Inspiration and Institution in Christian History

Methuen, C. , Ryrie, A. and Spicer, A. (Eds.) (2021) Inspiration and Institution in Christian History. Series: Studies in church history. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 9781316514801

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Publisher's URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-church-history/volume/20E382EB2432EE4ED3C3026837357C05

Abstract

The theme of Studies in Church History 57 is Inspiration and Institution in Christian History. A Christian church is an entity that claims, in some sense, to be a divinely inspired institution: but this is a paradox. Since the apostolic age, Christian churches have seen a constant dialectic between inspiration and institution: how the ungoverned spontaneity of Spirit-led religion negotiates its way through laws, structures and communities. If institutional frameworks are absent or insufficient, new, creative and dynamic expressions of Christianity can disappear or collapse into disorder almost as quickly as they have flared up. If those frameworks are excessively rigid or punitive, they can often quench the spirit of any new movements. This volume brings together articles by seventeen scholars of different aspects of Christianity’s history, including Sam Brewitt-Taylor, Dominic Erdozain, Josef Lōssl, Teresa Morgan, Alec Ryrie and Neslihan Şenocak, to explore the interplay between inspirational movements and institutional structures throughout Christianity’s history. They ask how the paradox of inspiration and institution has been negotiated from the ancient world to the modern era, tracing how different Christian movements have striven to hold these two vital aspects of their faith together, navigating the twin dangers of fossilizing into institutional lifelessness or dissolving into inspirational chaos, and often finding creative or unexpected ways to institutionalize inspiration or to breathe new life into their institutions.

Item Type:Edited Books
Additional Information:Studies in Church History Volume 57.
Status:Published
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Methuen, Professor Charlotte
Authors:
Subjects:B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BR Christianity
D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain > DAW Central Europe
College/School:College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > Theology and Religious Studies
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9781316514801

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