Curtis W. Freeman is Research Professor of Theology and Director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.
"In this remarkably lucid and learned monograph, Curtis Freeman
suggests a way beyond 'liberalism' and 'fundamentalism' for the
Baptist tradition, one that could renew ecumenical vision whilst
defending the distinctive history and prophetic role of Baptist
spiritual life. This is a masterful piece of ecclesiology,
unfettered by false polemics." -- Sarah Coakley, Norris-Hulse
Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge
"Contesting Catholicity courageously addresses Baptists who feel
pushed to the margins in the present prevailing climate of Baptist
life, and succeeds magnificently in its aim of offering Baptists a
vision which transcends the modern split between 'conservative' and
'liberal'. Curtis Freeman is thoroughly convincing in urging that
Baptists are best understood as a dissenting movement within the
'one holy catholic and apostolic church' rather than outside it.
This is an essential theology for Baptists 'recovering' from recent
crises, retrieving the spiritual and doctrinal tradition of the
church universal. It can and should engage emotions and change
minds." -- Paul S Fiddes, Professor of Systematic Theology,
University of Oxford & Director of Research, Regent's Park College,
Oxford
"In this first truly twenty-first-century ecclesiology, Curtis
Freeman offers a brilliant argument, not only for revisioning
Baptist notions of church life, but for a readjusted notion of
Christian catholicity itself. Challenging, rich, and persuasive,
Freeman's 'other Baptist' vision is an important ecumenical event."
-- Ephraim Radner, Professor of Historical Theology, Wycliffe
College at the University of Toronto
"Curtis Freeman is doing for Baptists what other Protestant
theologians are doing for their own ailing denominations--
retrieving the catholic substance of the Christian tradition to
undergird their passion for the evangelical principle. Contesting
Catholicity contends that a church claiming to be evangelical while
ceasing to be catholic is no Christian church at all.Freeman's
evangelical catholic vision is ecumenically promising by virtue of
its faithfulness to the essentials of the Baptist tradition." --
Carl E Braaten, Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology, Lutheran
School of Theology at Chicago
"This learned and well-argued work offers an evangelical and
catholic alternative to fundamentalism and lukewarm liberalism.
Written for Baptists, it embodies important lessons for other
Christian theologians and leaders." -- Gerald O'Collins, Emeritus
Professor, Gregorian University
"This is an important contribution to the ongoing study of Baptist
and Catholic theological relationships--a Christian relationship
that becomes more urgent by the day." --David Tracy
"Freeman imagines with fresh eyes how Baptists, by retrieving their
own heritage, can embody in new ways that catholicity which is
authentically Christian." --Robert Louis Wilken, William R. Kenan,
Jr., Professor of the History of Christianity Emeritus, University
of Virginia
Freeman's exposition of catholicity is an important one that
invites reflection accross the ecumenical church...there is much to
ponder in this important book. -- Walter Brueggemann -- Christian
Century
Part history, part theology, and part social theory, Contesting
Catholicity seeks to point the theological way forward for Other
Baptists who wish to retrieve the tradition of Baptist-catholic
protest. -- R. Lucas Stamps, Assistant Professor of Christian
Studies, California Baptist University -- Journal of Baptist
Studies
...a valuable resource for those in other traditions who are
seeking theological renewal. -- Choice
This may well be one of the most important books written by a
Baptist, both for its vision of Baptist life for Baptists and also
for its vision of the church for those of other traditions. -- Andy
Goodliff, Belle Vue Baptist Church -- Regent's Reviews
In this wonderful book, Freeman recovers for both Baptist and
non-Baptists the spiritual heart of the traditional practice of
theological contestation as an ongoing effort of reform and
transformation, and thereby reaffirms the practical and vital
importance of doctrine in the life of the Church catholic in all
its forms. -- Nicholas M. Healy, St. John's University -- Christian
Century
Freeman's exposition of catholicity is an important one that
invites reflection accross the ecumenical church...there is much to
ponder in this important book. -- Walter Brueggemann -- The
Christian Century
[Freeman's] well-told narrative of Baptist trajectories as a
microcosm of a larger American Protestant story deserves to be read
widely not only within but also outside Baptist circles. -- Kimlyn
J. Bender -- Books & Culture
Freeman's book is a manifesto, detailed and learned, but also
engagingly vigorous, for a special way of being'Baptist'. --
Ephraim Radner, Wycliffe College -- First Things
...this is the most important book of post-liberal Baptist theology
since James Wm. McClendon Jr. completed his three-volume Systematic
Theology in 2000. -- Fisher Humphreys, Samford University --
Baptist History and Heritage Journal
Contesting Catholicity is the result of Freeman's personal odyssey
to retrieve, negotiate, and proffer a distinctively Baptist
theology for the present moment by listening to diverse Baptist
voices as well as 'the holy imperfection and medley of difference'
that is the great company of the saints. The book is his lucid (and
critical) attempt to follow the vector of McClendon's baptist
vision, and an ecumenical announcement that Baptist theology is
indeed "come of age". -- Mark Medley -- Horizons
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