Bryan Cones, This Assembly of Believers: The Gifts of Difference in the Church at Prayer

ways in which they conduct their disagreements, but he seems to me to avoid a question that was vital for the churches of the New Testament era – as evidenced in the New Testament – and in every era since: among those who call themselves Christian, and with whom we find ourselves in disagreement, how can we know with whom we should share communion and whom we should avoid as ‘false prophets’ (pseudoproph etai) and ‘false teachers’ (pseudodidaskaloi) who ‘secretly bring in destructive opinions’ (haireseis) (cf. 2 Pet. 2.1, the opening salvo in a scorching attack on those with whom the author disagrees)? Landau’s book strikes me as not in the fullest sense ‘a theology of disagreement’, more a New Testament primer in Christian courtesy (cf. 1 Pet. 3.8 AV: ‘Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous’). It could be read with profit by any member of any Christian deliberative body. A true theology of disagreement would have to address questions about the ethical and doctrinal boundaries of the Church: with whom can I lovingly disagree while sharing the Eucharist, and who must I reject absolutely? In this study, Landau makes a significant contribution to discussion about the moral dimension of ecclesiology (the unity and holiness of the Church). I hope he can go on to explore in greater depth the New Testament conditions for catholicity and apostolicity.