Authentic Church: True Spirituality in a Culture of Counterfeits
"Authentic Churchis worth the asking price for chapter six alone, and Vaughan has done us a great service in expounding the timeless truths of 1 Corinthians and showing us their contemporary application. Here we have a heartwarming and winsome counter to our increasingly relativistic, feminized and permissive culture, and a timely reminder that true power is found in the weakness of the cross." (Carrie Sandom, associate minister for women and pastoral care, St. John's Church, Tunbridge Wells)"1 Corinthians is a long letter and deals with a number of, at first sight, self-contained problems. Consequently, many of us will know parts of the letter without really having a grasp of what lay behind these issues and what was really going on in the church in Corinth. That's where this book is so helpful. Four things are worth noting. First, it is very accessible, written in an inviting and well-illustrated style. Second, it is careful and thorough. Within the confines of a shortish book, complex issues are dealt with skillfully and difficult passages are not neglected. Third, it is very thoughtfully applied. The lines between first-century Corinth and the twenty-first-century reader are wisely drawn and there are challenges for all. Fourth, whileAuthentic Churchexamines each part of 1 Corinthians in turn, the reader is never allowed to lose sight of the big issues that hold the whole of the book together. I would recommend this excellent book for anyone who wants to study 1 Corinthians or wants to think biblically about what true spirituality looks like in ordinary life. The addition of very helpful Bible study questions at the end of each chapter invites readers to look carefully at the book for themselves or with others." (Andy Gemmill, Scottish Cornhill Training Course)"This is a superb book! Punchy yet pulling no punches on the 'hot' issues of both the church and contemporary culture; accessible though never superficial; challenging yet simultaneously encouraging; theologically judicious and pastorally sensitive—all the kind of qualities we have come to expect from Vaughan Roberts. It presents the challenge of 1 Corinthians for the twenty-first-century church, and I am delighted to commend most highlyAuthentic Church." (Steve Brady, principal, Moorlands College, Christchurch)