FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson is one of four writers in “Who Runs the Church?: 4 Views on Church Government,” a new volume of Zondervan’s “Counterpoint” series.
“Churches have split and denominations have formed over the issue of church government,” a Zondervan description of the book notes. “Yet while many Christians can explain their particular church’s form of rule and may staunchly uphold it, few have a truly biblical understanding of it. What model for governing the church does the Bible provide? Is there room for different methods? Or is just one way the right way?
Who Runs the Church? conveys “four predominant approaches to church government,” according to Zondervan:
— Single-elder congregationalism, presented by Patterson.
— Episcopalianism, Peter Toon, minister/rector of Christ Church, Biddulph Moor, England, and author of more than 20 books.
— Presbyterianism, L. Roy Taylor, Presbyterian Church in America coordinator of administration of the General Assembly, former pastor and former professor of practical theology at Reformed Theological Seminary.
— Plural-elder congregationalism, Samuel E. Waldron, a pastor of Reformed Baptist Church in Grand Rapids, Mich., and a Ph.D. candidate in systematic theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
As in other Counterpoints books, each view is followed by critiques from the other contributors, and its advocate then responds. The interactive nature of the Counterpoints, according to Zondervan, “allows the reader to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each view and draw informed, personal conclusions.”
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Who Runs the Church? may be ordered at any LifeWay Christian Store or online at www.lifewaystore.com
