Christ and His Church

Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1956. First American Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. First Edition USA (1956) , unstated in accordance with Westminster's customary practice at the time of publication. Very Good in Very Good DJ: The Book shows only very mild shelving wear to the lower extremities; the expected light tanning to the text pages due to aging; a former owner's name inscribed at the front free endpaper; the binding is square and secure; the text is clean. Free of creased or dog-eared pages in the text. Free of underlining, hi-lighting, notations, or marginalia. A handsome copy, structurally sound and tightly bound, showing mild wear and minor, unobtrusive flaws. The DJ shows light wear to the extremities; mild rubbing to the brown background field of the front panel and the rear panel's white background field shows faint consequent soiling; the price ($2.50) is unclipped, but there is a short penciled "BHd 1/2.6" penciled next to it; mylar-protected. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. Small 8vo. (7.65 x 5.25 x 0.7 inches) . Translated by Alan Carlsten. Language: English. Weight: 8.9 ounces. Light brown cloth over boards with dark brown titles at the backstrip. Hardback with DJ. Anders Nygren (1890 – 1978) was a Swedish Lutheran theologian. He was professor of systematic theology at Lund University from 1924 and was elected Bishop of Lund in 1948 (emeritus 1958). He is best known for his two-volume work Agape and Eros. Nygren's approach, along with that of Gustaf Aulén, characterizes what is referred to as “Lundensian Theology”. This short work is based on the Laidlaw Lectureship inaugurated by Bishop Nygren in September 1954. This straightforward worthwhile work can be read in a day. Nygren initially rebuts the liberal 19th century theology that denied the Church was part of the Gospel and which downplayed Jesus as the Messiah with its implications for the Church fulfilling its role in Jesus' messiahship. He then discusses how the Church must be one as there is no Church without Christ and vice versa and the Church is the Body of Christ with Christ as its head. In the final sections he briefly discusses issues tied to the unity of the Church and the ecumenical movement, of which he was a major part. Nygren, like his peer Bishop Gustaf Aulen (of Strangnas) , was rather traditional and conservative, entirely in a laudable way. He is learned, graceful, irenic and open to exploring ideas in an ecumenical fashion. He is not out to bludgeon opponents or champion inordinately either Lutheranism or the Church of Sweden. ; Small 8vo 7½" - 8" tall; 125 pages .