Authority Vested: A Story of Identity and Change in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, November 1999. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Collectible Very Good. 1st Edition / 1st Printing - Previous owner's name and green mark on inside front cover. No apparent marks or writing observed in text. Binding tight and square. Appears unread. . . . . . . TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1.) Introduction 2.) Defining Decade, 1831-1841: The Formative Years -- 3.) Establishing an Identity: The Nineteenth Century -- 4.) Identity Redefined: A Twentieth-Century Church? -- 5.) The Issue of Authority: Woman Suffrage -- 6.) *Not in God's Lifetime*: The Significance of the Ordination of Women -- 7.) The Problem of Authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . Like other major Protestant denominations in the United States, the 2.6-million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), founded in 1847, has struggled with issues of relevance and identity in society at large. In this book Mary Todd chronicles the history of this struggle for identity in the LCMS, critically examining the central -- often contentious -- issue of authority in relation to Scripture, ministry, and the role of women in the church.In recounting the history of the denomination, Todd uses the ministry of women as a case study to show how the LCMS has continually redefined its concept of authority in order to maintain its own historic identity. Based on oral histories and solid archival research, Authority Vested not only explores the internal life of a significant denomination but also offers critical insights for other churches seeking to maintain their Christian distinctives in religiously pluralistic America. Family-owned bookshop in Steubenville, Ohio: BookMarx Bookstore. Books shipped within 24 hours.