A Vision for the church

the long version

What is the Church? Perhaps more importantly, what is it meant to be? How did its earliest members understand this body of which they had become a part?This is a textbook collection of fifteen essays by an international group of New Testament experts. They bring together a dynamic range of perspectives on how the early Christians viewed the Church: its origins, purpose and relation to Jewish Scriptures and to Jesus Christ; its place in the world and in God's plan; its community life and worship, in theory and in practice.