Christian Community in History, Vol. 2: Comparative Ecclesiology

Roger Haight’s massive work, Christian Community in History, is a significant achievement. Its goal is to outline the multiple ecclesiologies or self-understandings of the church from a historical perspective. Volume 1, Historical Ecclesiology, traces the growth of the church from its origin in the religious movement begun by Jesus to the late Middle Ages. Volume 2, Comparative Ecclesiology, continues his survey from the Reformation to a very brief outline of issues facing ecclesiology in the twenty-first century. The second volume is much more properly a history of ecclesiology. Unlike ecclesiology ‘from above’, which Haight rejects as abstract, idealist and ahistorical, he seeks methodologically to do ecclesiology ‘from below’. It will remain a basic source for studies in ecclesiology, especially useful for graduate students.