Overview
Is authority reserved for those with a specific calling to leadership? Who holds power in the church? Does authority have limits? Are teaching and preaching the most important practices of authority?
Our understanding--and misunderstanding--of authority has significant implications for our individual and corporate flourishing. In A Theology of Authority, Christa McKirland challenges our assumptions about authority, power, and leadership. With a focus on low-church traditions, she examines authority through the lens of analytic philosophy and biblical theology to offer a theological definition of authority. She also tackles questions related to divine and human authority, Scripture, and practices typically related to ordination: preaching, teaching, serving communion, baptizing, church discipline, and vision casting.
A Theology of Authority expands our understanding of authority, recognizing the Spirit's enablement of each member to fulfill their calling to spiritual maturity. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the nuances of authority and power and how we relate to one another as siblings in Christ.
Our understanding--and misunderstanding--of authority has significant implications for our individual and corporate flourishing. In A Theology of Authority, Christa McKirland challenges our assumptions about authority, power, and leadership. With a focus on low-church traditions, she examines authority through the lens of analytic philosophy and biblical theology to offer a theological definition of authority. She also tackles questions related to divine and human authority, Scripture, and practices typically related to ordination: preaching, teaching, serving communion, baptizing, church discipline, and vision casting.
A Theology of Authority expands our understanding of authority, recognizing the Spirit's enablement of each member to fulfill their calling to spiritual maturity. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of the nuances of authority and power and how we relate to one another as siblings in Christ.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Authority over Others?
Part 1: What Is Authority? Forming the Bricks
1. Executive Authority: Imperative and Performative
2. Nonexecutive Authority: Epistemic and Exemplary
3. A Theological Definition of Authority
Part 2: How Is Authority Expressed? Building the Boundary Walls
4. Divine Authority (1): The One God Who Is Three
5. Divine Authority (2): Jesus and the Spirit
6. Authority and Scripture
7. Authority, Translation, and Interpretation
8. Authority, Power, and Human Calling
9. Authority and Human Community
Part 3: How Is Authority Identified and Evaluated? Living Within the Boundary Walls
10. Theological Boundary Walls for Post-Pentecost Interpersonal Authority
11. The Source, Purpose, and Limits of Authority
12. Recognizing Limits and Expanding Our Imaginations
Conclusion: Flourishing Within the Boundary Walls
Indexes
Part 1: What Is Authority? Forming the Bricks
1. Executive Authority: Imperative and Performative
2. Nonexecutive Authority: Epistemic and Exemplary
3. A Theological Definition of Authority
Part 2: How Is Authority Expressed? Building the Boundary Walls
4. Divine Authority (1): The One God Who Is Three
5. Divine Authority (2): Jesus and the Spirit
6. Authority and Scripture
7. Authority, Translation, and Interpretation
8. Authority, Power, and Human Calling
9. Authority and Human Community
Part 3: How Is Authority Identified and Evaluated? Living Within the Boundary Walls
10. Theological Boundary Walls for Post-Pentecost Interpersonal Authority
11. The Source, Purpose, and Limits of Authority
12. Recognizing Limits and Expanding Our Imaginations
Conclusion: Flourishing Within the Boundary Walls
Indexes
Endorsements
“Contemporary Christianity needs serious theological reflection on the very notion of authority, and this is exactly what Christa McKirland offers in A Theology of Authority. The virtues of good theological inquiry are all over this book: It is winsome, wise, gentle, and charitable while also straightforward, unflinching, and bold. A wonderful combination of biblical, analytic, and practical theology, it will be a blessing both to those who celebrate it and to those who are challenged by it.”
Thomas H. McCall, Timothy C. and Julie M. Tennent Chair of Theology, Asbury Theological Seminary
“Are church leaders supposed to exercise authority? Yes and no. Pairing methodological clarity with practical implications, McKirland disentangles various types of authority to discern how, when, and by whom the exercise of authority is legitimate according to the Scriptures. This book is a gift to the church today, offering a sure foundation for discussions of ministry roles and responsibilities that will move the tired conversation forward to ensure that our churches—and all their members—can flourish.”
Carmen Joy Imes, associate professor of Old Testament, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
“Debates about who has the right to wield authority in the church at times seem intractable, in no small part because we fail to attend to the different ways authority can be held and exercised. What exactly does this nebulous word authority mean, anyway? How might we understand it theologically? How does it bear on understandings of our texts, interpretations, and Christian ministries? Christa McKirland’s A Theology of Authority is an inspiring treatise on the topic that helps put the insights of analytic theology to work in constructing a theological account of authority. McKirland repeatedly drives us back to Holy Scripture and situates the authority of post-Pentecost believers with respect to the holy and humble authority of the God who reveals himself in Jesus and through his word. Her characteristically brilliant work challenges us to position the community of faith around Christ’s authority, wherein every member ought to strive to become an authoritative witness to the gospel through the power of the Spirit.”
Daniel Lee Hill, Baylor University
Author
Christa L. McKirland
Christa L. McKirland (PhD, University of St. Andrews) is dean of faculty and lecturer in systematic theology at Carey Baptist College in Aotearoa (New Zealand). She focuses especially on theological anthropology and is the author God's Provision, Humanity's Need: The Gift of Our Dependence. She is also the executive director of Logia International, an organization that seeks to encourage women to pursue postgraduate theological study for the sake of the academy and church.