What does it mean to believe in the church? What is the relationship between the church we believe in and the church we experience? Is there an invisible church that is different from the visible? This book is an argument for an ecclesiology of the visible. The only church, the real church, is a concrete reality made up of people, just like any other fellowship. What distinguishes it as church is the presence of the triune God among those who gather in the name of Jesus, making it a sign and...
Who is Jesus Christ? What does it mean to say that we are created in the image of God? What does salvation mean? What is the meaning of baptism? What characterizes the Christian fellowship? What hope does a Christian faith give for the future? These are only a few of the questions that this textbook on dogmatics takes up. This book begins the discussion of the various topics by looking at what the Bible has to say. Hegstad then examines how the church's doctrine has developed over the...