"The Church as the Image of the Trinity": A Critical Evaluation of the Ecclesial Model of Miroslav Volf

After a good number of recent years of theological research, I am thankful to the Lord that a door has opened for my PhD to be converted into a book format for publication. I sincerely desire that this book will be used for the glory of God, but also as a necessary corrective against politically correct, yet often biblically erroneous theologies, ones that all too commonly pervades theological departments in Universities in the Western world. The publishers summary on the back cover reads:

A resurgence of Trinitarian interest gained momentum in the twentieth century and it is showing little sign of abating in the twenty-first century. This research endeavours to critically evaluate Miroslav Volf’s ecclesial model for “the church as the image of the Trinity,” one which he presents with the English title, After Our Likeness. Volf proposes a social doctrine of the Trinity, one that is heavily influenced by the theological writings of Jürgen Moltmann, and he puts forward that this non-hierarchical Trinity should be reflected in the structures and theology of the church. If Volf is correct, then a radical reshaping is needed for the church to conform to an egalitarian pattern, one that is “after the likeness” (Gen 1:26) of an egalitarian God.
In this critical examination, Kevin J. Bidwell begins by stating the theological influences that are pertinent to Volf’s thesis in After Our Likeness and the assumptions that undergird and inform his whole theological paradigm. An important theological excursus is offered to assess the theology of John Smyth, the first English Baptist, who is Volf’s representative figure for the location of his own ecclesiology, the Free Church. A critical analysis follows of Volf’s engagement with his two chosen dialogue partners who represent both Western and Eastern theological traditions: Joseph Ratzinger and John D. Zizioulas.
Volf presents five theses for “the church as the image of the Trinity,” which could be labeled as Volf’s Free Church in the image of Volf’s revised doctrine of the Trinity. This monograph offers extensive insight into the contemporary debate on the doctrine of the Trinity, but it also assesses many aspects of ecclesiology from both Eastern and Western perspectives.

If you would like to get hold of a copy the link on Amazon is: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Church-Image-Trinity-Evaluation-Theological/dp/1610973739/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

It is available as a book or a kindle format. Another link is the Book Depository which is: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Church-Image-Trinity-Kevin-Bidwell/9781610973731