Ecumenical and Eclectic

Alan Sell is a prolific author producing a vast output of high quality research across many disciplines. From philosophy and theology to ethics and history his work has been received with acclaim for its clarity and incisiveness, as well as for its relevance to contemporary issues faced by the church. Throughout, Sell has maintained an unwavering commitment to Reformed faith and the unity of the church universal. His work continues to deliver challenges and inspire reflection for those who are interested in thinking deeply about issues of living under the cross of Christ in the world today. In this book, several colleagues, friends, and admirers have gathered together to honor Alan Sell's contribution to scholarship and to the life of the church. Leading Christian scholars--including Gabriel Fackre, Clyde Binfield, Keith Clements, and Donald McKim--here offer reflections on Professor Sell's work, and other related themes under the banner of the unity of the church in the contemporary world. The essays explore the foundations of unity, its historical context, and some of the challenges of ecumenism today. Together they make a unique contribution to the theme which has occupied so much of Sell's attention over the years, and which continues to be of crucial importance to the life of the church in a new era. ""A welcome contribution to the cause of Christian unity. It deserves serious consideration by all branches of the Christian family."" --Donald G. Bloesch, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary ""A fascinating collection of essays, reflecting the range of Alan Sell's interests from Reformed theology to ecumenism, with some philosophy and social ethics along the way."" --David W. Thompson, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge ""This is an important collection which not only honours Alan Sell's unique and incisive contribution to reformed and ecumenical theology, but takes the discussion forward in its own right."" --Tom Best, World Council of Churches ""Alan Sell has moved with ease in the different worlds of English Dissent, global Reformed theology, defending Christian theology in and from a university in western Canada, and in his last appointment professing both Christian theology and the philosophy of religion in the essentially dissenting nation of Wales--four careers all bound up in one lifespan. All this is reflected in this collection of essays which pay tribute to all that he has done in forming and informing the mind of the modern Dissent by those who have been his colleagues or whose careers have been shaped by his generous but incisive scholarship. Here they reflect on the spirituality, learning, mission, and churchmanship of the Reformed tradition and its unique contribution to the one catholic church of God."" --John Briggs, Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, Regent's Park College, University of Oxford Anna M. Robbins is Lecturer in Theology and Contemporary Culture at the London School of Theology. She researches, writes, and speaks in the areas of theological method, social ethics, and apologetics and is author of Methods in the Madness and Sharing the Feast.