The Church

by Wallace M. Alston

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1984

Reviews

[Dale Hagwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is only one of two books in the “Guides to the Reformed Tradition” series, the other being “Worship” by Hughes Oliphant Old. Both are good books, which makes it regrettable that Alston and Old’s books are the only in the series.

Regardless, the book is a helpful articulation of Reformed ecclesiology. The author addresses the church’s foundations in creation from Scripture and history, particularly how the Reformed tradition has developed ecclesiology. The author unpacks the church’s true essence, its marks, mission and ministry. This book is a helpful introduction to Reformed ecclesiology that fully develops what the church is and goes beyond just differences in polity. The work does have some ecumenical and inter-faith/comparative religion aspects I could live without. Still, it doesn’t undermine the overall usefulness of the book.

[JD Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book on the Reformed doctrine of the church. A good resource for the theology of the church which underlies the Reformed confessional documents. It is a bit dated and shows how the Presbyterian church (USA) was thinking through these things in the 80s. However, this is interesting to see reading it years after it was first published.