Where Christ Is Present

Five hundred years ago, the church of Jesus Christ underwent a Reformation. The fallout from the Monk, Martin Luther's posting of his ninety-five theses on indulgences was not simply the birth of Protestantism. Luther did not start a new church. Rather, he was trying to reform the church that already existed by reemphasizing its essence-namely, the "good news" (the gospel) that Jesus Christ saves sinners. But, as almost everyone-including conservative Catholics-now admit, the church did need reforming. Some of the issues in contemporary Christianity are very similar to those in the late Middle Ages, though others are new. But if Luther's theology can be blamed, however unfairly, for fragmenting Christianity, perhaps today it can help us recover the wholeness of Christianity. The current religious climate in the twenty-first century is simultaneously highly religious and highly secularized. It is a time of extraordinary spiritual and theological diversity. In the spirit of the anniversary we are observing, this book will propose the kind of Christianity that is best suited for the twenty-first century. The remedies offered here are available by way of the same theology that was the catalyst for reforming the church five hundred years ago.