies is from Durham University in the UK. He has previously served as a pastor in both Western Australia and the north-east of England, as a faculty member of the Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, and as a staff worker for the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students.
David Cohen has been Head of Department of Biblical Studies, and Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Language at Vose Seminary since 2004. He is a specialist in the book of Psalms and has published a number of articles especially on the psalms of lament. He is the author of Praying Lament Psalms and Why O Lord? Praying our Sorrows, and has edited a number of books.
Peter Elliott has been lecturing in theological institutions for nearly a quarter of a century, primarily in Church History. His recent research interests have focused on Edward Irving, the Catholic Apostolic Church, and Pentecostal precursors. His PhD was published as Edward Irving: Romantic Theology in Crisis (2013). Peter is currently an adjunct lecturer at Sheridan College, a research supervisor at Alphacrucis College, and an Honorary Research Fellow at Murdoch University.
Stephen Garner is Academic Dean and Senior Lecturer in Theology at Laidlaw College in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. With a background in both computer science and theology, his teaching and research focuses upon the intersection of theology, science, technology, and media, as well as public and contextual theology. His publications include the edited volume Theology and the Body: Reflections on Being Flesh and Blood (2011) and Networked Theology: Negotiating Faith in Digital Culture (2016) with Heidi Campbell. He is married to Kim with four children and worships at Massey Presbyterian Church in West Auckland.
Brian Harris, an internationally regarded teacher and communicator, has served as Principal of Vose Seminary since 2004. He leads the Department of Ministry and Practice. Originally from South Africa, Brian has pastored churches in his home country, New Zealand, and Australia. He has published many journal articles and is the author of a number of books, especially his trilogy, The Tortoise Usually Wins, The Big Picture, and When Faith Turns Ugly. Brian blogs at https://brianharrisauthor.com/.
John McClean is Vice-Principal at Christ College, the Presbyterian theological college in Sydney where he teaches systematic theology and ethics. He has published an introduction to the thought of Wolfhart Pannenberg, a short introduction to Christian doctrine (Real God for the Real World), as well as a wide range of articles and book chapters. He is an elder at Springwood-Winmalee Presbyterian Church and serves the wider Presbyterian Church in the areas of ethics, apologetics, and social policy.
Scot McKnight is an internationally regarded New Testament scholar, a sought-after speaker with a global following, and author of numerous articles, biblical commentaries, and books on a variety of topics. He is the Julius R. Mantey Chair of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Chicago, and a recognized authority on the historical Jesus, early Christianity, and the New Testament. His Jesus Creed is a leading Christian blog.
John Olley served as Principal of Baptist Theological College of Western Australia (now Vose Seminary) for thirteen years, and as Head of Old Testament for twenty-five years, retiring in 2003. John has published many articles and books including Ezekiel in the Septuagint Commentary Series, and The Message of Kings in the Bible Speaks Today series. John continues as a Research Fellow of Vose Seminary, serves as Chair of the Missiological Advisory Committee of Global Interaction, and on the board of Carey Baptist Church in Perth.
Michael O’Neil has been teaching Christian Thought and History at Vose Seminary since 2010, after serving as a pastor in several churches over a twenty-year period. He has published articles and a book (Church as Moral Community) on the theology of Karl Barth, as well as articles and chapters on matters to do with the Christian life and ethics. Michael is married to Monica, and together they have three adult children, and a growing number of grandchildren.
Karen Siggins is Senior Minister of Lesmurdie Baptist Church and Chair of the Board of the Council of Baptist Churches of Western Australia. As a minister her aim is to be part of a church family who would be immediately missed by its community if it were to close its doors. Karen lives her life according to the principle that God is love and everything else is a theological footnote. Karen is married to Hadyn and together they have three adult children and a cadre of six marvellous grandchildren.
Carolyn Eng Looi Tan, whose background is Malaysian-Singaporean, previously worked as a paediatric surgeon. She came to Perth in Western Australia to pursue theological studies at the Baptist College of Western Australia (later renamed Vose Seminary). She graduated with a Master of Divinity in 2009, and subsequently engaged in doctoral research into the role of the Holy Spirit at the cross. Her contribution in this book is part of that research. Carolyn was awarded her Doctorate of Theology in 2017, and her thesis has been published in the ACT Monograph Series in a volume entitled “The Spirit at the Cross: Exploring a Cruciform Pneumatology.” Meanwhile, she teaches New Testament Greek at Vose Seminary, is active in various leadership roles in Perth Baptist Church, looks after her aging parents, and whenever time allows, attends to her vegetable plot.
Andre van Oudtshoorn is the Academic Dean at Perth Bible College. He has written devotional books on divine election, theology of worship, and Christology. His latest book, A Taste of Glory: An Introduction to Theological Studies is a prescribed text in a number of theological colleges.
Margaret Wesley serves as an Anglican minister in Brisbane, after having taught at Mary Andrews College in Sydney for a number of years. She is the author of Jesus, Son of Mary: The Family of Jesus and the Community of Faith in the Fourth Gospel, and editor of Loss and Discovery: Responding to Grief with the Compassion of Christ and the Skills of All God’s People.
Introduction
“Jesus foretold the kingdom, and it was the church that came.”1
Alfred Loisy’s somewhat caustic or possibly disappointed statement from the early twentieth century captures something of the modern disquiet with the church that continues and has even increased into the early decades of the twenty-first century. Put simply, in many parts of the world the church is “on the nose,” in some cases with good reason. We live in an environment in which trust in traditional