King Jesus Claims His Church

by Finny Kuruvilla

Many people today say, "I'm spiritual, but not religious." Such language veils a hunger for God but a distaste for the church. Even in the church, Christians are asking, "Is this what church is supposed to be?" Many Christians sense deep down that there is supposed to be something more, but are unsure of what that something is. These longings can be fulfilled only by discovering God's true intent for His people. The mandate for our generation is to recover a vision for the church that comes from correctly reading Scripture. King Jesus Claims His Church presents a stirring, bold vision for the church that is both biblical and timely.

Genres: Theology

380 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2013

Reviews

[Avery Amstutz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book a few years ago and just now realized I never marked it as read. My initial reading of this book was more positive than my current review. At the time I would have given it a 3-4 stars. I thought it answered some of my questions as a mildly dissatisfied Conservative Anabaptist. I remember finding his “fence around the Torah” idea to be a compelling argument against a restrictive conference setting. When I read it the second time at Faith Builders I realized the book was deeply flawed. I noticed some terrible exegesis. For instance he uses a passage in the Old Testament where an analogy is used comparing Israel to a women being molested (her skirt being lifted) to make the case that women should wear skirts and they should be long. He also uses the description of Jesus (robe to his feet) to argue men must wear long pants. Now I’m in favor of long pants mainly because my legs are gross, but I find the biblical defense quite disingenuous. Also his obsession with the regulative principle puts him far outside the norm for biblical scholars. I also think his stance on that issue leads him to very bad places throughout the book. It’s just a terrible way to read the Bible. I have heard from people who have taken his class at Sattler that Finny is less dogmatic irl then in his book, and that he has changed his views in some ways? I don’t know, I can only review his work, and it’s not good. I think Finny has a good heart, but I think he dropped the ball on this book.

[Orion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book, highly recommended. Some early chapters are an excellent way of holding the whole thing to account. One early chapter on proper biblical hermanutics is wonderful in its own right. Following chapters on the commands of God and the commands of men, and how to navigate between building a church that follows the covenant commands of God's word without adding on "the commandments of men" provide a way to judge subsequent chapters: Is Kurivilla keeping close to his own standards?
In my estimation, Kurivilla is a well-read and well-reasoning man who loves the Lord and desires strongly for the church to fully reflect Kingdom values. In *MY* opinion, a few chapters don't hold to his own standard described in the previous paragraph. But none of these are appalingly, blatantly irresponsible. They are rather minor, and very open to debate and discussion.
The chapter on the Regulative Principle was the longest chapter in the book, and seemed to be fairly well-reasoned, but it left me unconvinced.

[Dan Tillinghast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. Book starts out laying down that the good news is Jesus being the king of the kingdom of God, and then setting out a vision for what the church ought to look like, and going on to address many doctrinal matters. He covers many teachings faithfully, convincingly and with reference to early Christian writers.

[Joseph Byler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stirring call for Christians to better understand the true and exciting depth of potential of the body of Christ to reflect His original call and purpose. I would also consider it an extremely well articulated call to genuine, faithful, joyous, organic, life changing obedience. I appreciate Finny’s attitude toward biblical interpretation. I respect this book very highly!

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this was like jumping into a waterfall of answers as to why so many things seem bizarre in the church. Turn back to scripture often as you imagine a church that opens God's word to be the church.

[Rafe]

It was an ok read.

[Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really solid overview of biblical, kingdom focused theology. I will be referencing this often.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the most valuable books I've ever read! I long for every Christian I know to get to read and discuss it within their faith communities as well. Finny's well-educated and balanced approach digs into basically every practical area of life, both in the church and in what some would call 'the rest of life.' He compares and contrasts what modern churchianity has come to look like, to the foundation of Jesus' life and the apostolic examples.

Finny is not teaching or saying anything new, just uncovering old truths in a way that forces you to think about how they apply to your life, today. Noone will escape the book without being challenged. But what I also gained was hope. To see a bigger, much clearer picture of how we are called to live as we serve King Jesus -- this has been so beautiful, inspiring, and motivating!

[Caleb Jenkins, CQP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciated this book as Finny Kuruvilla systematically laid out a clear vision for the Church to live by. I also appreciated his introduction which laid out why we should say King Jesus today instead of Jesus Christ! I was very glad to meet Finny earlier this year at a conference and talk to him about a few of his thoughts in these books. If you want to read a book that exalts King Jesus, the church of Jesus Christ, and the historical teachings of the Church, you will definitely want to read this book. I don't know if I've ever read a better book about the Church!