NEW JERUSALEM

More about the book

Over the centuries Christians have erred in indiscriminately taking the Old Testament as their model for their life and hope as the people of God, rather than considering what difference the coming of Jesus has made to that model. The purpose of this book is to define more clearly the nature of the Church and the Kingdom. To look carefully at the relationship between the Old Testament and the New, at what difference Jesus makes to our understanding of the Old Testament, and how we, as Christians, ought to read the Old in the light of the New. We look at the vexed question of the relationship of Israel and the Church to help us define the nature of the Church as a distinct community from the Israel of old as well as from the natural communities to which we belong. The distinctiveness of the Church lies in the way in which we propagate our faith, in our values, and in the character of our life together. It is a fellowship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and a fellowship with one another.