Wise Church: Forming a Wisdom Culture in Your Local Church

by Scot McKnight, Daniel J. Hanlon (Editor)

"Wise Church is about rethinking church cultures so they become more of a wisdom culture. The topics vary as widely as church life letter writing as pastoral care, the work life of congregants, evangelism, music, church economics, spiritual formation as the pursuit of wisdom, racial justice, marriage, learning how to teach like Jesus, gospeling like the apostles, and the wise use of social media. These studies are by pastors and scholars pondering wisdom, but more than that, they are pondering the life we all live in a wise way. We and our churches need wisdom, not simply because we live in an ever-changing world, but because the God we worship is himself wise. Wise church cultures reflect the wisdom of God back into the world, a world looking for wisdom." With contributions Jeff Bannman Jeremy Berg Brandon Evans Pete Goodman David Johnston Ernest F. Ledbetter III Julie Murdock Joshua Little John M. Phelps Ivan Ramirez Bill D. Shiell

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 12, 2021

About the author

Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author or editor of forty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL. Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly speaks at local churches, conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the USA and abroad. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986).

Reviews

[Brian Virtue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book may not be what some might expect. It's a collection of doctoral student papers around a unifying theme. I liked an earlier volume around Paul and Conflict a bit better, but I enjoyed this. Some essays are excellent, while a few are ok or underdeveloped. Each follows a general structure with contextual and historical literature, exegesis, and contemporary application. If the theme of wisdom from a biblical and theological perspective interests you, you may enjoy it. But it's not a popularized or Christian living version of how to develop wisdom in the church.