Intercommunal Ecclesiology

How do Christian communities picture the church when they call themselves by that name, and how have those self-understandings shaped the faith's past and present involvement in violence and injustice? This book pursues these questions by examining how relationships between groups push Christian communities to treat outsiders in ways that contradict the faith's central commitment to caring for one's neighbor.

Steven J. Battin draws on social psychology, systems theory, biblical criticism, and the study of early Christian history. He argues for rethinking the church theologically, working where three concerns meet: an account of how groups interact, a view of salvation grounded in God's unfolding plan within history, and a picture of Christ as present in a collective body.

According to Battin, the church, within God's historical plan of salvation, is meant to be God's shared answer to division among human communities. It can carry out that calling faithfully only when it actively opposes the hostility, conflict, and apathy that set peoples against one another.