Promise and Presence
An Exploration in Sacramental Theology
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
John Colwell presents a robust sacramental theology for Protestant churches. He maintains that a doctrine of the Trinity leads us to conceive of God's gracious
engagement with his creation as one that is mediated through that creation. And this lies at the foundation for an understanding of the sacraments. Colwell further argues that the Church and Scripture confer context, definition, and validity on all other sacramental events.
The final section reconsiders the seven Sacraments of the Catholic tradition in the light of the understanding of sacramentality developed earlier in the book: baptism, confirmation, the Lord's Supper, cleansing, healing, ministry, and marriage. Colwell discusses the Sacraments from an evangelical perspective but with a committed ecumenical intent.
Following pastorates in Essex and South London, John Colwell taught Doctrine and Ethics at Spurgeon's College where he remains as Senior Research Fellow. In 2009, after fifteen years teaching at the college, he returned to local church ministry in Budleigh Salterton, Devon. John is married with two adult children.
'[This] is a remarkable effort, and would be even if it failed. As it is, it is carried through with wide scholarly range, conceptual sophistication, and wit.'
-Robert Jenson, Formerly Senior Scholar for Research at the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, Professor Emeritus of Religion, St. Olaf College, Minnesota
'We live in strange ecclesial times. Who could have anticipated a wonderful book on sacraments by a Baptist theologian? But John Colwell has done nothing less than write an extraordinary constructive account of sacramentality that anchors the sacraments in the very nature of God ... Highly recommended for
Catholic and Baptist alike.'
-Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School, North Carolina
'a remarkable achievement, exploring a sacramental theology which is both evangelical and thoroughly Catholic . . . A lively, pungent, sometimes provocative
account which is grounded in pastoral and personal experience and draws on a deeply scholarly grasp of both historical and modern theology . . . Practical
theology as it should be done.'
-Paul S. Fiddes, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Oxford, and Principal of Regent's Park College, Oxford
'Not just the splendid Protestant textbook on the sacraments that we have needed for many years, but also a profound reflection on the doctrine of God,
on grace, and on revelation. Only on this kind of basis can we ever develop sensible visions of Church and ecumenism.'
-Philip Endean SJ, University of Oxford, and editor of THE WAY, a journal of Christian spirituality published by the British Jesuits
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